(A/N): Hello everyone! Exciting news! Dark Depths is finally complete and has a release date! As you might notice in the image, the release date is June 20, 2017, and the book will be available on Kindle and paperback versions through Amazon. To celebrate, I'm posting a new chapter! I've also updated all the other chapters to the current version, so feel free to check those out again as a preview to the full version.
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So, June 20! Don't forget! It's up for preorder now!
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Chapter Ten: Specific Conditions
1
Well before midnight, Nathan let himself into Ellister's study. He liked the enormous map that was painted upon the wall, but he did not look at it now. He'd just said his goodbye to Treasure, who was likely the brightest star that had ever come into his life. He wished things could have been different—wished she'd been a human instead of a nymph. He would have had everything then, but he was sure he'd made the right choice. He would have to live with it.
If Nathan had been present in this room earlier, he would have known that the prince had not moved at all, still slumped over his charts, jotting notes here and there. The advisors had left him to himself, going off to enjoy their lives and left Thaddeus to his own. The crown prince was completely oblivious to that thought however; he was immersed in his work.
Nathan, in dry clothes but still drenched with heavy heartache, set himself down in a chair opposite Ellister without being invited to do so. He poured himself a drink and leaned back in the plush upholstered seat without words, until the crown prince broke the silence, though still giving full attention to the maps.
"Did you cut yourself?" Ellister asked abruptly.
The man's words, at times, were strange in starting, as if he expected the person he was speaking with to be on the same trail of thought. Cuts, yes; Nathan had wounds. That nymph in Ellister's chamber had bitten and scratched him. Was that what the man spoke of? This time, Nathan elected to feign ignorance.
"I beg your pardon?" he asked politely.
"Fran said she thought there was blood in the water. You were nowhere around after that, she said. Thought you'd hurt yourself."
"Oh yes, that," Nathan acknowledged. "I did cut my arm while reaching for the buckets. I left to tend to it. A few drops must have fallen into the pool."
It was a complete lie; he knew that. His only concern, however, was if Ellister knew it.
"It's quite fine," Thaddeus assured him flatly. "Though do try to be more careful with blood. I would hate for those nymphs to develop a taste for it."
Relief came over Nathan at that. "I will. I apologize."
The crown prince never once lifted his eyes, and Nathan wondered if the man meant what he'd said. Could he have been cast out of Ellister's good graces so suddenly? It wasn't his fault that those creatures—which the prince counted as lovers—had attacked him, but of course it would do no good for him to say anything of that sort. From now on, at least for a while, Nathan would have to keep his eyes open.
He swallowed down more of the liquid he'd taken into his glass, hoping to blur the beautiful face he still saw when he closed his eyes.
"Nathan..." the crown prince said suddenly, drawing his attention.
Ellister was looking down at the chart as if something had just jumped off the page at him and slapped him across the face. Nathan only sat, watching the man for a moment. He didn't have time to inquire before Ellister was talking again.
"Change clothes and tousle your hair. Dirty up a bit. I need you to go to the docks. There is a shoddy tavern there called the Shipwrecked Sailor, run by a man named Gideon. I need you to go to him and ask if he believes the conditions are right."
The docks? Yes, that was a place Nathan did not need directions to. He wasn't sure that he knew a man named Gideon, however. And what was all this other talk?
"What conditions?"
"He'll know what you mean," Ellister promised. "I suspect he'll inform you when you arrive. I need this done swiftly. He'll put you up for the night but I expect you to return promptly in the morning. It's important."
Nathan was lingering over his chair when Ellister finally raised his eyes, looking tired and strained. He wondered if he should ask any more questions, but the prince's expression was telling him to go. Was this strange, Nathan wondered. Considering Ellister, it was not so odd. The man was known to seem random, when actually he worked off a long and intricate pattern of thought. Who was Nathan to question it, especially since very little effort could have him thrown in prison, awaiting a walk to the gallows. With that thought in mind, he rose up fully.
"Of course," he said. "I'll be back in the morning."
2
Deep in the darkest depths of the ocean—through the absence of light and life—the mermaid swam.
Treasure did not know for how long she had been pushing herself through the waters, only that she would stop when she reached her destination and not before. Her eyes allowed her to find her way, but after she had traveled so far down, she no longer needed to look through the dark.
Light shone faintly though the water as she swam further into the abyss. Wrapped in black, thriving weeds was the remnant of a pirate's ship that had somehow managed to be swallowed this far down into the belly of the sea. The holes of the ship's windows were lit with an eerie, supernatural glow. Few was the number of those who had visited this place, but unlike them, Treasure was not afraid. She was firm in her resolve, and if she could not have what she wanted, she would rather be dead.
She moved toward the slimy deck of the ship, where an open hatch led down to the lit layer below. Treasure did not hesitate to slip down through the hazy water, dirtied with broken bits of algae. She moved into the hull without announcing herself, pausing just inside.
