The Mammoth Book of Irish Romance (29 page)

Muirin turned to look al around her. “It is true. But I cannot see you.”

“Do you wish to?”

“Oh, yes, please!”

More soft laughter fol owed, then a smal glowing bal appeared in the air before Muirin, slowly enlarging until it was the size of a dainty person. Within the glow was the most beautiful woman Muirin had ever seen. Her hair was golden, her skin soft and supple, her gown of gossamer. She smiled, her eyes lighting with humour. “Is this better, child?” Muirin stared in awe at the lovely woman. “You are one of the fair folk, come from the Otherworld!”

The creature smiled again. “It is true. I am of the
aes sídhe
, come from Tír na nóg.”

“I have nothing to offer you!”

“I have not come to ask for an offering, Muirin, but to aid you in your plight. We are the People of Peace, and this night your stepmother has disrupted our peace. It is she who has done this, who has cast a spel over Conlan and transformed him. She has rooted him in the ground.” Muirin whirled to look at the slender oak tree. “It is true, then? I had hoped it was but a terrible dream.”

“It is true. Conlan is no more.”

Muirin clasped her hand over her mouth with a moan, then threw her arms around the tree.

“Conlan! Oh my love! I should never have defied her! Conlan!” She whirled back to the woman of the fair folk. “Is it forever? Can it be undone?”

“There is one way by which he can be returned to human form, Muirin. But it is very dangerous.”

“I don’t care about danger! I wil do anything that would bring Conlan back to me!”

“It wil require great courage, child.”

“I wil find courage enough to do whatever is required.”

“And great physical strength.”

“I wil find the strength I need!”

“And you must outwit a terrible foe.”

“I wil find a way to do that! Please tel me what I must do!”

“You must go to the land of the merrow and the mermen. To Tir fo Thoinn, the Land Beneath the Waves.”

Muirin thought of al she had heard of the Land Beneath the Waves, the home of the beautiful merrows – the mermaids who sometimes took human form and lived among men. And of the mermen, said to be hideously ugly creatures covered with scales, having the features of pigs and long, pointed teeth.

“The merrow are sometimes hostile, Muirin. You could be in danger.”

“How can I go there? How wil I breathe?”

The woman looked up at the ravens. “They wil aid you.”

“What must I do there?” Muirin asked.

“In the Land Beneath the Waves there are mermen who hold the souls of drowned sailors in cages, cal ed soul cages. You must free three of them.”

Muirin nodded. “I wil do it. Anything to free Conlan from the enchantment.”

“There is more you must do.”

“Please tel me!”

“In the Land Beneath the Waves there is a castle in which a lovely princess lives. An enchantment has removed al colour from her life, and only a clever human can restore it.”

“I wil do it! But how?”

“You wil have to discover that.”

“I wil ! Anything to free Conlan.”

“There is stil more, Muirin.”

Muirin began to grow afraid. “Tel me, please.”

“There is an ogre who has terrorized three merrow sisters. You must kil him.”

“But how?”

“You wil have to discover that. Are you wil ing?”

Muirin swal owed, but nodded. “Anything to save the man I love.”

“If you are successful, you wil return home to find Conlan restored, your stepmother banished beneath the waves and your father freed from her spel .”

“Yes! But how . . .?” Muirin clasped her hands before her as the
sídhe
’s glow began to fade.

“Oh, do not leave me yet! I don’t know enough! Where should I go?” The woman, already transparent, looked down at the dolphins again. She continued to fade.

“The dolphins wil aid you. Safe journey, child. Courage!”

And then Muirin was alone again. She stared around her, seeing the lonely cliff, empty but for her and the two oak trees. She looked at the slender oak and lifted her chin.

“I wil free you, Conlan!” she cried.

For a long moment, Muirin could not move. She stood where she was, her hands clasped before her, looking out over the sea. She was afraid. Then she walked to the slender oak and threw her arms around its trunk.

“I cannot live without you, my love. I wil not live without you.” She placed her lips against its bark.

