A mermaid and a corsair. Natalie Yacobson

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СКАЧАТЬ The black patch from Spike’s eye was gone, and a scorpion had taken up residence in the empty eye socket. It had gnawed so deeply into his eyelid that it seemed like a second eye.

      How many more enemies from land could one meet in the sea kingdom! Desmond had a bad feeling. Spike had definitely spotted him and recognized him. For now they both labor under the whips of the overseers. But if the octopuses let their guard down, there would be a fight.

      Cassandra’s amulet vibrated on Desmond’s chest like a second heart. The magical thing was sensitive to approaching danger.

      Merediana had come to see the work. She behaved with the utmost arrogance. It would seem from the outside that she didn’t know Desmond at all.

      “I’ll get out of here, get to land, and get a love elixir so strong she won’t be able to live without me. Cassandra can make such elixirs,” Desmond muttered to himself. He had to have something to comfort himself with.

      Cassandra could make a magic elixir, but Cassandra was far away. He needed the potion right here, right now. Desmond was going crazy at the sight of Merediana. She had sent him to work on the seaweed plantations while she rode like an overseer in a shell phaeton pulled by giant crabs. The reins in her hands were made of purple seaweed. Where did such seaweed grow? Desmond had seen endless plantations of blue and green algae, sometimes white. But there was no red.

      Merediana was chasing crabs with her whip. So he wasn’t the only one in bondage. Desmond felt the blow of the whip just then. The monster overseers noticed he was distracted from his work again. There was no need to ogle Merediana, but he couldn’t help himself. If you can’t see her, there’s nothing to live for. He was ensnared by her on a deep mental level. The fact that his body was in her physical slavery no longer mattered. Worst of all, his soul remained enslaved. Even if he accomplished a fantastic feat and escaped from the sea kingdom, his heart would remain enslaved to the sea king’s daughter.

      How funny! He wanted to ensnare her, but he was ensnared himself. It’s best not to make any deals with supernatural creatures. Any ventures against magical creatures will lead you into a trap.

      According to Merediana, a mermaid is a sea deity. She wants to be worshipped, and at the same time Desmond’s heart beat like a caged bird. He could barely keep his cool and weed the seaweed.

      Does Merediana see right through him? Was that probably the reason she was looking at him with such disdain? Pirates in love can only elicit laughter and squeamishness from mermaids. What did he expect? Even if on land, his handsome looks made women admire him, in the sea, he’s just food for the fish. It’s full of beautiful newts. Not even angels can match Laor’s beauty alone.

      Then why do sea princesses choose Earth guys for their amusement? Maybe they like to torture earthlings.

      The monster overlords behaved more and more harshly. Whips made of seaweed, which made the flesh decompose, were whipped incessantly. Slaves mutilated by the whipping were fed to the fish. Instead of an underwater palace, he was in an underwater hell. And he feared he would fall prey to the queens of the sea.

      “Why did you anger the mermaids so much that they sent you here?” Dor was suddenly interested in him.

      “Do you have to anger them to do that?” Desmond said, risking a whip of seaweed.

      “They usually like pirates. The eldest daughter of the sea king, Princess Yasmin, even married a pirate and now lives with him on the islands of the Between Worlds.”

      “Is it really?” Desmond stared greedily after Merediana. Maybe he has a chance.

      The Sea Princess traveled back and forth to the plantations in a crab carriage. He didn’t think she’d come here just for him. Somehow Desmond was sure she wanted to see him tortured.

      After all, he had kidnapped her and wanted to sell her to the King of Opal. If he had known from the beginning that the kidnapped princess would turn out to be such a magical beauty! Then he would have kidnapped her just for himself.

      How strange! He’s her slave, and he only dreams of kidnapping her again. If one day he gets free, it will only be to steal her away from the Underwater Kingdom. Princess Merediana has become his obsession.

      “You haven’t seen the other princesses yet,” Tiel intercepted Desmond’s longing gaze. “They are all rare beauties, but they are dangerous to be close to. They torture and kill their earthly lovers.”

      “Do they have earthly lovers?” Desmond felt hopeful.

      “I just called them that. They probably just like torturing handsome Earth boys.”

      “Then why didn’t they pick you to torture?”

      “I’m not very handsome, and I have scars. Mermaids only appreciate exceptional earthly beauty. They steal the youngest and most pampered aristocrats from the shore or from ships to play with them for long periods of time. I once saw them torture a beautiful prince to death. Have you ever seen a real prince in your life? I’ve never seen one on the surface, but here, in the claws of mermaids, I have.”

      Desmond was silent. Talking about royalty and princes was more painful to him than being hit with a whip.

      “Princes, too, are slaves to their origins and courtly conventions,” he muttered. “So it makes no difference to be a slave in the palace or on the plantations. Both the heir to the throne and the mermaid’s servant are slaves to the same degree.”

      “You must have taken some prince hostage who told you how hard it was for him to be the heir to the throne,” Tiel suggested.

      Desmond laughed in response. His laughter attracted Merediana. The mermaid swam up to him in anger. Her huge crabs moved their claws near Desmond’s face.

      “Is the slave having fun?” She wondered.

      Desmond didn’t know what to say. The situation did look comical from the outside. He was bending his back on a plantation and laughing at something!

      Merediana took his silence as an insult and slashed him across the cheek with her whip. The pain burned worse than fire. The red seaweed whip must have been enchanted. Its blow caused the skin to burst and split open, exposing bone. Blood trickled thinly across the water. The flocks of predatory fish that swam past the plantations immediately became alert.

      Before Desmond could panic, a miracle happened. The scar on his cheek closed instantly. The skin melted back together.

      Merediana stared at him in bewilderment.

      “This slave really is special. There’s a reason masks say…” she furrowed her purple eyebrows. “I’m taking him for myself!”

      “Wasn’t he yours before?” The handsome triton gave the corsair a murderous look.

      Laor did his best to follow the Princess like a bodyguard. For the chance to be near her, he would definitely kill. Desmond sensed the hatred emanating from the newt. Had Laor not realized that Merediana didn’t care about her captive? Yes, she might use him for some magical experiments, but she wouldn’t look at him as a boyfriend. Too bad! You’d go to great lengths to get her attention.

      “Swim to the temple! Tell the priests I’ll sacrifice to their gods tonight,” Merediana СКАЧАТЬ