Mutante: Chapter 29
Copyright 2023 Elizabeth Frerichs
Her thoughts drifted like free floating seaweed on the ocean currents. Or at least she thought they did. Sometimes it seemed as though she were a child again, listening to her grandmother tell her stories of the ancients. Sometimes she was with Robert, meeting him for the first time again, this time noticing how kind he really was. Sometimes Thomas seemed to be talking to her. Once she thought Robert had apologized in agonized tones and she tried to tell him that she was the one to blame if anyone was.
Finally, the sense of being wrapped in a hammock with light glowing through her eyelids from somewhere to her left became clear. Slowly, Rosie opened her eyes and looked around.
She was in her grandmother’s guest room. It usually looked more like a dungeon—Grandma said it kept people from wanting to stick around. The walls were carved out of stone and usually it was dark and somewhat chilly. When she’d been here before, the room had been empty save for a moldering hammock in one corner.
Now, though, the walls had intricate hangings on them and the soft glow of a lamp came from the corner to her left. Two rock perches were arranged nearby.
Rosie glanced down at the hammock she was in. It was soft and new, and the room didn’t taste of decay. Curiouser and curiouser.
“Miss Rose! You’re awake!” Thomas said excitedly.
Rose shifted to look in the direction of his voice. Thomas was hung on the wall to her right. “Thomas, what—what happened? Where’s Robert?”
The mirror beamed at her. “A miracle—”
“Rosie!” Robert exclaimed as he peeked in the door. “I was only gone for five minutes! That’s when you choose to wake up?” he said, crossing his arms. Then he smiled and swam over, taking one of her hands and squeezing it tightly. “You scared at least a year off my lifespan, y’know? Please, for my sake, never, ever go into a coma again.”
“A coma?”
“A lengthy period of magical sleep was apparently one of the side effects that the Ocean was referring to,” Thomas said dryly. “Your knight was reassured many times that your life signs looked perfectly healthy and it was simply a matter of replenishing your magic.” He gave her a stern look. “You overtaxed yourself far beyond what you ought to have done. It’s a miracle you weren’t killed.”
Rosie blushed. “I had to.” She sat up. “Where’s Grandma? Did the potion work? Is she all right?”
“She’s—well, I’ll let her tell you,” Robert said. “She should be back any minute.” He grimaced. “She forced me to come eat a quick dinner. I imagine she’s just tidying up the kitchen.” He gave her a sideways look. “I think you could give her a run for her money in the stubbornness department. Must run in the family.”
Rosie frowned, her thoughts still sluggish with sleep. She really couldn’t imagine her grandmother insisting someone eat, let alone putting up with Robert. “How long have I been asleep for?”
“A week,” Thomas said promptly. “And quite a week it has been.”
“Your family!” Rosie sat up abruptly, sliding ungracefully out of the hammock.
Robert rushed to steady her.
“You should have just left me here,” she said, looking up into his lovely green eyes.
“Oh, I did,” Robert said with a rueful smile. “Madam Essie insisted she could watch you sleep just as well as I could and magicked up a path to my house. It works in town too! The path routed me around anyone who would have caused a fuss. My mother was—less than thrilled that I insisted on returning here right away, especially since your grandmother gave me extra kelp to take home, but I couldn’t stand the thought of you waking up while I was gone. Or of you—not waking up. So, I hurried right on back.”
“And he’s been here ever since,” Grandma Essie said with a laugh from the doorway.
Rosie whipped around. Her grandmother was in shadow, but her voice sounded—different.
She swam into the light, and Rosie gasped.
“Grandma?” she asked in a small voice, staring at the kindly-looking woman who floated there. After the curse, Grandma Essie had exchanged a tiny cute nose for a long hooked beak. Her chin had become angular, and several warts had sprouted up. This woman looked just as her grandmother had before the curse, but . . . they hadn’t done anything to fix the curse, and—
Grandma Essie smiled warmly. “In the flesh. Still alive and kicking and finally myself again.”