“Conlan, if I do not return, I wil find you in the afterlife. I wil always love you. Always. Stay strong, my love.”

And then she left, walking slowly down the path that led from the cliff to the sea. In the water below her, the three dolphins stil swam in spirals. She looked up at a harsh cry above her, to see the three ravens spinning overhead. They swooped past her, circling something at the far end of the beach. One lifted it, and with the others flanking it, flew towards her as she reached the shingle, then lay it before her on the rocks.

It was a smal red cap made of feathers. A
cohuleen druith
, she realized, recognizing it as the magical cap that enabled the merrows to swim through the ocean. Muirin had heard that if a mermaid lost this cap, she also lost her ability to return beneath the waves. Muirin looked around her now, half-expecting to see the merrow here, but there was no beautiful woman walking on the beach.

“I wil but borrow this,” she said aloud, in case the merrow might be able to hear her. “I wil return it to you, I swear it. Or die in the trying.”

She shivered at the echo of her own words, but lifted the red cap and examined it. It weighed almost nothing, was craftily constructed of fine red feathers and what looked like silver thread. She turned it in her hands, looking out to sea.

Could she do it? Plunge into the waves and trust this delicate garment cap to keep her alive?

Conlan, she thought, and put the cap on her head. The ravens circled her, their cries sounding like encouragement now. She smiled then walked towards the water.

But there she hesitated, looking at the waves crashing on the beach. How many times had she swum through these crystal waters with Conlan, laughing at the waves as they broke over her?

She had no choice. If she did not go, Conlan would never return to her, and how could she live without him? If she perished in the trying, at least she could die without shame.

Daughter of the sea
, her stepmother had cal ed her. She was about to be just that, a daughter of Lir, the king of the ocean. She stepped forward, watching the water lick at her shoes. Another step and her skirts were wet. Another and she was in to her waist.

She plunged into the froth when the wave came, expecting to be tumbled, then come out the other side and gasp for air. Instead, she sank under the surface, no longer feeling the damp, her body strangely lightweight. She opened her eyes, expecting them to sting from the salt water, but instead she could see clearly the three dolphins that now swam before her, their heads bobbing at her at though inviting her to join them.

She moved her arms and glided through the water with little effort, realizing that she could breathe as wel here as on land. She almost laughed. It was real, the merrow magic was real! But hard on the heels of her amusement came a wave of fear. Somehow she had to find the Land Beneath the Waves, then learn how to do the tasks that would eventual y save Conlan. She took a deep breath, and fol owed the dolphins.

She had no idea of how long she swam, or how far. There were times when she swam alone, others when the dolphins would offer her a fin to hold, and glide her through the water at a speed she could never have matched on her own. Times when she could see the sunlight on the surface, others when al around her was darkness.

Creatures passed her and the dolphins: smal fish that darted out of the way; large fish, with fins that looked like sails, that paused to watch them go by; sharks that circled as if wondering if she could be snatched away from her guides; whales that fil ed the water with their strange songs.

And then Muirin could see it, the Land Beneath the Waves, stretching far into the distance, a wal ed kingdom of spires and towers, large structures covered with oyster shel s. An entire city, with streets and bridges plainly visible. And ful of merrows and mermen.

As they neared the undersea kingdom, her fear returned. How would she be able to gain entrance through those enormous gates? And once in, what would she do? How would she know where to find the soul cages, the princess whose castle was without colour, or the three mermaids terrified by an ogre?

How foolish she had been to think for a moment that she could do this! She was trembling by the time they reached the massive gates, sure she would be discovered as an imposter. But she need not have worried, for the gates opened of their own accord, and she and the dolphins glided through with none to stop them.

They paused in a large square surrounded by tal buildings, unnoticed by the beautiful mermaids who swam by. Muirin watched as the gates closed silently behind her, then turned back to discover that two of the dolphins had disappeared. The third seemed to be waiting for her. She pul ed her feather cape close, gathered her courage, and fol owed it.

