Adrift: A Little Mermaid Retelling

34: Daniel

Agnes could not run far. There was something paining her. We made it to the King's Harbor, but I was hesitant to stay there; they knew my face and my real name, and if Aroc came after Agnes, it would be one of the first places he would look.

We stood hand-in-hand in the shadows. It was the small hours of the morning, and there was no one around. We had brought no provisions, and it was growing chill as summer faded into autumn.

"We did not think this fully through," I murmured.

The thrill of her escape was fading. Now, she looked afraid again. She looked up at me with desperate eyes, waiting for me to tell her what we would do, where we would go. I didn't know.

I smiled to reassure her. "It will be okay. I have some coin left over from my work on the ship, and once we've found someplace to live, I'll settle to work again. We just have to get away from here, to where no one knows us."

I had to think quickly. If we slipped away with no food, we'd go hungry, possibly for days. I did not know how far the next town was. In the colonies, it was likely to be at least two days' walk, if not more. I was not overly familiar with what lay to the east of Annisport; I had not been that way since I was a child with my father.

I took Agnes down to the docks. We passed a soldier on patrol along the way and ducked quickly behind the jail, hoping he had not seen us. I thought of taking her to a ship to barter passage, but I couldn't afford to talk to too many strangers, and if the servant woman noticed Agnes's absence, she'd raise an alarm, and the ships would one of the first places to search.

Although it was nearing dawn, there were still a couple of women standing in the moonlight, their painted faces lending definition to their features even in the gloom. These were the women no man would marry, no matter how few brides there were in this land. The women who owned themselves.

"Ahoy, sailor," said a blonde-haired strumpet, leaning toward us. The swell of her bosom rose over her tight-laced stays as she showed herself to full effect. "Why bring your little sweetheart down to the docks? What can it be that you're lookin' for, love?"

"Shh," I whispered, approaching her. I pulled Agnes at my side, gently holding her arm. "Please. I need help. In secret. I will pay you. Are you willing?"

The woman raised a brow and glanced up and down the dock. Nearby, another prostitute had glanced our way, but when the blonde woman tossed her head, the other looked away instantly and turned her back to us. "Aye, maybe. What is it you need?"

"A place to stay. Provisions. That's all."

She looked me up and down and laid her finger against my neck. "Are you sure, sailor? I've two rooms. Your girlie can wait outside."

Startling me, Ness smacked the woman's hand away. There was an angry, wild gleam in her eye. I caught her wrist and pulled her back, surprised but somehow warmed by her display of protectiveness. "Please, dear heart. Be patient." With my arm around her, I looked at the blonde woman. "No, madam. Only a place to sleep for a few hours. Food. And men's clothes, if you have them, to fit my wife."

"You criminals, or something?" she asked, looking the both of us up and down.

"Perhaps in the eyes of some, but no more than you are."

She shrugged and beckoned with a finger and turned away from us. Her posture settled into a slump, and she began to walk. "Come this way. And don't call me 'madam.' Oran's bollocks. Mell will do you fine. Don't tell me your names. I don't want to know. There'd better be gold in this, lad."

"We are grateful, Mell."

She led us to her dwelling place, two rooms not far from the docks in a building of two stories, the sort of place that was rented out by the week to any sort of tenant. There were a couple of oil lamps, which she lit. "You'll not like to sleep on the bed, I suppose. I've an extra blanket or two, if the floor will do you. What sort of food do you need?"