Dance of the Mermaids

Chapter 4 - Sea Gods

Fiorentina

I sank into the water like a heavy rock. As soon as my body met water, I shifted into a mermaid. It was a shock to the system. It was my first time to change back from a human. I felt almost like my brand-new legs were being sewn together, but I was too drunk from all the wine I had from the ball to care that much. The sting felt like it traveled from my waist to my new toes, which fused and became enveloped by a tail. It happened in about two beats, but I still felt every bit of the transformation. The legs binding together should not feel as uncomfortable for someone whose natural form was half-fish, but somehow it did. Scales wrapped my legs rapidly, tightening around them until they were gone.

While I expected to feel awkward in my new legs, I did not expect to feel the same on my first shift back to merfolk shape.

It was probably the wine.

I flailed about, but I sank like a little helpless pebble.

"Fiorentina!"

Oh, gods. I almost forgot I had a mother. Her furious scream woke me up, as it always did. I had too much of a lovely time with the drunk prince until I realized he had no plans to release me. It was probably past midnight, and I was only meant to walk around for a little bit. Explore. Get rid of that sense of adventure.

However, it only made me long for more.

"Yes, mother. I'm here. In one piece."

Finally, I managed to control my swim and faced my angry mother. Her face was red, and her eyes were so wide I thought they would pop out.

"It's very late! What were you doing? Where did you go? Do you know that I was anxious and worried? While I told you that the depths are more dangerous than the ground above, remember that humans killed your father."

In his merman form, I thought, but I did not want to add fuel to the fire.

"I'm here now. I'm safe. I -," I faltered, wondering if telling my mother about the ball was wise. Dancing with a drunk prince and causing a scuffle between two royal brothers were not exactly great arguments for being allowed to rise to the surface again.

"Are you drunk, Fiorentina?"

How could my mother have such a grating voice? Weren't mermaids supposed to be known for melodic voices that drive men mad because of their haunting loveliness? This was not the case with my mother. She would likely drive everyone mad with her nagging.

Of course, she was not always like that. When my father was still alive, she was the sweetest mother and wife anyone could ever wish for. I understood that she was afraid of losing Fiorea and me. At least she did not have anything to worry about with my older sister. She was more obedient, while I was more like my father. I needed to see things for myself.

The face in the mirror was a trigger, yes, but only because something in me was already itching to explore.

"Um, I may have sipped a little of it," I hedged, although I knew I would not get away with an outright lie.

"I can smell it. Do you think the saltwater will take away the scent? You must have drunk too much. Where did you get it?"

"I'm too tired, mother. Let's talk about it tomorrow."

"It is tomorrow," she sighed. "But go ahead and sleep. You need it. I don't want you looking like a wreck when Radu comes tomorrow."

"Tomorrow? I thought he wouldn't be here until at least -," I racked my brain for anything my mother might have said in the past. I was pretty sure there was no day given, which often meant that it would still be days away.

"I heard that he likes making surprise visits. I heard whispers. It seems that Clara is prepared for it. She thinks that she is superior to the other mermaids just because she has a tiny drop of god blood in her."

"She can have Radu," I sighed.

For a brief moment, the face of the sour prince flashed before me. That was how I saw the two prince brothers: the drunk one and the sour one. Prince Evan, the drunk one, seemed like a lot of fun, but he was also unreliable. On the other hand, Prince Alexander was responsible. I would not go as far as saying that he was kind but probably honorable. He made sure I got home. He seemed preternaturally upset, but I saw a little smile from him when I arrived. Then again, that was before he and his brother had to engage in a scuffle just to get me home. Prince Alexander saved my life.

My eyes suddenly widened in alarm.

All hints of drunkenness were gone from my system. He took me home. It meant that he saw me swaying by the edge of the water. Then, what? I was fairly sure he saw me shift. After all, it did not look like he had left. He was the sort of man who would wait to see if a lady was safe before he headed home. I remembered how uncertain he was about my decision to go by the water. After all, what human would go home by the edge of the sea?

If I were not drunk, I would have waited for him to leave before shifting into mermaid form. Of course, I did not think.

Prince Evan gave me the drink. I should have suspected he was giving me wine. I suspected, but I still drank. I needed to see Prince Alexander as soon as I could. I wanted to see how he took the sight. Would people be waiting with torches by the seashore? I shuddered at the thought.

"Go and sleep. Didn't you say you should be sleeping by now? You will make yourself pretty for Radu tomorrow."

Should I? Perhaps I should. Because of the kinds of trouble I tended to get myself into, I should get some protection from a sea god.

***

The morning came so soon. I could barely open my eyes. Nevertheless, Fiorea made sure she pulled at my hair to wake me up. She knew I hated that.

"Ouch, why would you do that?"

"Radu might come any moment. Would you want him to see you like that?"

"Does it matter? He's more than willing to choose any mermaid, regardless of whether she wants him. He can choose me while I sleep and marry me as such," I grounded out, but I still stretched and rose from my shell bed.

"Comb your hair, Fiorentina. Come and let me pinch your cheeks. You look pale, and your eyes are slightly red."

Before I could protest, Fiorea pinched my cheeks so hard I suspected that she did it for something else other than prettifying me. Then, she could not wait for me to do anything anymore. She took out her own precious comb and started passing its teeth through my scraggly hair. Despite my grunts of pain, she continued passing the comb down until she was happy.

"Ah, now you don't look half so bad," she said, admiring her "creation." I badly wanted to look in a mirror, but I did not want them to think I was eager to look pretty for Radu.

"What does he look like, anyway? Radu? Isn't he ancient? If he were ancient, why did you not try to prepare yourself for him, too? Does he have a particular age in mind? Does he like children?"

