A mermaid and a corsair
Natalie Yacobson
Translator Natalia Lilienthal
© Natalie Yacobson, 2023
© Natalia Lilienthal, translation, 2023
ISBN 978-5-0060-8628-9
Created with Ridero smart publishing system
A mission for the pirates
There she is! The sea creature, which had recently taken control of the ship, clapped its clawed hands in triumph. I got her at last! It is your duty to deliver her to King of Opal. And be quickly!
Her? Desmond looked doubtfully at the silver net spread over the sea. It was not the Princess of the Seas, but a heavy gilded chest with runic inscriptions.
Morgen must have gone mad trying to get revenge on the sea king. Desmond clenched his fingers on the hilt of his saber, expecting the crew to mutiny, but none of his corsairs moved. They all stared at the catch like hypnotized men. He guessed its the magic marks engraved on the lid. They take away peoples thoughts. Then why hadnt he fallen under their influence himself? It must be the amulet. Desmond lovingly stroked the silver pendant given to him by a young witch on the coast who had fallen in love with him. Cassandra was well versed in sea enchantments and how to defend against them. There was a reason she was considered a worthy follower of the famous coastal sorceress Rokuela.
But the huge oblong chest that had been caught in the net looked more like treasure from a shipwreck than a personal item of the Morgens. Morgens, as the sea-dwellers were called, were creepy, ugly monsters. One of them, for some reason, decided to betray the sea king. It approached Desmond in a tavern on the pirate island of Peony and began to exhort him:
You are a brave corsair and a corsair captain. You need to get something from King of Opal to rule the seas, and King of Opal needs a princess of the sea. I will catch her for you, but you will deliver her to Opal.
Desmond was drunk at the time of the conversation, but not drunk enough not to suspect that he was being lured into a trap. However, a few leading questions settled the conversation in the morgens favor.
I want revenge on the sea king, he confessed at the end of the conversation, hiding his monstrous body under a cloak made from a scrap of black sail.
Youre taking a risk! Even all who sail the seas are at his mercy. And whats it like for those who live in the water?
Its a lot to ask for a broken heart.
Desmond didnt even know the morgen had a heart, but the creature pressed his hand to his chest. There beneath the bones and slime was indeed a ball of black muscle beating beneath what looked like a human heart.
Desmond was willing to go to great lengths to please the ruler of Opal. After all, the wizard who had recently taken control of piracy ruled there. If you dont please him, you cant plunder the seas. In the last decade, corsair fishing has become extremely difficult. The sea king does not let you sail the seas without his permission, on the other hand are the rulers-sorcerers of coastal countries. Either pay tribute to all of them or sink.
Not surprisingly, Desmond agreed to the absurd proposal of the morgen, not even thinking about what punishment awaits them all in case of failure. And so the morgen spread a silver net over the sea, and in it instead of the princess was caught a shining chest. Desmond was not discouraged. The chest could be resold at the market in Pion. After all, it was made of scarlet gold. The magic symbols engraved on it might scare many away, but Cassandra would know where to find a magic buyer. Desmond had turned to her more than once when no one wanted to buy valuable items that supposedly bore a curse.
The chest was too heavy. Even a dozen pirates couldnt drag it onto the deck, but morgen was able to lift it over the side and bring it aft at once. How could the net not be torn by the weight of the thing? The net itself disappeared as soon as the chest was on the ship.
Now sail to Opal! Morgen commanded. Change course before they miss it.
Desmond couldnt understand what the morgen was up to, but he gave the command anyway.
Wheres the Princess of the Sea? He asked after a pause. Why did King of Opal need her so badly?
It is for the wedding, of course.
What wedding is it?
It is the royal wedding.
Had the King of Opal thought of getting married? I remember hes a wizard and a bachelor.
Thats why he chose the daughter of the sea king as his bride. Only problem is, she didnt choose him. She must be forced to make the right choice. This chest will solve King Opals wedding problem, and you will be rewarded.
Thats even better than catching the princess! Desmond was already afraid that Cassandras amulet would not save him from the fury of the angry sea sorceress. After all, everyone knows that the sea kings daughters are powerful sorceresses. For them to create a storm and sink an entire fleet is worthless. If King of Opal pulls off his marriage scam and marries such a sorceress, he will become the most powerful ruler among all the coastal kingdoms.
Do I have the right to ask a favor from the king instead of a monetary reward? Desmond asked the morgen.
It will be easy for you to bargain with him when he gets the chest. Just dont open it for the rest of the voyage.
Or else a water genie will come out of it?
