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Seligor's Castle, fun for all the children of the world.
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Wed, 25 Nov 2009
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 MERMAIDS AND MERMEN, WHAT ELSE IS THERE IN SELIGOR'S CASTLE. POP IN TO SEE IN NOWHERE LAND.
NOWHERE-LAND
One
Wish
Jasper
turned to the bristly sailor who stood in the
center of the deck, expertly coiling a rope in his
muscular hands. "Is it true that if you steal
a mermaid's girdle, she must grant you
a
wish?"
The sailor
shrugged. "'S possible. I've been up
`n' down this spot dozens o' times an' not a hint
o' a woman or even half o' one."
"But Square Cut Bay is famed for mermaids
throughout the world! Half my reason for
taking this route around Calithwain instead of the
shorter overland trip was to feast on their beauty
with my own eyes. And maybe," Jasper added,
nervously licking his lips, "just maybe have
a wish granted to me as
well."
A cluster of
sailors who'd apparently been listening in, burst
into hearty gales of laughter.
Jasper glared at
them. "You may think I've no sense, wearing
the robes of a scholar instead of your rags or
a soldier's armor, but I know what I've
read. I'm not big or strong but I'm
wise. Calithwain is different; everyone
knows magic abounds here. There are
ways to steal a mermaid's girdle, and then you can
just go about begging for jobs if my wish is to own
all the merchant ships in the
country."
"Or you could
wish for the mermaid to marry you," a sailor
pointed out. Jasper found himself grinning
triumphantly. Finally they were taking him
seriously.
"Aye, I
could. Or court any girl on the land with
the treasure I'll
win."
"Of course,
she'll have a time walkin' up the aisle with her
tail flopping about," the sailor finished.
Jasper stalked to the rail, staring out into the
black, murky ocean. The moon's
reflection on the waves gleamed just like a
piece of silver. Jasper would be seeing
silver pieces that large and more once he
found the mermaid he searched for.
All of
his books said that this was the place. For
all he knew, a mermaid might be swimming under the
boat even as he stood there. Wouldn't
that surprise the men who had moved on to
even stupider jokes now, such as how many
mermaids it took to light a
candle.
The next day, the ship stopped
to take on water and supplies at Fisher's
Village. Jasper wandered away, after making
certain that the ship wouldn't leave until sunrise
the next morning. Fascination with mermaids
or no, he had a job waiting for him
cataloging books in Lotorinum, and couldn't delay
it only to search for an elusive and possibly
mythical mermaid.
As he
walked along the pier, thinking thoughts of
mermaids and wishes, not to mention the
arrogant sailors, he heard a splash off in
the distance. Probably a fish. Yet he
moved closer to the pier's edge, staring into the
mists hard enough to part them and reveal his
elusive
quarry.
After a moment, Jasper stepped
back. It had been a fish after all. He
resumed his walk, deciding to stroll into the inn
and have some food that hadn't been rotting in a
barrel for weeks before consumption. There
was another splash now, closer to the pier.
But there was hardly any point to straining his
eyes looking for
another--
A feminine
giggle cut through the soft murmur of the waves and
Jasper's head dropped like a load of rocks.
There, beside the pier, a lovely head bobbed above
the level of the water.
Soft, green-gold
ringlets, blue eyes deep and wide enough to drown
in. Her grin seemed warm and amused, lips
parted slightly to display even, white
teeth. Her skin was a warm, honey brown
that glistened damply in the sunlight. All he
could see was her head and bare shoulders but
Jasper knew, with all his heart and soul, that this
was no village maid out for a swim. A
living, genuine
mermaid floated beside the very pier that he stood
on.
"Hello," she said,
giving him an artful smile that made his heart skip
a beat. She was breathtaking, no question of
that. Jasper regretted that he looked like a tall,
brown-haired
beanpole in his old fashioned
robes. "
Posted 18:24
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1 comment
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the whole thng
Of course my loves, seeing only a quarter of this
wonderful story is not so good, so get on over to
Nowhere Land and read the whole thing. xxx Seli.
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