by Nikki Dean
The Little Mermaid
Book 1 of The Little Mermaid miniseries
Nikki Dean
A Frisky Fairy Tale
Contents
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
“Silence” Sneak Peek
Afterword
Chapter 1
Sam
Samuel Morel, the King of Evia, lay back in his tiny sailboat and stared at the stars. The gentle rocking usually soothed his overactive mind, but tonight nothing seemed to be helping.
He rubbed a hand over his face. “I should probably be getting back, then. It wouldn’t do any good to have someone notice that I’m not in the castle.”
Picking up the oars, he glanced back into the dark water one more time, hoping beyond hope that he’d see it again.
“There you are,” he crooned, leaning over the edge. “I was wondering if you were going to come out tonight.”
The bluish light flickered far beneath the surface. Sam held his hand over the side of the boat and dropped a little girl’s crystal-studded necklace into the water. It twinkled as it sank, reflecting in the strange glow coming from under the waves. Exactly as he’d hoped.
The little light paused, then circled beneath him as it grew brighter.
“You liked that?” Sam whispered to the water’s surface. “I’ll bring you another one soon, then.”
The light increased in intensity, bobbing up to the surface. Sam stared, fascinated. “You’ve never come this close before,” he said aloud. “Maybe I’ll finally get to see what you are.”
He imagined any one of the numerous deep-sea fish that he’d read about, lights running along their sides to lure smaller creatures into their open maws. “What are you doing so far from home?” he mused.
A large, dark shadow passed beneath the rowboat. Sam raised his eyebrow as it veered around the little light, moving quickly. Other shadows joined it, creating small waves that rocked his boat.
“That doesn’t look good.” He stood, trying to get a better view, then jumped in surprise as something made a puffing sound in the silence. Ocean spray coated his arm and Sam whirled to see where it had come from. The floorboards rocked beneath his feet, and he knelt back down, grabbing the side of the boat to steady himself.
A large black tail, like that of a giant whale, broke the water beside him. He smiled, settling back down on his seat. “Just a whale, eh? You scared me.”
Another one surfaced beside him, its black and white face unlike any he’d ever seen before. It opened its mouth, almost like it was smiling hello back at him. Huge teeth lined the creature’s maw.
Sam sat back in shock and grabbed his oars. “Maybe not a harmless whale, after all. It looks like it’s time to get back to shore, then. I haven’t seen anything with teeth like that before.”
“Do you always talk to yourself when you’re alone?”
“Who’s there?” Sam demanded. Only the silence of the night answered him, as he was far away from any other boats. “Who just said that?” he tried again.
“Me.” Small, feminine hands gripped the side of his boat, and a little head popped up over the edge. She was young, probably not more than eleven or twelve years old.
“What on earth are you doing out here?” Sam demanded. He grabbed her hand, ready to pull her into the boat. “There are huge fish down there. With teeth. I’ve never seen the like before.”
“I know,” she replied with a giggle. “They usually leave me alone. But they’re acting strangely tonight.”
“They usually leave you alone?” He stared at her, baffled. “Why are you swimming with them, and do your parents know where you are? That’s dangerous.”
She laughed again, a lilting melody that made him shiver. “Why don’t you come find out? Swim with me.”
He blinked at her. “No. You need to get in the boat so I can take you to shore. It’s dangerous to come out this far, especially at night.”
It was the girl’s turn to stare at him, her brow wrinkled in confusion. “I don’t want to go to shore. I want you to swim with me. Get in the water.”
He sat back. “No. What are you? Some kind of fairy? Or have I fallen asleep and this is a dream?”
“I’m definitely not a fairy,” she replied, letting go of the boat. “And I don’t think you’ve fallen asleep, unless I have too.” She glided through the water, swimming so smoothly that he couldn’t even see her moving. Pale blue light emanated from a bauble on her wrist.
“That light… I see it very far down there occasionally.” Sam said. “Did you somehow catch it? What’s it coming from?”
She smiled. “Come into the water if you want to find out. I can show you.”
“I said no,” he replied, getting annoyed. “I’m not playing with you, little girl. It’s way past time both of us went home, so get in the boat. I can’t just leave you out here. My name is Sam, what’s yours?”
“And I said to get in,” the little girl demanded. She glared at him, her eyes flashing with that same eerie light that emanated from her wrist.
He picked up his oars. “I mean it. I’m leaving. Give me your hand so I can pull you in.”
She gave him one last glower, then dove. He started to protest, but the words died on his lips as her long, blonde hair drifted to the side, revealing her smooth back tapering into scales.
“Wait, scales?” he said aloud. “That’s impossible.”
But it wasn’t. Her luminous skin, shimmering in the moonlight, definitely stopped at the waist. Overlapping scales covered her form from there down, creating a long, supple fish tail, complete with wide fins at the end.
“What on earth is going on here?” he wondered aloud. She went under and he watched the little bluish light - the same light he’d been tossing bits of food and other nonsense to for months - dance along the ocean’s floor before disappearing for good.
