The Mermaid and the Princess

As Aurelia woke from her nap on the beach, she heard a rustling going on behind her. The mermaid turned human looked behind her and saw two men, both with skin as black as night looking oddly at her. She notice them gazing at her nakedness and Aurelia blushed. The only humans she saw wore things called clothes and by what her sister’s told her and they have never seen a human without them before. But the mermaid was not shy about her appearance, so she just turned to the men and smiled. The mermaid tried standing up on her newly formed feet and felt the rush of pain surge from the soles up into her calves. Aurelia opened her mouth to cry out in pain but found that she couldn’t. Instead Aurelia plopped back down to the ground with little tears in her eyes. The dark men came to her side and started asking questions.

“You hurt lady?” said one to her. The mermaid didn’t know how to respond and shook her head no.

“You need help?” the other asked. She shook her head for yes. “Did your ship sink?” Aurelia wasn’t really listening any more. She was so enthralled with the dark men and how they looked. Their skin glistened in the sun against the sweat on their brows. Their clothes didn’t look as fancy as those she saw on the ship the night of her birthday. She noticed one of the men take the shirt off of his back and came towards her. She was frightened for a moment and backed away when he tried to touch her.

“I no hurt you miss. I take you to the big house.” she had no idea what big house meant and let herself be wrapped in the sweaty shirt. At first the two men tried to help her up to which she hesitated. She didn’t want to be in so much pain. As they lifted her up, the presser she put on her feet made her seize up and fall once more.
“Better lift the little white woman. She’s no good on her feet.” said the other man. With that the man bent down to pick her up and he did with one mighty swoop. His arms where very big and strong and the curious mermaid touched the brawny man. Her eyes went big as she felt the strength in them.

“You speak lady?” asked the man walking beside her. Aurelia shook her head for no and pointed to her neck.

“Probably too much sea water.” muttered the other black man. Don’t worry miss, you are in good hands. Master take care of you now.” The two men escorted her to what she saw was the big house. It was so large and bright next to all the green lushness around it. It was one of the most beautiful things she had ever seen. It was like a palace but wooden and very dry. As they got closer to the house, Aurelia felt very woozy all of a sudden and put her head down near the man’s chest. But then she heard a commotion and looked up once more to see not only to see more human’s but the human girl she had given her tail for. Aurelia couldn’t help but smile, but it didn’t last too long for she became suddenly very weak and lost consciousness.

Later when the mermaid woke up, she felt a fine breeze on her person. She was warm and cozy wrapped in blankets on a very soft cushion of sorts surrounded by even smaller cushions. Everything in the room was very clean and organized looking with shades of cream, light blues, and green in the room. Wooden accents in the furniture made it look cozy and rustic. It was a lovely room with a window open where she could see a field of green swaying back and forth wafting a very sweet smell into the room. Aurelia looked down she see that she was no in a white garment with blue ribbons it for decoration. She picked at the ribbon which untied at a pull of the sting. The mermaid rustled a bit to get the ribbon back together as it had been but she didn’t know what she was doing. She gave up and sighed.

The mermaid pulled the covers back to see that the garment went down a ways past her knees. As she looked, she saw her legs again. She smiled a huge grin and wiggled her toes. It was such a strange sensation that she had to stop herself. Suddenly the door opened in in walked a woman with a big belly. The mermaid cocked her head as she looked down at the humans stomach. She had seen fat people before but not in this manner.

“Oh may! You’re awake! Are you okay?” asked the woman. Aurelia looked down at her toes and wiggled them, trying to show the woman how happy she was to have them. “Oh yes, I see. Do you know what happened child? Were you on a boat?” but no matter how many questions she asked, it seemed as if the girl just didn’t care, like a child with no sense of language. “Can you say anything?” the woman said out of frustration. Aurelia looked at her and shook her head for no. “I wonder what happened to you. Anyway, the doctor told us that nothing was physically wrong with you but you are dehydrated so you need to drink a lot of water.” Josephine poured a glass of water and gave it to the mermaid. Aurelia grabbed hold of the glass and looked at it. The water seemed so clean and pure and it was nice and cold. But the poor girl didn’t know what to do with it so she just held it.
“My dear, you need to drink. You know. . .” and the woman made a motion for drinking. Aurelia got what the woman was saying and put the glass to her lips. It was like her body knew what to do and she gulped the water down. Oh, but it wasn’t enough so Aurelia garbed the pitch next to her nightstand and started to drink all the water in it. the whole pitch was gone with seconds and the woman sitting next to Aurelia looked astonished.

