PART 2
I was still looking into her eyes, but in place of the warmth I had seen there barely seconds ago was a dark, frightening coldness, a coldness which wrapped itself around my throat and caused me to start speaking without even meaning to.
“My father, the king sent me. Our land…. our land.. it is being threatened by invaders from the beyond the sea. Their skin.. they are as white a ghosts. There are so many of them, we will never be able to defeat them and, and if we do not fight them, if we do not re-resist, we will became their sl-slaves.” I stammered.
“Mmmm. That is indeed very unfortunate.” Maame Water raised an eyebrow, “But why, my prince, are you here?”
I gulped.
“I- my father sent me here to ask you and your sisters for your help. He said-“
“HELP?” she laughed, pressing me closer to her. “The king sent you here to ask for my help?”
“Yes. He said you were the only one with enough power to… to defeat such a vast army.” I responded.
She pressed the dagger harder against my throat.
“Even if that were true, my dear nephew,” she sneered, “what makes you think that I would help your father? What makes you think that I would help save my idiotic brother’s lands after he banished me to live in this infernal cave? What makes you think that my sisters and I would even dream of coming to the aid of your traitorous king?” She spat the last word out like it was cursed.
The dagger pierced my skin and I felt the warm red liquid run down my neck. As the gore of her kill
“Because, because I-“ I stopped and swallowed.” Because I can break the curse. I can free you from this cave.”
She narrowed her eyes and slowly smirked, “Tch, tch, tch. You lie, my prince. Has your father not told you the story behind the curse?”
He had, in fact and my mind instantly recalled the gruesome tale.
***
Young Warrior, Young Warrior
Do not go out to sea;
She will ensnare you with her beauty And trap you with her song
Ultimately when you long for breath
And your drowned lungs break the spell….
19 Years Ago
The man stood at the edge of the forest and gazed admiringly at the sea. He liked everything about the sea; the breeze calmed him and the warring waves made beautiful music when they crashed against the shores. More importantly, he admired the enormous power the sea wielded. He-the sea (for the man never thought of the sea as a female) - could crush even the mightiest of canoes with a single wave and starve the mightiest kingdoms by leading the fishes away from their fishermen. The man was positive that this large stretch of raging water that sent fearsome storms and frightful waves to destroy mighty lands could never be a woman. Only men commanded such power. Yes, the sea was a man, a powerful man like himself.
Indeed, the man was once a powerful warrior, one of the King’s finest until he was made a fugitive. The King had arrested him because the man had taught some insignificant woman a minor lesson in respect. He laughed to himself. Okay, it was more than a minor lesson but the wench deserved it.
The useless woman, whose only purpose was to please men like himself, had refused to lie with him and hence, had insulted his dignity by implying that she was worth more than his manhood. Unacceptable! She would pay dearly for her insult. And pay, she did.
He had waited till she was alone before he attacked her.
Initially, she had made futile attempts to defend herself by hitting him with her flimsy hands but did she really think her little hands could defeat his war- hardened ones? These same hands that had broken the muscle-bound neck of Ayiteh the Giant. Stupid woman. Eventually when she realized that she would never win, she begun to beg him. She begged and pleaded, expecting him to forgive her insolence. A man of power does not show mercy to a woman. Finally, she resorted to lying and giving excuses, saying that she had never lain with a man before and that she was a virgin.
Even better. The man had thought. It will hurt even more.
She had indeed screamed and cried out with pain when he begun and he laughed at her anguish. Hahaha. Scream, foolish woman, scream! You will learn respect!
And whenever she stopped screaming or pleading, he would beat her so that she resumed. When the whore was barely conscious and could utter no more than a pathetic whimper, he left her for dead. He did not know then that the woman was the only daughter of Elder Neequaye and that she would survive the ordeal, so when the elder’s men came to his house to arrest him the following morning, he had been quite surprised. Nevertheless, he had escaped his prison the night before his trial, sneaked into the elder’s quarters and slit the impertinent prostitute’s throat.
He had been on the run ever since, raping girls where ever he went only this time he made sure none of whores lived to tell the tale.
