Monday, September 23, 2019

A Taste of Salt

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A TASTE OF SALT

The mermaid Nelphini peered out the window at the seafaring town of man for the last time. A daughter of that sea, she longed for it, saw in the streets below a torrential wave, livid and swirling with salt as people bustled about. Foam that crested those waves and left love notes written on wet sand now glittered as sidewalk puddles reflected afternoon rays, slowly fading as they bled between the monstrosity that was civilization. Nelphini hated it like she did herself.

She struggled onto the windowsill, watching horse carriages, fishermen, church-goers and shady characters as they passed by, sometimes blurring the lines distinguishing them. She heard her limp tail scraping against the wood floor as she climbed. She smelled the musk of the room, thick with stale salt and blood. She heard the mercenaries downstairs roaring, laughter fueled on beer. And Nelphini felt like what she knew she was, the monster they’d made her into.

Funny, whenever passers by spotted her, they always paused in admiration. People only saw her from the waist up, a naked and green-tinged form kissed by salt. The little boys knew what sort of a place this was, a place for ladies, and they’d ceremoniously gather in tight huddles across the street. This evening was no exception. They were trying desperately to catch a glimpse of something, anything, armed with  and arguing over a single spyglass.

There was also a man. He was the shady sort, wearing a dark cap and black jacket, limping along the sidewalk. He peered up at the building, beady eyes scanning windows. He kept scratching his head beneath the cap, kept shuffling his feet like some animal; just another dreadful character in this world.

Nelphini sighed and climbed down, dragging herself across the room to the saltwater jug, the only thing keeping her strength up as she craved the sea. The surgeon always insisted she drink more and for once, she agreed, draining it in several gulps. She would need her strength today. Her hands were already callused, her midsection bruised from the exertion. She passed the mirror without glance. She did not want to see. She ignored the bed completely. She did not want to rest.

Here was a place she could never belong, a world where not a month ago, she’d dreamt of experiencing. Nelphini was to be romanced by the baron Segarus in his castle on the cliffs. He’d been a gentleman, even charming, she recalled. He serenaded her from his boat, claiming he was madly in love with mermaids and the sea. She’d surfaced, revealing her charms in all their glory, declared in her sing-song voice, ‘If you so desire, then you must live in the sea with me. You will grow a tail and we shall produce many children,’ to which the baron replied, ‘But I love my home and my country. In fact, I think you’ll love it too. Aren’t you at all curious? I’d have a tank built, filled brimful with saltwater and have wheels attached so I could carry you around. And if you don’t like it, I’ll have you returned to the ocean at once.’

At that, Nelphini had agreed, curious to see this new world she’d heard so much about. Indeed, curiosity leads the fish to the hook. She couldn’t have foreseen the baron’s own men capturing her from the tank two days later, spiriting her away from him, betraying him at first sign of opportunity. Now those same mercenaries loitered at bar downstairs, made sure she stayed put.

There was one place Nelphini belonged and it wasn’t here. The sea beckoned like a lover, yet she couldn’t reach his embrace. The sooner she could get there, the better, although she was quickly learning how things really worked in this world. A hollowing of her spirit taught her; a growing weakness as she was kept from her element; a seaman’s putrid tongue on her lips and a baron’s sorrow at her kidnapping all proved compelling teachers.

She didn’t always like when the surgeon left. A sickening prospect but she sometimes preferred he stay longer. At least then, with pain, there was no room for the usual thoughts; the still fresh memory of hanging upside down from a mast as mercenaries auctioned her “a comely sea nymph full of character” to the brothel owner; a scene of the surgeon drugging her to sleep so he could make her beautiful, womanly with womanly legs and parts; awaking to find a clean line sawed across her tail, successively crippling her, followed by her inhuman wailing; her “legs” darkening in color as they shriveled and began to smell; and worst of all, the other whores teaching her the art of mouth and hand, since Nelphini had nothing else to offer the weary sailor.

Tormenting herself like this when the surgeon went for a breather only made it worse. He never left for more than a few minutes and always made a fuss whenever he returned and found she’d moved from the bed. But it was addictive. She knew the room too well, its wood floor, itchy mattress, the mirror, the surgeon’s operating table and reading chair. Besides, she could hear the waves at night. Hope was a drug. What more could a daughter of the sea do but long for the saltwater, refuse to adapt to a world that exploited rather than welcomed her?

