The Mermaid's Mirror (26 page)

Lena felt a flare of anger. "
You
are asking me this?You, who chose to be Riven?"

Melusina sank down on the bed of seaweed again. She put her face in her hands.

Lena could hear some of her mother's thoughts—she was too upset to Cloud them.

Her long, strong legs ... her lovely moonbeam feet ... How can I make her understand?...But how do I dare to object?...Why would anyone surrender the ability to walk?...Oh, no, no, no...

"Mama," she said. "Please calm down. I'm only asking. Can't you answer some questions? Or do I have to find someone else to tell me?"

Melusina looked at Lena with haunted eyes, but she managed to compose herself. "I will answer."

"Good," said Lena. "Well, I mainly want to know if it's permanent ... or can I change back to having legs when I want to go on land?"

"You want to return to land?" Melusina's voice trembled.

Lena sighed. "Not right
now.
I'm just asking."

"No one knows with certainty," said her mother. "No human has transformed for many generations. Our legends tell of those who made the change, but they are unclear on whether or not those humans ever regained their legs."

Lena made an exasperated sound. "How can they be unclear? You guys have a song for everything, even one to tell a human when it's time to take off the cloak! There must be some little rhyme about transforming." Suddenly, Lena sensed her mother Clouding her response. "There
is.
You just don't want to tell me."

"Selena, you are far too young to make such a grave decision when the consequences are in doubt." Melusina tried to force a smile. "What a childish notion!"

Lena rose and faced her mother, unsmiling. "I am not a child. What I choose to do with my body is no one's business." She paused, then said deliberately, "Not even my mother's." She swam toward the entrance of the cave.

"Tender maiden," called Melusina. "Please stay. We shall talk more."

Lena left the cave.

***

"Oh, cousin," said Lorelei. "Look at these garnets! Havfine found a pouch of jewels on his last exploration. I'm going to add them to my necklace. He's very sweet, is he not? And he has asked me to accompany him to the surface later." She fingered her necklace, already heavy with various gems and pearls. "Do you like him?"

Havfine was an adventurous young merman, always jaunting off to exotic locales. Lena
did
like him, but she was too impatient for girl-talk. "Hav is very nice," she said. "Lori, I want to know how to get a tail."

Lorelei's smile faded.

"Please. My mother won't tell me."

"Then I should certainly not!"

Lena put her hand on Lorelei's arm. "Lorelei. I am in love with Nix. You know I am."

Lorelei's expression softened. "Anyone who looks at you knows that."

"I want to be his equal. My legs slow me down."

"But what if ... what if you want to return to land?"

"That's what I need to find out: whether the change is permanent. My mother says no one knows for sure, because it's been so long since anyone asked for a tail."

"It's—" Lorelei looked down at the blood-red jewels in her hand. "I've heard it's painful."

Lena nodded. That made sense.

Lorelei sang:

"
The twain of human legs, with their bones and blood and flesh,
Must knit with tears and pain, as the mermaid's tail doth mesh.
"

"I understand. But ... is there no song about getting the legs back?"

Lorelei looked uncomfortable. "There is
one
song."

"Good! Sing it, please."

"It's an ancient song, cousin. Your mother is right ... no human has made the change in recent history. The song must be considered more legend than fact."

"Sing it, please," repeated Lena more firmly.

Lorelei closed her eyes and sang:

"
The riving light will take a mermaid's tail,
cleaving it hard in two.
When she walks into the welcoming sea,
her tail returns anew.

The burning sand will take a human's legs,
leaving a strong sleek tail.
When she abandons the clasp of the sea,
her legs return, though frail.
"

"Her legs return," said Lena. "There's the answer!"

"
Frail,
" said Lorelei. "Did you not listen?"

"I heard. So they're weak ... the song doesn't say they're lame."

"Oh, curse Halia!" cried Lorelei. "It was she who put this idea in your head."

"I'm
glad
she did. How does it work? Who do I ask?"

Lorelei shoved her handful of garnets back into their pouch and turned away. "I have said enough. And I'm sorry, Selena, but I must get ready for ... for ... I need to surface."

Lena regarded her cousin for a moment, then said, "Then I will find Halia. She seems to know about transforming."

