A mermaid and a corsair. Natalie Yacobson

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СКАЧАТЬ not think clearly. He did not even immediately realize that the mermaid was dragging him as a prisoner to the Underworld.

      Mermaid’s captive

      It was dark underwater. Then a light glimmered in the distance. Merediana was actively raking the water masses with her fin. Clumps of algae and coral grew all around. The mermaid swam between them as if through a tunnel.

      The swim had been going on for about an hour. Desmond would have to drown. He did not immediately realize that he was living underwater against the laws of nature. People suffocate here. And he’s still alive. Do we have Cassandra’s amulet to thank for that? Or was it the embrace of the Princess of the Sea? Until Merediana releases him, will he not suffocate?

      The mermaid hummed a song on the way about the pleasure of drowning handsome boys.

      “How I love to drag someone handsome to the bottom, hug and kiss him and watch him suffocate and then become a skeleton on the bottom.”

      Is she kidding? Can’t she see that Desmond isn’t drowning?

      Merediana laughed. She pressed her lips against her captive’s for a moment. The kiss brought unexpected pleasure. Desmond was taken aback. Was the mermaid trying to give him artificial respiration or was this a kiss of love?

      “Yes, you won’t drown,” Merediana concluded. “There are strong people. They have a harder time than the weak.”

      On the way they began to meet flocks of motley fish. All of them, seeing Merediana, gave way to her. Even fish are afraid to swim close to her, but Desmond fell into her arms. The mermaid fluttered him like a doll, dragging him behind her, and he could not resist her. His whole body felt as if it were restrained. He was neither alive nor dead. What a trap he’d fallen into! Hadn’t he been warned how dangerous Merediana was!

      The bottom appeared below. Plantations of seaweed stretched across it. In their thickets glimpsed the bones of human skeletons. Were all the drowned men victims of Merediana? Among them there was a chest full of gold. Here was a pirate’s dream of sunken treasure, but there was no way to retrieve it.

      Desmond was a little disappointed in the sea kingdom. Where are the palaces, temples and various wonders? It’s just an ordinary, dreary bottom. It doesn’t look like a fairytale sea kingdom at all.

      There was a surprise ahead. The shining gate, decorated with bas-reliefs in the form of heads of magical creatures, turned out to be the entrance to the real Underwater Kingdom. It turned out that the dreary thickets of seaweed were only the suburbs of the sea paradise. Beyond the gate stretched fabulous underwater gardens and pyramids of pearls.

      Merediana swam up to the golden heads on the gate.

      “I have brought a prisoner, let us both through!”

      The golden faces suddenly came to life and gave the mermaid smirks that made Desmond’s blood run cold.

      “Be careful, Merediana! They look too predatory!” He wanted to warn, but all he got out of his mouth was a gurgle. The water bubbled with bubbles.

      “He is a prisoner! It is another one!” The faces sang out. “You have too many amusements! Leave them outside the gate when you’ve had your fill. Prostitutes are no good to anyone here.”

      “This is a corsair and a mermaid kidnapper! A violator of the law of the sea! He will be judged by the sea king himself, for he has kidnapped the Princess of the Sea.”

      “Wow!” The faces whistled, and winked at Desmond, saying, in their opinion, he is a hero for daring to do such a thing.

      “You don’t know what’s going on the surface!” Merediana was angry. “Are you blind?”

      The eyes of the golden faces were monochrome and golden, but they could not be called sightless. They seemed to see even more than they should.

      “We don’t like to observe the surface. There are bad memories there.”

      “It is not there, but in the sky!”

      “The sky stretches right over the sea. How can you look at the surface and not see it?”

      “I respect your grief, but the fall was a long time ago. Stop moaning and open the gate!”

      The gate creaked reluctantly. Merediana sailed through the narrow gate and dragged Desmond through.

      “Ouch!” one of the faces tried to bite his arm. Desmond was surprised to find that his voice could now be heard under water.

      “They are biters,” Merediana nodded. “I don’t like them, but you can’t swim into the Underworld without their permission.”

      She waved her fins more vigorously. The gate slammed shut, catching a piece of Desmond’s sleeve. If Merediana hadn’t swim at double speed, the pirate’s arm would have been elbow-deep in the teeth of the living faces.

      The golden heads snorted in displeasure.

      “You haven’t fed us! You haven’t paid the tribute for the passage to the Undersea Kingdom or sacrificed to us! We will report you to the Sea King Seal!”

      Merediana turned around and flashed her tongue at them. Desmond flinched. Her tongue was a bifurcated stinger.

      “They’ll report me to my father!” She pouted capriciously. “My father will punish them himself! I am his favorite daughter… after Yasmin.”

      Merediana frowned.

      “It’s strange that until Yasmin went to live on the islands of the Between Worlds, I wasn’t the foremost of the sea queens. The first seat in the sea court was only vacated by a pirate in Yasmin’s care, that’s the only reason you’re still alive,” Merediana shook Desmond like a toy. “I respect pirates. Without them, I wouldn’t be the most important of all the sea queens.”

      And by far the strongest! Desmond was horrified at how much physical strength lay in the graceful mermaid’s frail body. Merediana could crush not only him, but his entire pirate crew with one fingernail. She could crush a ship and an entire fortress with her hands. Only magic can make a slender mermaid stronger than a giant. Surprisingly, with such strength, Merediana could not free herself from either the cube or the rune-stained chest.

      The runes of the nameless morgen were far more powerful than the mermaid’s magic. Where is this morgen now? Why isn’t he rushing to the rescue? He should have sensed by now that the mermaid had freed herself. So why isn’t he rushing to help his business partner?

      Desmond caught himself thinking that he didn’t want the release. The mermaid’s closeness was so sweet that he wished he could remain captive forever. If the fetters were Merediana’s embrace, he would gladly become her eternal captive.

      That’s how people get dragged into the Underworld! It’s all due to the enchantment of the magical creatures of the sea. Proximity to them is like a magnet or a drug. You can step off a cliff or drown with them.

      Merediana’s purple hair waving in the water was softer than silk. The mermaid’s skin was phosphorescent. The scarlet scales on her tail shimmered. Merediana was the most beautiful creature СКАЧАТЬ