The Sea Witch (The Era of Villains Book 1) (20 page)

Triton fumbled for the
answer for a moment, his eyes darting around as though he might find
it written on the nursery walls. When it finally came to him, he
almost laughed. “Serena must have heard her cry. Serena must
have her. Or Hazel. Or Moira.”

Athena’s
shoulders relaxed. A small laugh escaped her in a breath, and she
put her hand to her forehead.

“They don’t
have her, sire,” said Casius, swimming into nursery. He filled
his voice with feigned concern. “Serena and her mother and
sister went out for a leisurely morning swim. I believe they brought
a lunch with them to eat at the reef. They didn’t take any of
the children with them.”

Casius was knocked
aside as Athena rocketed past him, out into the hall, and over the
balcony. She hovered there, suspended in the middle of the palace’s
tallest spire, the atrium far below her, and shouted, “Cordelia!”
as if the infant would respond.

“Sarah, Melissa,
Rena!” The names of her handmaidens rang through the palace
and the three mermaids appeared quickly. It was their job to remain
close by.

“Yes, your
Majesty,” all three echoed as they appeared one after the
other. They all exchanged nervous glances. Athena had never shouted
for them before, and there was a wild light in her eyes.

Athena’s eyes
seemed to vibrate they moved so fast between the three mermaids,
looking them up and down in hopes that her child was nestled in
their arms.

“Where’s
Cordelia? Do any of you have her?” She ran her hands through
her long, red hair, snagging tangles and ripping strands from her
head. Her voice cracked with terror as she said, “Where’s
my baby? Somebody tell me where my baby is, right now!”

Fear gripped Triton’s
stomach in an unforgiving fist, but he knew that if he let it take
hold of him as it already had Athena, chaos would ensue, and help
would not be fast in coming to little Cordelia—if in fact she
needed it. The only way to stave off the fear was to don his kingly
role and take over as if it was a military matter.

“All of you,”
he said, thrusting a finger at Athena’s handmaidens, “let
every soul in this palace know that Princess Cordelia is not in her
bed, and she must be found at once. She’s got to be here
somewhere.”

“Yes, your
Highness,” said the handmaidens, all giving the customary bow
of their heads before swimming off in different directions.

“I’m sure
there’s a reasonable explanation,” said Casius, swimming
out to where Athena still floated in the heart of the palace. He
placed a reassuring tentacle on her arm. “One of the servants
must have her for some reason or another. Or perhaps one of her
sisters simply wanted to play with her. You know how fond of her
they all are.”

Athena looked down at
Casius’ tentacle where it lay on her arm, her wide, fearful
eyes turning curious. Casius had never touched or comforted her
before. In fact, he hardly had a word to say to her, kind or
otherwise. But the sensation of another creature’s touch eased
her, and his words soothed her mind. She placed her hand on top of
his tentacle and squeezed it gently, but she could still not quite
muster a smile.

“You’re
right, Casius. Thank you,” she said.

“Yes, of course.
Why did I not think of it?” said Triton. “She must be
with her sisters. We’ve gotten all worked up over nothing,
starfish.”

But the princesses
were all found, and baby Cordelia was not with them. Minutes turned
into an hour, the whole palace was searched top to bottom, and the
little mermaid could not be found.

“Someone has
taken her, Triton,” Athena said, tears making her voice quiver
as she gripped his shoulders so hard that her nails left marks.
“Why? Why would anyone take my baby?”

Triton wrapped her in
his arms and pressed her face into the crook of his neck. The fear
was threatening to overflow. He felt his hands shaking as he stroked
Athena’s hair. But as her words sank in, some of that fear
turned to murderous rage.

“I don’t
know, but I’m going to find out,” he said, “and I
assure you, starfish, when I find out who has done this, they will
feel the full wrath of the Trident.” He turned to his most
trusted guardsman—his old childhood friend, Kale— and
said, “Organize the Guard. I want every inch of Adamar
searched, every citizen questioned, and if we do not find the
princess in the city, we will search the entire ocean until I have
her back in my arms.”

