Page 4 of Entangled

“My king, the nets are heavy and the men are tired,” said his captain, Owaine. “Mayhap if we just rest a minute.”

“Nay!” shouted Sebastian, running to look over the side of the ship. “In another minute we’re going to be blown around by this storm and I don’t want to lose our only catch of the day. Stand down. Let me do it.” He pushed Owaine aside and took his place. “Jocet, Hitch, on the count of three,” he called to his steward and squire who were also his good friends. “One...two...three!”

They all tugged together and managed to get the net up to the top of the side wall. Then with the help of his friends, they lifted it up and over. Sebastian’s impetuous action sent the net and its contents slamming down atop the deck of the ship. At the same moment lightning streaked through the sky and a loud crash of thunder rent the air, shaking the entire ship. Rain pelted down like arrows from the sky. It fell so fast and hard that he needed to move closer to see what was actually tangled in his net.

Taking out his dagger, he ripped the net open. When he did, the biggest fish he’d ever seen slapped its large tail outward in defense, hitting him squarely in the jaw.

“Ow! That stings! The damned thing is going to die for that.” He wanted to cry out from the pain, but wouldn’t show weakness while with his men. He drew his sword to end the dolphin’s life, raising the blade over his head, ready to bring it down with full force.

“Nay! Don’t hurt me. Please,” cried a woman’s voice from the net. He stopped and looked down, his eyes opening in disbelief. There, in his net was a strange sea creature! From the waist up, his catch was a beautiful woman with long hair, full breasts beneath a thin bodice, a small waist and mesmerizing eyes. From the waist down, she was all fish.

“What is it, my king?” Hitch ran over, stopping in his tracks. “Is it something Belcoum spat up from the depths of the Dark Abyss?” he asked, referring to Mura’s devil and hell.

“Nay, I can’t say it is.” Sebastian’s eyes interlocked with the sea creature. He felt as if he couldn’t look away even if he chose to do so. “I’d say it was someone sent from The Haven, by Zoroct,” he replied, referring to Mura’s Heaven and one of their main gods. “This woman looks to be no demon but more like a goddess of the sea.”

Merrow’s heart raced in fear. She lay helpless on the deck of the ship still in her sea nymph form so she wasn’t even able to run away. Not that she’d have anywhere to go to hide, since she was on a ship in the middle of the sea. But still, if she could manage to get close enough to the side wall, mayhap she could somehow flip over it and get back into the water. That was her only hope for escape. Water was her safe haven.

“What are you?” asked the man staring down at her. He was handsome for a human. Long, dark brown hair and light blue eyes. The hue of his eyes was close to the color of a sky on a cloudy day. She quickly glanced around. Nothing looked familiar. She wasn’t sure where she’d ended up after being sucked through the portal. “Are you a demon or a deity perhaps?” asked the man.

“Nay! Of course, not.” Merrow struggled to sit up. The storm continued and the rain washed down over her undine body. She’d never get her land legs at this rate. Not sitting out in the open and being doused by the rain. “I am an undine,” she told them. Seeing the bewildered looks on all the men’s faces, she got the feeling they’d never seen an undine before. They continued to stare at her with wide eyes and open mouths. She wasn’t naked but she might have well been since her light clothing clung to her like a second skin, leaving nothing to the imagination. Slowly, she crossed her arms over her chest, trying to hide her breasts that were spilling out of her bodice.

“You’re a what?” The man squinted one eye and cocked his head.

“An undine,” she repeated, still seeing their empty gazes. “I’m a sea nymph.” She struggled to try to pull herself across the wooden deck, using her arms alone. It wasn’t easy. The deck was wet and her tail slippery. Getting over the side wall seemed an impossible task. She didn’t make much headway at all.

“What did she say, Captain?” asked one of the crew.

“She called herself an imp, I think.” The man who she supposed was the ship’s captain scratched his head, looking over from the stern of the ship.

“I am not an imp, you fools!” These stupid men were trying her patience. All she wanted was to get off this ship and back into the water so she could find her sisters. “Can’t you see that I am far from being a troublesome demon? And if I were a deity, I wouldn’t still be here, trapped upon your boat.”

“What is she saying?” one man asked the other, who just shrugged in response.

“King Ravenwolf, what exactly is she?” one man whispered to the handsome man who had almost killed her.

“Are you a...mermaid?” asked the man who they’d referred to as king. Well, at least one of them was getting closer with his guesses.

“Fine,” she said, letting out a deep sigh. “I suppose I am similar to a mermaid, so just call me that if you’d like. It doesn’t matter. All I care about are my sisters. Where are they? What did you do to them?” She flopped around on the deck, wishing the rain would stop so her legs would emerge. Merrow was at a disadvantage being in her aquatic form while on a ship filled with dangerous humans.

“Sisters? There are more of you?” asked the king, twisting around to look over the side of the ship and into the water again.

Merrow suddenly realized her mistake. She never should have said anything. Now, they’d be throwing their nets out again, hoping to catch Melite and Galene.

The wind roared and the sky became black now. It was a bad storm that threatened them and didn’t look too promising to let up any time soon. The crew was having trouble handling the ship, keeping it from being blown and tossed about in the waves.

“Lower the sails to half-mast!” shouted the man who seemed to control the crew. He was an older man with a balding head. “If we don’t head back to shore right now, my king, we’re going to be plundered against the rocks and smashed to bits. We’ll all die.”

Secretly, Merrow hoped for that to happen. If so, she’d have a way to escape and look for her poor, frightened sisters, after all. She needed to protect them. That was more important than even her own well-being. Also, she wanted them to know what happened to her. With her mind, she tried to speak to her sisters, hoping their fear of going through the underwater portal wasn’t going to block their ability to talk to each other in this silent fashion.

At first, she heard nothing from them. Then, ever so faintly, she thought she heard Galene and Melite crying out for her in her mind. They called for her but she could do nothing to help them, and wasn’t even sure she could reply. She concentrated, trying to hear their words in her mind. Then, she knew what they were saying, and it made her stomach clench. They, too, were caught in a net. Her head snapped back and forth, looking for a second net aboard this ship.

“How many fishing nets do you have in the water?” she demanded to know.

“Excuse me?” The king looked insulted or at least surprised that she should ask him such a thing.

“Is this your only net?” she asked. “Tell me. Quickly.”

“It’s the only one we’ve used today,” answered the king. “Why does it even matter to you?”