Dinner had just been served when the jests began wheeling in the night’s entertainment. A low mumble befell the guests of the dinner as they whispered about what was hidden with in the large porcelain tub that sat on top of the cart. Many rumors had spread through the castle about the surprise King Declan had in store for his many guests of honor, ranging from unicorns to dragon younglings to winged people to possibly something not new at all, like the bear taunting they were often treated to.
Ser Achillios craned his neck around, trying to peer into the tub as it passed him. It was of no use, a black netting covered the top of the tub, shadowing what lay beneath it. There was water, that much he could tell. It’s sloshing was quite noisy.  The jests halted the cart just in front of the throne.
“Behold!” One of the jests cried, jumping up on to the tub, balancing delicately on its edge so as not to fall into the net. He wore a red coat with tight breeches with mismatched legs. One leg was decorated with the pattern of red and white dots while the other had black and white stripes running the length of the limb. A hat with three jingle bells hung from his head and he held a bauble adorned with a carved rooster’s head at the tip in his left hand. “Within this tub, I hold a creature! A creature believed to be a myth! A creature no man throughout the kingdoms has ever laid eyes upon! A creature so beautiful that even flowers of spring gape in envy!” The tiny man jumped back in forth, from one leg to another as he spoke. His jingle bells sang with his movement. He flipped from the top of the tub, landing on one knee before the king.
“You’re grace,” He began, “I give you…” He held on to the last words, as if he could feel the members of the crowd leaning in to hear his words, “A mermaid!” The netting was ripped from the top of the tub by the other jests as the trumpets for the court musicians blared. Then, silence.
The crowd dared not breathe as they heard the water splashing within the tub.  Ser Achillios rose from his chair, peering over the heads of the other guests towards the tub at the front of the room. Slowly, a figured began to emerge.
The mermaid peeked her eyes over the top of the tub, gazing out across the crowd that stared right back at her. No one dared to speak as she gradually lifted more of her body from the water, revealing knee length chocolate hair that fell in waves like the ocean down over her shoulders, doing little to cover her bare breasts. Pink scales lined the tops of her top of her chest and up the sides of her neck.
“Impossible…” Ser Achillios whispered as he stared at her. He had never seen a lady more lovely. Her eyes were bright and deep like her home and her nose was small like a button.
When the mermaid finally lifted her tail- a tail that glowed pink like the scales on her torso- before everyone, the silence broke. The women cried over her gorgeousness and the men fell to their knees at the sight of the myth. The jests circled around the tub, corralling the guests into a line so each may see the creature up close and to touch her glistening tail.
When Ser Achillios reached the front of the line, his attention didn’t fall upon her tail, but rather upon her face that seemed to outshine everything else. Her eyes stared up at him painfully, a pain that begged for home. She reached out for his arm, grasping it desperately. His smile disappeared as he looked down at her dainty fingers that seemed to grasp him as strong as a blacksmith’s hands. It was a grip that pleaded for help.
The jests pulled them apart quickly, ushering the knight away from the tub. He stumbled to the side, but continued to watch the mermaid as the other guests groped at her tail and hair, and some even her breasts. She never once looked away from him, that pleading look frozen to her features.
When the night ended, Ser Achillios watched as the jests threw the net back over the tub and began to wheel the mermaid off to somewhere else. He did what he could to follow them, keeping a safe distance so they would not grow suspicious. They drug the tub, with much difficulty, to the dungeons that lay beneath the castle. The air in the dungeons was damp and smelled strongly of feces, urine, and rot. Light was only given off by two torches that hung on the corridor walls and the few small torches that the jests held to help guide their way into one of the first cells, where they wheeled the tub into.
“No one will find her down here.” One of them reassured the other, “Who would ever expect to find something so lovely in such an ugly place.” The group of jests laughed as the walked away, leaving the cell unlocked and the mermaid unattended. Achillios hid in the shadows until they passed and waited a couple minutes more before slipping down to the cell where the mermaid was kept. The water within her tub rustled slightly.
“Hello?” The knight muttered stupidly as he reached for the net above the tub. He carefully peeled it back, revealing the water beneath it and small frame of the mermaid. She shot straight up with excitement when she saw him, her dainty fingers reaching out once again for his arms. Their grip was much loser on his harms and she trembled beneath the touch.
“Hhh…” She mumbled softly. “Hhheee…” She gulped at the air around her desperately but nothing seemed to help her.
“What is it?” He whispered to the beautiful girl, gazing into her sad eyes.
“Nnn…” She struggled, “Nnnooo….” Her breath failed her and her sad eyes glazed over so he no longer could see her pain. Her grip completely fell from his arms. Her sudden weight shocked him into releasing her into the tub again, causing a large splash of water to drench him. Cursing, the knight backed away from the tub, staring at the dead mermaid before him, who looked so peaceful as she floated at the top of the water.
Achillios knelt by the tub, winded by the loss of such a mystical creature. He wiped the water from his face and eyes and licked it from his lips wondering what the jests had done to kill her. Then he realized, he tasted no salt on his lips.