The Sea Witch (The Era of Villains Book 1) (10 page)

“
Fine,”
said Moira, her voice high and dangerous, “I’ll make it
myself, you ungrateful child. Get out of my sight before I decide
the poison needs some witch’s blood too!”

Serena lowered her
head submissively and did as she was told, swimming towards the
corridor.

“
Oh,
and by the way,” said Moira, stopping Serena and chilling her
blood with the malicious smile on her face, “you’d
better hope Triton’s
real
true love doesn’t ever show up while the two of
you are living your happily ever after. True love’s kiss will
break the spell, whether you want it broken or not.”

“
I
am his true love,” said Serena, her cheeks burning with an
angry flush.

“
I
guess we’ll see about that,” said Moira.

— — —

“
Tatiana,
wait!” called Serena, swimming full speed up to the third
balcony level.

Amphitrite’s
pretty handmaiden turned around, the queen’s lunch tray in her
hands.

“
Are
you going to see her Majesty?”

Serena placed one hand
on Tatiana’s shoulder and looked her straight in the eyes
while the other hand, clenched shut around a small vial, crept
towards the tray.

“
Yes,”
said Tatiana, looking confused and slightly annoyed, “I’m
bringing her lunch.”

“
Well,
how is she? I mean, what sort of mood is she in?” said Serena,
uncorking the vial and placing her thumb over the top. “You
see, I’ve really been wanting to apologize for what happened
last month. I’m sure you heard about it.”

“
Oh…yeah,”
said Tatiana sheepishly. “I don’t think that’s
such a good idea. I mean, right now she’s forgotten that you
exist.”

Serena removed her
thumb when the vial was just over the tray, and a white liquid oozed
out of it and spread out like greedy fingers reaching for
Amphitrite’s food. Tatiana’s attention stayed on Serena.

“
She
never even knew you were gone. She only asked about you once the day
after, and Marissa covered for you. You might want to keep it that
way if you want to keep your job.”

“
I
guess you’re right,” said Serena with a sigh. “Thanks
anyways, Tatiana.”

“
Uh,
yeah, sure.”

Serena
watched Tatiana swim down the hall to Amphitrite’s chambers.
Guilt squeezed at her lungs, making it hard to breathe.
What
have I done?
she thought, panic beginning to
fog her brain. She almost called out to Tatiana, but she
hesitated—only for a moment—and Tatiana disappeared into
Amphitrite’s room.

News of Amphitrite’s
strange and sudden death was spread throughout Adamar by gossiping
mouths in the palace, and by noon, the whole kingdom was talking
about it in frightened whispers. A potent, fast-acting, fatal
illness had taken hold of the queen and killed her in less than
three days. The doctors were baffled. The rumors of the effects of
the illness were varied and gruesome and only became more so as the
day went on. By six o’clock that evening, it was said that her
eyes had popped out of her skull, that she had shriveled up until
nothing but a skeleton covered in a thin layer of skin was left, and
one rumor even suggested that she had actually killed herself
because she couldn’t endure the horrendous pain.

But those working in
the palace, like Serena, knew the truth. Many of the queen’s
handmaidens had seen it for themselves. The circulation of the tale
did not reach fantastical heights inside the palace walls, and the
accounts of all the servants more or less lined up. Queen Amphitrite
had been struck with a sudden and intense fever that simply would
not abate. She had passed out in the kitchens while making menu
plans with the head cook for Triton’s birthday party. The
fever had raged viciously through her veins for almost three days,
never letting up a single degree no matter what the doctor’s
tried. Amphitrite’s beautiful, shining pink tail had grown
dull and rough, and her scales had begun to flake off onto her bed.
Her eyes were bloodshot; her skin was bright red with heat. Her
gorgeous, golden hair turned brittle and fell out at the slightest
touch.

Guilt had ripped
through Serena like the serrated edge of a shark’s tooth when
she first heard that the queen had fallen ill, just a few hours
after Serena had slipped the poison into her food. Fear was the only
thing that kept her silent. If it was ever discovered that she had
poisoned Amphitrite, there would be no leniency. There would be no
banishment and a happy return to Arcanus. Execution. That was the
fate awaiting her.