Tonight, he was looking for his next victim and he was getting impatient because it was almost midnight and he had not even spotted his prey. He closed his eyes and prayed that the powerful sea would grant him a good hunt. He was therefore only a little surprised when he saw a young female kneeling at the edge of the sea the moment he opened his eyes.
Thank you Father Sea, he thought as he made his way to the black-haired girl.
“You should not be out here. The sea is very dangerous at night.” The man liked to give his victims a false sense of security, he liked it when they trusted him and thought that he meant them no harm. He always savoured the looks of disbelief and betrayal that appeared on his victims’ faces when they realized how wrong they were.
“May I ask why you are here so late at night?” he asked.
She turned slowly, lifting her head to face him. A breeze passed by and blew her hair off her face.
The man stifled a gasp. This girl was truly beautiful, like no female he had ever laid his eyes on. She had a beautiful cloth wrapped around her waist that outlined her shapely hips amd simultaneously exposed her supple legs. The second cloth, which she wore over her upper half, covered all but her face, her hands and her stomach. Light from the moon reflected off her skin giving it the appearance of sparkling gold and her eyes were very dark- darker the shadows of the night. The sea had brought him this golden goddess and soon, she will belong to him. He licked his lips as he took in her dark eyes, smooth skin and bare stomach. She will be mine, she will belong to me and me alone.
“My brother… he has gone missing and I came here to search for him. I-I cannot find him anywhere and he’s a-all I have. I-“
The man knew of the sporadic disappearances of some of the village’s men and if this girl's brother had vanished in the same way, he was sure that her brother would turn up tomorrow morning- with his throat slit. What weaklings those men were! No one could kidnap him in the middle of the night and murder him! He was the king’s finest warrior! He would use the hands that had broken the neck of Ayiteh the Giant to strangle the foolish assassin! No man would dare to mess with him!
“It’s okay. I am sure he is fine.” He had pulled her into a hug and was now caressing her black, black hair. All mine.
“You should worry more about yourself and less about your brother. He is a man. Surely he can take care of himself?”
She pulled away from him and started wiping away her newly formed tears. “Yes. Yes you are quite right. It was silly of me to overreact like this. I-I was just so scared.”
He brushed his fingers across her face, across her cheeks and stopped at her lips. She stiffened.
You will belong to me.
“Do not fear me, girl. The sea has sent you to please me and I promise you, I will be extremely gentle.”
The girl looked around nervously. “Please you? I- I’m sorry I do not understand. I-“
“Do not worry,” the man cut in, ”I will make you understand.” And with that, he gripped her hair and forced her to kiss him. He did not get far though, when he felt a sharp sting across his cheek. The stupid girl had slapped him! He had promised her he would be gentle, but now she had forced him to obtain her the hard way.
The sea sent you to me! You are mine!
He drew his fist back and aimed for her cheek. As he let loose his power, he could not help but think; my hands will taste her flesh, these same hands that broke-
His hand had stopped moving.
The girl… the girl had managed to block the blow with her palm and now she was looking at him in a bored manner –not screaming in pain- as if the blow had not even touched her. Impossible. Even Ayiteh the Giant had begged him-
“You dare raise your hand against me? Do you not know who I am?” she said, her voice booming like thunder as she twisted his hand so that his bones cracked and he cried out in pain.
“Nothing! You are just a filthy woman! You are nothing!” he spat. He should have been afraid. No normal woman-or man for that matter- could have blocked his blow without getting hurt herself but the man was too proud to be wary of this shameless girl.
“You will not speak to me that way. You will fear me!” She twisted his hand again, breaking both of his hand bones. He screamed- like how Elder Neequaye’s daughter had screamed when he had hurt her- but she would not stop twisting.
Finally when the pain died down (for she had released his hand) and he was able to speak again, he said, gasping, “And why should I fear you?! You are but a woman! What could you possibly do to me?!”
A lightning bolt from above illuminated the girl’s face and eyes and when the man looked into those cold eyes- the eyes he thought were black- he realized that they were in fact bright red…. like the eyes of the evil spirits that dwelled deep the Evil Forest. Trembling with fear, the man turned and run.
The girl smiled, her teeth glittering in the moonlight.
“Oh, you have no idea what I am capable of.”
***
Part 3 will come out next week!! Come back then if you want to know more about the legend!
