The Siren Queen

Chapter Eleven

The severe trauma of being captured by bloodthirsty human pirates, and coming very close to dying on their ship, put Crown Princess Nerissa in a state of shock. The disturbing events of the day washed over her like a tidal wave. Her brain felt foggy, and her thoughts were sluggish.

The bathtub in Hannah's private washroom was akin to a somewhat large wooden barrel, lined with metal, in order to prevent leaks. It was barely five feet long, about two feet wide, and less than two feet deep. Low-ranking crew members helped Capt. Andersen's daughter fill it with seawater.

It did feel refreshing for Nerissa's scales to be once again moistened with saltwater, but she nonetheless felt claustrophobic in the tub. Hannah ran her dirty fingers along Nerissa's tail. "Wow, it's not slimy at all...!" the little girl declared. In the merfolk world, it was widely considered a violation to touch somebody else's tail without their consent, but Hannah clearly had no respect for personal space whatsoever.

The Crown Princess of Pacifica covered her ears, as she heard a loud squawking coming from Hannah's bedchamber, which was adjoined to the washroom. It was a sound entirely unfamiliar to her, and not the least bit pleasant.

"What's that...?" Nerissa could not resist asking. She knew that when attempting to communicate with Hannah, she should try to talk slowly and use uncomplicated vocabulary, due to her thick Pacifican accent.

"You mean Hans...my parrot...?". Hannah pointed to a caged bird in the adjoining room. The cage was placed close enough to the washroom door that when Nerissa craned her neck, she managed to catch a glimpse of the parrot. Her mother had told her about birds, but she hadn't ever seen one. Hans was a scarlet macaw, covered in red, blue, and yellow feathers. In spite of how irritating his squawking was, Nerissa had to acknowledge that the bird was quite pretty.

"You'll be so much more fun of a pet than him, Mermaid..." said Hannah. "Are you hungry...?"

"A little..." Nerissa admitted.

"I'll go to the galley and get you something to eat". Hannah dashed out of the washroom.

While she waited for Capt. Andersen's young daughter to return, Nerissa realized that she could relate to Hans. Her gaze drifted back in the direction of the colorful parrot. Just like her, the beautiful bird was out of his element, confined against his will.

After a few minutes, Hannah darted back into the room, holding the dead body of a Pacific cod, possibly one of the very same fishes who had been trapped in the net alongside Nerissa earlier. The Princess of Pacifica felt sick to her stomach, at the sight of the rotting corpse of the poor fish.

"I don't...I can't...eat that..." Nerissa sputtered. "I...I mean, we merfolk don't...eat fish...at least not...that kind..."

Hannah looked visibly surprised. "Really...why not...? Don't big fish eat smaller fish...?"

"There's a lot of things...that Wild animals do...that Civilized creatures do not..." Nerissa said.

"So...what do you eat then, Mermaid...?"

"Seaweed, mostly...sometimes bivalves..." answered Nerissa.

"Bivalves...? What's that...?"

"Clams, oysters, cockles, mussels, scallops, and geoducks...because unlike fishes, they have no brain..."

"Okay...I'll be right back...". Hannah ran out of the washroom again.

Nerissa was ever so slightly impressed that her captor was considerate enough to be willing to accommodate her dietary preferences. The pirate captain's daughter returned with a clam and an oyster.

"Sing for me, Mermaid!" demanded Hannah, once the Crown Princess of Pacifica had finished eating.

Although Nerissa didn't appreciate being ordered to do something in that manner, she obeyed, fearing the consequences of refusing Hannah's request. She had a feeling that her weak singing voice would be a great disappointment to the girl, but she sang "Mare Pacificum", which Miss Shelley believed to be her best song.

Hannah actually seemed so entranced in her singing that Nerissa began to wonder if she had somehow developed Siren powers. When she overheard some of the pirates, in a nearby room, loudly and drunkenly singing off-key sea shanties a little later, she caught on that Capt. Andersen's daughter had never been exposed to even halfway decent singing. Compared to the pirates' inebriated warbling, Nerissa's voice, while vastly underwhelming by mermaid standards, must have sounded amazing to Hannah.