The mermaid leaned her elbows on the deck of the dive boat.
“It’s there all right. That’s not the argument.”
The pirate snarled. “What is the ‘argument’?”
“It’s the guardians.”
“Guardians? Nobody said anything about guardians!”
“Did you think the Queen would play fair with you?”
“No. No more than I played fair with her.” He grinned reminiscently.
The pirate cut the silver chain that bound the mermaid to him and she slipped gratefully into the waves.
Back home, he sold his treasure map for enough money to set him up for life, though he ‘forgot’ to mention the guardians.
Working Title Blogspot 
Leave a Reply