It will be bad!
Desmond bit his tongue.
The chest was fluted like a shell.
Do not open it, no matter what sounds come out of it, morgen warned again. Carry the chest closed all the way to Opal. I wont be able to see you off. I have business to attend to!
What business could a sea monster have? Desmond didnt have time to follow the morgens disappearance. It was a muddy puddle on the deck. It splashed into the crew.
Oh, I dont like these signs! Desmond ran his fingers over the runic engravings on the side of the chest. The lid creaked and slid open easily. From the inside, it looked like the sash of an enormous shell.
Morgen had said not to open the chest. Something monstrous might be hidden in it. Desmond instinctively gripped his saber, wondering what kind of monster the sea kings daughter might be. After all, the sea king himself is probably a monster with octopus-like limbs. His daughters might resemble squid, large toads, or a living mountain of clams. Desmond expected to see a creepy sea witch clawing at him with all her tentacles, but he was in for a surprise.
A souvenir from the bottom of sea
In the chest among the shells and pearls slept a beautiful mermaid. She looked ominous. She was dead! Desmond had never seen a dead mermaid before.
One fin moved. Is it a reflex? So is she dead or asleep? She doesnt seem to be breathing, but do mermaids breathe? If they needed air, they wouldnt be underwater.
There are so many jewels! His assistant said. Its a whole treasure trove!
But how do we get them off? Desmond ran his fingers over the large pearls embedded in the mermaids skin. Even the coral crown grew from her forehead. And in her fins were small diamonds and rubies.
Just like a princess of the sea! Desmond whistled in admiration. His knees buckled, as if he had never seen a princess before. Well, maybe hed never seen a sea princess. But hed seen enough earthly ones. Theyre all greedy and scheming! Thats why he became a pirate. Secular society is sometimes worse than a pack of wolves. Pirates are more honest. They rob directly, not bypass them.
I know a rich collector whod buy the whole thing, said the assistant.
No! Desmonds indignation boiled over.
Do you think its more profitable to pick out the stones one by one?
Just leave her alone for now!
He wanted to keep the mermaid as a shrine, but he couldnt tell it to the sea robbers. She was like a goddess who sleeps, but is about to wake up, and then at her will there will be a storm. All the pirates would be swamped like blasphemers who had committed sacrilege. Theyre idiots for agreeing to such a dangerous mission. Its best not to mess with sea deities, but the customer assured that simple amulets would help keep the mermaids magic power in chains.
Her purple lashes fluttered. Or was it just a thought? Desmond caught himself wishing she were alive and earthy.
The crew would laugh at the fact that he missed the harlots always hanging around the harbors. Desmond had long detested the harlots and dancers of Peony Island. But he liked the graceful coastal sorceresses. They were also called sorceresses, enchantresses and wave charmers. They often performed ritual dances on the shore, their dresses spreading sea foam on the sand. Cassandra was one of them. Unlike most blond sea wizards, she had a bright red hair and a stroppy temper. She had once brought down an entire fleet. She simply whispered a spell while standing on the rocks above the waves, and all the ships began to sink in the middle of a calm sea. The storm didnt even start, and the royal frigates that had been launched in pursuit of Desmond were left in splinters. That day the pirates learned to respect the witches of the sea, and Desmond had time to see the tentacles of the kraken that had dragged the ships to the bottom.
I will help you make a contract with the sea kings representatives, Cassandra promised, and that evening she made a deal with a blue-skinned creature that crawled out of the waves. The creature had a shell horn that summoned a sea army of monsters and a golden crest of spikes on its horned head. Cassandra befriended such monsters, and sometimes bargained with them over something.
My help is not disinterested, she liked to say. You will give half of your loot to the sea king, and I will get a tenth of the captains share.
Its good to be king of the sea! You can profit from all the pirates in the world. If you dont pay your tribute to the king, your ship will sink.
Desmond now carried a glowing treaty rolled up in a scroll. If broken or lost, the contract would be broken and the ship would be in trouble.
Greatly, the contract did not contain a single clause forbidding a pirate from kidnapping a sea princess.
You are only mine! Desmond gently ran his finger over her cheek, which was studded with pearls, and hurt himself. The pearls were very sharp.
He was immediately reminded of the forced sacrifices of the captives. The bound beauties were thrown overboard into the sea. Sometimes they were seen being caught by the paws of the morgens sticking out of the waves. Desmond had always watched indifferently, but now it seemed to him that he himself might be sacrificed to the sea creatures.