“Yes, sire,”
said Kale, saluting before heading on his way to fulfill the king’s
orders.

“Casius,”
said Triton.

“Yes, sire?”

“Go to the reef
and tell Serena, Hazel, and Moira what’s happened. Perhaps
they know of a spell or potion that could help the search. Athena
and I will be joining the search personally; tell them they should
do the same and that if they wish to join up with Athena and I, we
will start searching the north quadrant first.”

“Yes, sire,”
said Casius, happy that he could not smile because it surely would
have given him away. It was all falling into place just as Serena
had predicted it would.

— — —

Hazel had been deathly
afraid the first time she had gone in search of the massive tiger
shark that had been causing trouble in Adamar off and on ever since
the day Athena arrived. Whenever Triton got another summons saying
the shark had been spotted or had attacked someone else, Serena
would glare at Athena as if she had summoned the beast. She told
everyone who would listen that it was an omen, that having Athena as
a queen of Adamar would bring death and destruction. So, when the
three witches had hatched their plot against Athena, Serena had been
adamant that they befriend the shark and make him part of the plan.
“It’s only fitting,” she had said.

When Hazel was voted
the one to go make the deal, she was suddenly sure it was Moira and
Serena’s way of getting rid of her as well. They were both
secretly hoping she would get eaten; she was sure of it. It had
taken forever to find the beast because her terror was hindering her
concentration, and her tracking spell (which sent out a little trail
of bubbles in the direction of the spell’s quarry) kept
puttering out. She had finally found the shark stalking the
outskirts of the city, moving at an easy pace, unafraid of running
into a patrolling guardsmen. Hazel could see why. He was massive.
Scars from other harpoons and swords that had failed to kill him in
the past covered his hide, mingling with the faint stripes of his
kind that were just a shade darker gray than the rest of his silvery
skin. At the sight of him, she had started to turn back and swim
with all her might towards the palace, but he’d spotted her.
She’d frozen, paralyzed by his onyx eyes.

“Long way from
home, aren’t you little mermaid?” he had said, and the
eagerness in his voice, as if he was imagining how she’d
taste, had made her tremble.

“I am no
ordinary mermaid,” she’d said. The only thing giving her
the power to speak was the knowledge that if she did not say what
she had come to say, she would surely be his lunch. “I am a
sea witch, and I’ve come to make a deal with you on behalf of
my sister, Queen Serena of Adamar. I suggest you hear me out; the
deal is beneficial for both sides. And stay back! The moment I see
teeth coming my way, I’ll turn you into a sardine.”

He was silent for
almost a full minute, and she silently prayed that he believed her
bluff; surely he knew who Serena was and that she had a sister who
was also a sea witch. There was no way she could actually manage to
turn him into a sardine, though. Even if she could somehow summon up
the power it would require, she didn’t even know a spell that
would do that.

“What’s
this deal?” he had finally said, and she had fought to keep
her face stern and businesslike as intense relief made her
lightheaded.

“I deliver up
some tasty royal guardsmen, and you put on a show,” she’d
said, trying her best to imitate her mother’s cool demeanor
and easy smirk. “If you succeed, you will have a full pardon
from Queen Serena. You will never be hunted again.”

The tiger shark had
laughed and said, “Now you have my undivided attention.”

He had pressed for
details, but she had refused to expound. But he became skeptical and
wary, saying, “Why should Queen Serena wish for me to attack
her guardsmen? It sounds like a trap.” Eventually, she had
convinced him with a lie that the guards he would be attacking were
plotting against the royal family, and the king and queen did not
wish to make their betrayal public with a trial, as it might
encourage other guards to rebel as well. It was all to look like a
tragic accident.

He had told her his
name was Babar. Now, as she hid with him, the two of them floating
just out of sight below the lip of the city’s drop off, she
wished he had not told her. It made her feel guilty, knowing that he
was probably going to die because of her deceit. She had not told
him that the king had no knowledge of the plan and would be nearby,
Trident at the ready, prepared to defend his guardsmen to the death.
Babar had always managed to disappear before Triton could find
him—it was why he was still alive—but this time would be
different.

