The Mermaid's Mirror (22 page)

Lena started; she had seen only a glint of gold before the mermaid was beside her mother.
She must be unbelievably fast,
she thought.

"Selena," said the mermaid.

Lena nodded. Something about the regal bearing of the mermaid made Lena feel like she should bow or curtsy, or kiss her hand, or something. Her eyes were so light that it was hard to tell if they were blue or green, and they bored into Lena with unsettling intensity. Her hair was light as well, glowing with many shades of gold and silver. She wore her hair twisted into several tight plaits that encircled her head like a crown and trailed down her back. Lena could see pearls and shark teeth glimmering in her hair. Her double-finned tail was pewter gray.

She has a double-finned tail, too, like Mama,
thought Lena. Then she peered closer at the mermaid's pointed chin, and realized she was looking at her grandmother.

"I am Amphitrite," said the mermaid. "You must learn the names of your people in
this
world."

"Grandmother." The word whispered through Lena's mind.

The mermaid smiled then, her expression softening. She did not embrace Lena, but reached out to take her hand. "Child of my child. You are most welcome here."

"Thank you," said Lena. It wasn't quite the same affectionate greeting her grandfather had given her, but maybe Amphitrite wasn't the hugging type.

With a grimace, Amphitrite's gaze swept down Lena's body and legs. "Is she able to swim with those legs?" she asked Melusina.

"Mother!" answered Melusina, in a tone universally employed between mothers and daughters: exasperation. "Of course she is able to swim." With a proud smile, Melusina reached down and stroked Lena's feet. "Look at her lovely feet. They have grown so, since she was a baby! They were perfect little moonbeam feet."

Amphitrite gave a frosty smile. "Yes, lovely." She addressed Lena. "You must be glad to escape the land."

Lena blinked. Glad to escape the land? Did that mean she was never going back? A tendril of worry touched her mind.

But after all, why should she go back? She had missed her mother. She wanted to stay with her.

A fleeting image of a child with blue eyes ... a memory of someone calling her name through the night ... then the hypnotic rocking of the sea drew those thoughts away from her, gently, insistently.

Lena raised a hand to her brow, as if to hold her thoughts inside her head.
It's like my memories are getting washed away,
she thought.

Amphitrite noticed Lena's bewilderment and turned to her daughter. "The child is exhausted, Melusina. She needs food and rest. Let us not linger over the welcome circle."

"Yes, Mother," said Melusina, appearing flustered. She turned to Lena. "Selena, after you answer the welcome, our people will approach you. Do not be nervous."

Lena looked at all the mer-folk surrounding her, still circling in and out. "What should I say?" she asked.

"You must say what is in your heart."

Lena watched the mer-folk as they flowed inward and ebbed outward, their song fading to a whispering welcome.

"I—" She faltered.

They waited.

"I ... think you are all beautiful," blurted Lena.

The mer-folk circled in very close, and many hands reached out to caress her. Three or four of the mer-folk merely bowed to her before swimming away, while others stroked her arms or hair. The little mermaids and merboys were fascinated with her legs, and took cautious pokes at them.

Instead of feeling afraid of so many strange creatures crowding near her, Lena felt the gentleness of their hands, so fleeting and light. Each touch was like a blessing. They were careful not to dislodge her sealskin cloak.

"Oh, here are my sisters," said Melusina, holding out her hand to two mermaids, both with white-blond hair and dark blue eyes, their upper bodies wreathed in identical sparkling sapphire necklaces. "Metis and Thetis. Twins, as you can see!"

The mermaids swept forward and brushed light kisses on Lena's cheeks.

Melusina continued the introductions: the husbands of her sisters, and all of the young cousins. "And this is young Amphitrite ... named, of course, after your grandmother. And this is Piskaret ... this is Fossegrim ... and Calypso..."

Lena nodded and smiled, although the mer-folk were beginning to blur together in her mind.

Then she saw a broad-shouldered young merman lagging behind the rest of the group. He waited until there was no one left to greet her, then he approached.

As he drew near, Lena admired his chin-length green and brown hair, which radiated out from his head like a cloud. When he got close enough, she could see his dark, almond-shaped eyes and his full lips. The sight of his exotic beauty made her nervous.