She continued crawling towards the door, wincing as every movement pained unhealed wounds. She strained at the knob, door swinging open with a bang as she collapsed into the hallway. No one seemed to notice, no one seemed to care. A commotion downstairs grew louder and among the voices, she heard the surgeon’s, arguing with the brothel owner, naturally about her. The mercenaries’ banter thundered and a wench squealed, whether in joy or concealed displeasure, Nelphini didn’t know. She could tell by the nature of other noises nearby that several rooms in the hallway were occupied. One of them suddenly creaked open and a blonde girl emerged, pale and naked as a moon. She shoved a sweaty strand of hair back and almost started when she glanced down.

Nelphini froze. Both she and the girl stared, both waiting to see what the other would do next. The girl took a step forward and Nelphini an involuntary crawl back. A frown crept upon the blonde’s face, quickly replaced by blanching as she spotted Nelphini’s mutilated lower half.

‘You’re her, aren’t ya? That sea faerie they caught. The one who was screaming so loud last week they had to drug her.’

Nelphini felt the wall pressing against her back with ice.

‘What’re you doing out here? Trying to escape?’ the blonde glanced down the hall which led to the main stairway, where all the ruckus was coming from. ‘You won’t reach anywhere going thataway.’

From within the opened room, a ruffling of sheets and creaking bed could be heard. ‘Calpurnia? Who’re you talking to out there? Get back here, lass. The hour isn’t up yet.’

‘Thataway,’ Calpurnia pointed towards the opposite end of the hall. ‘Down tha stairs and through the back door. It opens onto a busy street so ya be careful, won’t ya?’

The direction was dark, unlit by the candelabra set above each door. To think it was a way out all that time...

‘T-thank you,’ said Nelphini, but the girl had already disappeared to her room.

As expected, minutes felt like an hour until Nelphini arrived, disheartened by the monotonous and excruciating discomfort of nails and raised floorboards. The stairs proved even worse. She took them one at a time, lugging her paralyzed tail behind in a slow, jarring process; first to drag her top half, next to await her luggage, drawling behind. By the fourth step, she ended up tumbling to the bottom, rolling over her tail and bruising both elbows. A greenish pus was oozing from her tail, along the inner side of both halves. The wounds had reopened. It took everything to stifle her cries, of a pain that was slithering from below to her midsection, and an entirely different one that shot from her heart to mind.

Outside was a dank, smelly place. She ended up flopping onto the sidewalk as the door swung open again, parting bustling throngs as people hastened away from her. Mothers tugged their children’s hands, who lugged behind to catch a second curious glance at the creature. Men started at her naked form, only to blanch away at her mutilation and smell. Things that weren’t explainable meant things that were to be feared and Nelphini suited that division like no other.

She turned about. A cold wetness scraped beneath; paved road. It wasn’t the water she was accustomed to but a filthy acquisition, trodden by horses, carts and boots. Everything was nothing she hadn’t seen before, towering buildings of cobblestone and mahogany, roadsides littered with vendors that didn’t or wouldn’t rent a market stall. But being this close was new.

It wasn’t long before Nelphini smelled it. All it took was a gust down the street to carry the scent of salt and the crashing waves were suddenly much louder than they’d been in her room, her dream of freedom suddenly tangible, almost a reality. To the right, docks stretched a quarter mile ahead, and beyond that, home. The concrete scraped, it dug, and the ocean drew nearer. Just a little more. Endure, push through the pain. She tasted salty air, could already feel waves churning, sand both smooth and rough caressing the skin. Nelphini dragged on.

Suddenly, a strong grip closed around her shoulders, yanked her back. She couldn’t turn, couldn’t defend herself. Nelphini thrashed, reaching for anything to grab onto, a bench, someone’s leg, but she was too weak. It had to be someone from the brothel. She wailed her inhuman wail when she twisted and saw the shady character with dark cap and black jacket. He grimaced, beady goat eyes flaring like a demon’s.

‘Quiet! Or I will make you quiet!' He began even faster, tugging on her shoulders painfully.

Nelphini could scarcely see where she was going, only feel pain as concrete tore into her skin. The man hauled her into his arms and turned into an alleyway.

Curiosity leads the fish to the hook. The narrow lane flashes past, buildings churn on both sides, slick dankness below and throughout, a dreary blanket of steaming odors to dress the air. There is a faint shouting behind accompanied by shuffling feet. Curiosity leads the fish to the hook. Kidnapped, she is once more a victim of this world. He tosses her over his shoulder with a grunt, bones digging into her belly as she bounces. There is no escape, no freedom but an illusion.