The water was strange here, shifting back and forth and carrying the snow of algae with it. Every time it shifted, moving her hair and tangling it, she was chilled to her bones. The current, however, seemed nonexistent. Everything else was still and quiet.
Treasure moved cautiously, pushing herself past several transparent anglerfish that moved along the walls, the lights that suspended from their dorsal fins burning brightly. They were terrible-looking—with their jutting jaws and razor teeth—but they moved as if in a trance, completely unaware of her presence. In any other instance, she would fear them. On this occasion, she did not.
On crooked shelves lining the walls, there were many sorts of organisms in water-filled jars. Some were still alive, while others were simply mutilated pieces of creatures—sea and land dwellers alike. Treasure tried not to look at them, but her curiosity kept leading her to glance. There were bones and portions of guts. There were brains and samples of blood. It was not until she glimpsed a withered hand that she was drawn to the shelf. The fingers were very much like hers, and she wondered if it had been lobbed from the wrist of a human or an imperfect. Either way, it was disturbing to her.
Looking at it in disgust that immersed all her senses, Treasure was startled when a voice reached her ears.
"I knew jou were coming. Did jou have a nice journey? I must say, it is very sweet of jou to pay me a visit. It's been so very long."
The sound was in the high-pitched language of the sea nymphs, for it carried better through the water. Treasure gasped and jerked her head toward it, the sound chilling her greater than the water itself. The tail of one of the anglers brushed by her own, and she flung herself back from the shelf, startled.
From a deeper layer of the sunken vessel, a great mass of hair emerged, followed by a dark body with a silver tail. The face that was nearly hidden in that forest of thick hair, which was bound to resemble a squid's tentacles, smiled at Treasure with lips as pretty as her own. Despite her solitude, the dark-skinned one was as lovely as when Treasure had last seen her.
Who was she now? How had she changed? Since they'd been separated, she'd become quite a name in these waters. They called her the sea witch—as if she was wickeder than they.
"Jou're looking well," the host said. "Jou always were de prettiest among us. What a shame."
"I need your help," Treasure said, wasting no time on pleasantries.
"Jou do indeed," said the other, folding her arms and turning to travel back down below. "Jou've become a fool since I left jou."
Treasure followed her down into the belly of the ship, and the smell of thick blood shocked her nose. Down below, her old friend had been busy disemboweling a shark. There were numerous wicked tools, sharp and rusted, hanging from the ceiling. Treasure moved no farther than the entrance, while the other mermaid went back to her work of cutting open the large, dead creature.
"I knew jou'd be no good to me once jou fell in love wit dat boy," the dark one said disappointedly. "But I could never kill jou. Not one so close to my heart. Not jou."
There was a sickening noise as she ripped back into the shark's belly. Treasure had never liked the look of those beasts. The rows of teeth in their smiling mouths had always been unsettling to her, but they were not the worst creatures in the depths.
"Please help me," Treasure begged again. "I'll do anything you want, but I must be with him."
"Mark my words, Treasure. Jou're a fool."
The girl was aware that this one had been watching through her eyes for many years, but she couldn't say she felt uncomfortable because of it. She'd become used to it, as if the other belonged there. But this had to stop now. They were both alone and shunned, but Treasure was the one taking the beatings. There was more to life than torture for the hope of revenge. She wanted nothing of that now.
"But you will help me," she said with firm belief.
The sea witch ignored her, carefully sliding out the string of guts from within the shark's belly. Treasure moved forward insistently, stopping again when a thick haze of blood washed over her.
"I want to be with him more than anything else in life."
"I know," the witch said, though unfeelingly.
Treasure's need swelled inside her then, bursting from her mouth without further hesitation. "Make me into a human."
She'd expected her request to have some greater impact, but her host seemed completely unmoved.
"Why would jou want dat?" the dark nymph asked finally, distracted.
Treasure was becoming irritated with these inquiries. Was she not paying attention at all? This witch knew why. She had always known it.
"I love him," Treasure said as if she had said it before.
"And how do jou know he feels de same?"
"He told me so," she replied indignantly.
"One will say anyting when dey are feeling desperate. Even jou know dat. He said he loved jou, jes; I was dere. But he also told jou to go. He told jou to stay away from him. Don't jou tink he might have just told jou some lie to have jou comply wit his request? He'd never have to see jou again, after all. Lies are easy to live wit dat way."
"That's not true. He meant it," Treasure insisted without even having to consider. She'd known he wasn't lying to her. The truth was in his eyes, his hands, his voice!
The dark one sighed then, turning back to the love-struck child in the midst of her lair.
"Do jou truly have any idea what jou are asking me for?" The teasing manner had dropped from her voice. She was serious now; it showed in her silver eyes. "I cannot make jou into a human; I can only make jour tail into legs. Jou will still be a sea nymph. Jou will not possess a soul, and jou will still live for hundreds of years. Jou will be a sea nymph on land. Jou know de dangers of dat."
Treasure had already thought of this, and while she knew that it was dangerous and it might have dire consequences, she was willing to take the risk. A few moments with her love in the sun was worth a healthy lifetime beneath the water.
