Dance of the Mermaids

Chapter 6 - Daydreams and Nightmares

Fiorentina

Getting noticed by Radu gave me a thrill. Maybe Mother was right. I should have at least fixed my hair. If I must admit the truth, though, it would be that I wanted the merman god to think of me as beautiful.

Everyone was abuzz after Radu left the Cove. Young mermaids chattered among themselves, some claiming that it was them that the sea god paid the most attention to. I expected Carla to be among these boisterous maidens, but she was uncharacteristically quiet. Instead of hovering about with the rest of the mermaids, she slithered about near her cave. I caught her eyeing me once.

It was not unfriendly, not really, but it was more curious. Carla knew that it was not the type of thing I indulged in - this preening for a would-be suitor, even if he were a god. Radu was handsome, sure, but I was more interested in the ball. It was high time that we had one. Our Cove had always been a little stale, in my opinion. Of course, if I managed to marry a sea god, my mother would be out of my hair.

“He was watching you more than the others,” my sister confirmed. Of course, she was thrilled about the idea, but I still did not understand why she never lined up along with the rest. She was much prettier than many of the other mermaids, and she had a good head on her shoulders. I would think she would be a better sea princess and overall ruler than many, if not all, of us.

“It was easy enough to catch his attention with my hair all over the place,” I reminded her.

“That was not a good stunt, Fiorentina,” my mother chimed in. “However, he seemed to be interested in you. You must look better next time. I know you have a competitive edge. Use it over Clara.”

When your own mother encouraged you to have rivalries, things were too intense. How beneficial would it be to be married to a sea god when you were still female? We still had to wander the same depths, see the same merfolks. I wanted to see more of the world beyond this. I had a glimpse, and I wanted more.

The mermaids who had turned eighteen summers had ventured on the land above. How was it possible that they did not long to return? Was it that so many of them still held on to old familiar things?

The mirror showed me that my life could be different – and that what I had might not be all that was out there. The mystery beckoned to me like the drunk prince who invited me to a ball without knowing much about me, like the eyes of his serious brother – blue and deep like the sea. Who was to say who belonged to who and if we could be tied down to one thing?

“What do you think about Radu, Fiorentina?” my sister asked, breaking into my rare philosophizing.

“He is handsome,” I said, raising an eyebrow at her. Of course, he should be. After all, he was descended from sea gods. I had to admit I thought he would look older. Nobody really knew how old he was, but he looked no older than most of us. Radu looked like he was about twenty or so summers, but who knew? I had heard of his name even when I was little.

“Do you feel a little flutter when you saw him?” Fiorea prodded.

“Flutter? Do you mean did I feel shivery when I saw him? Mm.”

“Stop teasing and tell me, Fiorentina,” she almost begged. My sister seemed younger than me, then. Why she had decided on being a spinster and staying with our mother was a mystery to me. She could marry someone from the Cove and stay near Mother. It was the way it was with us. The Fire Coral Cove merfolks did not venture much beyond a certain point. After my father’s death, fear reigned in the Cove for a long while. The few adventurers who left to find wives elsewhere rarely returned to tell us more about what was beyond the stretch of seawater that we were familiar with. The ones who returned seemed to cleave to the Cove so much that we felt they might have feared what they saw. Mermen would be too proud to say anything was frightening. They would make excuses such as wanting to settle down with their brides.

The mermen sent on errands on land were Tante Mercelle’s most trusted ones. They were loyal to her, and their ventures on land were merely done to find her some of the rarest ingredients she needed for her potions. Perhaps all the comings and goings also made them numb to the land’s pleasures. There was also that danger of dying when merfolk slept on land. The mermen would not dare make merry with spirits above. They would bring their bottles of wine near the shoe, drink them there, and sink into the waters safely. It was almost exactly what I had done.

Merfolks hated land food and wine. That was what everybody was told. It was all a lie.

“I – I don’t know. I was too busy trying to look through all my hair and imagining what he was seeing at that time,” I said sincerely. I believed I was pretty sincere. I was being honest about not feeling the flutters. When I saw Radu, I felt caught, like when we had to attend sea school when we were younger, and the teacher realized I had not prepared for my oral tests. I was often the best swimmer, diving further into the depths even when I was only eight summers.

“Right, Tina,” Fiorea grumbled, folding her arms in front of her chest.

“How can you force me to feel things for this sea god? I do admire how handsome he is. I have not seen any merman as handsome,” I tried to appease my sister. I noted how I made sure I said merman instead of anyone. My mind went back to the human brothers. It was probably because they had two strange legs. They were different, and I almost always leaned towards the different.

“The other mermaids were looking at you enviously the whole time. But here you are, saying you did not care about this sea god beyond a passing admiration?”

My sister shook her head in disbelief.

“Forget Radu, then. Think about all the pearls you will get when you are chosen to marry him. You will get all these treasures and more beautiful mirrors from the best merfolk makers.”

She knew where to dig. Though I always tried not to be openly vain, Fiorea knew how I treasured my glass mirrors. She knew that when I made myself look my best, it was for myself and nobody else. Yet there was that strange delight – not flutters – when Radu stopped to talk to me, when the drunk prince begged me to stay, and when the sour prince first saw me. I swore I saw pleasure in his eyes, then. I reasoned it must be his brother’s behavior that made him change over the course of the night.