“You’re—you’re all right?” Rosie’s eyes grew hot.
Grandma Essie swam over and pulled her into a loving hug. “I am. Thanks to you—or so I hear.”
“But—but how?”
Thomas cleared his throat. “We believe it had something to do with the Ocean’s magic.”
“I—” she blinked at her grandmother, “Are you sure I’m not dreaming?”
Her grandmother laughed a tinkling laugh that Rosie only just remembered. It had been so long since she had heard anything but a cackle. “No, darling. You are not dreaming.”
Rosie pulled Grandma Essie back into a hug and held her tight, hoping that she really wasn’t dreaming, or at least that the dream would last. “I’m so sorry! It was all my fault that you got cursed, and—”
Grandma Essie pulled away long enough to meet her gaze. “It was not your fault. Robert has told me all about how you stumbled on the tiara. How could you have known that it was cursed?”
“But I—I should have told you where I’d found it and then you could have taken proper precautions, and—”
Her grandmother shook her head. “It was just an accident.”
“If I wasn’t so clumsy,” Rosie said, grimacing at the floor.
Grandma Essie gently raised her chin, forcing Rosie to look her in the eye. “You were a child. It was just an accident.”
“The fireworm said it was probably because I’m a mutante.” Rosie swallowed hard. “If I wasn’t, maybe you wouldn’t have lost ten years of your life.”
Grandma Essie shook her slightly. “Darling, I’m so glad you are who you are. You don’t have to be anyone else but who you are. And it sounds like I’m lucky that you’re a mutante. Robert says you’ve been forcing that talent to work on my behalf left and right.”
Rosie gave a little shrug. “I don’t know. I’m not really sure how it works. Did you know about mutantes?”
Grandma Essie squeezed her arm and then took her hand. “No, not really. I knew that mermaids with red tails used to be revered by the ancients, but I had no idea why.” She shook her head fondly. “Why don’t you come eat something and then you can tell me all about your adventures?”
Rosie glanced towards Thomas. “You sound like Thomas.”
“Yes, well, it sounds as though he was the only one who really knew what you needed.”
Robert coughed.
“Not that your young man didn’t do his best,” she added with a small smile.
Rosie’s ears grew hot. This was not a topic she wanted to discuss with her grandmother. “Robert was a great help. I don’t know what I would have done without him.”
Grandma Essie put an arm around her shoulders and firmly steered her out of the room. “Robert, would you bring Thomas, please?” she called back. “Thomas insisted on watching over you the whole time,” she told Rosie.
After settling Rosie at the kitchen table, Grandma Essie swam over to a counter and began preparing a seaweed wrap. Despite her lingering disorientation, Rosie’s stomach proclaimed that it was starving the moment she put a seaweed wrap in front of her. Robert came into the kitchen with Thomas and leaned him on the table up against a wall, then slid onto the perch next to her. Grandma took the perch on her other side.
“Do you remember being under the curse?” Rosie asked, partly because she was genuinely curious and partly to fill the silence. It was unnerving having all three of them stare at her while she ate!
Grandma Essie’s expression grew sorrowful. “I remember everything that happened.” She reached out to cup Rosie’s face. “Even the terrible things I said to you. I am so sorry, Rosie-girl, for ever making light of you or all the ways you helped me these past years. And I’m so proud of the woman you’re becoming.”
Rosie focused on her wrap. “It’s all right. I knew it was just the curse.”
Grandma dropped her hand into her lap. “Still—I would never have said any of those things if I had been in my right mind.”
“I know.”
“And I would never have sent you on such a dangerous errand,” she said firmly. “I’m sorry that I set you the task of brewing a restorative potion.”
Rosie hesitated before smiling. “I’m kind of glad you did. A week ago—well, more than that, I guess—anyway, not long ago, I didn’t know anything about being a witch or a mutante.” She glanced at Robert. “And Robert and I, and Thomas, had never met. It’s—parts of the adventure were miserable, but I’m glad we had it.”