"No!" Lorelei grabbed Lena's arm. "Don't go to Halia. She is my friend, but she is perhaps not the kindest of maids. I will tell you what you wish to know." Lorelei's voice grew hushed. "There is a goddess of the sand. Her name is Psamanthe."

"Psamanthe," murmured Lena. "A goddess of the sand? Like an actual Greek
goddess?
"

Lorelei said reluctantly, "She is the one you would ask for a tail."

"Can you take me to her?"

"She doesn't live
here
in the village." Lorelei shook her head as if the idea were preposterous. "She lives in an underground cavern near the shore."

"How do we find her?"

Lorelei fingered the leather pouch holding her garnets. Then she poured them out into her hand again, sifting them between her fingers. Finally she answered, "Hav will know. He travels far and wide. I will ask him, if you like. Are you quite sure, dear cousin?" She looked wistfully at Lena's legs. "They're such pretty limbs. Why would you risk losing them forever?"

"It's not forever. The song said so. And even if—" Lena swallowed. "Even if it were, I probably wouldn't mind. A tail would anchor me to this world."

Lorelei's gaze was full of sorrow. "Or perhaps it would merely imprison you."

Nix pulled Lena onto his lap. "I used to enjoy the solitary nature of patrolling the verge," he said. "Now it is time away from you, and I count the minutes until it is over."

She pressed her lips against his neck, feeling a tremor move through his body. He tightened his hold on her, and she savored the knowledge that he wanted her. With deliberate languor, she rubbed her lips against his skin. Nix moaned and turned her face up to his, kissing her until she forgot where she was. She had no need of Clouding at times like this, because all her thoughts disappeared, and she became pure sensation.

"My Selena," whispered Nix after a long time. "I never knew the emptiness of my life until you appeared to fill it." He twisted a strand of her hair around his finger. "Like an otherworldly vision ... except you are real." He pulled gently on the strand, bringing her face close again. "And you are mine."

"Do you think..." she whispered, kissing him between words. "...if we'd never met ... we would have known ... something was missing?"

But Nix took possession of her mouth again, and did not answer.

"Oh," said Melusina. "I beg your pardon."

Lena and Nix broke apart.

Melusina floated at the entrance to the cave for the Riven, eyebrows raised. "It seems I have intruded. I do apologize."

"No, no," stammered Nix. "I must depart. My patrol shift ... I must ... well, goodbye, Selena."

She giggled. "Goodbye, Nix."

"I will see you tomorrow," he said, backing away.

"Yes."

Melusina nodded as he went past, then came into the cave. "It seems that you and Nix like the privacy of the cave."

Lena blushed. "Sorry. We were just..." She trailed off, her cheeks aflame.

"Never fear, daughter," laughed Melusina. "Amorous mer-folk have been caught in sleeping caves since the beginning of time."

Lena moved toward the cave's entrance. "Oh. Well, I—" She glanced outside to watch Nix depart. Unconsciously, her hands came up to worry the edges of the cloak. It felt like a hundred-pound weight on her shoulders. She had a fleeting impulse to tear it off, before caution stayed her hand.
Soon,
she thought.

"I'm going out, Mama. I'll be back in a few hours. Havfine has invited Lorelei and me to go exploring."

Her mother smiled. "I am glad you have made friends, Lena."

Lena blew her a kiss and swam away.

***

Havfine seemed flattered to be asked to show Lena and Lorelei the way to the Cave of Psamanthe, although Lena suspected he was most interested in spending time with Lorelei. He chatted politely to them about his travels—mer-folk were great scavengers, delighting especially in precious gems and gold jewelry—but after a time, Lena lagged behind. She wanted to allow the two of them to speak without her as a constant companion.

"I'm a little tired," she lied. "But I can follow, as long as you don't swim out of view."

Lorelei smirked, as if comprehending her ploy.

They swam on, stopping after another hour to dine on lobster. Havfine had acquired this delicacy through trade with a merman who hailed from the Atlantic Ocean. Lobsters were not to be found in the local waters.

"Have you rested, Selena?" asked Havfine. "The cave lies only a little farther."

