Gingerly, I dip my toes into the water. The wind whispers in my ear, but its words fall on deaf ears. That gift is forever lost to me. Instead, my father’s voice in my head, begging me, commanding me not to leave.
“If you do this, you shall never be welcomed here. Our palace gates will forever be sealed to you. Is that what you want?!”
But I couldn’t listen. I refused to. The shimmering lights on the shore called, and I couldn’t help but listen. My sisters would blame my infatuation on him, but this started long before I met the prince.
Monster.
“My, my, aren’t you a fish out of water.” That voice. I whipped around and saw the source of all my trouble. Wolf. I tried to scream his name, but no sound came out. His eyes gleamed with delight as I clutched my throat. He was the picture of content, sitting, leaning against a rock, his feet digging into the sand, eyes glowing in the dying sun’s light.
“Now that won’t work this time, will it?” I glowered as he stood up. He brushed off the sand from his trousers but made no move to come closer. “Let me see, how many days are left?” My cheeks burned as I stared at my feet. “Why today is day three!” The wolf looked around for a moment, as though searching for someone before he turned back to me. “Hm, that’s funny, I don’t see your prince.” My fists clenched as I lifted my eyes to face him. How dare he. This lying scheming trickster. His lip quirked up as though he could read my thoughts. “I might even say that-” The toll of church bells cuts off the wolf, and I feel my heart plummet. He didn’t.
The bells continued to ring, a joyous melody to most, but to me they were the harbingers of death. I turned away from the wolf. The last remnants of sunlight glittered on the ocean and my heart ached to dive beneath the waves. Please just let me have one more look.
I braced myself for his sharp tongue, for what he uttered would be the last thing I heard. He did not speak though, almost as if he was letting me savor this last moment: the sound of the waves gently crashing against the shore, the smell of the sea on my tongue, and the fact that I lost. I lost everything. Tears threatened to spill over, and I quickly closed my eyes to stop them. I heard him step closer to me, his steps soft against the shifting sand, and I braced myself for the end.
I felt a soft paw press against my shoulder, and I froze. Please. Don’t draw this out. I refused to look at him, to give him the satisfaction of showing him he had won. “Such a pity. All that power, all that magic is going to waste on that spineless princeling of yours.” I choked back a sob at his words. “I can’t help but wonder what you would say if I told you, there was another way.” The words were barely a mummer, but I heard them all the same.
I opened my eyes and turned to face him. Amber eyes with a mischievous gleam met my own, and I was startled by how human they appeared. I fought against my urge to step back. He placed his hands in his pockets and turned to face the sea. I didn’t dare take my eyes off him, but I could still feel the heat of his gaze on me. “What if I told you that you could have it all. The fins, the magic, your voice, all of it.” No more deals. I snarled at him. “There she is,” Wolf grinned briefly, his fangs flashing in the light. “All you have to do is kill the princeling and his bride.” Bride. The word left a foul taste in my mouth as I pictured the princess. I turned away from the wolf. I couldn’t. I wouldn’t.
I willed my feet to carry me away from the wolf, each step more painful from the last, but the pain did not erase the memory of him. His dark hair blowing in the wind, a smile on his face as he reached out to me. I had reached out to meet his hand, our fingertips brushing,
“He chose her.”
I stopped.
His face recoiled in disgust as he looked down at me. “What are you?” A young woman stepped up beside him. He wrapped an arm around her protectively. Guarding her. From me. “Get away, monster.”
“You can make them pay. All of them.” His voice was in my ear again. I looked down at my hands, my fists clenched so tight I saw drops of blood dripping onto the sand. “All you have to do is shake my paw.” He extended his paw, and I could feel time begin to slow. I gave him a questioning look. “Ah, the fish is learning to evade the net. Very well, you’ve caught me. The catch is you can never return to your mermaid form.” I narrowed my eyes at him.
“However, there is another option.” Another option? What was he talking about? Shall he curse me to be a flounder or a clam for the rest of my days? This was madness. “What did the princeling’s bride call you? Ah yes, a monster.” The wolf chuckled darkly, and I resisted the urge to shove him into the water.
“What’s stopping you from becoming what they fear you to be? Pity? Sorrow? Love? Embrace it and make them pay. So, tell me, what separates a mermaid from a siren?”
I did not look out to the sea. I did not look towards the church or towards the palace. All I saw was his paw stretched towards me. The sun slowly sank into the sea as I made my choice.
What separates a mermaid from a siren?
One choice.
