Maame Water: The Legend Of The Fish Queen

Siren's Song

AUTHOR'S NOTE

I know its been sooooo long since I updated this story and believe me I am trying! But architecture is a reaaallly demanding cause and I get little time for myself. I try to write whenever I can but I am constantly bombarded with assignments and various 'redoes'. I am however going try and finish this story this year.

The King threw his weight, in vain,against the barrier that hindered his movements ; it was just too strong.

"Sister!" the King screamed, "You told me once that you would never kill a man without reason! Kabu has done nothing to deserve this!"

The Fish-Queen cocked her head. "Why brother, I will not be the one doing the killing. That will be entirely up to my sister," she chuckled, pointing at Kabu's wife. "And as to whether Kabu deserves live or die, well, his wife will be the judge of that."

The King rammed into the barrier again. "Sister, do this for me," he said between rams. "Kabu has become a close friend; the closest thing I have to a brother. Do not kill him sister!"

The Fish-Queen said nothing but her scarlet eyes told the King all he needed to know; his sister, no, the monster that his sister had become was incapable of mercy. She had placed Kabu under her spell so the King knew that Kabu wouldn't listen to him even if the King called out so he turned his attention to...

"Do not do this woman," the King beseeched Kabu's wife. "Do not kill your own husband! He is the father of your children! What do you stand to gain if you do this?"

Kabu's wife merely smiled. "My Queen will be pleased with me and will grant me the honour of swimming with her for all eternity."

"I am your king!" the King bellowed. "And you are my subject and I order you to drop the dagger!"

"You have no power here, King," Kabu's wife retorted. "The Fish-Queen rules us all."

"What has he done to deserve this, woman?" the King asked, banging his fist on the barrier. "He has cared for you; he has fed you and sheltered you!"

"And he has spent all of his nights between another woman's legs," Kabu's wife replied, bitterly. "He never loved me."

Her fingers clenched around the dagger's handle.

"NOOOO!" the King screamed as the woman slit Kabu's throat with a single fluid motion and as Kabu's lifeblood spilled on the cave floor, his wife's legs transformed into brilliant blue tail.
The Fish-Queen helped Kabu's wife into the lagoon to complete her transformation.

"Welcome sister," the Fish-Queen said, when Kabu's wife surfaced radiating with beauty and power. "You are now one of us."

"NO!" the King shouted angrily, banging his fist against the barrier. "You coward! You killed him!"

"Nothing gets past you, does it brother," the Fish-Queen smirked.

"Release me, you coward!" the King continued. "Release us, so my men and I can slay you like the monster that you are!"

"Are you sure about that brother?" the Fish-Queen asked. "You're no match for me."

The King's men looked at the King warily.

The King spat on the floor of the cave and the Fish-Queen winced at the insult.

"You may have immersed yourself in dark magic sister, but you and your sisters are no more than fishes."

The Fish-Queen stiffened.

"My men and I are seasoned warriors! We have fought numerous battles and have won them all!" the King declared, drawing his sword.

"We stood against two hundred and fifty warriors in the Battle of Diamonds and not one of us succumbed to death. We will not be defeated by fish!"

The Fish-Queen's eyes narrowed in anger.
"Your Queen has given you an heir; go and comfort her. Leave this cave and be a father to your son for if you and your men defy me, you will never lay eyes upon your seed."

A son? How could she know that?

The Queen had still been in labour when the King left the palace and since the Princess left the palace even earlier, there was no way she could know the sex of the child.

She's lying. She fears me so she lies to me.

"I am not leaving until I punish you and your sisters for your hideous crimes," the King seethed. "Release us."

A shadow of a smile flashed on the Fish-Queen's lips. "As you wish, but don't say I didn't warn you."

When the King realized that the barrier had been lifted, he led his men in a charge across the cave and clashed with the Fish-Queen's sisters at the center of the cave. The King's men were relentless, cutting down every fish in their path and it was not long before the Fish-Queen's sisters started to fall back.

These women are not warriors, the King thought as he looked around for his sister. My men will hack them into bits.

"Looking for me?" a beautiful voice whispered in his ear.

The King spun around and came face-to-face with his sister, wondering how she got behind him so quickly without him noticing. He lunged at her but she parried the blow with her dagger.

"You have lost, sister," the King stated. "Yield now, before I am forced to slay my own blood."

"You've never defeated me before brother," the Fish-Queen chuckled, deftly parrying another blow. "What makes you think this time will be any different?"

"My cause is just," the King said, circling his sister. "My ancestors will give me strength."

The Fish-Queen threw her head back and laughed, her voice shaking the floor on which they stood.

"You are so naïve brother. So very naïve. Your ancestors will give you strength you say?" she teased, raising her dagger to eye level. "Need I remind you that we share the same ancestors?"

The Fish-Queen stabbed at the King but he easily blocked her attack and sent his sword arcing down at her head. The Fish-Queen's dagger met the King's sword with a harsh clang but both siblings stood their ground.

"Yield, sister," the King panted. "Look around you; your fishes are slain."

The King warriors had defeated a third of the fish-women, including Kabu's wife. Their bodies lay on the floor of the cave, red blood seeping from their mortal wounds.

For all their witchcraft, they bleed like us all the same, the King thought.

The remaining fish-woman were fighting a losing battle; they were no match for the King's warriors and for a second the King haboured the hope of winning... until he saw the smile on the Fish-Queen's face.

"Why do you smile?" the King said, spinning around to dodge one of his sister's attacks, "when you know you have lost?"

The Fish-Queen shifted the position of the dagger in her hand and slashed backward at her brother, who saw the attack too late and brought his sword up to parry it. The dagger managed to pierce the King's lower back, just below his ribs, drawing first blood before the King's sword knocked it aside.

The King grunted, stumbling away from the Fish-Queen.

Her scarlet eyes seemed to glow in the dark as she stated ominously, "Immortality means nothing to you?" Then she opened her mouth and sung.
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