"Yes," she said. "Thank you for the delicious meal! I'm ready."

Within another thirty minutes, they came to a rocky cove. Havfine led them through an undersea tunnel that led to a protected pool inside a huge, vaulted cavern.

"We will wait for you," said Lorelei, putting a hand on Havfine's arm. "Lena should speak to the goddess alone." She gave Lena an encouraging look. "Go on. We will be right here ... just call if you need us."

Lena nodded and swam into the shallow part of the pool. She raised her head, inch by inch, until her eyes were above the surface of the water. She kept her mouth below the surface, since she was breathing water now and didn't know what would happen if she tried to breathe air. Her mother had said something about the cloak protecting her
below
the waves, not above them.

The cavern was empty.

Well, not empty. It was strewn with thousands of coins, rings, seashells, and fragments of terra cotta pottery. Some of the pottery looked like female figures, while others were shallow cups with handles. Looking closer, she saw that a few seashells were bronzed. Everything in the cave looked like it had lain there for a thousand years.

But there was no goddess—or anyone else—in the cavern.

Disappointed, Lena was about to report back to Lorelei and Havfine—
There's no one there...
—when she heard footsteps.

Lena sank beneath the surface and swam toward the shadows. She would hide until she could be sure it was the goddess. Peering up through the wavering surface, Lena saw a woman enter the cavern.

The woman was tall, wearing dark blue jeans and a sleeveless white shirt. Her short brown hair was streaked with blond.

Oh, no,
thought Lena.
A human!

The woman came closer to the edge of the water and looked directly at Lena. She said something in a language Lena did not understand.

Lena's heart hammered. She pushed herself backwards through the water. She felt as frightened as any real mermaid being seen by a human.

"Ah," said the woman. "Of course you do not speak Greek." She smiled. "Hello. There is no need to be afraid. I am Psamanthe."

Astonished, Lena raised her eyes above the water.

"Oh, dear. You're wearing a cloak. I didn't know humans still did that." The woman slipped off her sandals. "Very well. I must come to you, then, since you cannot come ashore." She pulled off her clothes and plunged into the water.

Lena looked for her under water, but the woman was gone.

She had turned into a seal.

Lena stared at the seal rolling and flipping in the water near her.

"Ahh, it feels good to shed that human form for a while," said the seal in her mind.

Lena continued to stare. The animal was a normal-looking seal, except for a streak of blond in her brown fur. "Psamanthe," she stammered. "You ... I didn't know—"

"No," said the goddess. "No one ever does. My story is little known. I assure you, however, that I am a goddess. What is your name?"

"Lena."

"Where is your offering, Lena?"

With a sinking heart, Lena regarded her empty hands.
Ohhhh
...That was what all the other items in the cavern were—gifts offered up to the goddess in return for hearing an appeal. "I'm sorry," she said. "I didn't realize—"

The seal's eyes seemed to flash in the murky light under water. "You came on a pilgrimage to a goddess, and you did not bring a gift?"

"I'm so sorry!" said Lena. "I've never done this before."

"But my dear," said the seal, "I can grant no wish without an offering." She swam closer, her plush fur grazing Lena's arm. "However, I can listen to your appeal for a tail."

Lena's mouth fell open.

Psamanthe said patiently, "Of course I know what you seek, young supplicant."

"How—?"

"I did explain that I am a goddess, yes? I knew you were coming. Your need drew me back to my cavern." The seal made a sound like a sigh. "Only to find you empty-handed."

"I'm sorry I don't have an offering," said Lena. "What should I bring next time?"

"Oh, Lena. I rather doubt there will be a next time." Psamanthe flipped and rolled some more, then added, "Honey is the classical tradition. And I'm very fond of it. Certainly, I can acquire my own honey, but the taste of votive honey is so much sweeter."

"Honey?" said Lena. "But ... I live in the sea. How can I get honey for you?"

Psamanthe's flippers appeared to lift. "Maybe you can ask an Ancient to get it for you."

"An Ancient?"

"The ancient sirens were half-woman, half-bird," said Psamanthe. "They lived on land, not in the sea. Some of them are still around, you may be able to find one willing to help a sister siren."