Heartsongs

By Karolyn Cairns

The Honorable Lord Thaddeus Whitmore, the Marquess of Heath, and the heir to a great dukedom, was ship bound for the Caribbean, to beg the hand in marriage a foreign princess he neither wanted, or ever set his eyes upon. His dreaded errand was interrupted by pillaging pirates, sparing him a loveless marriage, and giving him the means of one last act of defiance against his noble sire.
Princess Leira of Mer came upon the horrific sea battle, hearing the legendary heartsong the minute she set eyes upon the handsome land dweller. Mer Legend foretold the melody was heard only once in a mermaid's immortal lifetime. She could neither ignore it and turn away as the ship began to sink under the waves. Determined to save him, and see her destiny to it's end, Leira follows her heart blindly, refusing to believe Tad isn't her one true love.
Leira must make a choice when Tad falls prey to the island's many dangers, and goes against the laws of her kind to save him. Now their destinies are entwined, whether she follows him into his world, or he stays in hers. Loving him as she does, she makes a choice, to give up her immortal life and remain with him.
Separated by a cruel twist of fate, Leira is forced to return to her underwater kingdom and atone for her crimes against her kind, imprisoned until she agrees to forget her land dweller. But Leira can't forget Tad, or the love that burns eternally between them. She vows to find him, and give up all for the belief they are made to be together.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Karolyn Cairns
• Release date: Mar 3, 2014
• ISBN: 9781310053306

Karolyn Cairns

Karolyn Cairns-Black lives in West Virginia with her husband Adam and three rescue dogs. She's busy at work. Its been a great year. She just wrapped up the fifth and sixth installment of The Wicked series in two parts, both available now.The follow up novels in The Viking Horde series are underway. Collin and Meghera's story titled A Viking's Heart is in works, the third in the series. The fourth installment about Joran and Allisande's son Storm is finished, to be published on the heels of A Viking's Heart. Two more novels are intended about their daughters Star and Wynter.Karolyn also writes suspense thrillers under the pen name KJ Black. The Gift Horse, her second novel was a finalist winner in the Greenlight Award Contest.Karolyn enjoys reviews and comments from her readers. She thanks you for all your encouragement and support!

Book preview

~*~Heart Songs~*~

By Karolyn Cairns

Copyright by Karolyn Cairns 2014

Smashwords Edition

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~*~Dedications~*~

This book is dedicated to both of my sisters, who render me powerless without their wisdom and invaluable support: Kristy J. Cairns-McGhee and Kathy J. Cairns-Shepherd.

Both of them can fondly recall an episode of Fantasy Island back in the 70’s and my desire to be Princess Nia, a self-centered mermaid played by Michelle Phillips, who demanded that Mr. Rourke make her a human so she could experience love.

I never forgot that episode, or the ideas it gave me to write about a mermaid one day. I would also like to thank my devoted readers, kindest reviewers, and book bloggers, for their continued trust and encouragement, as well as the support of the staff at Smashwords, who are always there to answer any and all questions, no matter how trivial. Thanks to you all.

Chapter One

1715 South Atlantic Sea

Bubbles escaped her lips in a sigh of pure pleasure. The mermaid spiraled upward and broke through the center of light on the surface of the water. She bobbed upon the azure waves, trailing the wooden ship in the distance, blue-green eyes aglow.

Her gaze clung to the man who stood at the bow of the ship, the wind whipping about his fine body coverings. Wonder filled her gaze as she swept his handsome form from head to toe. She felt compelled to follow the ship, shy of her obvious attraction to the human man the minute she saw him.

It was not often she investigated land dwellers with such keen interest, or felt the mysterious song begin to strum within her heart. That sound made her feel a mixture of dread and joy. It played only once in a mermaid’s lifetime.

It began to play the moment she set eyes upon the man on the ship. Dismay to know she had fallen under the human’s spell made her grimace. No good could come of it. Human males were weak in both heart and nature. Her song doomed her to love a land dweller for eternity.

The wooden ship passed by her small island retreat only a day before. She’d been sunning herself upon a rock in the shallows when the white billowing sails came into view. Most of her kind would have dove under water and hid from the two-legged predators that sailed the wooden boats. Not her. She swam closer to spy upon those two-legged oddities.

Leira was curious to a fault. The youngest of King Mathius's twenty-three daughters, she received far more leniency when she gave into such impulses. Ordered by her father to stay within the boundaries of their underwater kingdom, she disobeyed to see the activity above. She watched the wooden boat’s progress. It took her mind off her own troubles, which were considerable of late.

Sea-green eyes, heavily fringed with dark lashes peeked up at the man. She floated in the water along the ship’s urchin-covered hull, determined to get as close as she dare without drawing his notice.