Gazing at Lena with a rapt expression, the merman touched her arm.

The brush of his fingers across her skin caused Lena's heart to flutter.

Instead of bowing and leaving, as all the others had done, he backed slowly away, still gazing at her.

Lena discovered that it was possible to blush under water. The merman's lips were slightly parted, as if he might speak to her, and Lena longed to hear her name in his voice.

"Nix is handsome, isn't he?" said her mother with a smile.

Instead of answering, Lena looked down at her cloak, fussing with the way it rested on her shoulders.
Nix.

***

"Melusina," called Lena's grandfather. "The child must be sinking, after that long journey. She needs food and rest."

"Yes," agreed Amphitrite. "The welcome circle is complete, and the vote has been cast. She should join us for nourishment. What does she eat?"

Melusina smiled. "My daughter loves the eggs of the salmon! She shall have as many as she likes."

Vote?
thought Lena.

"The kelp juice is excellent for regaining one's strength," said Merrow.

Following Amphitrite and Merrow, she swam with her mother to the large stone table. Mer-folk were now bustling around it, heaping the bowls and plates with food. Goblets filled with some kind of liquid, heavier than the seawater, rested on the table.

Nereus swam up with a primitive-looking chair. "Please," he said. "You are family. But today you are also an honored guest." He put the chair down by the table and bowed, indicating that she should sit.

"Oh," said Lena. "Thank you." She settled into the chair, which was hard and bone-colored. As she looked more closely at it, she realized it was made of actual
bones.
Some of them were clearly whale bones, but some looked decidedly human. She suppressed a shudder.

"You may try any of these foods, and decide which you like," offe red Amphitrite.

Merrow held out a goblet, and Lena nodded her thanks, taking a tiny sip. It felt strange to be drinking under water. Her grandfather was right; the kelp juice
was
good, and she felt stronger already.

Amphitrite presided over the head of the table, passing Lena the gleaming plates with different foods on them: mussels and clams, shrimps and crabs, strands of seaweed and slices of sea slug.

"Try the periwinkle soup," said Merrow. "It has bits of rockfish in it."

"Oh. Thank you." Lena politely tried as many of the delicacies as possible. She reached for some small wrinkled bits of food. "These look like raisins," she said.

"Ah, the fish eyes," said Merrow. "Delicious!"

Lena's hand halted.

"The eyes were only harvested after the fish had died," Melusina hastened to assure her.

"Oh," said Lena, her own eyes wide. "Thank you. Maybe later. Mama, please tell me about the vote Grandmother mentioned."

"After the welcome song," said Melusina, "the village voted on whether or not you would be allowed to remain."

Lena stared. "And? Do I have to leave?"

"No, dear one. The vote was in your favor. Do not trouble yourself about it," said Melusina.

"But when did everyone vote? I didn't see that."

"After the song," said her mother. "Those who placed their hands on you were bestowing their blessing for you to remain. Forever, if you like. Those who merely bowed and departed were indicating that you should be a visitor only."

Lena's lower lip trembled. What did it mean that some of them did not want her to stay?

"Come," said her mother. "We shall find a place for you to rest. I will bide with you until I must surface again. Have you eaten your fill?"

Lena nodded. "Don't I have to surface?"

"Not yet. The cloak protects you. Once you take it off, the enchantment is broken, and you will join me in surfacing."

"Take
off
the cloak? I can't take it off——I'll drown!"

"No, indeed, my child. You must trust in the magic."

Sure,
thought Lena.
I'll trust in the magic enough to take off the cloak when I'm about five feet from the surface.

Melusina swam with Lena past several large caves. Peering into the mouth of one of the caves, Lena could see mer-folk curled up on beds of seaweed.

A short distance away, Melusina led Lena into a different cave, slightly smaller. There were beds of seaweed clustered here, too.

"Here is the sleeping cave where I take my repose," said Melusina. "We all sleep at ... what is the word?
Various
times, depending upon our need for air. Let me make you comfortable before I surface."

"You have your own cave?" asked Lena.

