The Little Mermaid (Faerie Tale Collection) (6 page)

“I would not dream of it!”

PEARL WAS LEANING AGAINST the reef, staring up at the glorious sun above her, her fins hidden beneath the low tide water, when she heard a voice shouting in a strange tongue.

Panic pierced her heart as she turned in the direction of the sound. Goodness! When had the sand become as close as this? Not a hundred yards from her perch stood a human male. His dark hair waved in the breeze. He shouted again and seemed to be looking directly at her.

Ack! She instinctively dove the rest of the way into the water. Where was Keel? What should she do? The tide had become so low, she could not hide as deeply in the water as she wished. Feeling the water shift, she glanced toward the land and was shocked to see the man’s boots stepping into the water and wading toward her.

NO. NO. NO. NO!

Pearl darted back, but got caught up in a large mass of seaweed. It was about the size of Keel! Urgh. Her arms flailed as she attempted to take the stuff off so she could swim away, but she was still clutching the vial of liquid that would help her turn into a human, so she could not grasp the plant properly. Just then, a large wave crashed down, and the weed became an even greater mess.

The man was shouting more and more. When she glanced up just above the surface of the water, she was amazed to see him nearly upon her.

All at once, his arms were around her. She screamed and attempted to beat him off, but he was too strong. His crisp, clicking words took on a more soothing sound as he whispered near her ear.

Once she realized he was attempting to remove the plant and help her, her panic subsided a bit. Just a bit. Her heart was beating frantically, and she was desperate to hide the fact that she had fins.

It took about two full minutes to completely remove her from the weed, but once he did, she zoomed back to the other side of the rock and peeked up at him.

He remained where he was, still speaking. This time, his hands were out, as if in a peaceful gesture. When he smiled slightly, it was so beautiful, she could not help herself. She smiled back.

The man took a step toward her. He must have liked the exchange. She quickly swam away from the safety of the rock and out to sea, being careful to hide her fins. Then she paused and looked back.

He froze. Again, he spoke in soothing tones, and his hands remained out.

Honestly, it did not seem as if he wished to harm her.

There was one word she seemed to hear more than the rest.

“Drake,” he said again as he pointed to himself. “I am Drake.”

Perhaps it was his name. She did as he did and touched her chest lightly. “Pearl.”

His smile grew, and he seemed incredibly happy right then. She watched him intently as he chattered away about all sorts of things. It was just about as adorable as she had ever seen anyone be. And then she noticed where he was pointing.

There was a castle up on the hill she had not seen before. Was he some sort of royalty?

She attempted to ask him as she pointed. “Do you live there?”

The man halted. His jaw dropped. And then he smiled and sighed.

She blinked at him, confused at his reaction. Did he not live there, then?

When he began to chatter some more, she realized he was more excited about hearing her speak than what she had actually asked him. It seemed as if he was urging her to repeat herself.

She laughed. “You are a funny thing.” Then she pointed to the castle once more. “Is that where you are from? Do you live there?”

This time, he followed her arm and grinned, his head bobbing up and down. He spoke and pointed and said his name several more times. Then his look became more serious as he gestured to the water below her.

Her heart dropped. How did he know? Had he seen her fins after all?

He repeated the word, “Home,” gesturing to her and then the water. Then he said, “Drake’s home,” and pointed to the castle.

She was afraid to answer. What would happen to her if she did?

With the water up to his waist, Drake took a step toward her and then another. She hesitated long enough to allow him to come about six feet away, and then her heart began to race again. Where was Keel?

Drake stopped and motioned with his hands for her to come closer. His grin was very enchanting as he continued to use a soothing voice and gestures, seemingly asking her to swim to him. Then oddly, he lowered himself to his knees in the water, the slowly rising tide bumping against them both.

She could not help herself. Pearl swam a few feet up to him. There was no way this man meant her harm. How could he? Her whole body zinged with excitement. He was gentle and handsome, and seemed to be just as fascinated with her as she was with him.

When she was within arms’ reach, she was shocked to feel his hand snatch hers. But instead of doing so forcefully, he gradually and gently brought her close to him.

His eyes were dark brown and very beautiful. Trusting.

Cautiously, he wrapped his other arm around her waist, and she gasped.

Drake looked down at her mouth and then back into her eyes. Very slowly, he lowered his head bit by bit, his gaze questioning hers as he did so.

She knew he wanted to kiss her, and her whole world seemed to jolt at the understanding that a very handsome prince on land had found her, seen that she was a mermaid, and wished to kiss her anyway. Of course she allowed it.

Clutching onto his clothing, the small vial still in her hand, she tilted her face up to touch his warm lips with hers—and wham!

Pearl had not a moment to properly register the kiss before she realized she had been captured. His hands wrapped wholly around her and lifted her, tail and all, out of the sea.