The character skids, takes a corner and continues at breakneck speed, inhuman speed. Next, right, left, right and right again followed by left, a labyrinthian navigation. The taste of salt comes to mouth, a billow of water erupting from her lips as she vomits. Nelphini wails.

‘Quiet, fishie! Or I will make you quiet!’ the character grunts.

Her neck burns as it cranes upwards. Four mercenaries behind, cursing, daggers drawn and one wielding a crossbow. Nelphini batters her fists against the kidnapper’s back to no avail. She is alone. Fear grips her with an icy hand, a coldness so palpable it burns. They are just out of reach. The crossbowman slows and takes aim. Right, left, left and right again. A final stretch, mist dampens her face and suddenly the world is veiled thick in palish swirls. The mercenaries become lost in obscurity. The man slows to a halt, wheezing like a horse. Ahead looms a sturdy oak door, emblazoned in spidery gold engravings.

He set her down, ran a hand over its face and the door opened with a click. ‘Come,’ he grunted, stepping inside.

Nelphini froze, understandably cautious. It wasn’t the first or second time she’d been hurt. Now she was sandwiched between this stranger and those mercenaries. Should she have to choose-

‘-Come in, dear. It’s quite alright, we won’t scorn.’

A familiar voice. She inched into the doorway, past it and through a well-lit, scrupulously cleaned and decorated hall. Marble flooring correlated seamlessly with stone pillars as it glittered beneath chandeliers. Three women sat around a table, sipping wine. Nelphini corrected herself at once. They were not women but fae, nature spirits, children of the earth. To the back, an elf pirouetted like a dancer as he swung a curved blade at wooden dummies.

‘Please,’ a woman in a black dress held up a glass, ‘Join us for a drink.’ She gestured to a long armchair beside the table, suitable for laying down. ‘That’s it dear, we won’t hurt you. Here and sip on this, it should help.’

‘I-I don’t understand,’ Nelphini wiped her lips. The opened wounds pained worse now she was sat. Her strength was fading swiftly from the short exertion and leaving was apparently no option.

‘Allow me to start over,’ the woman smiled. She set aside her glass, rose and closed her eyes. Something crackled like fire, something sparked and suddenly there was the blonde from the brothel, Calpurnia, standing before them, except now she wore an exuberant black dress. ‘I am Theodora Valeriano de Cieca, this is my home and I am the mistress here. These,’ she gestured to everyone present in the hall, ‘are my friends.’ To the right was a pale, sunken-faced woman with arms like twigs. She had emerald eyes like Nelphini’s. On the left, a flaxen-haired girl, seemingly no older than fourteen, drained her glass and poured herself another. ‘This is Syrinx,’ said the shapeshifter, nodding towards the twiggy woman. ‘And she is Ismene. The elf is called Yesanith and dammit. Ruhdul! Get over here and stop being so alienated. Show our guest some hospitality please!’

The man who’d brought Nelphini on his shoulders grunted, strode off and returned with a clay jug and towel.

‘Saltwater,’ Theodora explained. ‘The cloth is for you. I can’t have my guest bleeding over the furniture. A proper bath is being prepared for you afterwards.’

‘Oh, poor thing! Look what they’ve done to her! She hasn’t even been bathed properly and the wound is festering. Theo?’ the twiggy woman said sorrowfully.

‘I saw.’

‘What…is this place?’ Nelphini glanced about, absentmindedly dabbing with the towel. The extravagance certainly recalled her own palace, her mothers’ home in the sea. But that was a very long time ago.

‘In truth? Sanctuary. A place for inhumans to dwell among humans. Naturally, I needn’t to explain to you what happens when the two live together.’

‘Ha! You can say that twice more to make it a mantra!’ Ismene, the flaxen-haired girl, chortled, now on her third glass.

‘You’ve had quite enough of that, girl!’ fussed the twiggy woman, Syrinx, trying in vain to take the glass away. ‘We have guests now, if you please.’

‘Indeed,’ and the shirtless elf, Yesanith, came glistening in sweat, towel flung over his shoulder. ‘You come from the water, I from across it. The isle of Marianne, do you know it?’

‘I do,’ Nelphini nodded and the elf sheathed his sword and leaned against a marble pillar. ‘It’s a league south from this place, past the fishing cove. We could always see its outline through the mist but never ventured closer.’