He seemed to like what he saw when we met. Suddenly, I wanted to explore the land again – see if the brothers had been looking for me. I wondered if they could recognize me in the light of day and without the influence of alcohol. Perhaps Fiorea was right. The biggest dream come true would be to be married off to a sea god. Mermaids belonged to the sea.

“Listen to your sister, Fiorentina. You will marry one day, anyway. It would be better to be a sea god than Lester or Hector,” she advised, naming two of my least favorite mermen. Lester was too lazy, and Hector thought he was the most handsome merman in the Cove.

“Ugh. You know I’m interested in neither, Mother.”

“Exactly! Guess how many other choices you have in the Cove.”

“I could always explore, swim to the other Coves.”

“That’s not how it works, Tina,” my sister reminded me. “The mermen travel. We stay in our Coves.”

“But we can occasionally rise to the land?”

I found the idea preposterous. At eighteen, we could go on land and see it for what it was, but we could not venture into other sea territories unless we were mermen.

“Nobody really wants to have fun there, Fiorentina,” Fiorea said. “The threat of death is too big. Sleep on land, and you die.”

My eyes narrowed, remembering my near-death experience. Would going on land to learn more about these two-legged creatures be worth the risk? I needed to find out more about the vision – of myself floating dead over the water.

“Okay, but I might go on the shore again tomorrow. Will you come with me, Fiorea?”

“No. I am better off here. Do not take long, though. Mother, can Fiorentina rise on land?”

“She can. No more drinking this time, or I will not allow you to return.”

“Can you do that, Mother? I am eighteen summers. Can you prevent me from returning to land?”

“Yes, I can. Tante Mercelle will prevent you from turning for at least a moon cycle.”

A whole month.

“I won’t drink, I promise. I won’t go today. I need to do some swimming. Maybe, one day, Radu will take me to the farthest point of the sea, where it flows into the ocean. Therefore, I need a lot of practice,” I smirked at the two of them. Fiorea rolled her eyes, contenting herself with her crafts again, hovering about, putting seashells together.

“Fiorea? I’m going swimming.”

Silence.

So, I went. This time, I knew where to go. I hoped that Carla would not notice that I was planning to cross the safe territory because I knew she would squeal. I wanted to check the wreckage for the mirror.

It did not take me long to find the wreck, too close to the deep-sea trench where I found the mirror. I slipped my hand through the cracks, straining and cursing. Did I throw the mirror too far into it? I pushed my arm until my elbow hit some snag from the rotten wood. I cursed again, loudly and without fear that my mother would hear me.

Then, I felt it. It seemed colder even against the cold of the deep sea I was in. It was the mirror. I hurriedly pulled at it. Hard. The action caused wooden splinters to gash on my arm. Warm blood trickled out. I was too preoccupied with finding the mirror that I did not care. Neither was I afraid. Sharks did not venture much into our Cove and its environs. When they did, our mermen were quick with their spears.

My arm bled, but the mirror was intact. It seemed as clear as it was the other day. There was nothing on it – not even a flicker or shimmering. I knew I was not drunk yet when I took it out of where it used to rest.

I looked in the mirror. Suddenly, it looked as ordinary as the ones I owned – except I knew it was not. I sighed in disappointment. I used it to inspect the dark circles around my eyes. I had not been sleeping well. The excitement of the mirror and the encounter with the princes on land had somehow made a mark on my face. Had Radu noticed? Was it amusement that he felt instead of attraction? I would not be surprised.

Then, there it was. A flicker. A shimmering shimmer came in undulating waves in grey, blue, and purple. The dead women were there again, washed ashore. Motionless and grey. The one who looked like me had crimson lips, a cosmetic look that human women enjoyed. The royal women from the ball barely had any, though. Their lips were more pink than red. The woman with my face had red lips. I wondered if she was a woman of the night, but a part of me rebelled against that. It could not be. This woman was somehow linked to me. I could not – would not – believe that she was a w***e.

As the mirror changed the angle of its view, I saw that the woman was holding on to her belly. I gasped. There was blood seeping from her belly, staining her white dress. As the image grew smaller and smaller, I saw more of her body. She was wearing dainty shoes. Soft, looking like satin. I marked each detail that I saw. I would need each of them when I tried to find out more about who she was – or if she was me, in another life.

Just as I was about to return the mirror into the wreck, the scene changed. Suddenly, I saw myself rising from the sea. I knew it was me this time because of the mermaid tail. I transformed. I walked to the chest as I did before and slipped on a beautiful cotton dress. Twirling around, I let my bare feet savor the feeling of sand. The grainy texture pressed against the sole of my feet. I walked on.

Then, I saw him. It was a shrouded figure, dark against the sun rays streaking through him from behind. He strode towards me. After a while, the pacing sped up. Then, he was running. Before I could react, he lunged at me with a dagger. Then, he plunged it deep into my chest.

I screamed, dropping the mirror. It sank deeper and deeper, returning to the trench I took it from. This time, I was in no rush to retrieve it. It felt too real. While the vision showed the figure stabbing what looked to be myself, I felt some pain. The pain that clutched at my chest was worse than the one I felt on my arm, still bleeding.

Was that a warning of things to come?

Was I told not to go up there?

The mirror had sent the message to the wrong mermaid. Showing that I was in danger persuaded me that I had to be up there. I had a few mysteries to solve.