Page 59

Chapter Thirty-Six

S he woke up to the sound of water drops falling. Her body felt sore, as if it had been hit by a boulder. Pushing herself up she surveyed her surroundings; she seemed to be in some kind of a cave. The sound of waves crashing made her realize she was in a cave by the sea.

Her head felt heavy, and a second later, she realized that her hair had grown at least three feet in length.

There was another glaring difference: whatever magic had caused her hair to grow longer had also turned her hair to its original pale color—a blonde so light that it was almost white.

Silver locks spilled over her shoulders, encircling her body like a shroud.

That was just as well, for she was clothed in only two small scraps of floaty cerulean fabric.

There were pearl bracelets encircling her wrists and ankles.

Pushing her hair back from her face, she looked around wildly looking for an explanation for her state of undress, her shell shaped earrings jingling with the movement.

She tried to get to her feet and collapsed, crying out in pain as her legs felt like they had been stabbed by a million needles. Her nerve endings felt like they were on fire, and she prayed she would not pass out from the pain.

“Having trouble walking?”

Lore lounged in the cavern entrance, once again looking like he had been through hell, his appearance disheveled and haggard.

Any sympathy she had felt toward him after looking at that room evaporated when she looked at his face that seemed to delight in her misery.

Her long hair was a blessing now, and she gathered it around her more fully, to cover herself, hating the way he looked at her.

“What do you want?” she hissed out in a strained breath.

“Just thought I would ask you how you were doing. Are you in pain? Can I help somehow?”

“You did this,” she said accusingly, narrowing her eyes at him with what she hoped would be communicated as bone deep hatred .

“Tsk tsk. You really shouldn’t frown so. Fairytale princesses shouldn’t get wrinkles!”

“Where am I?”

He chuckled, spinning around, looking at the cavern.

“I am so glad you asked!” he cried. “We are in a heartwarming story about a sea maiden in love with a prince on land—so in love, in fact, that she trades her lovely tail for a pair of boring human legs. Unfortunately, you quite missed the part where you had a tail when you arrived. I took care of it early on, mostly to hurry things along. Are you familiar with the story?”

She was. Familiar enough to know this was not one with a happy ending.

“Of course, you shall play the part of the lovely mermaid. Now who shall be your prince?”

He pretended to think.

“Where is Grim?” she asked hoarsely.

He smiled, and she realized that she had given him precisely the answer he had wanted.

“Don’t you mean Prince Grim?”

Instead of giving him the satisfaction of asking what he meant, she asked another question,

“How do I complete this tale?”

“I thought you said you were familiar with the original story? This one isn’t any different.

You have a week to make the prince fall in love with you, else your body turns to seafoam.

It should be easy enough for you, seeing how you and the boy love each other so very much.

” He seemed to ponder something. “Oh dear, he’s never actually said that he’s loved you, has he?

Well, you’ll just have to hope for the best, then. ”

“Why are you doing this?” she whispered. “You have been in love before, surely you understand that this is all wrong. Do you think Arcana would want you to do this?”

It was the wrong thing to say. The cave seemed to grow even darker, and the world shrunk away, as he turned around to face her, his eyes burning like two red hot coals in his face.

“You do not say that name,” he hissed. “You have no clue what you are talking about, little girl. ”

She almost shrank back at the rage in his words but fought to not even flinch.

“I am her descendant, her family. Does that mean nothing to you?”

He approached her, until he was leaning over her. His hands reached out, and snaked themselves into her hair, almost like a lover’s gentle caress.

“I confess, when I first saw you, I felt somewhat of an affinity toward you. You reminded me of her, and even though I cursed you to spite Nerida, I held no real ill will toward you.”

“Then why—”

She was cut off when his hands turned into fists, and he cruelly yanked her hair, forcing her body upwards, making her let out a pained whimper.

“But I was wrong. You are nothing like her. She was pure and innocent, and you are not. You have let a filthy human touch you; you have treated me with nothing but contempt and disdain, and have rebuffed all of my overtures. No, you are nothing like my Arcana at all.”