“I. . .I will just go get some more water I guess. Well my dear, do you know where you are?” Aurelia shook for no. “How about family, do you have any?” A sad look came to her face at the realization that she really didn’t have family anymore. Again she signed no. ‘You poor girl, do you remember anything that happened to you.” Aurelia tired to signed what happened to her but it was to no avail. Josephine just didn’t understand what she was trying to say. So Aurelia tired again but her movement became more frantic and the woman stopped the mermaid.

“It’s okay darling, don’t get upset. I’ll get a pen and paper. You do now how to write?” but Aurelia told her that she didn’t. “Well, just calm down dear. You need to rest awhile and then we’ll figure something out.” At that moment, Giselle walked into the room. It was like the whole clean room lit up as she walked in. Those hazel eyes of hers gleamed it the light and her brown curls brushed against her cheek. Aurelia smiled slowly as she saw the girl.

“Oh good, you are awake. How are you?” Giselle spoke.

“It’s no use dear, she doesn’t speak at all.” the other woman said.

“Oh my, well we’ll just have to figure something out. Does she have family or a place to go?”

“Afraid not. I can’t really understand her but it seems she has been through a lot.” replied her aunt.

“Then we must help her.” Giselle mentioned. The princess looked into the girls captivating eyes. They were so blue and deep that it looks like if you stared too long you would end up falling into those eyes. The girl was slim with curves accenting her body, lengthy, and pale with red hair that cascaded down her back like a lava slowly emerging from a volcano. She always had a smile on her face when Giselle entered the room. It was a mysterious one, one that said ‘I know something you don't know’. The princess sat on the edge of the bed and took the girl’s hand in hers.

“This is all very sudden isn’t it? Well I can tell you, you are in great hands here with my aunt and uncle. They have agreed to nurse you back to health here on the plantation. This is my Aunt Josephine.” she said as she pointed to the woman with the baby bump. “You’ll meet my uncle later but his name is Wilhelm. My name is Giselle by the way.” said the princess.

“Actually it’s Lord and Lady Harrow and our niece should be addressed as Her Royal Highness Princess Giselle Giovanna Bryony Celinia Harrow of England.” her aunt proudly announced. Thank the gods I can’t speak, thought Aurelia. That’s a lot of names to remember. But she heard the girl say princess. She didn’t know people on land had a monarchy and here she was falling in love with their princess. a princess of England. Is that where she was/ How strange of a name She had so many questions to ask, but nothing to say.

“Oh aunt, she can’t speak. I don’t think she is going to address us anyhow so why not be informal about it.”

“I suppose you are right. Anyway, we will be taking care of you until you are well again.” Josephine said. “I’ll talk to cook about find something for you to eat.” and with that she left the room leaving Giselle alone with Aurelia. Again, a smile formed on the mermaid’s face as she looked at her beloved human’s face. Giselle, she thought. What a beautiful name it was to hear. If only she could say it aloud. Aurelia still had her hand entwined with Giselle and so she lifted them to her lips and kissed them tenderly on the knuckles.

“You are very strange!” giggled Giselle as she let go of the girl’s hands. “But you seem so familiar to me. Why is that?” Aurelia wanted nothing more then to burst and tell her everything from when she saved her to the kiss they shared on the beach and then onto how she got her legs just for her. But Aurelia had to just sit there and shrug her shoulders. If only their was a way to communicate with her. “Well, I’ll tell you this. I will see to it myself that you become better again and I hope that we can become friends.” said the princess. She leaned in and kissed both of the mermaid’s cheeks. This made them flush hot, turning her face practically into a tomato. A wide grin came upon the mermaid’s face.