The two men were standing on the beach, gazing out to sea. One threw pebbles and the other sketched the ocean and setting sun in charcoal. Mana watched them, hiding behind a large rock near a cave only a few dolphin lengths away. She had watched them arrive at the deserted beach, walking from the large square box her father had called a castle. It had high round columns like kelp rising from the ocean floor. The men had walked down a path from the cliff that lead to the beach an hour ago, and she had felt annoyance that she had to look for shells and pearls in secret.
She was supposed to collect the shells for her younger sister's Eventail: the night she would shed her fins for the first time and walk on sand in the moonlight. Alinta would wear a necklace of pears and shells, a crown of kelp, and dance naked under the moon. Then her sisters would take a shark from the ocean and cut it open on the sand. They would feast on raw shark, and wait for the first human to come to the beach in the morning. He would be their lover for the day, and their sacrifice.
She should be getting back to her sisters, even empty handed, but she liked watching the one throwing rocks. He was dark, with curly brown hair in contrast to her fair reddish yellow hair. His body was bronze, which was an odd thing to see in a land man. Sea men on the big rocks that floated above the water had brown bodies. She and her two older sisters swam with a few of them and used their big dark bodies for other pleasures.
Mana dipped from the rock into the water and drifted closer, staying behind the waves. She knew from her short visits to land that she couldn't let herself be seen. There were females on land, but they covered themselves and none had fins, more was the pity. Mana had lovely rounded breasts with coral points. They bounced when she swam and complemented her flat curvy stomach and glittering foam green tail. Her long blonde hair had hints of coral too.
"Ho there!"
Mana froze at the man's shout and slipped further into the water. She didn't want to be seen just yet. She recognized the language as English with a funny, lilting accent. There had been everything from French to Spaniards on their beach in the last few years. A busy time, war.
"Sam, did you see that?"
Mana peeked above the water. The dark man with the pebbles was pointing right at her.
"There! There's a woman there. Ho! Are you alright miss?!" Mana sighed. There was nothing for it. Though she could shed her tail at a moment's whim, and set it around her body like a piece of long shimmering seaweed, she would be quite naked. She would have to pay the price, though. It was expected each time they shed their tails. She could either swim away with startling speed, or let the man know she was fine. If not, he'd come out and try to rescue her. It had happened before. There were dangers for a mermaid who was dragged on land with her tail. She grew up with the stories of the horrors men would do to women with tails.
The man began to swim out to her. As if she wasn't born swimming. As if a mermaid needed saving in her own home. But land men were funny beings. She waved, practicing her mimicking skills that Merpeople learned when they were children. She knew different dialects of whale, dolphin, seal, French, Spanish, and a little English.
"Ho there!" She called back, in her musical voice, "I am fine!"
"I'm coming out to you! The water's rough. Be careful! There are rocks near you," the man shouted and Mana sighed again. Then she smiled, suddenly mischievous. She would let herself be caught in the ocean and surprise the man. It would serve him right for being so chivalrous. Maybe she would bring him to her sisters to play with, then lure him back for the morning. How clever of her to have found their sacrifice so quickly.
"Help!" she called with a smirk. "Help me, s'il vous plaît"
She saw his strong arms were already pulling him towards her. It was always so funny to her that land people must use their arms in the water. Mana drifted back towards her rock and cave, pumping her strong tail muscles so she would beat the man. She quickly decided the cave would do far better, since his companion wouldn't be able to see anything. Then again, the companion would come for them if she kept the dark one too long. She ducked her head and sent a keening call to her sister in their garbled language.
"I am toying with a land man," she said, "I will call to you if I am in trouble. There is another handsome golden one on the sand."
She looked back and saw her human was almost upon her. She quickly entered the cave and reveled in the dark quiet and echoing water.
"Help!" she called again, "I'm lost!" Then she whispered the ancient singing unbinding mantra and took off her tail. She placed it carefully on a rock just as she heard a splashing sound behind her. She quickly put herself in a panic, treading water too quickly as she saw land people do to tire themselves out. Just as the man approached (he was much larger than he had seemed from afar), she pretended to faint, and plunged under the water. Without her tail with scales, she couldn't stay under for very long. She closed her eyes and no more than a few seconds passed before she felt large strong hands grip her arms. She was pulled up against a hard, half clothed body, then thrust on the rock ledge surrounding the cave. She coughed and sputtered convincingly then lay still, slitting her eyes to watch her rescuer.
"Miss? Miss? Are you alright?" He knelt next to her, then noticed her nakedness and took an uneasy step back. He was young, had a dark growth of beard, piercing blue eyes, and strong muscles.
Merpeople years were different than human years. She had swam the deep for many tides, maybe fifty human years, but Merpeople lived for at least three times that, and then didn't age until their last ten tides. The man's hands were rough where they had gripped her. A laborer maybe.
Mana coughed again.