“Hear, hear!” Robert called from his spot at the table. “I wouldn’t have traded it for anything.”
“Indeed, Miss Rose,” Thomas added.
Grandma Essie smiled at them both. “Well, I have already spoken to Thomas, but Rosie and Robert, I owe you both a witch’s debt, and you may call it in whenever you need.”
Rosie shook her head. “Grandma, I—I missed you so much. Having you back is—it’s all the reward I could ever want.”
Grandma Essie smiled indulgently. “Well, if you ever change your mind, you let me know.”
“Do you think you could look at Robert’s father?” she suggested.
Grandma Essie nodded. “Of course. Although, unlike some people, I do not see magic. So you may have to be the one to fulfill that role.”
“I still can’t do magic,” Rosie protested. “Oh! Speaking of Farfandal—”
Grandma Essie’s eyebrows went up. “Who?”
“The fireworm we talked to—isn’t that who you were referring to?”
Robert chuckled. “I told her the basics of what we’d been up to, but I didn’t give her details. I figured you’d want to fill those in yourself.”
Rosie smiled at him. It would be nice to tell her grandmother. Her smile grew. Grandma Essie would actually want to hear about it, unlike her mother. Her mother. Rosie’s stomach dropped. “What about my mother?”
Robert blinked at her. “I didn’t tell her anything—I mean, I still don’t really know who she is.”
“No, I mean—what did you tell her, Grandma? I’m surprised she’s not here. Is she furious that I haven’t been home yet?”
“No, dear. I didn’t think this was something to communicate by shell, so I just told her that you’d been injured and were recuperating here for a week or two.”
Rosie sighed. Her mother was probably thrilled about that.
Robert frowned. “Didn’t she want to come see Rosie?”
“The annual winter gala was last week,” Rosie said glumly. “She wouldn’t have missed attending that. And even if she would have, I don’t think she could have gotten through the forest.” She sent a questioning look at her Grandma.
Grandma Essie shook her head. “No. Mariya doesn’t have any magic—she could never have used the path spell the way you have.”
“So there you have it. Mother can’t visit,” Rosie said with forced cheerfulness. It was probably a good thing, all things considered, but that didn’t stop her from wishing that she rated higher than politics or society. “Did mother say anything else?”
Grandma frowned for a moment as though getting ready to comment on the sticky topic and then deflated slightly. “No. Only that she hoped you’d be well enough for Mr. Wobbegong’s party today.”
Rosie scoffed. “Of course.”
“Who is Mr. Wobbegong? Is it Mr. Welkin Wobbegong? Do they still live down the street from you?” Grandma asked.
Rosie made a face. “No, it’s his son—Mr. Alan Wobbegong, and yes, they’re still our neighbors.”
“If he’s anything like his father, I can’t imagine any party of his would be particularly enjoyable,” Grandma commented. “When I lived in Atlantia, Wobbegong parties were something to avoid, not look forward to.”
Rosie sighed. “Mother wants me to marry Alan Wobbegong—”
“Good heavens! What is she thinking?” Grandma Essie asked, leaning back.
Rosie clasped her hands tight underneath the table, wishing Robert wasn’t around to witness her humiliation. “She’s thinking that the Wobbegong family would be an excellent connection and that Alan is willing to overlook my abnormalities, as long as I behave as a model mermaid.”
Grandmother blinked at her. “No.” She shook her head. “You can’t be serious!”
Rosie nodded glumly. “Mother’s been working on the match for the past year.”
Grandma Essie pursed her lips. “Well, that simply will not do. I shall have something to say about that. Unless you have some abnormalities I am unaware of?”
“I think my tail and my penchant for ‘causing trouble’ are sufficient, don’t you?” Rosie said with forced dryness. “And if those weren’t enough, I’d imagine my magic or my mutante powers would be. What are the chances of finding someone who’ll put up with me now?”