PEARL SHRIEKED AND ATTEMPTED to wriggle out of the prince’s tight clasp.

Just then, she looked over Drake’s shoulder to see Keel slam a heavy, wet rock onto the human’s head, causing him to topple over into the ocean, releasing Pearl as he did so. She immediately swam to Keel’s side. One arm went protectively around her.

Drake did not move. In fact, his body floated upside down upon the surface of the sea.

They watched him for several seconds before Keel grunted and tossed the rock into the water. “I want you to go out to the deeper section of the ocean now,” he whispered tersely. “I will call for you when it is safe to return.”

“Keel?” She was not willing to leave his side.

“Go!”

She watched as he waded over to the unconscious prince and grabbed his clothing. Then he hauled the man all the way to the dry sand and flipped him over. Without looking up, Keel raised his voice and said, “Pearl, if you are still near that rock and not swimming to safety, words will not express my upset. This whole plan will be over.”

Would he cancel the trip? No. Not now. She had not experienced anything yet! Without a word, she swam out to a deeper portion of the ocean and then reached the surface. Her mind was racing with fear and stress and confusion. What was this world, anyway? Was it really as bad as it seemed? Already she had nearly been captured! She tightened her fist and was amazed to see the vial still within her palm.

Keel would not abandon the journey if she had already grown legs. He would at least allow her to experience something after all that pain, would he not?

It was worth a try.

She glanced at the land and saw Keel walking into the water. He was heading straight for her.

Without another thought, she quickly opened the bottle and drank the contents.

There. Now there was nothing he could say or do about anything. For the moment.

And then the pain began.

Great, knee-buckling stabs of piercing agony. She lurched forward and felt the searing pain of each scale on her tail growing and expanding, ripping torturously slow.

Pearl could not remain upright with such tension throughout her body. She curled up and sank to the bottom of the sea. Even though Keel had ordered her to, she had not traveled too far from land—only far enough that she felt he might be happy with her. At this distance, the ocean floor was still a good twelve or so feet beneath the surface. Her back violently arched as she could feel the legs forming beneath her fins. Oh, my word. She had never known such horrendous sensations as these. How had Keel stayed so calm, just wincing and barely gasping? How had he not shown her the true amount of hurt he was experiencing?

She found a rock jutting up from the bottom and clutched it. When would it stop? Oh, please, make it stop!

And then she felt strong arms go around her. The sting hurt too much to register who or why someone would hold her—just that it was different. In that moment, it was a distraction from the pain. Turned away as she was, curled in a ball, she clutched the arms wrapped around her waist as tightly as possible. And wailed.

Oh, how she wailed as she felt herself being lifted to the surface again.

Once out of the water, her crying sounded different, but it was still intense. Her face probably looked like a purple mess, but she could not care. Nothing mattered.

“Shh . . . You foolish merwoman, what were you thinking?” Keel murmured in her ear.

She instantly turned in his arms and wrapped herself around him.

They began to sink.

“Whoa!” He chuckled. “I do not have my tail at the moment, remember? I need you to remain still as best as you can and I will get us to that reef, where you can change safely.”

“I want to go home,” she sobbed into his shoulder. Nothing sounded more perfect than being curled up in her large bed and feeling safe.

“I know you do. But I cannot give you the antidote right now or it would kill you.”

Another great slash of pain roared through her. She clutched him and arched and wailed. It felt as if she were already dying.

“I know how much this hurts, dear, but I need you to try to keep quiet as long as possible. I do not believe we attracted attention when I hit the human man, but I am not willing to attract any more right now. Thank goodness this is a secluded beach, and not many people wander along it.”

She clamped her mouth shut. Heaven knew he must think she was the most complaining merwoman he had ever met. “Forgive me,” she said between painful whimpers. “I was not thinking properly. Of course I would draw notice to myself.”

“I would allow you to cry beneath the surface, but I cannot. Soon, your lungs will transform, and you will not be able to remain under there.”

Finally, they approached the small outcropping, and he sat her down to face him. “There is nothing to forgive. You are doing much better than I did my first time, and even my second.”

She attempted a chuckle. “Liar.”

“’Tis true!”

“I should have listened to you. I should never have done such a stupid thing. Why? Why would I believe anything would be worth this horror?”

The remorse and concern in his eyes hurt her more than the actual growing of the legs. “My dear, if I would not have told you about this, never mentioned I had the potion, and then you would never have known. It is my fault that you are in such pain right now.”

She did laugh then. “Great kettlefish! Listen to you. You know I practically begged you for it. You know I would have been—” Pearl winced as a sharp stab pierced her fins. “Would have been devastated, had I never been given this gl—glorious opportunity.”