Mortance: A Miscarriage of Hope

Jade Ⅱ

The first dream was of the day I'd decided to leave. My father held assembly, inviting all in Merian. The entire royal family was there. King Roin, his wife Moana, his siblings Ouran and Lyria, and his children. With his queen, he'd birthed four: Jaffrey, Saeli, and the young twins Kaery and Haery. A decade before all that, or near enough to make no matter, he'd fathered a bastard with some unknown woman. The bastard was his daughter and heir, me.

But this day was when that all changed. "A warmongering bastard is no fit heir to the throne," King Roin had said. "My eldest trueborn son Jaffrey will be my heir." Only Queen Moana, Prince Jaffrey, and the king himself seemed truly satisfied with that announcement. The twins were too young to understand what it meant, but my half-sister Saeli gave me a sympathetic look. Next to the king, my uncle Ouran looked furious at his brother, and his twin sister Lyria seemed unsurprised, though I knew her well enough to know there was a quiet rage inside her.

That was the day I decided to leave, I remembered. Ouran came to me that night and offered to arrange passage, and now... now I was dying from the first stage. I have to be stronger than this if I'm going to bring Merian back to glory.

Then I saw a flash of Captain Ahryn. She was speaking with a younger girl. They both suddenly looked at me with alarm and rushed to my side. Someone shook me, and I tried to respond. No words would come. At least, not before darkness took me again.

I dreamed of an army of Merfolk rising from the waves. They took back Merkan from the vir, and this time, they defended it well. My dream, I knew, the purpose of my quest. Slowly, I watched as their army gained power. Then King Roin died, and I followed him. I was Queen Jade of Merian and Merkan, and I led us to victory and glory in the war for Ert.

Next I saw a city with many ships in its harbor. Then I saw two men on the docks. "Go north," one commanded. "Find the temple." The other nodded. I saw him board a ship, and then that ship set sail. Winds carried them north to a land of ice and snow.

Then I saw Captain Ahryn again. "The storm's passed, cap'n," the dwarf from the bath was telling her. Not a dwarf, I remembered, a short human. "We need to set sail soon."

Captain Ahryn looked to someone I couldn't see. "Can we move her?"

"Best not to," a girl said. "Not until she wakes, at least."

"Then we wait."

I drifted into darkness again. This time, I saw Merian. Not the kingdom, nor the underwater mountain, but the person. I saw her legend. Barely five hundred merfolk had survived the destruction of Merkan. Ert had bigger armies than that. Merian fought, and she had nearly died. The remaining Merfolk had escaped to the ocean, with only one small ship between them. I watched as they became caught up in a terrible storm, and their ship only survived by some miracle. I saw Merian floating in the wreckage of a once glorious kingdom, and I saw her make the choice. "Follow me," she said, then she dove beneath the waves.

That was when I awoke. I knew from the pain that it was no longer a dream. Christopher James was watching over me, along with a girl I vaguely knew. I saw him ask her something, and she nodded.

"Jade," Christopher James's voice was the first thing I heard.

"I... what happened?" my voice sounded dry. "My feet-"

"Ye still got two," the young girl said. She had a round face and long golden hair. I threw back the blanket to check the truth of her words... and both feet were there. My left foot was still wrapped in bandages, but I could feel it.

"Where are my clothes," I demanded, perhaps a bit harsher than necessary.

"Cap'n had 'em cleaned, since they wasn't bein' worn," Christopher James explained. "She'll want te know yer up." He left.