"I'm willing to accept it," she said without a waver in her voice.
"Do jou tink he will protect jou, golden one?" the laughter was back in the witch's tone once again. "I've had a look at jour young man myself, and I promise jou dat he has no idea what he's dealing wit. Truly, jou would be doing him a favor by staying away."
The witch turned back to her knife. An entranced angler came closer to better light her work. Treasure knew she was being ignored, but she had not given up.
"Bliss," Treasure addressed, breathing the dark one's human name into the water. "Please..."
The name stirred something inside the witch, and finally she lifted her silver eyes.
"Jou didn't finish helping me like jou promised. Why should I help jou?"
"I'll do one last thing," Treasure vowed. "Anything you ask. But I've already made my choice. I was warned that if I left the palace waters I would be killed; you know that. I couldn't stay there, so know that if you refuse me, I will kill myself. I'll certainly be no help to you dead."
Bliss tossed down her bloody knife, rising up in the water. The blade sunk quickly.
"It is a wonder dat I care!" she yelled.
They stared at each other for several moments, silver eyes cutting toward Treasure, but her resolve could not be sliced. If Treasure felt fear then, she did not show it—even though knowing in the back of her mind that the dark mermaid could give her a punishment worse than death. But she would not; Treasure was confident of that.
She was right. Eventually Bliss sighed heatedly in defeat.
"Alright den. What I want in return for dis foolish ting jou ask for is jour tongue."
The words were a surprise, even to the water.
"My..." Treasure began with a start, but then her surprise turned to suspicion. "May I at least ask what good it will do you? Or are you just being cruel?"
A long smile stretched across Bliss's lips, telling Treasure that both of those things were true.
"Why do jou tink dey banished me?" the dark nymph asked with pleasure. "Why do jou tink dey keep our kind as slaves?"
Treasure shook her head in confusion. Why had Bliss even asked this? The answer was such a simple one.
"Hatred?" Treasure guessed. "Because we look so much like humans."
Bliss shook her head in disagreement. "Fear."
Fear? That was a concept new to Treasure. Why would those ruthless creatures fear something like her? She understood why they feared Bliss, and certainly the only thing she and Treasure had in common was the fact that they were imperfect.
"We are humanlike, and we have so much more power dan dey do," Bliss told her with great pride rising up from within her lungs. "I learned how to use human magic, and dey feared me. And our tongues speak de human language when deirs cannot. Deir hatred is jealousy."
The others wanted to be humanlike as well? The Mistress did? No, that was not possible, Treasure knew. But she could understand how the Mistress might want a human tongue. She could make her intentions of destruction known to the humans then, and if she could speak to them in a language they understood, they would stop regarding her as an animal.
"I see," Treasure said thoughtfully.
"Since jou are no longer willing to help me, but jou are willing to give me what I ask, I will take jour tongue and make a trade wit jour Mistress. I can set de tongue into her mouth and allow her to speak as we do—but of course dat will only be de tip of de iceberg, as dey say. I was not pleased wit what she did to de hatchlings. Still, we will reclaim dis sea—even if it is witout jour help."
That had been Bliss's intention since the beginning—even the reason she had learned to use human magic. Treasure was not a stupid one, which was why the silver-eyed nymph had attached herself to her when she'd been a mere slave, and then was banished from the servitude of the Mistress out of fear. Bliss had been seeking revenge since long before that—revenge for her own kind—and Treasure had been her tool. Though this proposition did not sound pleasant, this was the trade she had offered, and Treasure felt she would be more of a fool not to take it.
Bliss smiled cruelly as she watched her think.
"So, are jou willing to go through wit it? I can give you de most beautiful legs dat have ever been, only for de exchange of jour tongue. I'll be kind to jou though, golden. I'll reduce de glands in jour mouth so jou won't drool all over jour pretty self! But jou'll never be able to speak to dat handsome young ting jou love. Ever! When he grows old, jou will still be young; when he dies, jou will still live; and witout a soul dere is no'ting for jou past death but a return to de sea as foam!"
"Unless I somehow obtain a soul," Treasure spoke up, cutting out the terrible things. "To become completely human."
"False. Hopes." Bliss seemed to take great pleasure in telling her this, her teeth gleaming.
Treasure closed her eyes and imagined the one she loved. Nathan... She imagined the way the wind blew his wavy hair past his tanned face. She remembered his eyes and the soft smile on his lips when he looked at her. Recalling his muscular form put a gentle smile on her own lips, and she knew it would only be right when that body was wrapped around hers, legs entwined. To not see him again would be torture worse than the bone hooks—worse even than walking on needles with every step she took across the land.
"There is no other way for me," Treasure said finally, agreeing to her old friend's terms. "I'll do what you want."
Bliss's expression turned grave, and she reached down to retrieve the knife from where it had fallen. Even though she looked solemn, there was a gleam of anticipation in her silver eyes.
"We'll have to surface," she said. "It's going to bebloody."