The River Maid Read online

  Now that Christian was safe, she could see how worried Gaspard had been. She realised Gaspard was not just the prince’s tutor; he loved him as a son.

  “We still have to get back to St Goarshausen,” Christian said as Gaspard released him. “And I don’t think the French will give up looking for Adrianna. Once they realise she isn’t in the city, they will start searching further away.”

  “What do we do now?” Adrianna asked.

  “Now, mademoiselle,” Gaspard replied, turning to her. “We go home.”

  Chapter Twenty Nine

  Adrianna woke to the smell of grass and dirt. Her cheek was pressed against the soft ground of the bank. She could feel water moving over her like a caress. The water barely covered half her tail, but it was clean and clear and it felt wonderful after the stale, stagnant water of the tank. She savoured the feel of it the way a person might feel the wind after being trapped inside with no breeze. She had missed the river and the feel of the water moving around her.

  She sat up and pushed the heavy mass of tangled hair out of her face. Christian slept a short distance away, wrapped in his cloak. He hadn’t cried out in the night, but had slept soundly, exhausted from leading the soldiers away. Gaspard was wrapped up in his blanket like a caterpillar in its cocoon with only his boots visible, sticking out of the end.

  She cupped water in her hand and poured it over the part of her tail not covered by the water, content just to lie in the morning sun and wait for the men to stir. Just the sight of the sky was a wonder to her after being trapped inside for so long. She tilted her head back so she could feel the sun on her face and the breeze teasing her hair. It wasn’t long before she heard movement. Gaspard woke first. He stretched and groaned and got stiffly to his feet, trying to untangle himself from the blanket.

  “I’m too old for this,” he muttered, kicking the blanket away. He hobbled off into the bushes to attend to his needs.

  Christian sat up, his hair mused from sleep and falling into his eyes. He got up and folded his cloak and stowed it away and then knelt by the stream and splashed water onto his face and behind his neck. She looked away to give him some privacy. She felt suddenly shy around him. They had shared a bedroom at Elise’s, but it felt different now.

  “Is Monsieur Gaspard all right?” she asked.

  “He’s fine,” Christian replied. “He’s just too used to a soft bed.”

  They ate a breakfast of bread and cheese that Gaspard had brought with him. He cut off thick wedges and handed it round. The simple food tasted better than anything she’d ever had. As they ate, Gaspard pulled out a map from his saddlebag and spread it out across the ground, using stones to weigh the corners down

  “Have you decided on the best route to take?” Christian asked from where he sat with his back against a tree and his legs drawn up.

  Gaspard considered the question for a moment while he chewed. “I think we should follow the river Seine as far as we can through France and then travel over land until we reach the Rhine which will take us back to St Goarshausen.” He traced the route with his finger.

  “We’re going back to St Goarshausen?” Adrianna said, interrupting.

  “Is there somewhere else you wanted to go, mademoiselle?” Gaspard asked, raising a brow.

  “I can’t go home.” She gestured down at her tail which was currently concealed beneath Monsieur Gaspard’s coat. “Not like this.”

  “Where else can you go?” Gaspard asked, sitting back.

  Adrianna hesitated while she thought. “Are we close to the sea?”

  “Fairly close,” Gaspard replied. “The Seine leads out to it.”

  “Will you take me there?” There was silence. She could see in their eyes the answer to her question. “Please.”

  “We’re not leaving you,” Christian said. “Let us help you, Adrianna. We will take you back to St Goarshausen and then we will find a way to get your legs back.”

  “There is no way. If there was, I would’ve had them back by now.”

  “Gaspard, say something,” Christian said.

  “It’s not our choice,” Gaspard replied quietly.

  “You cannot mean to leave her.”

  “If we take her back to the Rhine, the French will come looking for her and they will keep looking until they find her. At least in the sea, she would be free.”

