Aurora Wolf

Poseidon’s Claim

By

Aubrie Dionne

The surf churned bubbles in the sand, and whale-sung elegies rode the wind. Marina peered through the seashell charms hanging in the window of her beach hut and watched her brother’s fishing boat disappear over the horizon, riding the tidal waves out to sea.  He’d been reckless before, but this time he tempted the gods with foolish abandon. Emptiness rose in the pit of her stomach with the ill omens.  She knew she’d never see him alive again.

Scratching lines into the windowsill with her fingernails, Marina turned to her mother. “Why did you let Caspian go?”

The middle aged woman rocked in a chair, swinging back and forth as if the repetitive motion would ease the burden on her heart. Her eyes fixated on the fishnet covering her knees. She’d stopped weaving, and part of it unraveled at her feet. “He’s a headstrong young man, and I could stop him no more than you can prevent a wind squall or a rip tide.”

Marina’s gaze returned to the sea, but she’d lost the triangular shape of his sail. A hazy mist glowed on the horizon as if he’d already departed to the netherworld. “There’s a storm coming. I can smell it on the air.”

“He’s navigated through ill weather before.”

Crushing a snail shell in her hand, Marina cursed her brother’s ambitions. If only he’d waited until she woke up instead of sneaking out before the first rays of dawn. If only her mother had the presence of mind to stop him. A current of anger rushed through her. “You stopped caring the day that father sailed away.”

Her mother spoke in a dead tone, as if her heart had sunk along with her husband’s boat years ago, the beating muscle pulled taunt by the anchor as it hit the bottom. “Someone has to take up his burden. With my lame leg, I cannot sail and we all know you fear the sea.”

Marina seethed in silent shame. She’d approached the water’s edge so many times, but she couldn’t shake off the visions of the tsunami gushing over her head in her dreams. She spat out bitter words, “You know I’ve tried.”

Her mother shrugged, “What does it matter anymore? The prophets say this entire island is doomed to sink to the bottom of the sea.”

The air around Marina thickened and she felt her throat close in as if she drowned right there in her mother’s dire tidings. Marina rushed out of their hut and ran along the beach, her bare feet pressing puddles in the tide washed sand. Although the fresh air felt good in her chest, the sky had turned dark as twilight, and clouds festered overhead. She could run to the temple in the city and sacrifice a blue clawed lobster to protect him, but her offering would be a meager pittance, too little and too late.

A bolt of lightning shot up from the ground to brighten the sky and she straightened as if the electricity coursed into her legs. The vault over her head cracked open and rain pattered around her, mingling with the salt water on the sand. Marina searched for Caspian’s boat in the storm strewn waves, feeling more lost than any ship out on that sea. What would she and her mother do without him? Weave enough fish nets to earn their food? She’d already lost her father, and she didn’t want to lose anyone again.

She fell to her knees, her fists clenching around the sticky sand. “I’ll do anything.” She whispered under her breath, “Anything for Caspian to return home safe.”

Thunder rumbled above her in warning. The water rose on the horizon in an ominous swell as if the ocean birthed a great whale. Marina gasped as if to take back her words, but once spoken, they carried on the wind like a feather out to sea. A large fin barreled toward her, stirring up foam in its wake. Marina scampered backward on her hands and feet like an upturned crab.

The water broke off shore, spewing mist like a volcano, as a man the size of an Orca emerged from the frothy depths. A trident rose from his side, trailing sea weed and kelp from the three prongs. He speared the sea bottom through the water, and the earth shook around her, ferns quivering over her head. A scaly tale slapped the surface behind him, and he rode the incoming wave forward, gliding to halt on the beach just above Marina’s head. His long white beard of jellyfish tentacles dripped sea water and slime on her stomach.

“I heard a little voice out at sea, a bargaining plea.” His eyes reflected the color of the murky depths as they roamed from the curls on her head, down her chest and to her sand crusted feet. “Was it you who spoke?”

Although the earth quake abated, Marina’s body continued to shake. The stench of raw oysters filled her nostrils. She gazed up at the monolith towering over her and squealed out. “Yes.”