Grandma Essie put a hand over her hands. “Rosie, you know your tail is not an abnormality, don’t you? It’s unusual, certainly, but that does not make it a disadvantage.”
Robert nodded vigorously. “I think it’s nice. Who wants to—be friends with someone with a boring old tail anyway?”
Rosie chuckled. “I do.”
He waved that objection aside. “Your grandmother is right. Red tails are special, not strange. And I like your penchant for adventure.”
“Indeed, Miss Rose,” Thomas said, startling her. She had nearly forgotten he was even still there. “Lady Mariya may not recognize what a treasure you are, but that doesn’t mean others won’t.”
Grandma Essie squeezed Rosie’s hand. “Your grandfather loved adventure. He wanted to marry me, magic and all, and was quite attracted by my less than traditional methods of doing things. My mother wasn’t thrilled about it either, but we made it work.” She held Rosie’s gaze. “You’ll find someone who values you for the treasure you are, who will love all of you, magic, mutante tail and all, not in spite of those things—you don’t have to marry a Wobbegong!”
Rosie was torn between laughing and crying over her grandmother’s outrage and simple acceptance of who she was.
“Hear, hear,” Robert said stoutly. “Don’t let your mother bully you into marrying someone who doesn’t think you’re wonderful the way you are.”
“Besides, once Mariya finds out that your tail is a sign of you being a mutante, she’ll probably send out a town crier to announce how prestigious your tail really is and find some way to work it into the family crest.”
Rosie shook her head, still smiling. It was just the sort of thing her mother would do. “I don’t think I’m ready for all that. How about we wait to tell my mother?”
“Do you really think you can hide it?” Robert asked. “I mean, your tail is quite—eye-catching now.”
Rosie bit her lip.
“I do think she’ll notice the difference, my darling.”
“Besides, I know you—you’re definitely brave enough to be yourself, remember?” Robert said.
For a moment, Rosie considered the practicalities of trying to hide what her tail meant, of being berated for her unnaturalness, of working every moment to hide even though she was designed to stand out. Re-entering that cage would be exhausting. More exhausting than dealing with her mother’s probable about-face. Maybe she could just be herself. After all, if she was brave enough to face a siren-plant, negotiate with a fireworm, fight her aunt’s magic, and face Mr. Ocean, surely she could manage to be the subject of even more gossip without quailing.
“I suppose it’s not like she can be more difficult to handle than Mr. Ocean,” Rosie said with a small smile.
“That’s the spirit,” Robert enthused.
Grandma Essie squeezed her hand again and then sat back up. “Do tell us about Mr. Ocean. Robert couldn’t tell me much at all.”
And so Rosie tried to describe what the ocean’s spirit had been like. She couldn’t answer any of their questions about what exactly Mr. Ocean was. After some debate, they settled on him being the most powerful water spirit in the world. After all, there were water spirits for brooks, rivers, and lakes. Just because the ocean was considered too big for one spirit to control, that didn’t mean there wasn’t one.
Robert leaned over. “Now, will you tell me about the necklace?”
“It’s—I guess it’s related to the price of his help. He’ll be able to find me with this? Or I don’t know. He just said I’d be ‘a useful tool for the coming storm.'” Rosie shivered.
“I still can’t believe you would risk such a thing for me, Rosie-girl,” Grandma Essie said. “You know I would never ask such a thing.”
Rosie smiled at her. “I know. I just—I love you, Grandma, and I couldn’t bear the thought of losing you, especially after Farfandal told us how to cure the curse.”
“He did what?” Grandma exclaimed.
“Rosie asked the fireworm how to break the curse,” Robert said proudly. “I wasn’t too keen on that fireworm, but he ended up being quite helpful.”
“He said it would just require love or the Remedium Omnes incantation from Book of the Nereids by a sufficiently powerful witch,” Rosie said.
Grandma blinked at her. “Well, I’ve never heard of that book, but it’s good to know there’s another option out there. I’d hate for Rina to remain cursed, but I’d rather not involve Mr. Ocean if possible.”