  “But she would be alone, forever.” He sat forward. “Listen to me, Adrianna. I have seen the sea. It is huge and vast and so deep you cannot see the bottom. It is endless, but empty. Is that where you want to spent the rest of your life? Let us try to find a way to help you. There must be something we can do. It’s my fault you lost your legs. You won’t ever have to be alone.”

  She closed her eyes. She didn’t want to go to the sea by herself, but she had no choice.

  “At least let us try.” He took her silence as consent. “I’ll get the horses ready.” He got to his feet and stalked off into the forest.

  Gaspard folded the map and packed it away. “Let us take you home, mademoiselle” he said gently. “If we cannot find a way to get your legs back, I will take you to the sea. I will find a boat and come with you.”

  She smiled at him. He got up to help Christian with the horses and she let the smile fade. What sort of future would she have, she wondered? She remembered being in the tank and how she had vowed to make a life for herself as a mermaid if she ever got free. But she couldn’t see that she would ever have any kind of life, not when she was still like this.

  Christian came out of the woods, leading the two horses. “You will have to ride with me until we get to the river,” he said.

  She pulled herself with her hands further up onto the bank. Christian wrapped her in his cloak and then swung her up into his arms. He handed her to Gaspard while he mounted, before taking her and setting her in front of him. Gaspard carefully arranged the cloak to cover her tail before he mounted his own horse.

  “I won’t let you fall,” Christian said.

  He set a gentle trot, but with no legs to grip with, she was bounced awkwardly up and down in the saddle. She clutched handfuls of Christian’s shirt as she struggled to stay on. Christian rode with one hand on the reins and the other arm wrapped tightly around her, holding her close against him. She could feel the strength in his arms and shoulders. It wasn’t comfortable for either of them riding like this, but he didn’t complain.

  They rode in single file, with Gaspard riding ahead of them. Christian’s arms were an iron band around her. He was the only reason she was still on the horse. Her scales were slippery and he had to keep a tight grip on her. She remembered how the French soldiers had been unwilling to touch her tail, but Christian hadn’t hesitated. Unlike the soldiers, he wasn’t disgusted by her.

  “I’m sorry for what I said earlier,” Christian said. His gaze was fixed on the woods as he spoke, scanning for trouble. “I know I can be stubborn sometimes. If you want to go to the sea, I will take you. But at least let us try to find a way to get your legs back.”

  “I’m not sure there is a way,” she replied.

  “Would it be so bad if you stayed as you are, if we could keep you safe and out of reach of the French?”

  She looked down at her tail. “Perhaps, if there was no other way.”

  He shook his head. “You don’t realise how extraordinary you are.”

  “You make it sound like it’s something wonderful.”

  “The people who came to see you, Adrianna, didn’t look at you in horror. They looked at you in wonder.”

  “It wasn’t me they saw. It was my tail. No one saw me. Except you and Gaspard,” she added.

  They rode in silence until they reached the river. Christian swung down with her in his arms and carried her down the bank. He waded out until the water reached just below the top of his boots and then set her down in the water. She swam out into the river and then dived under, kicking down with her tail. It felt awkward moving her tail, like when she had first become a mermaid.
She had been cooped up for too long. She swam around, getting used to moving her tail again and enjoying the feeling of freedom. She came up to the surface and swam over to where Christian and Gaspard waited on the bank.

  “We will stay as close as we can to the river,” Gaspard said. “We won’t be far if there’s trouble.”

  “We’ll race you,” Christian said.

