In Love With the Ocean

‘What do you think he’s doing here?’
‘Trying to cause a scene!’

Prince Braden could hear the gossip, but he cared only for his beloved Princess. Even though she was marrying another, he could not stay away from her wedding.

Image by Tracey Mac

A wild fantasy still followed him that she would realise the error of her ways in the final moments and run to him, heedless of the repercussions. He stared at her face, willing her to look his way and catch his eye, so she could see how much pain he suffered for her. She looked through him instead. There was no acknowledgement in her face, no sign of recognition. Her heart must be stone to walk away from their love at the bidding of family.

‘Braden! How long do you intend to behave in this manner?’
‘Mother,’ Braden sighed. ‘Why do you need to assault me? Don’t you understand loss?’
‘You self-indulgent boy! Pining away for months with no regard for duty! Have you forgotten your father?!’

The waves of disapproval emanating from his mother pushed him away from the castle. He had found some quiet ruins a short ride into the countryside, and chose to linger there. The ruins had the weight of ages draped around it, and a palpable feeling of unease permeated the area. Braden did not want to move on, he did not want to forget what he had lost. He found this to be a perfect place to kindle the hurt burning in his heart.

No-one else seemed to be living amongst the ruins. Braden never questioned this oddity, too caught up in his own internal musings. A large pond sat in the centre of a walled area of grass, crafted with wide raised edges of a smooth rock. Small lillypads sat at the surface of one side, with occasional white blooms breaking the surface. The stalks disappeared into the gloom.

The deep water had been a calming influence, drawing his mind down into the dark where weed swirled at the passage of small fish. The sheer unseen depth of the pond always sparked his imagination, wondering what its purpose could have been, and whether some cold-loving creature had at one time found a home here for the amusement of a past owner.

He felt that the pond was always more overgrown with water weed each time he visited, and that soon he would not be able to see into the depths at all. As he sat and leant over the water, a swarm of eels started at his presence and swam for shelter. His heart beating hard at the surprise, he again leant over the water, hesitantly. The eels were now far down, partially visible by their heads protruding from amongst the weed.

‘How did you arrive in my pond?’ Braden murmured, leaning closer to the water surface. The eels ignored him, sure of their camouflage.

A girl peered up through the water weed, hiding with the eels. Braden blinked once, uncertain, and the face was gone. He took a deep breath, trying to discount his vision as illusion, when the girl surged upwards through the eels, sending them scattering in all directions. He leapt to his feet in surprise, overbalanced, slipped and struck his head on the stone pond, falling unconscious to the grass.

He opened his eyes and looked into the blue sky, watching a lone bird drift past far above. The shadows had not moved far. He lifted his head, and pain struck him, making him lie for another moment in the grass. Sticky blood covered his fingers as he felt the damage, and his head kept spinning.

He sat up on the pond edge to splash some water on his face, and met the blue eyes of the girl in the water.
‘Help me!’ she mouthed.

She made her pleas to him silently from beneath the surface. He leant down to her and reached into the water, and she quickly gripped his hands. Braden jerked free in surprise – with her touch he had instantly heard her voice in his mind.

With the connection broken, the water maiden’s voice disappeared, yet she still mouthed her pleas to him silently from beneath the surface. He tentatively placed his hand below the water surface, letting her take his hand again.
‘Thank you for staying,’ said her voice again in his mind. ‘Please, help me. Get me out of the water.’
‘Of course,’ he said, and pulled, but could not lift her past the surface. Wherever she touched was as solid as steel, barring her passage into the air.

She shrieked in frustration and dived away from Braden, leaving his mind to his own thoughts again. He lay on his stomach, a hand dangling into the water, waiting to see her.

In only a short time she again emerged from the dark and drifted to the surface. Her naked, pale skin was mostly obscured by her swirling blonde hair. She held his look, staring up at him with longing, and reached for his hand.

‘I thought you could release me, you who visit so often and are the first to see through the magic concealing my imprisonment.’ Her voice was soft and strangely accented.
‘This pond is your prison?’
‘Yes, but I once swam the ocean as royalty. My name is Ianira.’

They spent the remainder of the day holding hands beneath the surface of the water, exchanging thoughts. Braden lay gazing down at the beautiful figure just below, enjoying the sound of her voice and the feeling of her in his mind.

‘Why couldn’t I see you before, if you have been in the pond every time I visited in the past?’ Braden asked.
‘The magic holding me to this pond has not wanted me released. The minds of all were clouded to my presence, despite my best efforts, and the entire location tainted to prevent visitors.’
‘But how did I finally come to see you?’
‘I don’t know, my Prince. The many hours you spent staring into this pond may have helped you reach through the illusion. I had thought that would be enough for my freedom, but still something more is needed.’
‘What can I do?’
‘I wish I knew,’ she said, finally sobbing. ‘Being all alone in this tiny hole so far from the ocean is torture!’
‘You have me now, my Princess,’ he said.