Shaking his head, Sam began to row. “I must have dreamt that,” he said aloud.
All at once, the water erupted around him. Black and white whales surfaced, blowing air out of the holes atop their heads, spraying him with saltwater. Sam wiped his face just in time to see the little girl come shooting out of the water toward him, hands outstretched and terror in her eyes.
“Help!” she screamed in panic.
One of the monstrous whales was directly behind her, its mouth gaping open. Its teeth glistened in the moonlight, just inches from the girl’s tail fin.
Sam grabbed her wrist and hauled her aboard as he flung an oar into the whale’s mouth. It crunched down, splintering the wood as though it were no more than a twig.
Angry about losing the fish-girl, the monster thrashed in the water, looking for something else to sink its teeth into. Sam threw her against the bottom of the boat and dove on top of her, holding her steady as the waves tossed them around.
“What’s happening?” he demanded. Cold water splashed over the side, drenching them both as the boat rocked violently. Sputtering, Sam sat up to see that the whales, or whatever they were, were breaching the water’s surface, throwing their massive bodies up and crashing down with huge splashes.
He grabbed the other oar and frantically began to row. “We have to get out of here before they capsize us. Stay down, and tell me what’s going on!”
Helpless, she just looked up at him. “I - I have no idea. They’ve never done this before,” she replied. “It’s like they don’t even know me.”
“Know you?” he repeated as he tugged on a rope, dropping the little vessel
’s only sail. It caught in the wind and began to pull them to safety, gaining speed as they rushed toward shore. “What do you mean, know you?”
One last whale, one of the largest, chose that moment to leap, twisting its body in the air for a heart-wrenching moment. Sam grabbed the girl’s hand and jumped, pulling her into the water with him.
The boat splintered, exploding as the monstrous animal landed right on top of it. Sam floated for a moment, paralyzed by the shockwave that reverberated through the water. The girl’s fingers slipped from his hand as another whale swam beneath them, its white spots nearly glowing in the ocean’s depths.
Something grabbed his hair and pulled, hard, tugging him toward the surface. The little fish-girl darted around him, swimming faster than he could have imagined.
“What are you?” he tried to ask again. Water flooded his mouth, then lungs. He coughed on reflex, desperate for air.
There was none.
At least Sebastian’s back. It’s his turn to deal with the kingdom, anyway. Sam thought as his lungs burned and his vision began to fade. Who knew drowning would be so painful?
The wrenching pain on his scalp stopped all of a sudden. The little girl with the blue light grabbed his arm and kept pulling, desperate to reach the shore.
It’s okay, Sam tried to tell her as a whale darted at them. Just let me go. They’ll eat you before we get to the beach.
The whale veered away, writhing in the water. Something swam around it, jabbing at it with a long stick.
Sam’s head finally broke the surface as she got him to air. The little girl wrapped abnormally strong arms around his chest and squeezed, ejecting water from his lungs.
He sputtered, coughing up more seawater as he tried to suck in a breath. A wave toppled over them, forcing him back under. His arms slipped from her grip and he sank.
The little fish-girl dove for him. Black and white whales circled them, weaving between them as they blocked the way to the surface.
Sam tried to swim, sluggishly pulling his arms through the water. It did no good.
Blue light suffused the water, radiating out from the little girl. Sam barely made out her face, mouth open in a strange, distorted scream that pierced his ears, even underwater.
The whales backed off for a few seconds, then came back at her.
Red light flooded the ocean this time, coming from somewhere behind Sam. The same piercing shriek sounded again, but much, much louder this time. The little girl’s blue light flickered for a moment, then intensified, as though she was trying to keep up.
Something tangled in Sam’s hair again, jerking him through the water as they sped toward the surface.
He didn’t even care that it burned. The need for air was scorching him from the inside out.
Whales dove around them, agitated but keeping their distance. Whoever, or whatever, was pulling him slowed and thrust him toward the little girl. She snatched him up and finished the trip.
Their heads broke the surface again and Sam sucked in a deep breath. She held him up while he breathed greedily, coughing out the rest of the seawater for his efforts.
“We have to get out of here,” the little fish-girl hissed. “There’s something wrong with the whales. And now Celeste is here, and she’s going to kill me for leaving the castle. If she comes up, do not talk to her!”
“Why not?” Sam wheezed. “She saved us.”
“Why don’t you listen to anything I say?” the girl demanded. “There must be something wrong with me.”
A whale came too close, flashing monstrous teeth at them only to veer back away when something - Celeste, Sam thought - darted into its side. Blood tinged the water in her wake.
Red scales, the color of rubies, flashed in the moonlight. Sam stared, fascinated.
She looked up and scowled.
“Shit,” the little girl swore. “Hold your breath.”
Sam wanted to tell her to watch her mouth, but barely had time to take a deep breath before they were back underwater. She swam quickly, pulling him to the sandy shoreline.