‘Names aside, let me express my apologies that you were brought to us in such a manner,’ said Theodora. ‘With those thugs close behind, Ruhdul had no choice but to carry you. Not a minute following your escape, the surgeon noticed and alerted everyone. I myself had to make a run for it through the window, giving my client quite a start. We’ve been studying you for for a week now, having caught wind of your arrival eight days ago, the day you were…worked on,’ Theodora uncovered the lid of a silver canister and offered a jam filled pastry to Nelphini, who accepted it graciously, only now realising how hungry she was. ‘When we heard your screams, we knew our suspicions were confirmed. I infiltrated the brothel with Yesanith’s help to see how you were doing and in short, I was disgusted by what they’d done to you. I remained present everyday following your operation.’

‘So then why didn’t you help me? Get me out sooner?’

‘Because, little mermaid, it needed to be you. You first needed to help yourself, take the first step before we acted. It took a little longer, naturally as they’d broken you thoroughly, but I’m glad you managed. They will trouble you no longer, for you are safe as you remain here. We shall provide you the proper medical treatment you need.’

‘I could have been rescued earlier...if you’d acted sooner, instead of waiting on some principle.’

‘Do not say it like that, child. You are a daughter of the sea and daughters of the sea are anything but helpless. You’re a victim, but not of this world. Of yourself.’

Nelphini frowned, ‘How so?’

‘The sea matriarchs always cite “curiosity leads the fish to the hook” to frighten their children into staying away from the surface world. And indeed, curiosity does coax the fish but ultimately it is the fish that decides it will bite down on the hook. Do you understand?’

‘You mean everything that’s happened to me is my fault.’

‘You didn’t mutilate yourself now, did you?’

‘No.’

‘Well then you have the answer. We have all suffered in some way at the hands of humans, you aren’t the first and won’t be the last. Take Ruhdul, for instance. Ruhdul? Come here please.’

The man approached, his expression grim, and began undressing without a word. Without his cap, a pair of fleshy red lumps protruded his curly hair. He had shaggy goat legs of sparse and singed patches and without boots, battered hoofs scuffed the marble floor.

‘Ruhdul, although he doesn’t speak much, is quite the musician, which you’ll no doubt discover from staying with us,’ Theodora continued. ‘He was mugged and beaten by a group of teenage boys who were afraid of his horns, thinking he was the devil. They found it amusing to take the lantern to his legs. When Ruhdul awoke, his son Nanrul was gone as were his horns. I’m given to understand that ivory sells like silver these days, for who doesn’t enjoy craftsmanship? And circuses are always thrilled by freaks and oddities.’

‘I-I’m sorry. They can be very cruel.’

Ruhdul’s beady eyes scowled at her as he grunted and wandered off again.

‘And the rest of you? You were all hurt too? I’d like to know how this group formed.’ Nelphini asked.

‘Syrinx,’ Theodora nodded to the twiggy woman, who was studying the tablecloth with glassy eyes and swaying, ‘Is a clear example of what happens to a dryad whose tree was cut down. Not only that but the oak was treated, turned to lumber for house-building and its seed never replanted. She grows hollow each passing day without an anchor to root her in this world. And Ismene, all faeries must have wings, or they can’t act as messengers between the fae races. But it’s dangerous work, flying over human settlements, especially those with crossbows and spyglasses. She was shot out the sky like some wild partridge, her wings taken from her. After that, well, everyone had their way.’

‘Yes, yes! Terrible!’ Ismene banged her fist on the table, her eyes nearly reddened like the wine. ‘ “I have first claim as I’m the one who spotted her! I’m the one with the buyer contact so I deserve my fair percentage!” Bloody hell those bastards would never hand me to some science man for examination! And then they wanted to sell my wings to a museum, give my dress to their women. Except those strumpets couldn’t fit their grubby legs in something sewn for a faerie. I told them they should cut off their fat toes so they’ll fit. Then they tried cutting off mine before I escaped. If only they understood what they were causing to happen. Oh, the bloody whoresons!’

Suddenly, Syrinx the dryad burst out crying. There were no tears, only a pitiful wheezing as she buried her sunken face in her hands. Theodora sighed, called for Ruhdul again, and he brought another smaller towel.

‘To continue our introductions,’ Theodora said, ‘Yesanith was taken as a slave and sent to the isle of Marianne, sold to Marianne Castylblanco The Second. You see, the baroness is reputably comely, so comely in fact that any man she beds would naturally tarnish the beauty of her bloodline. Any man. So to compensate, she made an investment to ensure the good face of her children and family, an altogether new kind of slave, for no man can match the grace of an elf. Afterwards, Marianne’s men were ordered to dispose of Yesanith swiftly and discreetly. They couldn’t.’