She saw he had a rather sad look on his beautiful male features. Her eyes traced the downward tilt of his finely-made lips, sensing his inner sorrows. To say he was happy would have been to ignore the faint, world-weary lines around his eyes.

His hair was dark, black and sleek, glinting with blue in the sunlight, held back in a ribbon at his nape. She longed to know the color of his eyes. Softness entered her look as she saw his large hands gripping the wooden rail of the ship. Some instinct told her whatever the man worried over; it was beyond his control. She knew that feeling only too well.

Leira had grown rebellious since her father ordered her to take Prince Ranulf as her mate. The Mer prince was the son of her father's oldest adversary, King Ughad, the ruler of the opposing underwater kingdom.

The marriage would unite both houses and end centuries of strife. Her father was pleased it would also open up more hunting grounds for their people. Man encroached enough upon their world. King Ughad offered a truce and wanted to combine their leagues of undersea territory.

Leira should have been pleased. Prince Ranulf was handsome and charming. Instead of it pleasing her, she rebelled and avoided his company. She was the youngest of Mathius's daughters. The eldest named Ranelle, wept and raged at the unfairness of it. Her other sisters followed suit, wailing incessantly.

Prince Ranulf made his choice and refused any other of Mathius’s daughters. Leira was shocked he chose her. The resentment of her sisters made life difficult for her. They went out of their way to irritate her; as if it were her fault they remained unmated.

Neither gifted with the best singing voice among them nor even the most beautiful; Leira hadn’t seen his offer coming. The anger to have such matters decided for her forced her out of her kingdom to stray to her island to think on the matter.

The man at the railing stiffened suddenly. He turned away from the sea, his finely-chiseled features set in a stony mask. Her sympathetic gaze followed him as he weaved through the seamen on the deck above and disappeared from view. She wondered if his dilemma was as great as hers.

Leira knew from her father, who considered one of these two-legged land creatures a friend, that humans felt matters far more emotionally than the Merfolk. People, as he had called them, thought with their hearts most often, and caused much of their own pain and suffering.

She could well commiserate with that. Her heart was not in this match with Prince Ranulf. To refuse him would intensify bad relations between the kingdoms. There was no choice but to capitulate for the sake of her kindred.

There were few males of their kind. Females were prominent in their race. She would get no other offer, she knew. It could be centuries until another male took an interest. At over three hundred years of age, it was high time she wed and spawned her own young.

Thoughts of being mated by the Mer prince made her cringe in dismay. She would be bred until she gave the kingdoms an heir. She could have dozens of young before that happened, if at all.

Her mother had over twenty young before her brother, Prince Herad, was born. A mermaid carried hundreds of eggs, but was lucky if one would evolve into a young Merling. The eggs were a delicacy for some predators. Try as they would to hide their nests, these eggs were preyed upon.

Her little brother, Herad, was smothered and cosseted all his short life, but never survived to adulthood. As it stood, Mathius had no male heir. Queen Nayla hadn’t spawned any new eggs in over a century.

Leira was adored and pampered by their parents, fuelling the already rampant resentments among her sisters. They became indolent and waspish, taking their spite out on one another. They were furious she was chosen by Prince Ranulf. They didn’t think she deserved to be married while they languished in their father’s kingdom with few prospects of their own. It made them seek to torment mankind.

Contrary to assumptions and lore, Mermaids didn’t lure unwary men to their doom. It was too often infatuation played a role, and not true love; that brought men tumbling into the waves after a siren.

Death occurred when the heart of the human proved too weak and unworthy and they drowned as a result. Only if the love were true, would the man be able to breathe under the water with the siren. Sadly, that was never the case.

Her sister’s rarely felt guilt for their actions, bored and depressed to be alone for centuries. They sought distraction and found it with the lonely two-legged sailors above, even if it ended tragically for all.

For that reason, Leira didn’t go out of her way to draw human male notice. This one appeared to have enough on his mind and didn’t look for her bright head amidst the waves. She knew she should flee this place. Determined to forget about the human, despite the song building in her heart, she turned away from the ship.

Sighing in disappointment, Leira went down below without a splash, her iridescent tail flapping, propelling her into deeper water. She swam away quickly, dodging through schools of brightly-colored fish as she made her way to her thinking spot.

It was a rock that jutted up just offshore of a small, uninhabited island. Here, she was free to think without her people reading her troubled thoughts. Such was the power they wielded over her, to know how she dreaded her upcoming marriage, while her sisters wept in envy of it.

They thought her ungrateful. They cursed her whimsical notions of love. Even her mother, always her greatest ally against Mathius’s rage, refused to speak on her behalf to refuse the match.