Melusina turned away, adjusting a bed of soft seaweed for Lena. "I am the only one who uses this cave."

"Why?"

"This is the cave for the Riven," answered her mother quietly.

"The Riven?" said Lena.

"Let us speak of these things when you have rested," said Melusina, avoiding Lena's gaze.

"No, Mama. Please. I'm not sleepy."

"Selena, my child," said Melusina. "You are stubborn as a limpet!You must rest." She caressed her daughter's cheek. "But I see that you will not be at peace until you have answers." She settled down next to Lena. "You may ask three questions. Then I must surface."

Lena nodded. "Okay. What is Riven?"

Melusina closed her eyes, as if gathering strength before speaking. "One who is Riven has chosen to forsake the world beneath the waves. She rises out of the sea and endures the riving light of the full moon upon her body. When legs take the place of her tail, she dares to walk upon the land. This transformation is against the most ancient laws of mer-folk. Thus, when a mermaid returns to the sea, she regains her form, but is known ever after as Riven. Mer-folk do not abandon their own, but one who is Riven must always remain outside the circle, in some ways."

Lena's heart was beating hard. "Outside the circle? You mean they treat you like an outcast?"

"No, my dearest. Not an outcast. You see for yourself the closeness of our kind. When I returned to the sea, full of grief and woe, I was reunited with my people and tended most lovingly. But one who is Riven once chose land over sea, and that betrayal can never be forgotten." She touched Lena's hand. "Forgiven, but not forgotten."

"I don't understand why that means you have to sleep somewhere else, though."

"Mer-folk communicate with our minds, as you have learned. The dreams of mer-folk have the power to drift from one sleeper to another, much like our thoughts. My dreams are a danger to others, for at times I dream of my life on land."

Lena shivered. "So you remembered us, sometimes, in dreams?"

Melusina nodded. "Only in dreams. Each time I awake, the sea claims my memories again."

"But once you saw me—that day at Magic's—you remembered being my mom. Right?"

"Yes."

"If you could remember me, why couldn't you remember Dad?"

"Ah, yes. Dad," said Melusina vaguely. "I do not know the enchantment surrounding the memories of the Riven. I remember the feeling of love. But I see only a blank face whenever I try to picture your father."

It seemed terribly cruel that Melusina should have lost all memories of her husband. After all, he was the reason she left her people to live on land.

"Do you remember
anything
about him?" persisted Lena.

"I remember the moonlight cleaving my tail into legs. I remember the love of a human had tempted me onto land."

"He loved you so much!" cried Lena.

"Did he?" Melusina looked interested.

"Yes! He didn't even get married again for a long time. But finally he thought you were never coming back, so he—" Lena did not finish her sentence. What was the name of his new wife? Lee?

Melusina frowned, as if focusing on some cloudy image in her mind's eye. "He was fair of face, was he not?"

"You mean handsome? Yes! Everyone says so."

"But kind, as well. My heart tells me this was true."

"He's very kind."

"You say he married again?"

"About seven years ago."

"Ah. Time is different for us. I cannot remember how long a year is."

"Well, there are twelve months in a year," said Lena. "So twelve full moons."

"Oh! Yes, yes. Now I understand. We do measure time by the full moon. But the passage of time is different in our world."

"It is?"

Melusina nodded.

"How do you mean?" asked Lena.

"Let me see," said her mother. "If there are twelve moons in a year ... let me see. I would be sixty-two years old, in your world."

Lena looked at her lovely young mother in amazement. "Sixty-two?"

"Yes. I believe that is the number."

"That can't be right. How old is Amphitrite?"

"Well, let's see. She would be ... hmm. One hundred and thirty-sixy ears."

A long silence followed these announcements. Lena did not know what to say. Was time passing differently for her, too, in this undersea world? Had it been only a few minutes since she'd left, back on land?

"What about—"

"Selena, you have asked many questions! And now you must sleep. The cloak protects you until my return," said Melusina. "When you awake, we shall explore the world beneath the waves. But now I must surface."

"Yes, Mama." Lena settled down on the bed of seaweed, closing her eyes and plunging into slumber like an anchor falling to the seafloor.