The Tale of a Boy and a Mermaid

[Part One]

[Part Two]

[Part Three]

[Part Four]

[Part Five – Finale]

“All merfolk are now our enemies. A good knight must follow orders without question,” He recited “You wish to be a great knight one day? Like your father?” Not this way, I thought. “I want this mermaid dead, do you understand?”

“Luna…” Her name escaped my lips without thinking. A fire sparked in my chest and I clenched my fists “Her name is Luna.”

The commander slammed his hands on his desk and growled “Get out of my sight, boy.”

I left, dread sinking into my chest. I walked in a daze, towards the training grounds. I had never taken a life before, let alone the life of someone I cared for. In the distance, I noticed Sir Roger as he stumbled a bit as he walked. A goblet of wine was in his hand. Accompanying him were two maidens, with wheat blonde hair and low cut dresses. “Why the sad face, mouse?”

“The commander wants me to kill Paloma’s messenger.”

“Well isn’t that great news? Mouse’s first kill,” he cheered, raising a glass and taking another swig from his cup. “Watch me, mouse, watch,” He picked up the bow and arrow and managed to aim in the direction of the target. His maiden companions simply laughed “pretend… pretend that’s the beast…” He slurred. Sir Roger was more of a beast than Luna could ever be. “Must get ‘em right between the eyes.”

I imagined Luna’s silver sparkling eyes. My heart trembled.

I could not wait for daybreak. I untied a horse from the stables and rode at full gallop in twilight, towards the bay. Collapsing in the sand, I ran to where the ocean met the earth.

“Luna!” I yelled her name in a panic. “Luna, please!”

By some miracle of the sea, she heard me, her head emerging from the water. She smiled at me, unknowing of what was to come. “Henry,” She swam closer to land, her stomach pressed against the moist sand. Her tail slapped against the sea foam with delight. “I brought you a gift.”

“No, no, Luna, you have to listen to me, I -” I knelt down in the water. She extended her webbed hand to show her gift. It was a bracelet made of blue grey pearls and small white shells.

“To merfolk, it’s a symbol of friendship and adoration. I made it myself. Mother showed me.” The mermaid admired her own craftsmanship as she slid the trinket onto my shaking wrist.

I couldn’t breathe. “They want me to kill you.”

Her silver eyes looked up at me. I held the message in the bottle in front of her “The knights of Eros have just declared war on the merfolk of Paloma,” The formal declaration. Those dreaded words. “The commander…he ordered me to kill you.”

Luna was silent for a moment, her pale lips hung open in disbelief. “You said you wished to become a noble warrior, like your father,” Her eyes narrowed; pearl like tears threatened to fall. “Killing a messenger is dishonorable, you know that.”

“A good knight must follow orders…Without question…” I recited the commander’s words with disgust.

Betrayal clouded her eyes. My heart was broken.

She returned into the sea, slipping back into the water.

I drew back my bow and arrow.

That day, I became a noble knight.

Write with Heart,

Lady Jabberwocky

[Part One]

[Part Two]

[Part Three]

[Part Four]

[Part Five – Finale]

“Why do you not look like the others?” Luna asked, tilting her head curiously to the side.

“What others?” I stood in ankle deep water.

“When we first met, I expected you to be much bigger and much shinier on your chest.” She touched where her heart would be.“Those are the knights. I’m only a knight in training.” In that moment, I wished I was older, a true hero, with my own adventures to boast about. “It-It’s not that exciting… I brush the horses and polish weapons and…”

“And deliver messages,” The mermaid added with the flick of her fin. She smiled at me. “Why do you wish to become a knight?”

“My father was a knight. Barric the Brave, they called him. He was the noblest of knights. He sacrificed himself for the kingdom, when I was an infant. Grandfather says he was a true hero and his bravery runs through my blood.” More than anything, I wanted to become a knight. An honorable knight, to carry on my father’s good name. That was my dream. I wished on many wishing stars for that dream to come true.

We sat on the boulders that reached out towards the horizon. The tip of her fin skimmed the sea. Her tail was beautiful, sparkling like a golden treasure. The scales faded into her cream like skin. Her lavender hair tumbled onto one side. Luna slid back into the water with ease and dared me to join her.