Barnacles opened and closed on his skin, little mouths seeking salt water and gulping up air. He leaned down, his eyes peering into her. His voice boomed out as a growl of thunder, “Your brother is mine. He sailed into my realm and floats helplessly in my clutches.” He puffed out his stomach like a walrus, “As we speak the waves batter his hull.”

“Please,” Marina peered up through the rain, “You must spare him. You’ve already taken my father, and we have no one else to fish for us in the sea.”

His lips quivered as if annoyed, and the jellyfish writhed, grasping at thin air. “What have I for the concerns of a mortal? A meager girl at that?”

“Please,” Mariana sat up on her knees, “I do anything if you bring him back alive.”

Brows crusted with mollusk shell rose as he regarded her, assessing her as one would study a monkey on sale in the market. He dug into the mass of his squirming beard and pulled out a gleaming piece of coral. In a flick of his wrist, he tossed it down at her, and it stuck upside down in the beach turf. Marina fell forward and dug into the sand, clutching the object in her hand. When she opened her fingers, she held a ring of coral harboring a deep set, gray pearl.

“Another wife. That is what I desire.”

Marina felt like she’d swallowed a clam and it wiggled around in her belly. She watched the slime ooze from his scaly bottom half and tried not to imagine what his words might mean.

“I could not go against Amphitrite.”

“My Sea Goddess wife? The one you worship so dutifully in your little temple?”

The sea giant laughed, the water gurgling around him. Marina cringed, feeling sheepish that she mentioned the goddess name. Although Amphitrite’s compassion never ended, her power was no match for her husband.

“Go on; go back to your pretty nymph. We’ll see if she saves your brother.” He smacked his lips together, the sound of sea stones colliding, and turned back to the sea.

Marina sat in shock, the rain seeping through her thin tunic to leech the warmth from her slender body. She wanted her brother back more than anything. When she spoke, she could hardly recognize her voice, “I accept.”

Poseidon’s head turned, storms brewing in his eyes. “Very well. I’ll come back for you in years to come. Be ready to take your place by my side.”

His back fin disappeared into the sea in a swerving slice, leaving Marina with a mix of tumultuous feelings and a ring. The rain sputtered out and gave way to morning light. Caspian’s ship emerged on the horizon, the sails strong and sure against an easterly blowing wind. Her eyes filled with hope as she spotted him walking the planks alive, but her heart felt heavy as a stone. Marina clutched her head in her hands and wept.

 *

“Wake up, you sleepy tortoise.” Caspian’s stubble cheeked face hovered over Marina as he tussled her curly hair. His finest cotton tunic hung from his lean body, but his skin still reeked of fish.

“Why must you wake before dawn?” Marina hid her eyes behind her palms.

“It’s market day in Atlantis! I’m going to sell my catch.” He pulled her arm until she tumbled from her cot, and palm leaves spilled around her on the sandy floor.

“You’re coming with me, unless you want to weave fishnets with mother all day.”

Marina considered his offer. Her hands ached from breaking clam shells for last night’s dinner. The thought of her fingers all tangled up in fishnet made her flinch. “All right.”

“Come on, the sun comes up in less than an hour, and we need to load the mules.”

Marina draped her best string of beads around her neck and followed Caspian to the shore’s edge. He’d laid out cords of tuna and swordfish, baskets of crab claws and pointy lobster backs. Together they hefted the cache to the mules. When they’d piled their goods high, they pulled the beasts up the sand dunes leading to the sprawling metropolis of the city.

Columns lined the promenade, great white limestone pillars carved with spiraling nautilus, smooth cuttlefish, and prickly sea urchins. Bits of seashells wedged in the walkway, gleaming in the morning sun like chips of heaven. As they passed the temple Marina recoiled, avoiding Amphitrite’s eyes. Her statue loomed over the masses: a great mermaid crowned in coral with starfish clinging to her long hair.

“What’s the matter, Marina?” Caspian tugged his mule toward the marketplace, “You always loved going to the temple. You used to say it kept me safe.”