  Her hair, that had been so neatly coiled and arranged by Elise, was now wet and tangled. She pulled out the pins and let it fall down her back. The lovely dress was ruined as well, but that couldn’t be helped. She dove under into the waves. There were boats out on the river, but she ducked down to avoid them. When it was clear, she came up to check that Christian and Gaspard were still there. Sometimes, they disappeared from sight, forced to leave the river due to the overgrowth, but they soon reappeared. She swam along, keeping pace with them. She liked knowing they were there. She was finally free, but she wasn’t alone.

  ~~~~~

  Despite her best efforts, she was soon tired and struggling to keep up with them. She began to fall further and further behind. The next time she came to the surface, the men were waiting for her on the bank.

  “We’ve travelled far enough today,” Christian said. “We’re going to camp here for the night.”

  Relieved to rest, Adrianna pulled herself up onto the bank and, seeing her shiver, Christian wrapped his cloak around her shoulders. Gaspard built a fire while Christian saw to the horses. She felt guilty that she couldn’t help them. Although he was a prince, Christian didn’t expect Gaspard to wait on him. In fact, he did most of the chores. Where had a prince learned to make camp, she wondered?

  Later that night, after another simple meal of hard bread and cheese, Adrianna lay on the bank, Christian’s cloak around her, staring up at the stars and listening to the men talking softly about the best route to take and where to stop for supplies. Every part of her ached, but she felt oddly content lying there. She had been alone, even before she was a mermaid, with only her mother for company. She liked being with Gaspard and the prince. She fell asleep listening to the soft murmur of their voices.

  They rose at first light to continue, Gaspard and Christian riding and Adrianna swimming. At midmorning, she came up to find Christian signalling her. She swam over to the bank.

  “Gaspard has gone to find us some food and see if there’s any news from Paris.” Christian sat down on the bank, leaving his horse to graze, and stretched out his legs. “There’s a village nearby. I offered to go, but Gaspard doesn’t think my French is prefect enough and they will know I’m German.”

  Adrianna stayed in the river, her arms resting on the bank. They waited in silence, the easiness that had been between them at Elise’s gone.

  Gaspard returned some time later looking cheerful. “No one I spoke to has seen any soldiers. Hopefully, the French still think you’re trapped in the city.”

  They continued on. They fell into a routine of Gaspard leaving to find food and water at midday at one of the nearby villages. On the third day, Adrianna lay with her arms on the bank with her tail in the water. Christian had his back to a tree and his knees drawn up, pulling up handfuls of grass before scatting the blades to the wind. He seemed distracted and far away.

  “Are you worried about the French finding us?” Adrianna asked.

  Christian looked up. “I’m worried about my mother. I hope my actions will not affect her.”

  “What happened to your father?” Adrianna knew it wasn’t her place to ask such questions. He was a prince and she was no one. Why would he tell her?

  “He died when I was twelve. He had been ill for some time. He was much older than my mother.”

  “I’m sorry.”

  “My brother died the following year making me the heir. Gaspard came to live with us as my tutor not long after that. At first I was a nightmare. I wouldn’t sit still or listen to him. I hated learning. I wanted to be outside. But he was patient with me. He told me stories about knights and chivalry.”

  “My father died when I was ten,” Adrianna said hesitantly. “It was hard on my mother. She had to provide for us both and she had no husband or sons to go fishing, but she never complained.”

  “I spoke with her after you disappeared. She wouldn’t give up hope that you would be found.”

  “The last time I saw her, I was so distant to her. She must think that I’m dead.”

  “No. She knew about Lorelei. She was convinced that she was responsible for your disappearance. She tried to tell me, but I didn’t listen. If only I had listened to her.”

  “You couldn’t have known.”

  Talking to the prince was easier after that. She began looking forward to when Gaspard would leave them and she would come up to the bank to rest and Christian would sit beside her. She told him things, about Frau Duerr and her pig and Jorg and the time he had taken an entire pie from Frau Brauer’s kitchen. She told him about Peter. He told her about when he was at court in Vienna. It was never awkward between them. He would listen to her stories of pigs and townspeople as if it was as interesting as his stories of dukes and princesses. Gaspard always came back too soon.

  One morning after they had been travelling a week, Gaspard left to find food and water and Christian came down to the bank.

  “I’m sure he goes off and has a hot bath and eats roast beef and then brings us back stale bread and cheese,” Christian said, as he trailed his hand in the water.

  Adrianna laughed. Suddenly, he flicked his hand, splashing water at her. She looked at him in shock as water dripped down her face. She lifted her tail up and brought it down, sending a wave of water over the prince. He didn’t move out of the way fast enough and he was soaked through. He tried to grab her arm, but she swam out of his reach. She laughed at him from the safety of the river.

  Standing up, he pulled off his boots and stripped off his jacket. Surely he wouldn’t dare? As if hearing her thoughts, he dived into the river. She held her breath until his head appeared. He swam out to her with strong, easy strokes. He stopped before her, treading water to stay afloat. He shook the water from his eyes.

  “Don’t you get cold?” he asked.

  “I’m not human remember,” she replied.

  “You look like an ordinary girl when you’re in the water. I would never have known that you weren’t.”

  “I am an ordinary girl,” she said, not wanting him to see her as different.

  “No, you’re not. You’re extraordinary.”

  She didn’t know what to say. She flushed and looked down at the water, away from the intensity of his gaze.

  “So if I met someone, I should only meet them when I’m in the water and they will think I’m human,” she said teasingly.

  “You shouldn’t have to hide who you are. Not from anyone. Not to make them love you.”

  He had turned from playful to serious.

  “Would you have loved Lorelei if she had shown you what she truly was?” Adrianna asked.

  “I didn’t love Lorelei because I never knew her. She showed me what she thought I wanted to see.”

  They were so close in the water, their faces only inches apart. She could feel the warmth from his body. She looked up and met his gaze. She couldn’t look away from the intensity of his eyes. He stared back and then his gaze drifted down to her lips.

  There was a shout from the bank. Gaspard had returned. Whatever had been between them was broken. They swam toward him. Christian pulled himself up onto the bank, but she couldn’t follow him. She was trapped and confined to the river.

  “What happened?” Gaspard asked, riding over to them.

  “I fell in,” Christian said.

  Gaspard laughed and Adrianna did her best to smile. Christian pulled out a dry shirt from his saddle bags. She quickly looked away as he stripped off his wet shirt. Her cheeks felt flushed. She was no better than Lorelei, watching him from a distance. But for a moment Christian had looked at her and she had almost forgotten what she wa
s. She wanted him to look at her like that again. They had been so close in the river; close enough for her to feel the warmth from his body and the breath from his lips. But even if she wasn’t a mermaid, even if she found some way to get her legs back, he was still a prince. There could never be anything between them.