The dolphin led her across the square and into a wide street lined with what appeared to be shops and houses, and fil ed with every sort of transport: sea horses pul ing magnificent coaches; mighty water horses, which would have terrified her at home; sea serpents pul ing huge barges on which mermaids lay, reclining on fanciful couches, combing their long tresses with combs made of seashel s.

Muirin was so fascinated by al she saw that she soon lost track of their path, and hardly noticed when they turned into a narrower street, then a stil narrower lane. And stopped before a door made of seaweed. The dolphin rapped on the door with its nose, and glided back, leaving Muirin to face the repulsive creature that opened the door.

She drew back in horror from the pig-faced merman. He did not have skin, but was covered in scales. He looked her up and down, then smiled, revealing long pointed teeth.

“Daughter of Lir,” he said in a pleasant tone, opening the door wide. “Welcome. I have been expecting you!”

She stepped inside his home, not knowing what she would encounter. The room was large, furnished as one might expect a human home would be. But there, in the corner, stacked high, were a dozen wicker cages like those used for catching lobsters. Most were empty, but four were not. An octopus stared at her mournful y from a cage in the centre row, and above it, in the top three cages, wel above her reach, tiny shimmering male faces looked down at her.
The soul
cages.

She had heard the tales of mermen who caused storms, then captured the souls of the drowned sailors, but had considered them too fanciful to be real. But here they were, imprisoned souls, and she must somehow discover how to free them.

“Wel ,” the merman said, offering her a driftwood bench to sit upon while he leaned against the hearth. “How was your journey, daughter of Lir? Not too arduous, I’m hoping?” She shook her head cautiously. “Not at al ,” she answered, looking at him out of the side of her eyes. He truly was the ugliest creature she’d ever seen.

“Good, good,” he said, offering her a shel ful of brandy. “For your troubles in bringing it to me.” She took the shel and sipped at the brandy, trying to think of what she had that he might desire.

She could not part with the red cap, for she had promised to return it to the merrow who had left it on the strand. With what else, then, could she bargain?

She had the golden necklace with the dolphin pendant that her mother had given her al those years ago, but one look at his neck let her know it would never fit him. Perhaps he would like to give it to one of the mermaids? She had her clothing, the net around her hair, but what would her want with those? And her cape, made of the finest swan feathers.

That was it!
Daughter of Lir
, he had cal ed her. Lir, the king of the sea. Whose children had been turned into swans by their jealous stepmother.

She slid the cape off her shoulders and casual y laid it beside her on the driftwood bench. He watched her movements with a smile. Would he eat her? she wondered. Those long teeth were terrifying. How strange that the female of the species was so lovely and the male so hideous.

Smal wonder, then, that mermaids sought human mates.

He bent to slide a hand with webbed fingers across the feathers. “As soft as I have heard! Is it true, then, that the cape wil al ow me to walk as a man in your world?”

“I cannot tel you,” she said, keeping her words truthful.

He gave her a merry smile. “Ah, a bargainer, are you? Very wel then, how many do you think this is worth?”

“Al of them,” she said, hoping that he spoke of the imprisoned souls.

“What, al three? Never!”

“And the octopus as wel ,” she said quietly, as a sudden thought occurred to her.

“Why? It is only a play toy for me,” he said sul enly. “I like to watch it change colour.”

“And the octopus as wel ,” she said again.

He gave a
harrumph
. They were silent then, sipping their brandy. Muirin checked the distance to the door. She would trade her cape for the souls, but not her life. Stil , was this not the very reason she’d come, to do these tasks and free Conlan?

“Two?” he asked, leaning to stroke the feathers again.

She shook her head and moved as though she were about to stand.

“It’s al three you’re wanting, then, is it?” he asked, his tone resigned.

She nodded slowly. “And the octopus.”

He stared into the distance. They did not speak. The only sound was the music that floated in from the lane, a mournful tune that threatened to make her mood sink. His gaze shifted to the cape of swan feathers.