Long after the sun had disappeared and Braden could no longer see the features of the beautiful face beneath the water, he sat upright. She banged her fists against the unyielding water surface, as at a pane of glass, screaming silently to him.
‘I’ll come back, my love,’ he said, unsure if she could hear him.

The days passed for Braden as a blur of fascination, enamoured as he was with the girl in the pond. She had become his muse, his love, and he was all she had in the world. He found the effort to tear himself away every night was increasing. He wanted her to be able to rest safely in his arms, but he still had no idea how to help her from the pond.

He asked questions at the castle, but no-one could tell him anything about the ruined buildings, or any stories of the deep pond. Stories of maidens living beneath the water were the domain of the coastal cities. He went to sleep frustrated and no closer to knowing how to free his new obsession. Around the castle, his eccentric story painting the level of his mental breakdown clearly to the castle staff, and generated a tidal wave of gossip. The gossip travelled beyond the castle, and a group of washer women scrubbed linen in a shallow stream, and revelled in the delusions of Royalty. The words were heard by unseen ears within the stream, and with the swiftness of water, word flowed to the ocean.

Braden mounted and departed for the ruins the following morning, but failed to notice the group of figures watching from the shadows.

Braden rode in to his ruins as he always did, but felt the change in the atmosphere instantly. The oppression was gone. He was not allowed time to savour the change, due to the intruder standing in front of the pond. He was a giant of a man in black plate armour, his face hidden. Braden was not small, but his eyes would be level with this man’s chest. He was equipped for war and held a vicious mace in one hand, and a strange buckler shield, fashioned like a sun with spiralling rays, in the other.

The wind blew the light material of Braden’s white shirt while he sat in the saddle assessing the stranger. Puzzled, the Prince bounced to the ground, leaving his horse to graze, and walked towards the pond. The black warrior blocked his way, lifting his mace in Braden’s direction. Behind the warrior something moved, and he saw that the water maiden was now free of the pond. She sat behind the warrior, still unclothed, but modestly covering herself.
‘You’re free!’ Braden called. ‘Ianira, I’m here!’
She did not look as he ran over in excitement.

The black warrior did not hit him very hard with the mace. The blow was almost gentle, and highly skilled in its placement, managing to knock Braden backwards onto the grass without seriously injuring him. From the ground, he looked up at the black steel helmet in astonishment.
‘My love is free. I need to see her,’ Braden said.
‘No-one will approach her without first defeating me,’ the armoured giant replied, his deep voice echoing within the helmet.
‘What?’
‘She will not be your captive plaything. You will not approach.’

The sound of swords being drawn announced three new arrivals behind Braden. He rolled to his feet, drawing his own sword.
‘Don’t feel threatened, Your Highness,’ the first man said, making a satirical bow. ‘We’re not here to bother you; we only came to see what your water girl looked like. Isn’t that right Erik?’
‘Henley’s right, Highness,’ said Erik. ‘But it does seem that our timing is opportune.’
The third man, Olin, snickered and added, ‘That’s right. You don’t appear to be equipped to rescue the fair maiden. Never fear, we’ll take her off your hands!’

The three fanned out around the black giant, swirling their swords in anticipation.
‘Would you look at that antique armour, he must be barely able to move!’
‘I hope so, that mace is nearly as tall as you are, Erik.’
‘Makes me wish I had a little armour on meself.’
‘Don’t get hit an’ you’ll be fine.’
The giant said nothing, but readied his mace as all three men stepped forward.

Henley faced up to the giant directly, drawing his attention while the other two circled either side, aiming to get behind him. As all three lunged, the giant side-stepped, snagging Erik’s sword within the steel spirals of his buckler and ripped it from his hand. The mace whistled down into the shoulder of the unbalanced man, splintering bone and leaving him writhing on the ground.

Olin and Henley rushed in angrily, their swords arcing down. The black giant caught both on his buckler, snaring them, then dropped the mace down across the protruding hilts, smashing the blades away. The return swing of the mace flew into Olin’s lower leg, collapsing it, and then driving the grip into the stomach of Henley.

The weaponless men dragged themselves away from the pond, pain now their common friend. The giant left them and returned to his position in front of the water maiden.