Hours later, Leira lifted her chin from the rock where she sunned herself; brushing tendrils of bright red hair from her eyes, seeing another sail come into view in the distance.

A shiver of foreboding filled her to see the black sails. She knew what they brought with them. The black sails meant death. Her tail flapped nervously against the side of the rock to see it.

These ships were predators, much like the sharks of her world. They killed and devoured the other boats. The men aboard were coarse and ugly and spilled the blood of their own kind. Leira thought of the beautiful man on the ship that the pirate vessel trailed and dove under the water, swimming quickly back in pursuit of the vessel, her anxiety rampant to stop what was about to happen.

Panic filled her to think of the ugly pirates hurting the man. What could she do to warn him without revealing herself? It was against their laws to intercede. The curiosity of the humans was often a greedy thing. Stories of the Mer brought many to sea looking for them. Her father's warnings were dire, but ignored at that moment, as Leira spiraled around undersea cliffs and caves in pursuit.

~ ~ ~

Lord Thaddeus Xavier William Edward Whitmore, the Marquess of Heath, and the future Duke of Blackwell, made a disgusted noise. He heard the commotion above decks. The heir to a great dukedom should have received better accommodations aboard The Maiden Anne. Instead, Tad was crammed into a cabin no bigger than his dressing chamber back in London. Morton, his valet, would have lamented of his limited quarters with a sniff of despair had he accompanied him.

The ship was crowded and overbooked. The most luxurious staterooms were above him, reserved for the higher-ranking noble passengers. Tad was given a second-rate cabin for his crossing. It was cramped and had a narrow bunk, a sea chest, and a small table and chair.

Tad was grateful he had a cabin at all in his last-minute booking on the passenger frigate bound for Jamaica. The common folk made their berths in the hold on pallets and strung hammocks. He heard the conditions below decks were deplorable during the long sea voyage.

To complain of his lack of space and comforts would have fallen upon deaf ears. Captain Snow had quite enough of his noble passengers in the five weeks since they departed England's shores for the Caribbean Isles.

The ornery sea captain was delighted to be on the last leg of their journey where he could dump off his over-privileged human cargo.

Tad's handsome face was wreathed in annoyance. He despised being shipboard, hated the ocean as a whole, and could hardly wait to get his legs once more upon solid ground. The shouts above made him look up from the letter he wrote to his father.

Dark eyes narrowed at their shouted words. Finally, the meaning of them was fully realized. Pirates! He tossed down the quill. He rose and swore fluently. If they were lucky, they could outrun the other vessel.

If caught, Tad shivered to think of his fate and that of his noble companions. They could well find themselves bound in some pirate ship's hold and ransomed back to their families.

Tad could only imagine the elder Whitmore's outraged expression to receive a ransom demand for his only heir. He could only hope the pirates didn’t discover what a prize they had and that his fellow passengers held their tongues of who he was.

Tad's position was laughably precarious at that moment and he knew it. The only heir to an English dukedom made him a rich plum for the picking. The Duke of Blackwell had deep pockets, but no sense of humor. No, his father would not find this amusing at all. His Grace was not a man prone to laughter, jesting, or smiles.

This would seriously put a clinch in his father’s plan to marry off his heir. Tad was more than pleased to put off his arrival in Jamaica, but dreaded the sea battle that loomed ahead.

Just thinking about the absurd errand that brought him to this debacle made him seethe and grit his teeth. Bloody damned woman! His future betrothed was unreasonable in her demands he woo her. The woman thought she deserved flowery praise heaped upon her by the prestigious Blackwell heir.

She outraged his father further by demanding Tad come to her island home to ask for her hand in marriage on bended knee. They would have no agreement from the princess otherwise.

Augustus was incensed by the delay in hammering out an agreement. The lucrative marriage contract he and his barristers forged would make Tad an Archduke and Prince Consort to the German princess, increasing his annual income by fifty-thousand crowns.

His father made the agreement three years before, but the Germans held out for a higher royal for Princess Ingrid. That girl was a girl no more, however, but a woman of thirty-plus years. She was getting longer in the tooth ever year that they delayed. Tad knew he was the highest-ranking noble that offered for her. Her father was just being greedy during the negotiations.

Augustus knew unless his son went to the woman and charmed her; they would get no further with the betrothal agreement. The German monarch had little control over his daughter these days. His letters to placate his daughter went unanswered.

Still, even if Princess Ingrid was as lovely as was hinted in her painted miniature, she was not worth his falling prey to uncouth pirates, surely? Oh, bloody hell!

