Page 37 of Found at Sea
Suddenly, I thought it best if I didn’t linger anymore. Hearing stories of mermaids would only cause the unease in my gut to worsen. I had just turned and was about to return to my cabin when Fletcher’s next words stopped me.
“But have you ever heard the tale about the heart of the sea?”
The heart of the sea. Upon hearing the words, my chest tingled in the exact spot where the mark rested on my skin.
“Legends have it that the god Poseidon took the goddess Amphitrite as his wife. She was the personification of the sea itself,” Fletcher continued, now having the attention of every man aboard, including mine. “They had a son named Triton who was a merman. He carried a conch shell that he used to calm or raise the sea. Triton helped men, but he also used the shell to raise the sea and drown some of them, too, if he was angered.”
The mark tingled again and I rubbed at it. Ever since it’d been placed upon me, I’d never felt anything like it. I knew it must be some sign, just like the sightings of the merman. Then realization struck me: a shell.
Triton’s symbol was a conch shell…identical to the one on my chest.
“What angered ‘em?” Tig asked, thoroughly enthralled in the story.
Fletcher, who was no longer shy, leaned forward. “It’s said that mermaids and mermen are descendants of him, and bad fortune is placed upon any man that ever harms one. If you are cruel to the sea, the sea will, in turn, be cruel to you.”
“And what of the heart?” I wasn’t aware I’d even approached the group until I’d spoken.
The men snapped their heads around to gape at me, not that I blamed them.
As his green-eyed gaze met mine, Fletcher looked curious at first before softly smiling. “I was getting there, Captain.” It was the first time he’d ever said my title without the sarcastic sneer in his tone, and the smile on his face as he’d said it caused my stomach to flutter. “The symbol of Triton is the conch shell. It controls the sea, the rising and falling of the water, and is in essence like the beating of a heart.”
Again, the mark tingled, as if it were alive.
“The legend goes that Triton fell in love once,” Fletcher continued, shifting his eyes from me and to the other men. “He’d had hundreds—thousands—of lovers, but never once gave his heart. Until her. The woman was as beautiful as she was deadly, yet he was so blinded by love that he didn’t see her wickedness until it was too late.”
“How wicked was she?” Dax asked. “I’ve known many wicked wenches in my day.”
The crew grinned and started telling stories about women who wronged them; some that tried to kill them and some that ended up stealing everything they owned. It was a nice break in an otherwise somber tale.
“Quiet, ya dogs!” Byron shouted. Even while sitting, he towered over the rest of the crew. His long beard was braided and his head was as shiny as ever. “Let the boy finish his story.”
With the attention instantly returned to Fletcher, his cheeks darkened a shade. “Well, the woman seduced the sea god, using her beauty to gain sway over him. Triton was smitten, but she was no ordinary woman. She was a witch.”
“Sounds like me last wife,” Kris said, earning chuckles all around.
“Once she had influence over him,” Fletcher spoke. “She attempted to steal the conch. Whoever possessed the shell would have full control over the tides, and would make the owner the most powerful being in all the seas, being able to sink ships and drown enemies at will. So one night, after they’d made love and Triton fell asleep, she went to where he kept the shell and took it. However, the shell was made for Triton and its loyalty was to him and him alone.”
The sun sank below the horizon, and with the fading of light, the men grabbed lamps and lit them.
“What did the witch do with the shell?” Alek asked after several moments of silence.
“She fled from Triton, using spells to hide her whereabouts. But when she realized she could not use it, she cast it aside in a moment of rage,” Fletcher answered. “It’s the lost heart of Triton, not only the symbolic heart of the sea, but also to represent the woman stealing his heart and running away with it.”
Eternal life, forever alone, no drink to quench his thirst
He will walk in shadow, from the living he’ll be apart
And alas, will he, answer for his crimes, cursed
Unless he earn another heart
As the riddle went through my mind, the shell-shaped mark on my chest went from a slight tingling to an almost painful burning. Turning away from the crew, I advanced toward my cabin and rubbed at the mark. Once in my quarters and away from prying eyes, I leaned on the desk that housed all of my failed attempts at finding an answer to my ever approaching curse and worked on controlling my breathing.
With the sensation from the mark still strong, I knew what I needed to do. I felt it in my entire being.
Finding the lost heart of Triton was the key to breaking the curse. It all made sense to me now: why I’d been drawn to Helmfirth. It was to find Fletcher. To hear the tale he’d told that evening. Without him, I would’ve never solved the riddle.
Something dangerous consumed me from the inside out, something that caused my palms to sweat and my hands to shake.
Hope.
