The Little Mermaid [Western Fantasy]

[The full story is being revised at an irregular pace]

Princess who disguises herself as a man to escape x fierce, guileless mermaid in distress

[She disguises herself as a man to survive. This is mainly in Volume One, and the two heroines know each other's gender after their first proper meeting.]

A princess longing for freedom runs away and becomes a sailor. On the vast, storm-tossed sea, a mermaid who has lost her freedom leaps aboard her ship, battered by the elements.

*

Anastasia had been promised that if she were perfect enough, she could take the kingdom's scepter from her father. To that end, she ignored every cold stare and mocking laugh, studying statecraft, swordsmanship, etiquette, and more day and night...

But willingly walking a knife's edge did not bring her a happy ending. She would not become the rightful heir to the throne; instead, she would remain a disposable pawn in a political marriage.

So Anastasia resolutely snatched the helm of her life from her father.

She cut off her hair, changed into men's clothes, and ran as fast as she could until she reached a seafaring vessel, a place that seemed like another world to her. She resolved to enjoy her final days on the boundless ocean.

But the sea she was so enamored with rewrote the ending she had written with her own hand

Until one night of thunder, rain, and howling winds, when a giant net of “fate” dragged the “prisoner” bound to her up onto the deck.

The “prisoner” had ginger-red hair and a gorgeous, graceful tail. Her eyes were purer and richer than the finest emeralds in the world, and they effortlessly shattered the full stop at the end of Anastasia's life.

“Freedom.”

The freedom Anastasia had once yearned for day and night. Now, she decided to risk everything to return it to this mermaid, who had never been part of her plans.

*

Only after Lita was dragged onto the deck did she learn that her grandmother's bedtime stories hadn't been made up to scare little mermaids. They were all true!

Amid the filthy stink of sweat, body odor, and rot, Lita saw the ugly way humans coveted her flesh. They sized her up with murky, greedy eyes, loudly plotting how to skin and dismember her, making use of every scale and every drop of blood.

Lita was imprisoned in a pool so cramped she couldn't even stretch out her tail. Time blurred, day and night became indistinguishable, and she waited like livestock for a hopeless fate.

But “Fate” came bearing a lantern

An alchemical potion changed her appearance, but it couldn't conceal her clear blue eyes, bluer than the sea in spring.

She brought bread, smoked meat, and fish... filling Lita's empty belly. Together, in the quiet of night, they nestled close, chatted, and sang softly.

But Lita never imagined that those gentle hands would resolutely take up a dagger for her. She cut Lita's chains, and severed the only tie between them.

“You're free, Lita.”

Lita fell into the sea. Watching her walk toward the pack of wolfish sailors, Lita felt her heart plunge into boiling water.

*

Notes:

1. Details of life at sea are the author's subjective inventions, inspired by things she's heard. They are not accurate or useful as a reference.

2. Male characters appear, but they are either villains who meet bad ends or minor background characters.

3. No evil female rivals motivated by competing for men.

Theme: Searching for true freedom