The Queen And The Mermaid

Chapter 1: Held Captive

Fourteen years later. Galatea 27 summers old. Her point of view.
You have heard the rumors. It has been fourteen years and you have yet mated to make a new guardian. For a bunch of sea creatures who pride themselves in not having emotional feelings, they gossip like they do.
Your older sister Neiva has tried to beat—sometimes literally—into you that you must carry on the goddess’ bloodline. That every guardian mermaid has to do their part and create new generations to protect the seas.
“Do you know how you dishonor mother? For what? A silly notion of being friends with the land humans?”
“You have yet to use your siren call.” She goes on. You hover before her and hug yourself close. Ever since Berenice has left, you’ve gotten warmer and warmer. Now that it has been over ten and three summers, you may nearly have her same body warmth.
“Look at you. You have grown warm. I am not even sure how you are actually one of us.” You just let her go on and on. She does this all the every time during mating season. She herself has already mated and has no need to anymore.
“I could cast you out, you know. You are not a little flounder mermaid anymore. You are beyond maturity.” And she could, she is the queen of the seas and guardian. She took the sea throne after your mother made peace with the sea and became part of it.
“I don’t care what you do. I will cast myself out.” You float away backwards. You should have done this a long time ago.
“Get back here! The sea will reject you!”
At that moment you do not care. You float away from her. You know the truth. You learned it long ago. That if you truly wanted to, you could give up the sea and live as a human.
The sea crone has evil scruples but she never tells lies. She told you that when you asked her why you were growing warm and feeling emotions.
You go to her now to learn how to leave and become human. There is a price to be paid, but you are willing to pay it. You finally feel like you are ready to leave the sea. Maybe you could find your best friend. Your only friend. Maybe she even remembers who you are.
The sea crone is scary. Another emotion you are not supposed to feel. She is a giant creature, with the tail of an anglerfish. Her part of the sea is covered in pitch darkness.
When she wants to give away her presence, she will alert you with her luminescent fin ray. That connects to her large boney head.
“The little sea guardian with all the emotions.” Her hissing voice echoes all around you in the darkness. You have to shield your eyes when her ray fin flashes on.
“I want to be a human. Can you help me?”
“I could help you.”
“But will you?”
“I will. But there is a price you must pay.”
“I already now that. What price do you want?”
Her ray fin whips around her, scaring the deep-sea prey around you both. She unhinges her jaw in a gruesome display to eat the fish that she has tricked.
“The gold in your hair. You do not see gold in the sea. You pay me with the gold, I can help you to become human.” She regurgitates out the many bones of the fish. You have to swim and duck out of the way.
The gnawing at your gut is a new physical feeling at the display.
“You feel disgust. You really are not of your kind, anymore. Are you?” She shifts into a more presentable look. A large mermaid with an even larger and longer tail. She has skin of pitch black. And sharp razor shark like teeth. Her hair moves like anemone in the dark.
She moves menacingly towards you. The end of her webbed fingers have sharp dagger like claws.
You take the hair clip and hold it closely to your heart, “This is priceless. I cannot give it to you, crone.”
“Not even if you want your one true wish granted?”
“It was given as a declaration of love. I cannot part with it.”
“Love?” She guffaws and lifts her head up. “What do you know of love? Did the little land human say it was love? And you believed them?”
“I do.”
“Most like you that come to me, are always willing to give up a part of themselves, but you? You have a pride and loyalty they do not have. Which is not a good idea for you. If you will not give it to me. I shall take it by force.”
She unhinges her jaws and lunges herself at you. Her claws impales straight through your shoulder. You take your hair clip and stab it through her eye. It gives you enough time to swim away.
You swim and swim until you no longer can. You have to call upon your echolocation to seek out help from your sea friends. Several dolphins come to the call. With your good arm, you latch on to a fin and they draw you further away.
They lead you to a ship nearby. Hope brings you peace, despite the wound.
The feeling does not last long as you utterly get trapped in their net. “We finally netted something that is going to get us rich.” A man barks out as he lifts you and the net out of the water.
_
Berenice 28 years later: her point of view.
You lick the side of your current consort’s neck, before covering the spot with slow kisses. You have her pinned beneath you on the bed.
Your hard nipples press into hers. She wraps your waist with her legs.
