I swam off the coast, watching the city from my wide black eyes. From the sea I should have been able to hear the sounds of people in the market, selling their wares to eager patrons. But nothing came to my ears but silence, an eerie stillness that almost made me turn around and go back.
I turned my thoughts to Altan, gathering courage as I swam up to the sandy beach. He had developed a sickness that seemed to be eating him alive and none of our harem had known what was wrong. The merpeople, the wise ones of the sea, said that only the humans had the cure. That if we wanted to save Altan then we had to go to a nearby human city by the sea called Verna. I chose to go against my harem’s wishes. They didn’t trust those that lived on land. Altan was the leader of our harem and I was his chosen mate. To not want to help would be an affront to him. I was scared about interacting with these humans, but I would do whatever I had to if it meant that I could save Altan.
I beached myself, gliding across the wet sand in my sleek seal form and scanned the area once again. I didn’t want any humans to see me shift forms. They barely knew we existed.
I was a selkie, a creature of the sea. My natural form was that of a seal that could cut through the ocean’s waters like a great white shark. But if I wanted to, or in this case needed to, I could transform from a seal into a human. The only sign of my natural form was the sealskin that shed off of my human self when I changed.
I shifted forms and was careful to hide my pelt in the reeds at the ocean’s shore. Humans had odd rules about killing sea creatures such as seals, and I didn’t want them to distrust me for carrying a seal’s hide.
I stood up and wiped the sand off of my bare legs. I never liked being human. It felt like I was being forced into an unnatural position. I knew that I couldn’t go to Verna naked; that would give off the wrong impression. I cautiously walked along the shore, looking for anything to cover myself with. The humans often used the hot sands of the beach to dry their laundry. Sure enough, a peasant’s blue dress and traveling cloak were drying nearby. Not far from them were a belt and some boots. I quickly changed into them. I hoped that the human that these belonged to wouldn’t realize that they had been missing before I returned. I ran my fingers through my buttercup yellow hair, hoping that I looked presentable by human standards.
I walked to the gates of the city, making up my story as I went. I would say that I was a part of a band of travelers; one of them was hurt and we needed the medicine. I would leave out the part where the merpeople told us about it. I knew that some humans knew about selkies, but I wasn’t sure on their take of merpeople. I didn’t want to bring any unwanted attention to the wise ones.
As I approached the gate, the city guard walked out of a small shack just to the right of the gate. He wore the colors of Vernared, silver and blackover thick armor. His hair was brown, cut short so that his enemies couldn’t use it against him. He wasn’t handsome, but his ridged posture and steely brown eyes told me all that I needed to know. Looks didn’t matter to him; protecting his city did. I curtsied low and smiled, hoping that I was acting humble and not coy.
“What is your business here, my lady?” asked the guard. His eyes roamed over my body, and I was happy to know that the humans’ standards of beauty hadn’t changed since the last time I was on shore five years ago.
I said the lines that I had rehearse on my way here; “Please sir, I need your city’s help. I belong to a caravan of traders that have been attacked by thieves. One of my people was hurt in the attack and we need,” I thought for a moment about what the merpeople said, “we need Salver’s root.”
“Salver’s root?” he asked. I nodded, wondering what the odd look on his face meant. “What is your name?”
“My name?” I asked. This wasn’t going well. Most humans just asked your business and then let you pass. The merpeople never did explain what Salver’s root was. “My name is Salena.”
The guard looked at me, unsure of what he should do. His expression changed slightly when he looked into my eyes. I sighed and lowered my black eyes to the ground.
“Please sir,” I begged. “Every moment that I spend here is a moment in which he could die.”
“Do you know what Salver’s root is for?” asked the guard. His armor glinted in the sunlight. My eyes settled on the sword at his hip. It didn’t gleam like his armor did. I wondered if it had been passed down from his father to him.
“No.” It was an honest answer. Besides, I wanted to know what the merpeople “forgot” to tell us.
“Salver’s root is for people who have been cursed by magick. What did your friend do to piss off a sorcerer enough to be cursed?”
I blinked in surprise, but tried not to let it show on my face. Altan was cursed. My heart pounded as I realized that someone did this on purpose. A human probably would have been dead by now with a curse on him, but Altan wasn’t human. He was a selkie, like me, and we didn’t die so easily.
I thought about Altan, and his many trips into the human world. He liked humans, although he preferred his seal form. He liked to wander around their cities and explore their cultures. It was how our selkie harem came to know about the humans and their beliefs. It was because of Altan that we knew how to speak the language of humans. It was fully possible that he angered a sorcerer in the process of learning these things.
“Honestly sir, I don’t know,” I answered. The guard examined my face, almost expecting a lie instead of the truth that was so obviously written in my features. He sighed and signaled for someone to come out of the guard shack.
“Go get what she asks,” he told the other guard. The other guard, a short burly woman, bowed and left without a word. “I don’t want you in my city,” he said. “Whatever sorcerer cursed your friend might seek revenge on those that have helped him.”
I didn’t say a word. I just waited for the woman guard to return with the Salver’s root. I didn’t care about sorcerers and magick. All I cared about was the peacefulness of the sea.
The woman guard returned with the Salver’s root inside a small leather bag. I tied the bag to my belt as the two guards watched me through curious eyes.
“Thank you so much for your help,” I said as I did a curtsy. I wanted to get back to Altan and the harem as soon as possible.