The day after
Amphitrite fell ill, Serena found herself passing Amphitrite’s
room for the third time since she had arrived at work that morning,
as if her guilt was drawing her to the room, forcing her to confront
what she had done. While swimming by, she heard a sound that made
her freeze, inside and out. Triton was crying. The sound made
Serena’s throat tighten. The pain in her heart was sharp and
cold and fearsome, as if she was feeling his pain along with her
own. When she managed to move, she peeked into Amphitrite’s
bedchamber. Triton was kneeling by his mother’s bed, his tail
bent in the middle, the blue fins sticking out behind him. His
golden head was resting face-down in his arms on the edge of her
bed. His crown lay on its side next to him, tossed away like trash
in his grief. One of his large hands was wrapped around one of her
delicate ones as she lay unconscious. As Serena watched, Amphitrite
began to thrash and moan, caught in the throes of a fitful nightmare
brought on by the fever. Triton’s head snapped up from his
arms as he tried to calm her, and Serena ducked out of sight, her
own tears now hot in her eyes and dissipating into the salt water
around her as quickly as she produced them.

“
Mother,
there has to be an antidote!” Serena had screamed at home that
night, her throat raw and swollen from crying. “I don’t
care about breaking the contract! I’ll accept the
consequences. Just give me the antidote.”

“
There
isn’t one, Serena,” Moira had, the hard note in her
voice threatening that this was the last time she was going to say
it—without violence at least. “I thought you’d get
soft, so I made sure to choose a poison with no antidote.”

Serena’s cry was
both anguished and furious. “You wicked, wicked witch! You’re
vile! I never should have asked for your help. I never should have
used magic.” She was sobbing so hard she had trouble getting
the words out.

Casius’ gentle
tentacles had wrapped themselves around her shoulder. “Serena,
you must calm down,” he’d whispered in her ear. “There’s
nothing you can do about it now. It would be unwise to anger your
mother.”

“
I’m
wicked, am I?” Moira had said. “You’re the one who
made the deal. You’re the one who gave her the poison. Who’s
the wicked one here, Serena?”

“
I
don’t know anymore,” Serena had said, her voice
quivering and childlike.

Moira’s face had
softened. “Amphitrite’s the wicked one. She’s
leading Triton astray, teaching him to be petty and selfish like
her. She’s an awful queen, you said so yourself. She’s a
tyrant, and tyrants should never be tolerated.

“
You’ve
done the right thing, Serena, though it may not seem like it now,
while it’s happening. You are a good merperson. You have a
caring heart; it’s what’s going to make you a wonderful
queen. But you need to be strong now. Be strong for Triton. Be
strong for Adamar.”

Serena’s tears
had kept flowing, but she’d held her head a little higher.
Casius had given her an encouraging squeeze.

From that moment until
the announcement of Amphitrite’s death, she had gone back and
forth between guilt so strong she felt she might vomit, hard
determination that she had done the right thing, crippling fear that
she would be caught and punished, and elation at the idea of finally
having Triton as her own—to touch him, laugh with him, kiss
him, and rule by his side.

After Amphitrite was
dead, her emotions began to settle. The guilt was still brutal
whenever she allowed herself to really think about the magnitude of
what she had done, but mostly she felt relieved that it was over.
She repeated, “I did the right thing,” over and over to
herself like a mantra. And a new, overwhelming excitement filled her
chest when she thought of Triton. He was finally within her grasp.
Now, whenever she thought of him, she clutched the heart-shaped
pendant at her breast, and the guilt could not penetrate her joy.

— — —

The official
determination was that Amphitrite had died of a new, unknown
illness. A tragic accident. King Poseidon had refused to believe it.
He’d ordered multiple doctors to examine the queen’s
body to try and detect some trace of poison, but nothing could be
found.

Gone
in three days
, thought Poseidon, sitting
dejectedly in his octopus-shaped throne. He looked over at the stone
dolphin where his beloved Amphitrite would never sit again.
So
beautiful, still so youthful, and gone just like that.

The thought made him
shudder. He ran his big hand down his face and scratched nervously
at his coppery beard. There was a feverish, almost mad sparkle in
his blue eyes, and his strawberry-blonde mane of hair was tangled
and wild. He looked slightly deranged. Dread had him in a vice grip.
If Amphitrite could die in her prime, so could he. It didn’t
matter how many potions or creams he used to keep his skin and
scales looking young. It didn’t matter that he had the most
powerful source of magic in the ocean nestled right next to him in
the crook of his octopus throne’s curled tentacle. Even the
Trident could not reverse death.

But it
should have been able to heal Amphitrite
, he
thought. That was what frightened him the most. He had always known
he would have to die of old age, but he had always been completely
confident in the Trident’s healing power. The golden beam of
magic had shot from the three prongs and surrounded Amphitrite, but
she had continued to burn with fever. He was baffled—and
utterly terrified. His own mortality appeared before him; his life
was a tangible thing that could be snuffed out with no warning. He
was not eternally youthful. He was not immortal. He was not all
powerful. He had not even known that he had these convictions about
himself until they were snatched away from him. He was not going to
live forever. His name would be forgotten. What had he really done
to ensure his legacy would live on? He had not fought in any great
battles, as his own father had. He had not passed any tide-changing
laws or done any marvelous deeds. Kings who ruled in times of peace
were praised in their day, but their names were mere scratches on
the stone tablets in the palace records.