“Ah… your majesty…”
“Shh. In the bedroom, you may call me, Berenice.”
“Ah… yess!” She cries when she feels your folds on hers.
You shut the beautiful woman up by with a kiss. You slide up and down against her.
“You are wet for me, aren’t?” You move your lips to her ear.
“All for you, Berenice.”
“Good.”
The two of you stay tangled like that until you can no longer move. Until your bones ache and have to admit defeat and sleep calls.
You start to have frightful nightmares. You are feeling a deep fear for someone else. Someone you have not seen since your youth.
Galatea.
She is trapped and bleeding. Why are you dreaming about her? It reminds you that you truly miss her. That when you were with her, you never felt so alive. You also never came back to her like you promised.
You sit upright in the bed and walk over to your dressing table. You fitfully go through your drawers to look for that amulet. It still makes you forget the world when you look at the large pearl that it holds.
“Berenice?” The consort places her hands on your shoulders, causing you to stiffen up, “What is that? It is beautiful. Perhaps a gift?”
“Yes, a gift, but not for you. Leave, Ayla.”
“Oh! But…” She sounds heartbroken, but you don’t care.
You never loved your consorts. Mostly because you can’t be with them like you really want. You want marriage with another woman. But is not allowed. So, you have shallow mostly sexual relationships with women to temporary fill the void in your heart.
You care sometimes about them. They are flattered that a queen wants them in her bed. Then they see you and your riches, and think that you will shower them with gifts, which turns their flattery into entitlement.
“I said leave.” You never raise your voice. You never try to speak to her harshly. You only want to sound calm with a cold detachment.
“Yes, your majesty.” You never turn to look at her, when she dresses and leaves.
“…Galatea… I will find you. I never broke my promise.” You unreasonably hope that maybe you have a wavelength with her and she can get your message. If your dreams are anything to go by.
The next afternoon, you hold court of governmental matters in your bright sun room. You sit at the head of the table. Your council—all men, you’d rather work with their wives—sit before you.
By the unease written on most of their faces, you know what the big discussion is going to be about. A marriage alliance to the queen. The queen should have already had an heir by now and already named her successor.
“The young king has just been coroneted. He is popular amongst his people. An alliance through marriage with him, will only make us that much more prosperous.”
The rest of the men shift around, while they wait for your answer.
“No.”
“But your majesty…”
“No. There are other ways we can build an alliance with the king. Then a dated notion of marriage. I will never marry a man. I will name an heir.”
“He is due to visit at the end of this fortnight, your majesty, perhaps when you meet him—”
“I shall meet the king, but I will not talk of marriage with him. If that is all?”
The men look around at each other, “Yes, your majesty. Please reconsider.”
“I have ruled benevolently and justly, for over a decade, I hardly think I need a man from another kingdom taking over the job. Your words have been noted. Duly. You are all dismissed.”
One portly middle-aged man—who didn’t speak a word—lingers. “They are worried something might happen to you and we’d be without an heir.”
“Do you think I am stupid, Cornelio? Do you think I do not know that? If they are worried that something will happen to me, perhaps I should investigate to find out where their loyalties lie.”
“As you wish, your majesty.” Cornelio bows lowly at the waist.
“There are whispers about you and lady consorts. Many whispers.”
“And? I never tried to hide who I truly am. If I cannot change the rules in order to marry someone I truly love, I will not marry a man.” You slam your hands on the table and stand up.
“Commoners can have any manner of relationships but the queen is held prisoner to prevent the same.”
“You cannot afford that as royalty.”
“I know that. Why are you speaking to me of things I already know?”
“Perhaps it is time for a change.”
“Perhaps.”
“I will remain loyal to you, no matter what you do, your majesty. As I was loyal to your father.”
“I know. Thank you.” Your voice softens. You will never not feel sadness over the loss of the king—but first and foremost your father.
You turn and walk away to look out one of the windows. You wait until Cornelio leaves, to pull out your amulet.
“It has been so long.” You miss the smell of the salt air. You even miss getting sand everywhere. Most of all you really miss Galatea. Sometimes you want to give up the throne to runaway. To be as free as you were that summer.
If they keep it up, you may go on and do that. You put those thoughts to the back of your mind to focus on current matters. You have never let passing fancies distract you before. You will not start now.