Nerissa thanked Prince Everett for the meal, and politely declined his offer to stay overnight at his palace. He had gotten under her scales so much that even sleeping in a cold, dark cave in the Wilderness seemed preferable to being under the same roof as that arrogant prince.
The following day, as she was swimming just below the surface of the increasingly frigid sea, foraging for seaweed and shellfish to eat for lunch, Stormer watched in horror, from several feet away, as the Crown Princess of Pacifica suddenly found herself caught in a fishing net. The net was woven from thick, coarse hemp and felt like countless tiny barbs digging into her sensitive skin and scales.
In the net, she was surrounded by many unlucky Wild salmon and cod, who were thrashing about in the net, their sheer panic apparent. Help...they telepathically cried out in unison. Nerissa's tender heart went out to the poor creatures, but she was much too physically weak to be able to free herself and the others who were captured by cruel humans.
Her gills strained for oxygen as the net was hauled out of the water. This was by far the most terrifying experience of her young life.
The fishing net landed on the main deck of a sailing vessel. The ship was seventy feet in length, with a fully square-rigged foremast, a square topsail, and a gaff sail mainsail. A skull-and-crossbones flag flapped in the wind.
The brigantine's small crew appeared to be all women, of diverse shapes, sizes, and skin colors. Most of them were dressed in men's breeches and well-worn jackets. The ship's captain was a tall, intimidating woman with an athletic build and long, ash blonde hair styled in a ponytail, tucked under a black tricorn hat. Unlike the rest of the crew, she wore a crimson silk gown with lace-trimmed, three-quarter-length sleeves, but the rather large dagger strapped to her waist prevented her from looking too ladylike.
"A mermaid, eh?" said the Captain. Her sharp hazel eyes glared menacingly at Nerissa, whose lovely lavender, pink, and blue tail flopped around as it started to dry out. "You, creature, shall have the great honor of being the main course at tonight's feast...".
"Capt. Andersen, I reckon that her tail looks mighty tasty..." a tan-skinned crew member chimed in.
"Can't wait to find out if the li'l lass tastes more like cod or like salmon!" another pirate blurted out, licking her lips.
The pirates spoke a rough, working-class dialect of Anglo, the language spoken by most humans in the kingdoms along the coast. It had some degree of mutual intelligibility with Pacifican Anglo, which had replaced Archaic Pacifican as the official language of her kingdom a few hundred years ago, but Nerissa still only understood a fraction of what they had said.
"Please..." Nerissa pleaded, as her life quickly flashed in front of her blue-green eyes. She had never spoken to a human being, unless one counted her mother of course, before.
All of a sudden, a young girl, who looked like a younger version of Capt. Andersen, ran out onto the main deck. "Mama...she's so pretty...!" she exclaimed. "I always wanted a mermaid for a pet...! Can't I keep her...in the bathtub in my quarters...?"
Capt. Andersen gazed at her daughter with unexpected affection, and pat her on the head. "Fine, Hannah...you can have your...pet mermaid".