The Prince watched the three men crawl away, then walked forward, sword at the ready.
‘Your plan to steal her away from me won’t succeed. We love each other, and even though you have her intimidated, I will succeed.’
He circled around the giant, sword extended, moving away from the sword-trapping buckler and lunged swiftly behind the giant’s mace arm. The giant leisurely deflected the sword strike with the mace and swung the flat of the buckler into Braden’s head. Stars erupted in his vision and balance became impossible. He staggered backwards briefly before collapsing to his knees, blood streaming down his face.

‘No, not again,’ Braden gasped, wiping away blood from his eyes. ‘I won’t be robbed of my love a second time.’
Grasping onto his sword, he stood and advanced on wobbly legs, swinging wildly at the towering form. The black warrior absorbed the sloppy blow on his chest plate, not even bothering to stop the attack. The black-steel covered fist impacted into the Prince’s face, and he fell spread-eagled into darkness.

He woke in his own bed, confused, bandaged, sore, and again the topic of conversation.
‘Who would’ve thought he wasn’t dreaming this water girl?’
‘He’s lucky to come away as healthy as he did. Those other lads will never heal up right.’
‘Still, that’s what comes of ignoring his training. Do you know he told me that he’d be a peaceful King, so didn’t need to learn to fight!’
‘Alright!’ Braden called, interrupting the laughter, ‘I’ve heard enough gossip at my expense.’

Two women trotted into the room, his mother and Cheryl, the head of the house staff.
‘How did I get here?’ Braden asked.
‘You were brought home and tended until you woke up now,’ answered the Queen.
‘What about the maiden?’
‘The word has spread that there is a princess available to the one who defeats this giant, and men have been travelling far to take the challenge.’
Braden held his balled fists to his face, his eyes distant. The Queen and servant exchanged a worried look.
‘Don’t trouble yourself about the black warrior,’ the Queen said. ‘I will have him arrested for his assault on the royal family.’
‘No mother,’ he exclaimed. ‘That is not what I want. I will defeat him myself.’
‘My soft son, you have always removed yourself from the arts of warfare. Look at you now. If you fight him again, you may not survive the encounter.’
‘I did the training required.’
‘Barely, my Prince.’
‘I will fight to be with this maiden who shares my love. I will not let her be stolen away from me.’
‘You’re not in a condition to go anywhere. I will visit you again in the morning.’ With that, the Queen turned her back and left.

Despite himself, Braden was not feeling well enough to sneak away, so settled back and waited for his head to stop hurting. By morning the pain had not stopped completely, but he forced himself into action.

He sought the King’s weapons trainer, Penn, a former front-line soldier who had learnt about combat by experience. Penn’s eyebrows rose as the Prince strode in; he had only ever come to training under duress.
‘Instructor Penn, I need your help.’
‘Greetings, Your Highness, what can I do for you?’
‘I need training, aimed at combating a certain man.’
‘The black warrior with the sun shield?’ the instructor said, only smiling a little as the Prince flinched, then dropped his shoulders.
‘Yes, instructor; I want help to fight this man.’
Penn put down the blade he had been sharpening and picked up a training sword. ‘Very well, Highness, but this time I expect you to listen to what I say.’

Braden and Penn rode calmly to the pond in the ruins. The milling crowd that had arrived for the spectacle added a festive mood, as if they were visiting a travelling festival. A small line of warriors waited in turn to challenge the black warrior, while the evidence of his victories were all around – broken weapons and injured men.

Many heads turned to watch Braden and Penn as they strode through the crowd. They were now wearing light field armour, highly polished and ornate, with a helmet under the right arm, and a shield held with the left. They were an impressive sight compared to many of the would-be fighters.

Braden nodded to his instructor and joined the queue. The few combatants in front of him were quickly, though not always painlessly, dealt with. He watched the man who had been in front of him leave holding a bladeless sword, then stepped forward, pulling on his shining helmet.
‘I will rescue my water princess away from you who have stolen her.’

The black armoured warrior shook his head at the words, but nothing else. Braden stepped in to battle, cautiously looking for an opening. The giant did not attack, but merely evaded and waited. The moments passed and Braden felt the watching eyes of the crowd weighing on him. He moved to draw an opening into the giant by feinting a lunge. The huge mace slammed into his shield while he was drawing back, jarring his shoulder and sending him sideways. He slashed randomly in the giant’s direction, trying to regain his equilibrium, only to have his sword snared by the giant’s sun buckler. Now driven by panic, he swung his shield against his trapped sword, trying to knock it free before the giant disarmed him.