  ~~~~~

  Gaspard took his time finishing his ale as he listened to the gossip in the small inn he had stopped in for supplies, glad to put off getting back on his horse for a few more minutes. It was a small village, but they were used to strangers passing through and no one troubled him. Most of the talk was about the coming harvest and there was no mention of a mermaid or of any French soldiers passing through the village. Getting stiffly to his feet, he thanked the innkeeper’s wife for the food and went to collect his horse. He struggled up into the saddle and rode off in a different direction, before doubling back to where he had left Christian and Adrianna.

  Before he could see them, he could hear the sound of Adrianna’s laughter. The girl they had rescued had been subdued and afraid, the bruises on her body telling a far darker story about her time with the French than she had let on, and he was glad to hear her laughing now. Christian and Adrianna were sat together under a copse of trees. Christian was smiling. He leaned back, braced on his hands, his shirt sleeves rolled up. Adrianna was lying on the bank on her stomach, propped up with her elbows, a cloak covering her tail. They hadn’t seen him yet. He watched them, glad to see them both relaxed and happy. But there was something there between them that made him pause. He nudged his horse forward and they moved apart. Christian was immediately back to being guarded. As a prince, it usually took him a long time to break down his defences. Yet, he was at ease with Adrianna and he barely knew her.

  “We didn’t expect you back so soon,” Christian said as he got to his feet. He sounded almost as if he hadn’t wanted him to come back yet.

  “I’ve been gone for more than an hour,” Gaspard replied.

  Adrianna was using her arms to pull herself back to the water’s edge, but before she could reach it, Christian strode over and scooped her up and carried her the rest of the way. He set her down gently.