Nikolaos's Sea Nymph

The silhouette of his body painted the wall behind him. The sunset upon the Aegean set Ouranous on fire that gave Poseidon a new tunic of reds, pinks and oranges. The wind gently whisked through his hair, caressing his olive-colored skin with Helios’s light warming his cheeks. He sat by the window next to me, holding me. All I could think of was how lucky I was. Never before had someone looked at me the way he did, but I didn’t understand it. All I was was a fisherman’s daughter, a girl with no inheritance nor noble blood. This boy whose face was the envy of the Gods was born into a life golden prosperity. His name was Nikolaos and he was a nobleman’s son. He was no prince nor was he a chorikos, but I was not to be with him. My amazement at him came from his disregard of the tradition. Nikolaos scoffed at the thought of someone telling him whom he could love, and by the fact he chose me baffled everyone around him, including me. We met at the shipyard when our vessels pulled in together. He had returned from a trip to Crete and I from the Aegean with my bounty of fish with father and my three brothers Aegidios, Aeolus and Æthon. I was climbing the mast to tie down the sail when I felt someone watching me. I kept swinging along the yard, tying in every spot I had to and when I was done, I stood up and held the tip of the mast and watched the marina come closer into sight. I still felt a presence watching me, so I turned and our eyes met. His eyes were green like a cat’s that pierced my soul with their beautiful intensity. His hair was a thick, curly, dark brown that shaded his strong brow. His chiseled chin hid beneath black stubble that was hardly coming in. He looked skinny for coming from a well-fed family, but he was definitely tanned from the sun and had thick, rippling muscles. He looked about my age, maybe a year or two older. Our eyes locked and didn’t falter. My heart pounded and my breath left me all at once. The sound of the waves and the blood pumping through my ears was all I could make sense of. Everyone on both of our ships disappeared for a brief moment while we stared across the water. Suddenly waves began pounding the stern of the vessels. They made their way to the sides and the bow, thrashing us in all different directions. I heard chanting coming from every direction as the waves did: “Through the strait and past the bay, in the channel we’ll not stay. In between two lands we’ll hide, beneath King Milesius’s tide.” I could not make any sense of it, but I was disoriented from the violent waves. It became so harsh, our ship threw me from the yard and onto the side railing where I hit my head and passed out. When I awoke, my head was wrapped in bloody gauze and I was laying in an unfamiliar bed which was in a beautifully decorated room. It smelled of hyacinth and aster, a freshness I had never known possible to exist in a room. I was used to an entire neighborhood smelling of fish and salt water, but the sea air was faint and pleasant mixing with the floral scents. I sat up to white walls and large windows with a breathtaking view of the sea, meaning I was a distance away from my home in the bay. Someone had bathed me along with my hair and dressed me in a crisp, clean, white linen tunic. I knew I wasn’t dreaming because the bright light from outside warmed my face when I approached the window and the vivid colors of the sea cliff the villa was sitting on hurt my eyes at first glance. I had no idea where I was, but for a moment I felt I belonged there, looking out at beautiful Gaia and the majestic Poseidon. I loved the sea, I still do. I may not have been meant to be a fisherman’s daughter, but I sure was meant to be a part of the ocean somehow. It enraptured me in a way that was almost hypnotic, and whenever I was near it, I felt at home. Maybe that is why I was not more concerned at the fact that I did not know where I was. I heard voices coming from downstairs, so I led myself towards them, hugging the wall as I went so I would not fall. I took each step down the staircase slowly, clutching the railing with all of my weight put on it. When I reached the bottom, I staggered down several corridors with colossal archways leading to even more massive rooms before I reached an outlet onto a bright balcony with white pillars and wisteria vines climbed up them and met at the top creating slight shade for the large area. Flowered urns lined two staircases leading down to rock stairs which led down to a secluded white shore. It was too perfect. Before I openly walked out, I realized the voices belonged to people sitting in the shaded oasis. I hid behind the sliver of wall left by the massive arched doorway and listened to his voice. I learned his name then.
“Nikolaos, my son,” a demanding voice hummed, “I will not allow you to be so foolish! Think of your reputation!” The irritation in this new voice was beginning to grow. Then I heard a familiar, pleading one.
“Father, I beg of you to hear me out! She compels me, it’s so amazing I cannot describe it nor can I resist it. There is something about her that I-” he was cut off the moment I knew whom they were speaking of.
“Do not speak of such things! Those stories only belong to the Gods! It is reckless and not to mention hubristic to think you have some sort of connection with her! She is a peasant!” His voice was turning more angry than irritated. It was making me uneasy because I knew they were talking about me and the fact he felt this strongly, simply being in his house made me feel unwelcome and even more so that I was eavesdropping. But if I really was unwelcome, why did they bring me here to their own home? I was about to ponder it, but Nikolaos’s voice of honey distracted me.