The memory of Poseidon’s slimy body hanging over her flashed in her thoughts. She’d shoved his ring in her thatched mattress buried like a vile deed. If she turned the wrong way at night, she could feel the hard shell of the ring underneath her like an oversized pea in her bed. It had been three years since she’d made the bargain, and she hoped the sea god had forgotten.

“I wish to help you in the market today.”

Caspian blinked as if he didn’t believe her. “Very well. Follow me and we’ll set up the next stall.”

As Marina strung up lines of fish, other villagers set out baskets of coconuts, blocks of coral, crab traps, and glinting fishing hooks with feathered lures. Caspian eyed the other goods with envy, “Someday I’ll buy better equipment and a larger boat.”

Marina admired his love of the sea and his true island man’s heart. She wished she could be more like her brother, but instead, she tied her fingers together weaving mesh and made slimy bargains she didn’t want to keep.

A young man wearing a white robe with the golden sash of the temple guards approached their stall. His hair shone golden in the rays of morning light. Marina stood from her matt behind the stall to get a better look at him through the dangling fish. He had a broader jaw than Caspian’s and his nose tilted up sharper than her bulbous brother’s profile.

“Can I help you?” Caspian walked over, “Perhaps you are hungry for trout?”

The young temple guard nodded, “Yes, I need enough for all the guards on morning duty. I have rubies to pay.”

His hand opened to reveal a collection of fine gemstones. Caspian’s mouth opened as if he were a fish out of water. “Marina, help the man.”

Marina untied the strings of fish. She caught the young man’s gaze in her own and he smiled with a sparkle in his eye. “Can you help me carry them back to the temple?”

Caspian shot her a glare, pleading with his eyes. Although she feared returning to the temple, this may be their biggest customer of the day. Besides, she enjoyed looking at the young man.

“Of course,” she handed the guard three strings and took two for herself. “Is this enough?”

“It should be.” He handed Caspian two rubies the size of snail shells. “Thank you for the trout.”

“My thanks to you, dear sir,” Caspian bowed. He winked at Marina and tossed her a sand dollar, “Give this to Amphitrite for me.”

Marina resisted the urge to wince, “Yes, brother. Anything to keep you safe.”

* 

“Baltic, that’s my name.”

Marina stole glances at the young temple guard as he walked beside her on the sea shell flecked cobblestone. His eyes held expectation, and she realized what he wanted, “Oh. Marina.”

He nodded and smiled as if at a secret joke, “A beautiful name.”

Marina bit back a smile growing on her lips. Baltic reminded her of a Trojan soldier, yet as a follower of the goddess he must have a philosophical heart. “Why did you choose to become a temple guard?”

Baltic shrugged, but his eyes held a profound certainty, staring at her as if he saw everything she desired and feared all wrapped in one look. “So many people fear the sea. My mother would watch from her window each night and pray on her knees for the waves to stay back. It broke my heart to see her suffer. I wanted to be the voice of assurance, the believer in a world where compassion reigns over chaos.”

Although she’d lost faith long ago, his words soothed her feeble heart, “A noble venture, indeed.”

They skirted around the statue of Amphitrite, and shame and terror tingled down her spine. She’d betrayed her goddess to save her brother, stealing her husband as well. Marina wouldn’t have been surprised if the stone had turned to scales and the mermaid’s tale slapped her off the island as she passed.

“Why do I never see you at the temple?”

Marina hid her features in the sun’s shadow as it rose from the East. “I used to come here all the time.”

Baltic frowned, “That must have been before my appointment. I’ve never seen you here.”

The patter of their feet filled the silence in an awkward shuffling. Marina struggled to change the nature of the conversation but his charisma distracted her and no words came to mind. She felt like a fish caught on a hook and she hadn’t even taken the bait.

Baltic stopped and turned toward her and pressed, “Why do you refuse to return?”

His strings of trout swayed in the breeze. The fish’s glazed eyes goggled, cold and empty. They reminded her of Poseidon’s penetrating stare. The fish were minions of his domain. Marina pulled away. She hadn’t spoke of her nightmares to anyone, but Baltic’s stood still as a palm tree and she didn’t think he’d move until she answered. His eyes beseeched and she wanted to please him and believe in his Goddess once again. “I share your mother’s apprehensions. Most of all, I fear Poseidon’s wrath.”

