A Mermaid's Tale

Chapter 28

The food at the feast was probably the best I had ever eaten, and ever would eat, in my entire life. When we arrived, the rest of the crew had already been there for an hour or so, but there was still so much food left. Servants and cooks kept bringing out more food as plates grew empty. I saw Alfred stuffing his face with some kind of meat pastries, and he waved me over excitedly.

"Take a look at this!" he said excitedly as he untied one of his shoes. He took off his sock and wiggled his toes.

"Your foot!" I gasped.

"Good as new!" Sure enough, all that was left of his old injury was a small pink, circular scar. "That guy took me to some doctors first. Must have seen me limping or something."

"I'll have to put in a good word for Henry," I said with a laugh.

"Put your shoe back on, you bloody fool!" Arthur sat down beside me and glared at Alfred. "Hasn't anyone ever taught you some manners?"

"Sorry, Big Bro. Just showing (y/n) my cool new scar."

"It's better?" Arthur asked in surprise.

"Yup. They've got some weird magic stuff here that fixed it right up," Alfred explained as he put his sock and shoe back on. "The food's good too. You should eat some."

I didn't have to be told twice. The empty plate in front of me quickly filled up with all sorts of delicious looking things. There were lots of meat pastries, fruit tarts, large roasted birds, baked fish, fresh fruits, and more. I couldn't get enough. Whenever there was room on my plate, I filled it with more food.

"This is so good!" Cook exclaimed from across the table. "I has ta get the recipe!"

"Maybe yer cookin'll get better!" someone shouted.

"No more apples n' herring!"

"No more cabbage porridge!"

The bantering continued long after we had finished. All of the food had put everyone in good spirits, and most of the crew left to go cause some mischief somewhere else. I excused myself to find the baths. One of the servants was kind enough to lead the way, and I soon found myself soaking in a warm tub. I stayed in there for as long as I could without being a nuisance. My eyelids were starting to get heavy, so I decided it would probably just be best to go to bed. I was led to another room and collapsed into a soft white bed. It took all of my willpower just to crawl under the covers before drifting off to sleep, my mind giving way to the comfort of unconsciousness.

~000~

Captain Kirkland woke early the next morning as was his custom. He didn't like sleeping in too late. It made him feel lazy. He dressed quickly and found the dining hall again where they had eaten yesterday. It was laid out again, but not with quite as much food this time. Arthur took a seat and filled a bowl with porridge. He was accustomed to eating alone, but found the silence unnerving after the festivities of the night before. It never occurred to him that eating alone was a rather lonely thing to do. He ate some porridge and sighed.

"Morning."

The Captain turned around to see the mermaid standing in the doorway. She had on new, clean clothes that fit her well. The mermaid was the only woman he had ever seen look so good in trousers. "Good morning."

"You're up pretty early," she said as she sat down next to him.

"I could say the same for you." He spooned more warm porridge into his mouth.

"I went to bed too early last night so now I'm up early." She grabbed a spoon and stuck it in Arthur's bowl. "Lemme try some of this." She put the spoon in her mouth and grimaced. "Oh tides, Arthur! This isn't sweet at all!"