The mace fell onto his shield again, driving him to his knees and shooting pain up his arm. Their was no respite, and the mace splintered away the end of his sword blade before swinging from below to knock away his shield arm. The next blow fell heavily onto his chest plate, crumpling the steel inwards, restricting his breathing and leaving him gasping on his back. He watched the mace lift high above him.
‘You should not have come back,’ said the deep voice from within the black helmet.

The mace fell. Penn caught the blow with his shield held high, thrusting his sword in underneath to force the giant back. Without glancing at Braden, he moved after the giant, his sword arcing around the slower mace and ringing against the black armour. The crowd gasped, seeing the first serious threat to the giant’s dominance. Back and forwards they fenced around the pond; the instructor experienced enough to avoid the traps presented by the giant, unlike the others before him.

The giant used his strength to batter Penn, while Penn used his smaller size to attack beneath the giant’s guard. The hammering of the mace eventually wore down the old instructor, allowing a final smash of the mace to connect into the shining helmet, sending him unconscious onto the grass.

Braden had escaped from his armour during Penn’s fight and went to his assistance. He unbuckled Penn’s helmet and checked he was breathing. The blow to his head did not seem to have caused a life-threatening injury, protected as he was. Braden watched the giant cautiously, but he was standing back ignoring them. Grabbing the instructor under his arms, he dragged him clear and waited for him to revive.

Before another challenger could step forward, two girls emerged from the crowd. Both had long brown hair, long flowing brown dresses, and bare feet. They walked timidly up to the black giant, nodded to him, and then passed unchallenged to the water maiden.

The crowd murmured in surprise, and Braden watched the girls produce a shimmering blue dress for the naked maiden. Once she was clothed they helped her to her feet. Walking slowly with an arm over each of the brown girl’s shoulders, the three left the way the brown girls had just arrived. The black giant walked in front, and the crowd parted around him.

‘Hey! What’s going on?!’ Braden shouted after them. The water maiden looked around at him briefly, her face a grimace of pain.
‘Where are you taking her?’
Penn woke up at the noise, grunted in pain, holding his head without bothering to sit up. Braden looked at him and made a snap decision. ‘You’ll be okay, and I need to leave. Thank you for your intervention.’
Before he could protest, Braden unbuckled the saddle bags of provisions from Penn’s horse and slung them over his own saddle and, leading his horse, followed the strange group of people out of the ruins.

The crowd realised the show was now over and began to fade away back to their own existences. Some fell in behind the Prince, curious to see if anything else would happen.

The brown girls supported more of the water maiden’s weight, and their pace increased. They did not travel on the open road, but moved in an unwavering path. They did not stop, walking throughout the day and the night. Braden pondered trying to move closer and snatch the girl away, wondering what this group wanted with her anyway. Without his sword and shield he was poorly equipped to deal with the black giant if he failed. He scoffed at himself. He was poorly equipped to deal with the giant, even with a sword and shield.

The other followers grew tired of the sport and drifted away, leaving Braden as the lone stalker.

A day passed, then another. Braden alternated between riding and walking, trying to stay awake and alert. He failed and dozed, letting his horse choose its direction. He woke with a jerk, aware of his lapse. Nothing had changed. His horse had continued along behind the strange group as they had for days already.

The familiar landscape of his home changed slowly as the miles moved beneath their feet. For six days this continued, without an acknowledgement of his existence from the maiden, and the coastline approached. A small fishing town was in front of them, and the ocean swept away the scenery before it.

The straight line travel did not stop, and the group moved to the nearest contact with the water, which was behind a rock wall lining a high lookout. The girls moved to a set of stairs while the giant waited to stop any interference. Braden rushed around him to the wall, leaning over to see. The girls were gone. The maiden swam in the ocean below, alone apart from two brown seals swimming happy circles around her.

Braden shouted to her, ‘You’re free! We can be together now, my love!’
If she heard him, she gave no sign, but continued swimming, moving further from the shore.

Thinking of the black giant, Braden looked around, but the giant was gone. Down in the ocean a large outline moved beneath the maiden, and Braden screamed out a warning. She did nothing. The water in front of her erupted and a sleek black and white killer whale leapt from the water. The maiden laughed in ecstasy, and all four disappeared beneath the waves.

Braden watched where the maiden had disappeared until his eyes hurt from the strain, but she did not reappear.

Finally he could admit the truth that had always existed, ‘She has what she wanted all along. She didn’t want me; she never loved me. She only needed me to be free.’

His spirit finally broken, he slumped on the wall, banging a fist against the stone and sliding down the smooth surface to his knees.

Constructive criticism welcome. © 2008 Damian Herde

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Tags:

armour, damian, fairytale, fight, knight, loss, love, maiden, ocean, prince, romance, selkie, short, story, sword and water