But then Loki swam into full view. The bottom half of their body was replaced by a gleaning silver tail that matched Havamal’s to the shade. The sea serpent around their waist hissed and unwound, slithering across the ice floor toward me.
I recoiled, lifting my hands in front of me to block it, but the snake persisted. He curled around me. His hot tongue flicked against the back of my neck. Then the twin forks of his tongue twisted around the rope attached to the vial. The snake skillfully undid the rope’s knot and pulled the vial from my neck. I felt the weight lessen around my throat, the binding collar gone as well as the burden. The snake slithered away and delivered the voice to Loki’s outstretched palm.
The god turned the bottle over in their long fingers and then pressed it to their face. They closed their eyes, as if the vial stroked their cheek. Then, sniffing around the cork, they said, “This will do nicely for what I have in mind.”
I crossed my arms over my chest and tried to sound brave. “What are you planning to use it for?”
Loki swam toward me and patted my head. “Never you mind that, little mermaid. You’ve done well with this. What did she ask you for in exchange?”
“A mate.” Just saying it made me ache for Vigdis, who genuinely believed she’d gotten the better deal. As she’d sung into the bottle, she’d smiled and all her tears had finally gone. “And fertility. She didn’t do well at The Grading.”
Loki nodded and stroked the moustache they’d grown in the hours since our previous meeting. They snapped their fingers, grinning. “Easily done.”
“It was that easy?” The speed made me nervous, but then, what did I know about how the gods’ powers worked?
A deep chuckle ripped from their throat. “It was not a difficult request.”
“And mine?” I prompted them. My gaze darted to the entrance of the ice cave. Havamal could be back any moment, unless he’d had a change of heart. Part of me prayed that he had… but I was beyond that now, and I couldn’t wait any longer. “I want legs. Will it be a difficult request? And make sure I can breathe… and not freeze. I don’t want to drown down here. And I want to keep some of my scales.”
“Going after your little human friend?”
I shrugged. Would I seek Ragna? Probably, if only to see if we could have a chance… if things might continue to develop between us. I didn’t relish the idea of being completely alone. But if she wanted to stay on land forever, then I didn’t know. I wanted the chance to explore. I wanted to see the lands beyond the ice shelves, the distant countries where human hunters like Ragna lived.
Loki’s eyes lit with an emotion I couldn’t quite read. Dread mixed with my excitement. What if this deal didn’t turn out as I expected? But it was too late… I’d done what he asked for and given my request. It was too late to give Vigdis her voice back, even if I wanted to.
The trickster opened their mouth and swallowed the glass vial whole. Their body glowed white, then they stretched their spectral fingers toward me. I scooted forward, holding my breath. They caressed my fins, one at a time, with a sort of reverence I wasn’t expecting. I imagined the long, beautiful form my legs would take. Delicate like a human’s, but still bejeweled with turquoise scales. They would be strong, elegant. I could run across the land, fierce and agile on my two flawless limbs. Surely, being sculpted by a god, they would be truly perfect.
I shut my eyes as a tingling feeling spread upward. I could feel my tail splitting and growing into new shapes, but it wasn’t painful. My body was like sand—malleable and soft—with just enough substance to stop it drifting away with the tide.
“It’s done,” Loki said.
I opened my eyes and peered down at my new body.
I had legs. But they were long and spindly, coated in slippery aquamarine skin. Little mouths ran their length. The mouths gasped before I did. I shifted, and, as my new legs touched the ice, the mouths attached to the freezing surface, sucking like hatchlings at their mother’s breast.
Eight. Eight monstrous tentacles protruded below my waist where my tail used to be. They were covered in slimy film, water-based like squid skin, and would need to stay wet constantly.
When I looked up again, Loki had vanished.
Someone deep within the glacier screamed, and then more frantic shouts followed. I tried to listen to what they said, but my own howls, part terror, part agony, drowned out everything around me.
Whatever I had imagined might happen when I made a deal with the trickster god, this was worse.
Nine
When my own screams stopped, I yanked my kelp curtain down from its pins and wrapped it around myself. Then I returned to my pallet and tried to curl into a ball. But my new legs wouldn’t obey, wouldn’t close around me in a comforting embrace the way my tail had done. I tucked the blanket under my body and the legs rebelled, moving as if compelled by a separate mind, seeking freedom from the restraint. I prayed to Odin, Frigga, Ran, Aegir… anyone I could think of who might have the power to undo what Loki had done. But even as my lips mouthed another whispered plea, I knew my fate was sealed. I’d made the deal and in their sadistic way, Loki had honored it.
The gods would not intercede when there was an agreement.
What would the king do? Sickness gnawed at me, and I swallowed hard to keep my breakfast inside. Would he see this as a rebellion? Would I be a criminal now? Exiled to the dungeons and kept out of sight? Havamal could go to hell, but what if I weren’t allowed to see Mama again?
And Ragna, how could I possible go after her like this? Even if the new legs would allow me to walk on land, I was a monster. The other humans would hunt me. I’d die before I found her. Mermaid kisses were lucky. But who would want an abomination?
I took a deep, shuddering breath. I could starve myself until my body withered or find a way, somehow, to live with the outcome.
“Ersel?” Mama appeared at the entrance to my ice cave. Her orca-black fins swept the ice elegantly behind her. “Ersel, are you all right? I thought I heard you scream, but with everything going on outside…”
I folded the new legs as tightly as I could, smoothing the kelp over them. There was no way I could hide my new body for long, but I’d cherish these precious seconds. If the king locked me away, they might be the last ones we’d have. I cleared my throat. “What’s happening outside? Is everything okay?”