Baltic stroked her chin with his fingertip, “Do not fear Poseidon here. Amphitrite keeps us safe.”

Although she enjoyed the sensation of his touch, his words held little comfort. She’d seen Poseidon’s power first hand. Although her heart wished it, her logic knew better than to put her faith in an absent god. Besides, despite all her offerings, Amphitrite let her father die and would have done the same to Caspian.

“Come now, you look so sad.” Baltic took her hand, a boyish grin on his face. “We’re almost there.”

They walked to the inner rooms of the temple, dripping a trail of fish water behind them on the coral strewn floor. Baltic led her to a back room where a cook tended to a fire. The older man raised his eyebrows as they placed the fish down in rows. “Good catch, huh?”

Baltic pointed to Marina, “It’s all because of this lovely young lady.”

Marina blushed and fanned his compliments away, “Hardly. I don’t step foot in the sea. My brother is one of the best fishermen on the island.”

Yet Baltic wasn’t interested in Marina’s brother, “I can see you love him with all your heart.”

Marina collected the strings now empty of fish. “I do.”

“Is there room enough in your heart for another, I wonder?” Baltic played with the end of one of the strings, twirling it in the air. Marina shrugged, but a flick of her dark eyes told him her real answer.

“Stay and eat with us,” Baltic handed her the last string, his fingers brushing hers.

Marina ached to spend more time with him, but Poseidon’s claim hung over her head. When she stared in Baltic’s eyes, she tempted fate. “I cannot. I must go back to help my brother in the marketplace.”

Baltic took a step toward her, his breath falling on her lips, “When can I see you again?”

Marina breathed in his breath like her salvation wafted on the air. He made her feel special, and more than that. The more time she spent with him, the more he made the dreadful memory of Poseidon fade away.  

“Tonight, on the beach. Meet me by the turtle cove.”

She scampered away without looking back. 

*

The sun set in a glorious amber bake, casting honey tinged light throughout the evening sky. Water caressed the shore in lazy waves as the tide pulled back to sea. Marina skipped along the shoreline, her heart fluttering like a butterfly’s wings. She’d thrown her reason out the window along with Poseidon’s pearl ring. Too long had she slept over it, dreaming nightmares of water and slime.

Baltic sat on a piece of driftwood, the golden light teasing shadows in the corners of his sun kissed face. He looked like a demigod himself. His robe fell open to reveal smooth muscle and bronze skin. His lips parted in a hungry grin, “I knew you would come.”

Marina let the wind whip her hair around her face, “Nothing could keep me away.”

Baltic stood and stepped toward her. “Marina, you’re shaking. There is so much fear in your eyes. Let me calm you and take your nightmares away.”

She fell into his grasp, his warm arms encompassing her in a tight embrace. He ran his fingers through her hair and cupped the back of her neck with his hand. Tipping her head up, he brushed her lips with his and, for a moment, Marina lost herself in his world.

Behind them, the sky crackled with thunder in a threatening rumble. Marina broke the kiss and turned around.

“No, no, no!”

Baltic squinted his eyes, looking out to sea, “What is it?”

Clouds plumed in the distance and the ocean bubbled as if the sea bottom cracked open. Marina’s heart threatened to burst as the sea swelled, swallowing the horizon in a wall of water. Her voice pierced the air in a high pitched cry, “It’s Poseidon. I’ve doomed us all!”

“What do you mean,” Baltic held her shoulders and stared in her eyes.

Marina spat out the truth like an ugly curse, “I promised him my hand in marriage in order to save my brother from the sea.”

“Oh Merciful Amphitrite.” Baltic’s face slackened white, “To the temple! Hurry!”

Marina chanced one last look back as she scurried over the sand dunes with Baltic tugging her arm. The water rose so high it blotted out the sky, towering over the island like a predator waiting to pounce. Her nightmares came back to her and she knew they had all been true. Throwing herself at the sand dune, she clawed her way up is a last effort to get away. In her hysteria she fell backward, tumbling back to the beach below. She gasped in air and began to sob.