The elf’s eyes glowed like coals in the dim. ‘They couldn’t,’ he confirmed. ‘And soon, that she-devil will pay for my honor.’

‘Yesanith was first to join me after I discovered him lurking cloak and dagger in the tavern. Afterwards, we began reaching out to others in the area, sending scouts. Ruhdul, apart from myself, is best at undercover and reconnaissance, and is naturally our first choice for the job. Slowly, everyone found their way here. Until today, Ismene was our latest member. So you see, little mermaid, we’re all broken in some way. What matters now is what we do with the pieces.’

‘How were you hurt? You never mentioned it,’ Nelphini pointed out.

‘That,’ Theodora’s teeth glittered, ‘Is story for another day. Do you have any other questions?’

‘All I want is to return to the sea. I’ll stay here as long as I must to recover but I have no wish to live in this world anymore. I’m grateful for you hospitality but I’d like to return to my own world. I must.’

‘I’m afraid that’s not possible,’ Theodora crossed her legs, ‘And you know it, don’t you?’

Nelphini didn’t utter a word. She didn’t want to admit anything, although she knew what the shapeshifter was getting at.

‘Of course, you know it. It’s part of what kept you from leaving sooner. You know you won’t truly heal, that what has been done to you is irreversible. All that can be done now is keep the wounds clean. The sea will never accept you like it once did. You won’t be able to swim. You’ll become shark fodder or captured again, who knows which is worse? Returning to your element was a dream, nothing more. A dream because that was your only hope at the time, the one possible way out. But you must face reality now. There is no place for you in either world, just like there is none for us.’

Nelphini fought back salty tears. Looking out that brothel window everyday, listening to the waves at night, had been her hope. A hope of swimming with her sisters and mothers, flashing solitary fishermen like they did in the old days, singing on the ocean floor and weaving mats of kelp. But deep down, she’d known. She’d come to the realisation when she awoke the following day to find she’d lost all feeling in her tail. There was no place in either world for her. She was alone.

‘Your hope was diminished to a dream,’ Theodora said after a brief pause. ‘I can give you a new hope, something tangible. You think you’re crippled and helpless. I can help you discover your real worth. There are ways of blending in, remaining invisible to the human eye. Ruhdul and Yesanith have mastered it without magick like mine. They can teach you. This sanctuary isn’t the only safe haven in this world. There are others in every town, countless in cities, filled with those like us, ones who have been hurt. The further inland you go, the larger they get, and the more varied the races are, from dwarves to gnomes, halflings, brownies and every mixed race in between, those whose forebears mingled with humans. Half bloods are scorned like no other and when given to choose, side with their inhuman blood. Something is happening, Nelphini, something very large. And we are all a part of it, whether we like it or not.’

‘Revenge! Sweet vengeance is coming, oh the bloody whoresons! They don’t know what they caused, but they’ll soon find out!’ Ismene giggled.

‘What if I don’t want to be a part of this? What if I just want to go home?’

‘I’m not forcing you to do anything, merely pointing out the facts. If you’d like, you may leave right now. I’ll have Ruhdul pack you some more saltwater and escort you wherever you please. And I wish you good fortune finding peace or safety. But should you remain, you’d be among people like yourself, brought together by shared trauma and discrimination. There won’t be another place for you like this.’

‘I can’t fight or act undercover. Both are impossible for me. I don’t belong in this world or my own.’

‘Neither do I,’ Theodora Valeriano de Cieca smiled sadly. ‘They may have taken your body but they didn’t take your mind, little mermaid. You still have more worth than you realise. This town will become a graveyard before you know it. Show these humans yourself that they didn’t and couldn’t break you. I for one can’t and won’t force the inevitable. Sorry be the fish that resists, for when it decides to bite down upon the hook, it must deal with such consequences as a tightening line. The tension only increases with resistance and doing so would certainly maim you, Nelphini. It shall draw blood and in turn, predators. Do you understand?’

‘Where will this line take me, o wise mistress?’

‘Who knows? With any luck, redemption. Things have already been set in motion that cannot be undone.’

‘Then let it take me.’



Submitted September 24, 2019 at 05:52AM by QuillsandQuillions https://ift.tt/2mJKw8t
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