“Can you swim?” She asked, floating on her back and waving her fin.

I nodded timidly, yet something was holding me back. “I…just don’t think it’s a… good idea…”

The mermaid tilted her head and fluttered her big moonbeam eyes. “Do you trust me?”

More than anyone I had ever known.

“Our kingdoms may go to war-“

“We are not enemies yet,” She assured me with a dimpled smile.

I removed my tunic. Heat rushed to my cheeks and ears. I held my breath and jumped, falling into her world. My vision blurred. I caught glimpses of lilac. Felt a brush of scales on my arm. I wished, more than becoming a knight, for that moment to never end.

For a boy and a mermaid to float in the abyss of the ocean for all eternity.

The commander unfurled the scroll in the glass bottle. I waited with baited breath. His fist pounded the desk once, giving me a start “They refuse to cease their actions. An agreement was not met. We have no choice. We must declare war and take Crescent bay.”

“But Sir, Crescent Bay… Is their territory.” I tried to say, meekly.

He glared dangerously at me. I swallowed my bravery. “I’m giving you one more order, boy.” He stood, clasping his hands behind his back and staring at the kingdom’s flag.

“Kill the messenger.”

My eyes widen. “Wh-” Words were lost in my throat. “I..I don’t…don’t understand, sir.” Yes, killing a messenger was a common act back then, if they delivered bad news, or as a sign of hatred between kingdoms. It was a dishonorable act.

“All merfolk are now our enemies. A good knight must follow orders without question.” He recited “You wish to be a great knight one day? Like your father?” Not this way, I thought. “I want this mermaid dead, do you understand?”

“Luna…” Her name escaped my lips without thinking. A fire sparked in my chest and I clenched my fists “Her name is Luna.”

—

Write with Heart,

Lady Jabberwocky

[Part One]

[Part Two]

[Part Three]

[Part Four]

[Part Five – Finale]

She was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen in all of my days.

Her hair fell into gentle lavender curls. Two shining silver coins hid under long eyelashes. Her skin was pale like fresh cream. We were so young then, both of us. Children representing kingdoms, holding messages of war in our tiny hands.

I stood up straight, like a proper messenger. “I…” I took a breath. “I am Henry and I have a message on behalf of the kingdom of Eros.” The scroll encased in glass was in my hands. She kept her distance, lingering in the deeper waters.

“Call me Luna, of Paloma.” A voice that chimed like bells fluttered in my ears. “You’re not what I expected.”

“Luna,” I repeated in a whisper, never hearing a name so wonderful. Luna melted the fear from my heart in an instant. “Y…You are not what I expected either.”

“What were you expecting?” She asked with curiosity, tentatively swimming a little closer. I caught a glimmer of scales.

“A demon with teeth like daggers and claws,” My hand clamped over my mouth.
A giggle bubbled out of her pale lips. “No claws, just this,” she held up webbed fingers. A thin layer of skin between each finger, similar to a mallard.

I tossed the bottle into the sea. The mermaid dove into the water, revealing a glimpse of a tail. The scales on her tail were like a perfect sunset. She emerged from the sea once again, holding the message in her arms. “Thank you, Henry.” With that, she splashed into the depths and was gone. There were a few more messages exchanged between us. I was happy. It seemed wrong to say, about all of it. I was happy to deliver messages of a possible war. I was happy to be in a mermaid’s presence. I was happy.

On our following encounter, I found the courage to ask the reason behind the mermaid’s attacks.

“Those ships, as you call them, are disturbing our waters, without my king’s permission. They steal too many fish, some merfolk struggle. Some say they even steal mermaids.”

“Humans capturing mermaids?” I had never heard such stories.

“In those nets, along with the fish,” She waded in the shallow water, deep enough for her to float “And there are tales, that when some venture out of sea, during full moons, without fins, they do not return once day breaks. Some say that is also the humans doing.”

“But why sink the ships coming into port and drown innocent men?”

He pale lips frowned, she replied simply. “Our king is furious.” I took her word for it and left the conversation.

The next meeting, I retrieved her message, but was not in a rush to return to the commander.

Part four comes out next Monday!

Write with Heart,

Lady Jabberwocky