The pirates seemed to be targeting passenger vessels more of late. They no doubt discovered there was just as much, if not more wealth, in stealing human cargo. The tales of previous misfortunes befalling unwary passengers trickled back to the ports all too often.

All of the passengers who travelled The Maiden Anne knew the South Atlantic Sea shipping route was a haven for pirates. Captain Snow made them all aware he wouldn’t be responsible for them. Sail at your own risk, he sneered at them all.

Tad knew the captain of their ship would gleefully toss every one of them to the pirates before he would lose one seaman loyal to him or see his precious schooner sunk. Captain Snow's feelings about the nobility were very well known, after overhearing his complaints to his first mate, Mr. Patten, when they boarded.

No, they would get no compassion from Captain Snow. The grizzled sea captain thought them all pristine wastes of precious space aboard his beloved ship. If not for the obvious need of funds, Tad doubted the man would have touched them all with a ten-foot pole. Snow was probably gnashing his teeth to know The Maiden Anne was the target of the scourge of the sea at that moment.

Tad was no fool. He would be damned if he would be cloistered in a pirate hold until His Grace, Lord Blackwell, was notified his heir was held for ransom. Quickly, he went to his sea chest and changed into more modest garments. As an afterthought, he wrenched off his signet ring identifying him as the Marquess of Heath.

Swearing under his breath, Tad heard more shouts from above and running feet. He tossed the expensive emerald ring into the sea chest with his elegant clothes and went above to see if he could be of assistance to the crew.

Seeing the chaos on deck made him keenly aware of what they faced. The shouts of ‘all hands on deck’, made sailors run in every direction, loading canons and dragging up crates of muskets and swords.

They were outmanned and outgunned by the larger vessel that was gaining rapidly upon them. Captain Snow was at the wheel, shouting orders to his first mate, Mr. Patten, a livid expression on his florid face under the white beard.

Can we outrun them, Cap’n? Mr. Patten hollered down from the quarterdeck and jumped down to join his captain at the wheel.

We can bloody well try! Show her heels, boys! Snow hollered to his men and frowned, looking worried despite his forced bravado. Get those sails up and out lads!

Can you make out the ship yet? Mr. Patten squinted with a spy-glass in the distance.

It’s The Jupiter. I’d know it a mile away, Snow returned with a sour look.

Patten looked ill to know it was the infamous pirate Cornelius Finch was in hot pursuit. The man was one of the wiliest and most savage pirates of them all. Captain Finch rarely took prisoners and left few witnesses alive to attest to his evil deeds.

Tad heard their conversation as he saw the black sails of The Jupiter unfurl in the distance with the skull and crossbones upon it and fumed inwardly. He followed men down into the hold in search of more weapons.

He wouldn’t go quietly into that filthy pirate hold. Oh no, not him. He’d had enough of the sea, enough of this farce of an errand. He was spitting mad to be in such a position at all. His noble companions might give in, but Tad was a gambling man. He would take his chances defending Snow's ship if it came to it. He came back up on deck with a cutlass in his hand, striding purposefully to the railing.

Ye might wish to go down and hide below, young Blackwell! Snow shouted with a sneer when he saw the nobleman joined the fray. Tis’ some messy business we be headed for. Yer fine lily-white hands just be in the way, lad.

Don’t worry over me! I can take care of myself! Tad was incensed Captain Snow thought so little of him that he questioned his ability to protect the ship, but he held his tongue, knowing now wasn’t a time to argue his prowess with the sword.

Snow glared at the younger man and went back to the business of trying to outrun the larger vessel bearing down on them. The passenger ship was slower, weighted down with much cargo bound for Jamaica.

The Duke of Blackwell trained Tad to use a sword as soon as he learned to walk. He wasn’t afraid to wield a weapon. No, a Blackwell didn’t cower to adversity. He might well have his gullet split open upon this deck, but he would die with a sword in his hand. Father would approve. He might even forgive me for dying on him, Tad thought morosely with a wince, knowing his sire’s infamous rage. Tad rather doubted he’d do either, but he’d be damned if he’d hide like the others did at that moment.

Tad was encouraged by his fencing instructor’s words from the past, coming back to him, echoing in his head as he gripped the steel hilt of the cutlass. He glared at the black sails in the distance, cursing under his breath to know he had little choice but to rise to the occasion.

Chapter Two

Leira popped to the surface with a slight splash. Her worried gaze took in the pirate vessel with a groan of dismay. They couldn’t outrun the bigger ship that hovered like death on the horizon. Her eyes scanned the deck where men ran about readying for a sea battle.

