A Tail of Two Mermaids

Chapter Five: LORELEI

Princess Lorelei desperately gasped for water as one of the Kraken's eight gigantic, black tentacles started to press against the tiny gill slits on the back of her small, pale neck. At least her right arm was still free...

All of a sudden, the gentle voice of her mother, Queen Alda, echoed in Lorelei's head. "There's an ancient merfolk legend that says if a mermaid wears a bracelet woven out of her mother's hair, she will be completely safe from any kind of danger", the Queen of Baltica had said. "I personally believe that there is no magic anywhere in the seven seas that's more powerful than a mother's love".

Lorelei mouthed a brief, silent prayer to Amphitrite, the Goddess of the Sea, as she stroked her special bracelet, which was woven from a lock of her beloved mother's lovely, golden blonde hair. Warm rays of blindingly bright, golden light suddenly emitted from the magical bracelet on Lorelei's wrist.

"I CAN'T SEE!" growled the Kraken. Krakens' eyes were exceptionally sensitive to light. That was why they tended to make their homes in dark shipwrecks and dimly lit, deep sea caverns.

The Kraken let out a monstrous screech. He thrashed about violently, his eight tentacles whipping around the cramped space of the sunken Viking ship. Lorelei felt the pressure on her turquoise mermaid tail slacken, and then, with a sickening snap, the Kraken's grip gave way entirely. Blinded and disoriented, the colossal sea monster flailed blindly.

The force of the Kraken's thrashing sent Nixie tumbling through the water, freed from the horrible creature's crushing grip. Nixie quickly regained her bearings, and her blue eyes landed almost instantly on a small Viking seax, buried in the wooden beam of the ship. In one impressively swift motion, Princess Lorelei's Tailmaiden darted towards it, grasped the rusty human weapon, and turned back to Lorelei. "Swim for your life!" yelled Nixie.

Lorelei certainly did not need to be told twice. Although she was far from the fastest swimmer in the merfolk world, pure and unadulterated adrenaline filled her veins as she briskly followed Nixie towards the narrow hole in the longship's hull. The mysterious golden light from the princess's bracelet illuminated their way.

"I'LL GET YOU, LITTLE MERMAIDS!" the Kraken screamed, his tentacles flailing wildly as he tried to grab them again. The two mermaids managed to narrowly escape, by swimming with all their might. Their hearts pounded loudly in their chests.

Thank you, Mama, thought Lorelei, once they were safely out of the sunken ship. Her one-of-a-kind bracelet had helped save the mermaids' lives.

For the next two days, Lorelei and Nixie traveled in a near silence that the mermaid princess thought seemed more awkward than companionable. Lorelei voraciously devoured book after book, attempting to keep her mind off their recent, terrifying encounter with the Kraken, and the rusty human knife that now sat on her Tailmaiden's lap. Like most of her fellow Balticans, Lorelei was a staunch pacifist who strongly disliked weapons. She wished that Nixie would at least put the Viking seax, which was only seven inches long, away in her shell-case, but she didn't want to make waves by demanding that the other mermaid do so, though of course it was supposed to be a royal Tailmaiden's job to ensure that her princess was comfortable.

"I'm hungry..." Nixie whined, fidgeting with the bone handle of her seax. While traversing through the Wilderness, in the giant seahorse-drawn Sea-Carriage, the mermaids had solely subsisted on SeaPro protein bars. SeaPro, which was short for "Seaweed Protein", was a staple food in many merfolk kingdoms. It was a versatile, tofu-like substance, made out of protein-rich red seaweed. It could be prepared a wide variety of ways, including processed into highly nutritious, but fairly bland-tasting, protein bars that were convenient for merfolk to eat on the go.

Princess Lorelei began digging through her shell-case. Because merfolk wore considerably less clothing than humans, they had no need for the bulky suitcases and heavy trunks that leg-walkers used, but when traveling long distances, they packed some of their belongings into kelp satchels known as "shell-cases".

"Unfortunately..." sighed Lorelei. "It looks like we're out of SeaPro Bars".

Nixie groaned, her eyes still fixed on her seax. "I was afraid of that! Your Highness, you know, you eat quite a bit for such a tiny mermaid!"

Lorelei forced a weak smile. "Well, I guess we'll just have to find something else to eat, then. You could go out into the Wilderness to forage for kelp and small shellfish...". She figured that the daring Nixie might actually enjoy doing that.

According to the Forty Commandments of Amphitrite, the ancient code of merfolk ethics that the majority of mermaids and mermen strived to follow, it was considered to be an "abomination" for them to eat fish, crustaceans, or marine mammals. They did, however, sometimes eat bivalves, such as clams, oysters, cockles, mussels, and scallops, and they harvested those creatures' shells and pearls for clothing and accessories. Bivalves are less sentient than most other aquatic animals, because they do not have brains or central nervous systems.

"I think you should be the one to forage for food this time, Your Highness..." said Nixie.

Lorelei's bright blue eyes widened in surprise. "Me...? I can't...I mean, I don't know how to...".

"Don't you think that's it about time for you to develop basic survival skills, Your Highness?". The expression on Nixie's comely face was innocent enough, but her voice had a subtle edge to it. "I'll show you how to do it. There's nothing to it! Y'know, most mermen these days prefer strong and capable mermaids to pampered sea princesses who can't take care of themselves...".

Lorelei looked down at her fins. More than ever, she really missed her former Tailmaiden, the kind and supportive Gretchen, who had resigned over a year ago, because she had gotten married and wanted to focus on raising a family.

The mermaid princess took a deep breath. "All right, Nixie. I suppose I can try...".

Her two siblings, Crown Prince Aalto and Princess Aldine, had often teased their sister about her extremely passive and obedient nature. Lorelei acknowledged that it definitely wasn't normal for a mermaid princess to feel so intimidated by her own Tailmaiden, and she was pretty sure that Crown Prince Delmore of Atlantis didn't care about her foraging skills, or lack thereof. But Princess Lorelei had always struggled to assert herself, fearing rejection or ridicule from others.