The webbed hands of the mermaid moved. This was no longer a reflex! The purple webbing resembled lace, but the claws on the mermaids fingers were as sharp as razors. A mermaid could kill if she got her claws on someones throat.
The foam of purple curls around the mermaids face also looked like lace. Desmond hadnt realized that mermaids could be so beautiful. Until now, he had thought Cassandra was the most beautiful girl in the world. It turned out there were more beautiful creatures. Only they werent human!
The sight of the sleeping mermaid frightened the crew, and Desmond didnt want to think about having to part with her. He had kidnapped her for King of Opal, not for himself. And he wanted to keep her for himself.
Merediana will give you a hard time. Youll be sorry you ever touched her! Some nimble crab with a carbuncle in his forehead crawled out of the mermaids hair. Did he really say that? No way! Crabs cant speak human, and the pirates on Desmonds crew cant grunt like old men. So who had said the words?
Desmond looked around. There were legends that some ships were haunted by the ghosts of men who had died at sea, and by clabautermanns, the tree spirits of the masts, who were brought along with the logs to the scaffolding. Dryads, who did not like to leave even felled trees, stayed to live in the logs and thus also became part of the mast or even the carved figure on the bow. Maybe he had something like that on his ship? This ship belonged to another pirate before him. His ghost is probably haunting the place.
And who is Merediana?
Im sorry, who, captain? The mate heard nothing and wondered.
Merediana, Desmond repeated dully. Ive never heard that name before.
Neither have I, Captain.
Maybe thats the name of the wife of the king of the sea?
No, its definitely Lilothea, the mate glanced warily at the waves. But its better not to say her name. They say you can summon her that way. If you say her name over the waves and drip blood, she will appear in the open sea, come to the ship, treading on the waves, and use magic only for harm or for good, it is not known, so it is better not to call her.
The mates fears were understandable. The entire crew still had wounds from the recent battles. Blood could have already dripped into the water, all that was left was to say Lilotheas name. Instead, Desmond whispered instead:
Merediana
A seagull flew over the ship and gave a high-pitched squawk. A bloody stain spread across the big sail. The gulls corpse with its head torn off fell to the deck. Who would have time to rip a seagulls head off in flight?
Open a barrel of the best rum for the crew. Get them drunk and set course to Opal, Desmond told the mate.
He understood and grinned. Better to get the crew drunk than let them talk about the curse. Many of the pirates were already whispering that the chest with the mermaid must be thrown back into the sea or there would be trouble. How superstitious sailors are!
Desmond himself was not particularly superstitious. He often saw creepy morgens on the shore, handing out gold to simpletons, who then became slaves of the sea king. He himself had once taken a few coins from a morgen, and nothing had happened to him after that. But they said that his skin would be covered with slime, he would be unable to breathe, and some force would drag him to the bottom. The morgen gold was said to be paid for by eternal slavery at the bottom.
The morgens coins were kept in Desmonds cabin as a souvenir. Another souvenir from the seas bottom will be a purple mermaid. We should move it to the cabin so the crew wont stare at it. The pirates have a dark look in their eyes. Theyre just waiting for the mermaid to start a riot.
The mermaids fin moved gracefully. Is she really waking up? The fan of purple eyelashes trembled slightly.
Could it be that she is the one called Merediana? Cassandra had once danced on the shore and called the names of all the sea kings daughters in a chant. Desmond could hardly remember them all. There were Yasmin, Aisha, Mirelle, Etea, Anemone, Foletta, Korethia, Mirilla, Serpentina, Amirana, Morelia, and Lorelei. Meredians name, on the other hand, he had not heard.
The sky above the ship was darkening rapidly. A storm must be brewing soon. A stormy wind was blowing. Out of the wind came a chorus of voices:
You are a rebel!
You are a kidnapper!
You have abused the trust of the sea king!
You have desecrated the shrines of the sea!
You have taken on board an unearthly creature!
You are a notorious pirate!
You are marked for doom!
The ominous words echoed in his ears. Desmond expected a storm to come. Instead, it was as if a swarm of piranhas had swooped down on the ship. The Triumphant rocked on the waves and tilted as if a cannonball had hit its side. But no one was firing cannonballs at it. There was no one to do that! No oncoming ships are visible on the horizon, and it seems that the sea battle has already begun.
The crew had no time to react. Desmond regretted getting them drunk. It felt like there was a hole in the bottom and The Triumphator was going down. The helm was unattended. The helmsman was clutched by the tentacles of a large octopus. It began to strangle the poor man. Desmond threw his saber and cut off a couple of tentacles. They hissed and crawled across the deck.