"Oh shush. You're not a child anymore, Fiorentina. You can now shift on land. As for Radu, many say he looks very handsome," Fiorea's voice took on a dreamy tone.

"Then, why are you not preparing for him?" I retorted. I had no patience for this, lining up for some merman to choose among us. It was degrading.

The next few hours were spent pretending we did not know that Radu was coming. In fact, I started suspecting that he was not coming at all, and my mother simply wanted me sober for the day. However, Clara's shifty look made me think there must be some truth in what my mother said.

Then, there was a clamor a few meters away. We saw merfolks rushing to make a line. Of course, we were expected to receive Triton's descendant, though I did not know what to expect from the sea gods. Did they punish merfolks who did not obey or did not show respect? I surely did not want to die.

I could hear some mermaids giggling. Was it a good giggle or a bad one? A good giggle would mean that Radu was as handsome as reported, but a bad one meant that he looked so terrible it was funny. Clara was absolutely preening, chin held up high. Her red hair was donned up in curls, pinned with seashells and corals. Even I had to admit she looked beautiful. It made me touch my hair consciously. Even if I did not want to be chosen from a lineup of mermaids, I did not want to look horrendous. It was either I looked horrible, or I would look the prettiest. There should be nothing in between.

Using both hands, I tousled my hair. Not content with that, I shook my head a little more to create a look of chaos. My mother gasped. I saw my sister gaping at me in horror in the corner of my eye. She should have fixed herself, although she looked pretty. Her dark hair shone and floated majestically behind her.

"Good morning, mermaids and mermen of Fire Coral Cove," a smooth-sounding voice boomed.

Was that Radu? He sounded positively handsome if that made sense. Did voices sound like that?

Then, through my curtain of hair, I saw him. He was beautiful, with his long blonde hair reaching his shoulders. His eyes were pale blue, and his chest was broad and muscular. Even the lower half of the body seemed to shine, looking more like gems than scales.

"Good morning, Your Highness!" Clara called out.

Who said she was supposed to welcome the sea god? Wasn't that supposed to be Tante Mercelle's job?

"Good morning, fair mermaid," Radu said, grinning at Clara. Even his teeth were pearly white. I tried to remember seeing the human princes' teeth, but I was probably too intoxicated to notice, and Prince Alexander frowned most of the evening.

Much to Clara's chagrin, the prince did not stay in front of her. He swam forward and met the other merfolks. He made sure each one of them felt at ease with him. I had to admit that he was not how I expected him to be. He seemed like a merman any mermaid would want to marry. Suddenly, lining up for him was not that terrible a thought.

And yet…

"Who’s this one? Good morning,” he gave me an amused smile as I tried to fix my messy hair.

“Good morning, Prince Radu. I apologize for the state of my hair. It usually has a mind of its own.”

He laughed at that. It was a booming laugh, but it was not unpleasant. It sounded like music to my ears. Was this sea god seducing me with his geniality? Of course, his exquisite looks and physique were very much welcome.

“I like you,” he murmured with a lopsided grin.

Did he just say that?

“Thank you, Your Highness,” I nodded, further messing up my hair.

I could hear my mother’s breath catch. I knew that she would have already pinched me, but the prince was right there, and she wouldn’t dare.

“My prince, we welcome you to Fire Coral Cove,” Tante Mercelle finally said, seemingly appearing from nowhere. “How may we be in service to you?”

“As you all know, I am searching for a wife.”

The declaration was met with several gasps as if they did not know about his arrival all along. I held back an exasperated sigh. The sea god was too close.

“I have visited many coves on this side of the sea, but I haven’t found anyone to capture my heart yet. I want to get to know the young mermaids of Fire Coral Cove, Tante Mercelle.”

“How do you propose to get to know them?” the wise mermaid asked.

I thought about humans and their balls. Could we have something as fun as that under the sea? If we had those, I had never been to one yet. Most ordinary merfolks marry for love. A few rare ones chose their partners based on who could help them best with their goals. Sometimes I felt that others simply chose randomly because very few swam to the other coves. Of course, those mermen visited other coves to look for wives. We had some mermen visit us, as well. Then, they took their wives with them to their own coves.

There were no balls.

“I would meet with a few of the young mermaids, with a chaperone, of course. Then, I would choose a few that I would see more of and have a conversation with. Hopefully, I can pick my wife from this cove.”

“Will there be a ball?” I found myself asking.

My sister sighed audibly. When she realized that she had done so aloud, she primly covered her lips with her hands.

“Will you all want something like that?” asked Radu, gazing at the citizens of Fire Coral Cove.

There was a resounding “yes.” Even Clara looked thrilled at the idea. There would be dancing and a lot more. Would there be wine? I was giddy with the thought of having a little party under the sea. We could do what humans do, too.

“Isn’t that like a human feast? Do we need to have that?” asked grumpy Daisy. Daisy was a blonde mermaid who could have been a little prettier if not for her constantly sour face.

Sour.

The image of Prince Alexander flashed through my mind. What did he think of my transformation? Was he afraid? Disgusted by my fins? I reminded myself that I was a blessed child of the gods. We were mermaids, skin, and scales in one, with powerful lungs made for breathing underwater. We had tiny, almost imperceptible gills on each side of our necks. Because we could walk on land whenever we shifted, we were a much better species than humans.

Suddenly, I could barely hear the noise underwater. Everyone seemed happy about the prince’s decision to hold a ball for and in the cove. I recalled the human women I saw floating on the water's surface. One had my face.

“We will have the ball when I’ve chosen one of the mermaids to marry,” Radu's voice managed to seep through the growing murkiness.

I hoped then that I could solve the mystery before the ball under the sea. I might be a little vain, thinking that the sea god was interested in me, but I could feel his gaze burning on my face, messy hair be damned.