Triton!
he thought, the smile brought on by sudden joy and
relief making him look even crazier. His son would be his legacy.
Triton was well loved throughout Adamar. Triton was the key to his
immortality. If he could not live forever, his bloodline would.
Triton was bound to have sons to carry on the bloodline.
But
will he?
asked a little voice in his head.
He has a new mermaid on his arm every week.

Poseidon himself had
gotten lucky to have a son on the first try. Daughters were much
more common. Most kings had to have many children just to produce a
worthy male heir.

Triton
should be married by now
, thought Poseidon,
that feverish panic back in his eyes.

But the boy seemed
unlikely to settle down anytime soon…at least, not on his
own.

— — —

“
Ouch!
Watch where you’re going,” said Serena when a burly,
middle-aged merman who smelled like tuna rammed his elbow into her
side.

The merman glowered at
her and shoved his way forward through the thickening crowd.

“
I
hate when they do this,” said Hazel as she was shoved into
Serena by a stray tail. She was so thin that in large gatherings she
was always tossed around like seaweed in the tide. “Why
couldn’t they just post this new decree or announcement or
whatever it is? Why do we all have to show up in front of the palace
and wait for the king to say a few boring sentences and then swim
all the way back home?”

“
It
must be something important,” said Serena.

“
Important
to who?” scoffed Casius. “The royals have always
astounded me with their assumption that their every whim is direly
important to us, that we live to hang off their every word. Frankly,
I really don’t care if the king wants all the mermen to grow
beards or if the Prince is having a seahorse-themed birthday party.”

Moira started to
chuckle, but a tail from above smacked her in the back of the head,
and she let out a soft “oof.” She looked up at the young
mermaid the tail belonged to with violet sparks in her eyes.

“
Do
that again, and I’ll make you barren and save the ocean from
your idiotic offspring.”

The young mermaid’s
eyes grew wide with terror as she recognized Moira.

“
I’m
so sorry,” she said, her voice high and scared. “Please
forgive me.”

“
Just
get out of my sight,” said Moira.

The young mermaid
nodded frantically and then shoved her way through the second crowd
floating above. Serena and her family were surrounded on every side,
even from above. They were also a good distance from the palace.
Serena frowned with disappointment. She wouldn’t be able to
see Triton at all from here.

The palace sentries
blew into their large conch shells, announcing the arrival of
Poseidon and Triton on the outer balcony on the highest spire of the
palace, overlooking the crowd. Serena craned her neck, but all she
could see was a sea of tails and hundreds of heads of hair swirling
around in the water. There was a symphony of squeals and cheers from
flocks of young mermaids, and many called out Triton’s name.
Serena rolled her eyes and made a noise of disgust deep in her
throat.

Up on the balcony,
father and son floated side-by-side. The resemblance was striking.
They had the same powerful, somewhat-stocky build, the same
ocean-blue tail, the same strong jaw. The only noticeable difference
was that Triton had his mother’s golden hair.

Triton had been
uncharacteristically absent from the public’s eye since the
death of his mother, and the hundreds of pairs of eyes scrutinized
him with rapt attention now. There were noticeable bags from
sleepless nights under his eyes, and he did not hold his shoulders
back in his usual proud stance. There was a sour look on his face.
The crowd had expected him to look sorrowful and heartbroken, so the
look of displeasure sent a ripple of talk through the masses. The
Prince clearly was not happy with whatever his father was about to
say.

King Poseidon gently
pressed the center point of the Trident to his own throat for a
moment. When he cleared his throat, the gruff sound projected so far
that even those in the very back of the vast crowd could hear it
clearly.

“
As
you all know, my beloved wife Amphitrite passed away just a week ago
today,” said Poseidon.

“
He
sounds as if he’s about to cry,” said a mermaid nearby.
“The poor thing. He needs someone to comfort him.”

“
Keep
dreaming,” said Moira. “With a tail that wide, the only
thing you’re going to attract is a humpback whale.”

The mermaid whirled
around, a furious snarl on her face, but she instantly cast down her
eyes and turned back to face the front when she saw who had spoken.
Serena smirked. More and more she was starting to admire the respect
her mother commanded. True, it stemmed from fear, but at least her
name meant something.

“
My
wife’s death is an example to us all of the fleeting nature of
life,” said Poseidon, “but I believe that it is our duty
to make sure life carries on. That is why I have decided that it is
high time my son grew up and accepted his duty to carry on the royal
line.”