Surprise filled her gaze to see the male she admired standing at the rail, a sword at his side. His features were grim as he watched the pirate vessel close the distance. He was dressed simply now, much like the other sailors. He pulled a knit cap over his head, disguising his raven-black hair. She felt a ripple of unease within her as she looked back at the ship sailing ever closer.

The pirates would overrun the smaller ship. Leira felt sorrow and her heart beat erratically to think of the handsome man being killed in the fray. Her father said such matters were for the humans to decide for themselves. King Mathius had long given up on the usefulness of men, seeing the destruction they brought to the seas.

The school of dolphins that followed her all squealed warningly as they recognized her. She sent a mental pulse under water with a flick of her tail in response to reassure them. I have nothing to fear, do not worry for me, she told them telepathically.

Dolphins were friends to the Merfolk and to the humans alike. They had no quarrel with either. They stayed out of matters that didn’t involve their own. Asking them to intercede now with the sharks arriving to the area was not an option.

Dolphins only went after sharks to protect their own kind. Sharks were despised by all, but necessary. The horrifying guardians of their world were just like these pirates, uncouth thugs that kept the humans at bay and fearful of the waters.

Leira's first thought was realized when the group of sharks she sensed nearby lingered, waiting for a meal to fall into the sea. She might be able to take on one or two of the sea monsters with her powerful tail, but should the feeding frenzy start, she knew better than to try to save their intended prey.

The shouting from the deck above made her crane her neck upward to see the source. She swallowed hard as the canons from the pirate ship shuddered and exploded, sending a volley of missiles into the smaller ship’s sides.

Screams and cries rent the air as cannon balls ripped into the vessel’s sides. Moans of pain and agony resounded as the dead and wounded littered the deck from the explosion. The acrid smell of smoke billowed up as the wood caught fire. Cries of ‘man overboard’ were heard, and soon terrified screams, as the sharks closed in for the kill.

Leira felt sad to see the smoking guns turn upon the smaller ship without mercy. More missiles tore into the ship, making it list to its side finally. They were taking on water from the gaping holes in the vessel. Within the hour, the ship would sink.

The Jupiter hovered closer like a specter of terror, its black sails billowing in the breeze. Leira could do nothing but watch in helpless dismay as the ship closed the distance.

The Jupiter rammed into the side of The Maiden Anne, making a loud grating noise. Ropes were thrown over the sides of the crippled ship. The pirates jumped aboard the smaller vessel when it drew up alongside. The uncouth brigands brandished weapons and raised cries of victory as they boarded the ship to engage the sailors in battle.

The Maiden Anne’s crew was sadly outnumbered. The skirmish was brief. She saw the handsome man fought valiantly, but was soon forced to drop his sword or face certain death. She was impressed with his skills as a warrior, seeing his powerful form moving across the deck to challenge and dispatch a half dozen pirates single-handedly with his sword.

The show of defiance from the crew was short-lived. Dozens more of the pirates boarded the ship, jumping from the railing of The Jupiter onto the deck of The Maiden Anne.

Soon, the crew of the Maiden Anne was subdued. The white-haired captain of the smaller ship stood with his men awaiting the pirate captain’s pleasure.

Leira saw with relief the dark-haired man still lived. He and the others stood under the pirate’s knives and pistols on the deck. The pirates dragged the wealthy passengers above decks as they robbed the ship of riches.

Women from below decks screamed, dragged away from husbands and fathers. The pirates violated them upon the bloody decks in front of all. The madness went on for what seemed an eternity. The pirates all took turns raping the women in front of their men, jeering, enjoying the helpless rage the act produced.

The women’s outraged cries and sobs soon quieted to low terrified moans of pain and shame. The females were kept in a separate group once the pirates had their fill of them.

Jugs of rum passed about the deck as the pirate captain swept aboard to assess his captives. Leira longed for the power and courage to raise a sword to the flamboyantly- clad pirate who walked among the humans.

Leira couldn’t hear his words; only see the terrified expressions of the people he spoke to as he worked his way down the line. She winced to see the pirates toss those he deemed unimportant over the side of the ship.

The sharks soon moved in to investigate. The screams as the passengers were torn apart after landing in the water made Leira long to swim away from the horrid sight. The fate of the dark-haired man tormented her.

She watched the pirate captain as he moved among the passengers, ascertaining their worth. The man would no doubt throw the sailors into the sea when he was done. He had a wailing young blonde female by the arm, dragging her with him as he went.

She worried the matter as she watched a group of male passengers marched to the small jolly boat at the side of the sinking vessel. The pirates looted the passenger rooms. Some ran about in frilly, feminine raiment, cackling in glee. Casks and crates from the cargo hold held the attention of the pirates. They left the crew alone as they assessed its value.

Leira couldn’t abandon the man, as much as she