The Merman and the Prince

Chapter 3

"So what cargo do you normally carry?"

There it was again. The small twitch of his left eye happened each time before he told a lie.

"Mostly food for short journeys and spices and luxury goods for longer ones."

This was the captains' second visit for the day and while he had been setting up our lunch I had slipped to the door and jammed a bit of thread in the latch. When he goes to lock it as he leaves it won't click all the way in and I will be able to jimmy it open. I had begun asking him innocent questions about his life and the ship we were on and that was when I noticed the small tick he had. He would make a bad card player.

I sipped on the rum he had bought, watered down for me of course, staring at him over the rim. He was hiding something and the more I talked to him the more I thought I had make a mistake jumping onto this ship. He packed up the dishes and made to leave so I took a deep breath and asked the final question.

"Do you see my people after you have saved them?"

He turned around and I saw the twitch, my heart thumping in my chest.

"No. After we save them they go to the ocean and I haven't seen them since. Why?"

I schooled my face to remain smooth and shrugged my shoulders.

"I was hoping you could help me find some of my kin."

"Sorry little one. I will see you at dinner."

He closed the door and I heard the key turn in the lock. I sat still for a moment longer, contemplating what I had learned. He was lying. About what he really did with his ship and what really happened to the merfolk he 'saved'. I was convinced he wasn't a hunter but he was something else. There were plenty of other people out there that wanted my kind.

I waited a few moments before padding quietly over to the door and listening. I couldn't hear anybody just outside so I pushed it open, just enough for me to slip out, clad in my shadows. I closed the door behind me and looked around. I could see a few men on the deck talking and oiling up some ropes. Another one stood at the helm and one more was up on the crow's nest. I headed over to the captain's cabin, nothing more than a plank of wood of the ships deck. I waited until I was sure nobody was looking and slipped inside, closing the door behind me and letting my camouflage drop. I didn't want to exhaust myself if I didn't have to. The room was well decorated. Rugs covered the floor and a painting hung on a wall behind a large mahogany desk. A cot was made up in the corner with silk sheets. I padded around the room to the desk, looking over the papers there. A few maps showed a chain of islands and every second one had a small cross on it, my home island included. I wondered what it meant. The next piece of paper was the manifest for the cargo. Looking it over I thought it was too small of an amount. If this is really what he traded it would only be just enough to make a living, certainly not to afford the luxury in this room. I had noticed that in my prison earlier this morning. There wasn't much cargo considering the size of the ship and the size of the crew. I looked through the drawers but couldn't find anything else. I was about to give up when an irregular bump in the desk caught my eye. I felt around and pushed it in. A small click revealed a hidden compartment and I pulled out a sheaf of papers. It was a list of descriptions next to the name of an island.

Black haired girl seven years, blonde haired boy four years.

The list continued and my eyes landed on the name of my island next to two descriptions of two blonde boys five years old and my heart jumped into my throat as I saw a small note scrawled underneath.

Blue haired merman found in the hold, price to be discussed.

I heard voices just outside of the door and recognized the captains. I quickly put the papers back and closed the drawer before pulling the shadows around me and pressing myself into the corner just as the door opened. The captain walked in with another man. This one was huge, he had a shaved head and a scar ran from his left temple to the corner of his mouth giving him a permanent scowl and a whip hung from his belt.