“I have nothing but love and respect for the Gods, father, but if I may, I’m twenty years old, and I want to learn from what you have taught me growing up. I understand what you’re saying about them. But I also understand something else. The stories we hear about them are lessons to us. Some may be a little flamboyant, but at the core of each one is a moral. I’ve heard many tales of vainness, greed, carnality, but the ones that calm the frightening stories of powerful beings on the brink of destroying another are tales of love. Aphrodite and Zeus, although powerful and worthy of respect, tended to fall in love easily, which is fine for them. But the stories of love that is indeed star-crossed, where two complete strangers can lock eyes and feel something beyond themselves make a lasting mark. That is what I felt yesterday, father. It is a gift from the Gods to find the other halves of our hearts, a journey that can only be unbound by rules of structure. Yes, they are there for a reason, but forbidding love as real and emotional as what I felt, it is worthy of being called a crime almost. The beauty of one feeling, it can tear one apart from the inside out in the most painful way possible, but at the same time, one knows they would not wish for anything else.” There was silence following his speech. His father sighed, but did not argue. My breath left me once more. He loved me. I had just learned his name and he loved me. He knew my social status and he loved me anyways. He knew what I looked like when he saw me first and he still loved me. He loved me. I did not know this boy and he loved me. It was strange, but mesmerizing.
I did not know him, he did not know me, but I loved him, too.
I loved Nikolaos.
I smiled and closed my eyes in submission to the overwhelming feeling of joy and happiness. I began hobbling back to my room, but there were so many corridors, I lost my way. I had been standing too long with a wounded head, so my vision became blurred with white. My head became hot and I heard a buzzing in my ears. I was not physically aware of it, by I could tell I was falling. I felt no pain when I hit the marble floor, but I felt someone lift me up and begin carrying me. I couldn’t tell who, but I then woke up in the same room I had awoken in the first time. I gingerly lifted my lids as if they were heavy and saw his chiseled jaw and green eyes. He was sitting at my bed side, holding my calloused hand. He smiled and spoke his first words to me.
“Hello, my little sea nymph. Are you feeling better? What were you doing downstairs?” His smile was as warm and inviting as the day outside. I gave an awkward smile in return and chuckled.
“Sea nymph?” I asked tiredly, still dizzy from my fall, “I am no sea nymph, but I am feeling better despite the fall and dizziness. Can you tell me what I’m doing here?” I knew why from what I had heard earlier why I was still here, but my main concern was why he brought me to his villa. I think he understood me, without the part of me overhearing his plea of love, so he answered, gently squeezing my hand.
“You hit your head on your ship when you fell of your yard. After your father and brothers beached, I gave them money to buy food and insisted I bring you to my villa to heal you. I saw you move your hand when our eyes met on the boat, though. When you did, all of a sudden, a wave followed it. It was so strange, but considering how beautiful you are I just assumed you were a sea nymph. I brought you here to tend to your head wound, though, in case you were not immortal.” His smile was never ending and I could not get enough of it.
“You are too kind, but I am no goddess, nor am I a being of beauty. I am humbled, though, by your words,” I could feel my face burning, but not from dizziness. My blood rushed to my cheeks in a bright red crimson that I knew he noticed, so I ducked my head to keep him from seeing it further. It was too late, but he laughed heartily.
“I believe every word I have just told you. You are indeed someone I feel a deep connection with, even though we have only just spoken. However, I believe in fate, and I believe you are mine, a gift from the Gods. I pray you forgive me if I am being too straightforward.” I could not suppress my smile after he told me this. I would usually think it strange if someone, anyone, else had told me this, but I felt the connection he spoke of, too. I looked and began to cry uncontrollably. He beamed at me and wiped my tears away.
“It is quite straightforward, but I agree with you. I feel something inside, something I am afraid to name, but I fear what your family thinks more.” I realized I was speaking more truth than what had initially occurred to me. I had not thought of how his father and his conversation ended, so it was the perfect opportunity to find out. The answer I could tell was good by his smile getting bigger.
“I have already spoken to my father, and for the moment, we have his blessing. The rest of the family will side with whatever he says, but my mother has yet to hear about this. It is not something to be worrying about now, for I have no doubt she will not be convinced. But for now, I would like to hear the name you are afraid of.” He kissed my hand.
“What?” I asked.
“Name the feeling you fear to name. I would say it first, but I long to hear it escape your own lips first.” He was being genuine, I could tell. The way he encouraged me, I felt no fear in the world, only joy and serenity with a whisper of perfection. I never thought I would be in the position I was in then. Everything felt complete, so I told him.
“Love,” I said, tears dribbling down my face, “I love you.” At that he kissed me and held me caringly.
“Before I say it back, I completely forgot to ask for your name.” It would be frowned upon from an outside standpoint, but the fact that our names did not matter was to be laughed at.
“Orithyia,” I told him.
“How fitting, the name of a sea nymph!” he laughed with jubilee.
“I am not a sea nymph!” I pleaded playfully. He only smiled.
“Well you are mine, and I love Orithyia, for you are my sea nymph.”
He was right and wrong. Before I died and was reborn into a new world, he taught me lessons as if he was one of the Gods he spoke so highly of. I would never forget him, and I would never stop loving him or the memories he gave me. I was scarred from love, but eventually, misfortune. He died before we could marry. I was heartbroken. I never knew why he died, all I knew was one thing.
I had killed him.