“He was rather less than thrilled by my bothering him,” Rosie agreed. “I didn’t really expect the potion to break the curse either, but I guess he knew about the love thing because he told me to let my love for you fill me up before casting the rest of the potion spell.”
Grandma Essie stared off into the distance pensively. “Perhaps we might try something similar. I have the feeling, though, that it might not have actually broken the curse without Mr. Ocean’s power.” She shook herself and smiled at the group. “Well, someone on the witches’ council has to be familiar with the Book of the Nereids. Although . . . .” She shook her head and turned to Rosie. “You seem to attract magic that has been lost to myth. Perhaps your mutante powers? Is that what it’s called?”
Rosie shrugged. “Farfandal just said that I am a mutante, a change-maker, and that my red tail is an omen of change. It’s why he gave me a blessing. He said it would be amusing to watch me because things will always be in flux around me.”
Grandma tapped one finger against her lips. “I believe I will have to go visit some of the Ancients’ ruins. I’m certain I’ve heard of one with red-tailed merpeople.”
“There’s a mosaic like that near Vana,” Robert said.
Grandma smiled at him. “I shall have to plan a trip there, then. Perhaps once things are more settled, and I can devote time to translations.”
“About that,” Rosie said, clearing her throat. “I was wondering: what if we don’t tell Mother that I’m recovered? We could go to Robert’s house and look at his father first and then just go home and tell her about you.” Rosie smiled. “I bet you being cured might even distract her a bit from my tail.”
Robert gave them a hopeful look. “You’d be willing to come straight there? I haven’t told my family yet because I didn’t want to get their hopes up, but—it would be incredible.”
“You know I can’t guarantee anything, right?” Rosie pointed out. “Farfandal just said that if it was a magically caused injury, then the restorative potion would work.”
“What is this?” Grandma asked.
Rosie gave Robert an unimpressed look. “You didn’t tell her about your father?”
“Just that he was ill, but not the details.”
Grandma put a hand between them. “What is this about?” she repeated.
“I told her that he was in a coma and that no healer has been able to determine the cause, and I told her that Farfandal said you might be able to use your magic-sight to see if it was magical in nature,” Robert said with a slight pout.
Grandma Essie fixed him with a stern look. “You did not, however, mention the restorative potion. I’m afraid I do not have the necessary ingredients.” Her look softened. “I will have most of them once my regular supplier delivers my latest shipment, but until then—”
“Oh, that’s not a problem,” Rosie put in. “Someone insisted we collect duplicate ingredients just in case we lost something.”
“It’s just good practice!” Robert protested.
“I’m sure that’s all it was,” she said with a teasing smile. “Anyway, we have enough to make a second potion of everything but the fireworm hairs. Farfandal gave me several of those, so we have plenty.”
Grandma Essie’s eyebrows went up. “He gave you more than one? How unusual.”
“I guess he figured I wasn’t trying to con him out of anything or something,” she mumbled, uncomfortable with her grandmother’s awe.
“Only you, Rosie-girl,” Grandma said, shaking her head. “I can see why Farfandal thinks you bear watching.” She turned her attention to Robert. “As we have everything on hand, I believe we could wait to inform my daughter of Rosabelle’s recovery.”
“Rosabelle?” Robert mouthed at her.
Rosie shook her head. “What time is it?”
“Late enough we ought to wait until tomorrow to start our journey.”
Rosie hesitated. “Will it be all right to leave your house? Did you get Rina’s traps sorted out?”
Grandma Essie chuckled. “We’ll be fine. I’ve repaired the wards around the forest and moved Rina’s traps. She’ll have quite the time trying to manage the various creatures that get sent to her.”
“Ok. Then let’s go to Vana tomorrow,” Rosie said, smiling at Robert.
He grinned. “I can’t wait.”
A/N: I really love Grandma Essie. I’m so glad she’s back to normal!
See you guys on Saturday!