Baltic’s hand rested on her shoulder, pulling her up. “Come on!”

Her words came between gasps of tears, “There’s no way we can outrun it.”

Baltic placed his forehead to hers and looked in her eyes, “We don’t need to.”

The tone of his voice gave her strength, and she burst into a run, following him up the dunes and through the city streets. The gush of water overpowered the villagers’ screams as the tidal wave surged forward, swirling up everything in its path.

They climbed the temple steps three at a time; Marina tearing muscles in her legs. Baltic threw himself at Amphitrite’s lower fin and screamed, “Oh blessed goddess, save our city.”

Marina looked behind her and watched as Poseidon’s wave of revenge tore up everything she called home. Tears streaked down her face. She knew they had only seconds at best.

“Do you have an offering?” Baltic yelled over his shoulder.

“An offering?” Marina thought the young temple guard had gone mad. Nothing short of a whale sliced open before her would do to appease such a disaster as this.

“Please, Marina. Anything.”

She searched through her tunic pockets and found the sand dollar that Caspian had thrown to her earlier in the day. It was such a pittance, but it was all she had.

“Here.” She handed it to Baltic and he placed it upon the sea goddess’s tail just as the water fell on top of their heads. Marina took one last breath and clutched Baltic’s hand.

The wave knocked Marina over and swirled her around. The current tugged her in all directions as the pressure forced bubbles from her mouth. She held onto Baltic and opened her eyes, wondering what it felt like to drown. Baltic’s eyes were closed and he hung limp in the water as if unconscious. She shook him and blew air in his mouth, but he did not wake up. Struggling in the current, Marina searched for the surface. Leagues of water pressed down on her, and she knew she’d never make it up in time. Her lungs would soon burst.

Movement below her caught her eye. Her heart clenched as Poseidon slithered up through the dark depths to claim her in his wretched moment of glory. He saw her holding Baltic’s hand and his eyes grew wide with fury as bubbles frothed from his large mouth. He reached out a hand to grab her and Marina wished she’d died in the crash of waves.

His hand came close enough to brush her arm and then he pulled back, a quizzical expression spreading on his face, as if she’d bewitched him herself. Marina stared in shock as another mermaid grasped his tail. Poseidon turned back to face a pale skinned siren, a gorgeous molding of woman and fish. Still grasping his tail, she pointed accusingly at his chest. He held up his arms in some sort of apology before she sent him whishing through the water below their feet.

The statue had come to life and Marina thought Amphitrite appeared to have glean her own revenge.  After dealing with her husband, the mermaid swam toward her, starfish and sea horses clinging to her golden hair. She waved her hand through the water over Marina’s head. Unable to fight any longer, Marina gave up, the last ounce of air leaving her lungs, and gasped in a mouthful of seawater.

Marina braced herself as the water flowed in her mouth and down her throat, expecting her body to wretch. She coughed as it filled her lungs, but she didn’t die. The water flowed in and out as if she breathed in air. The mermaid flashed pointed, pearly white teeth before disappearing in the depths after her husband. She left Marina alone with her chosen lover, the two of them suspended in the sea.

“Baltic,” she shook him, getting used to feeling of her vocal chords as they hummed underwater and the muted sound of her voice. “Baltic, wake up!”

He awoke wide eyed as the water flowed in his mouth. Marina’s body shook with terror as she watched him gasp in the water. He clutched his throat as if it would collapse, but he breathed in and out and did not drown. “How are we alive?”

Marina frowned in apology. “I’m sorry I ever doubted you, Baltic. You were right. Amphitrite saved us.”

His eyes went wide as he scanned the underwater world. “Look, there are others!” A group of mermaids swam toward them, wearing tunics. Marina narrowed her eyes, trying to adjust to the dim, filtered light. One of them looked very much like Caspian. Baltic’s voice held awe as he spoke in her ear.

“Marina, look at your feet.”

Marina’s legs tingled below her. She moved to kick the water with one of them and they moved together as if they’d been tied together. Marina gathered up her tunic and stared at a glistening tail.