The other girl kept pace easily, guarding them from the lingering predators. They surfaced twice more, giving Sam enough time to catch his breath before they kept going, and soon his feet were back on the ocean’s floor.
He stood in waist-deep water. The blue-finned girl paused beside him, settling her tail against the bottom and pushing upright on it, nearly standing as well.
“Well. I would say it’s been nice meeting you, but I’m not sure that’s entirely accurate,” Sam managed to wheeze with a shake of his head. “Although it was definitely an adventure.”
“I’m not supposed to talk to you,” she whispered urgently. “Hurry up and go, before Celeste decides not to let you. No one is supposed to know about us.”
The other fish-girl circled them, her red light casting eerie shadows in the dark.
“But I want to say thank you,” he said between coughs. “I would have died out there if it weren’t for you two dragging me back to shore. What are you? How do you breathe underwater, and in the air?”
“No! You can’t talk to Celeste! She’ll kill you!” She ignored the rest of his questions.
Celeste came closer.
“So what am I supposed to do, just stare at her in silence?” Sam quipped in irritation. He refused to think about the threats pouring from the little girl’s mouth. They had just saved him, surely this Celeste person wouldn’t kill him. Right? “That sounds rude...” It hurt to talk, his throat hoarse and raw from the seawater, but he found that he didn't want to stop. He’d never seen anything like them, and the ocean had held his heart since the first time he saw it. He found himself overcome with jealousy that they lived beneath its mysterious waves.
Then Celeste surfaced and Sam discovered that staring in silence was quite possibly all he was capable of. She was gorgeous, in a strange sort of way.
Her dark hair streamed behind her, reaching just past her narrow shoulders as she came up beside them. Her angular face was highlighted by the dimming light that seemed to emanate from her skin. She caught his gaze and bared her teeth.
They were sharp. Almost as scary as the whales she’d saved them from. Sam was fascinated.
She can definitely take care of herself. No fainting miss here. He smiled at her in return, nearly laughing when she tilted her head in confusion.
“Thank you for saving my life. I didn’t expect a simple ride in the boat to get quite so interesting this evening.” He was proud that he didn't sound as dumbfounded as he felt.
Her face smoothed, losing some of the angular shape the longer she was out of the water. Sam glanced over to see that his little blue-finned companion looked positively normal now as well, albeit very pretty for a girl her age.
Normal aside from the tail, that is.
“What are you two?” he asked in wonder. Damn it, and I was doing so well not sounding like a complete simpleton.
Celeste bared her teeth again and grabbed the younger girl’s wrist.
“No, wait -” Sam took a step forward in the water. Just talk to me, he wanted to beg.
They dove, lights suddenly extinguished in the swirling water. Sam thought he felt one of them brush against his leg and then they were gone, lost to the inky depths.
“This has been an exceptionally strange day.”
Chapter 2
Celeste
“What were you thinking?!” Celeste demanded, jerking Lahni along behind her. They darted through the open ocean, heading for cover on the seafloor. Orcas were still searching for them up above, but luckily hadn’t seen them sneak by. Celeste wanted to put as much distance between them and the hunting whales as possible.
“You could have been killed! Or worse, captured by that human!” she hissed in anger. “I can’t believe you would do something so stupid and irresponsible! The Princess of Morwen should not be gallivanting around, fraternizing with humans!”
“You fraternized with him, too!” Lahni shot back.
Celeste stopped, flipping around in the water to glare in Lahni’s face. “I was saving you. Only you. Because I knew you would keep going after him, no matter what it cost you. If I thought for an instant that you would have let him go, his body would be drifting in the currents right now.”
“I - I know.” Lahni looked away. “He was out there because of me. The whales too, I think. I couldn’t let him die like that.”
“What do you mean, he was out there because of you?! Have you been spending time with a human?” The very ocean around Celeste grew heated as she tried to control her rage. “Lahni, that’s forbidden! I know I don’t need to remind you what the punishment is for revealing yourself to the other species!”
“No! Tonight was the first night that I spoke to him, I swear! I wasn’t even going to do that -”
Celeste gave her a glare of disbelief.
“Honest, I wasn’t going to talk to him, but he gave me the most amazing necklace.” Lahni’s voice softened as she held it out to her older sister. It was simple enough, just two strands of silver chain, decorated with tiny aquamarine pendants.
“You have dozens of necklaces at home. Much finer than this,” Celeste muttered as they began swimming again, incredulous at Lahni’s foolishness. “Are you really so desperate for trinkets that you would accept them from a human?”
“It’s not like that!” Lahni shot back, clutching the necklace to her chest as Celeste pulled her along. They slowed as they reached a coral reef. “He hasn’t ever dropped anything like this before. Usually it’s just food, or little things he’s found along the beach. Shiny pebbles, a few sand dollars, a piece of coral. This is the first thing he’s given me that wasn’t originally from the ocean.”
“He’s been giving you trash. Fantastic.”