Her eyes were watering now, as she dangled limply from his punishing grip, unable to even push him away because of the pain in her legs. He continued to speak, now shifting back to the tale, each word that fell from his lips an evil condemnation.

“You are a mermaid on land, and so it shall feel as such. Every step you take on land shall feel as if you are stepping on knives, your soles will feel like they are sore and bloody, but when you look at them, there will be nothing there and you shall feel as if you are going insane.”

With this dark sentence he let go of her hair, and she fell back to the ground. He turned to leave, and then stopped, facing her again with a catlike smile.

“I nearly forgot the final touch. ”

He snapped his fingers.

Nothing happened.

She opened her mouth to ask what he meant, but no sound came out.

She tried again.

Nothing.

“Cat got your tongue?” asked Lore with dark amusement.

She glared at him in outrage, tears of pain still in her eyes.

“Oh, do not look at me like that. I must keep the story as similar as possible to the original, remember? As for your beloved prince, you should find him on the beach. Go on, little mermaid, swim toward your true love .”

Something was very wrong with this entire scenario, with the way he encouraged her to go find Grim, but as he disappeared, she could do nothing but watch.

She managed to half drag, half crawl her way out of the cave, wincing in pain the entire time. As soon as her legs hit the water, the pain receded, and she heaved a silent sigh of relief. The shore was not very far, and she just needed to swim a short distance to reach it, to reach Grim.

There was a hazy male outline on the beach that she hoped was the man she was seeking.

As she swam nearer, her heart kicked in joy, for that was Grim’s face that she could see.

She swam harder then, wanting to reach him as quickly as she could.

Wading out of the water, she caught a glimpse of him turning toward her.

And then her legs were on land, and she was in so much pain that she almost didn’t hear the warm male voice talking to her.

“—ou okay?”

She looked up, her tears of pain now also ones of relief.

She reached out and flung her arms around his waist, the bracelets on her wrists singing in a desperate jingle.

She wanted to feel him and assure herself he was near.

Her hair spilled in front of her, and she gasped for air, aware that she probably resembled a drowned rat.

Something wasn’t right, though. Why was he looking at her like that?

“I am sorry but…do I know you, miss?”

She could almost hear her heart shatter.

Of course, of course . She should have known this would have been the case; she had known that there would be some kind of a catch but this…this was her own personal hell.

It was too much—all of it was too much; she didn’t know how much of this she could take. How much pain and fear and grief.

The edges of her vision started to blur, the pain and heartache all catching up to her. She felt herself swaying as Grim, who was not Grim, spoke to her in a concerned voice.

“Are you okay? Hey, it’s going to be fine let me—”

And then there was blessed oblivion as she stopped hearing and feeling at all.

Serena woke up in an unfamiliar room, to an unfamiliar face. The girl leaning over her was pale and round faced, with an extraordinary amount of freckles across her cheeks. When their eyes met, she let out a huge sigh of relief.

“You’re awake! His Highness will be glad to know; he’s been so worried about you. Keeps popping in to see if you’re conscious yet. Why, what on earth were you doing on the beach alone, and without warm clothes for that matter?

His Highness?

The maid, for she looked like a maid, albeit one who dressed in more expensive clothes than she had ever worn living in Glenn, kept up a constant stream of chatter as she went about the room carrying out her tasks.

Rina was grateful for the noise, it helped drown out the suffocating feeling she was currently feeling.

Grim didn’t remember her.

How on earth was she to complete the story when not only did he not recognize her, but also she could not tell him anything, hold any conversation.

It was a doomed story from the start, and she knew this was Lore’s revenge for the last tale.

He had been livid then, as opposed to the cheery way he had greeted her at the start of this one, no doubt knowing she was destined to fail.

Was this really where it was going to end for her? For them?

The door opened then, and he stepped in.

Grim.

Grim, who did not remember her.

“I see you’re awake,” he said with a small smile. “I—er—asked the maids to procure some more appropriate clothing than you were wearing previously. I hope you will find it to your liking.”

She stared at him, and it hit her that even if she was able to say something, she would have no idea what it would be. What do you say to someone who was your best friend but did not remember it? How do you face the man who knew your body intimately but recalled none of it.