She clutched the clam
shell tightly in her hand. She turned away from Babar, pretending to
watch a large school of fish that was going by in the Deep Ocean
behind them, and opened the shell. Inside it was a little window in
which she could see Triton and Athena, both looking haggard and
desperate and wild as they searched for Cordelia. They were getting
close. Now all she and Babar had to do was go find a group of nearby
guards and lead them to towards Triton. They were scattered
throughout every inch of the city, so it wouldn’t be very
hard. She turned back to Babar.

“Showtime,”
she said.

Babar rose up over the
lip of the city’s edge just in time to come face-to-face with
a group of three royal guardsmen just coming out of the kelp forest.
Babar’s massive jaws opened in a toothy grin. The guards’
eyes grew wide, and they grabbed frantically at their sheathed
weapons.

“It’s the
devil shark!” one screamed.

Babar laughed, a deep,
ominous, rumbling sound like a mountainside collapsing into the
ocean.

“Welcome to
hell,” he said.

— — —

“Cordelia!
Cordelia!” Athena called, her voice high and desperate,
cracking at the end of every word.

Instead of going to
find Serena, Hazel, and Moira as Triton had ordered, Casius had been
tailing him and Athena since they’d left the palace, using his
skin camouflage to stay out of sight. He had watched Athena become
more and more frantic. She pulled at her hair each time her
desperate cries received no reply—though what reply she
thought the babe could give, Casius was not sure. Her head whipped
back and forth and over her shoulder in a constant, rhythmic
pattern, her eyes practically vibrating they moved so quickly over
the landscape.

“Athena, you
must calm down,” said Triton, grabbing her hand.

She yanked her hand
from his and said, “Calm down? Calm down! Our baby is gone,
Triton!”

“Yes, I know,
starfish,” said Triton, grabbing for her hand again, “and
whoever has taken her can hear you calling a mile away. They’ll
be headed in the opposite direction. Cordelia cannot tell you where
she is. You must stop yelling.”

Athena blinked at
Triton and then began to wail, throwing herself against him. Casius
averted his eyes as Triton tried to soothe her with caresses and
kisses. The sight of the two of them together made him almost as
sick as it made Serena.

“Hurry up,
Hazel,” he muttered to himself.

“Darling, we
can’t keep stopping like this,” said Triton.

Athena choked back a
sob, put her fingers to her temples, and gave her head a little
shake. “Of course, you’re right. I’m sorry. I’m
half out of my mind.”

“I know,
starfish. I am too, but we have to keep moving. We’ll find
her. Don’t worry. I’m sure Casius has found Serena by
now, and she and her mother will be coming up with some sort of
tracking spell to help us find her.”

“Well, I wish
she’d hurry,” said Athena sourly. “Why did she
have to go off today of all days? She never leaves the palace. She
just mopes around. What got—”

There was a terrible
scream of agony not far to their left. A merman’s scream.
Triton went rigid. Athena clutched at his arm. In the silence, they
could hear a commotion in the water. Merman’s voices could be
heard faintly, shouting.

“Hold on,
Marcus!”

“Kale, look
out!”

“Oh God, his arm
is gone!”

Casius recognized
Kale’s voice saying, “Get him out of here! The blood
will drive it into a frenzy.”

“Athena, stay
here,” Triton said.

Athena looked like she
might protest, but then her eyes moved from the direction of the
screams to Triton’s eyes, and she released his arm and nodded
once. Triton pumped his tail and shot off towards the ensuing
battle, the Trident held out in front of him, poised to attack.

Casius waited until
Triton went around a bend and was out of sight and then changed his
skin back to its customary color and approached Athena quickly. The
Trident would make short work of the shark. He had to hurry.

Athena jumped at the
sound of his tentacles pushing him through the water. She spun
around and then let out a puff of air when she recognized him. She
put a hand to her heart.

“Casius,”
she said, “you can’t sneak up on me like that, not when
I’m already such a mess.”

“A thousand
apologies, your Highness, but I’ve been looking for you for
quite some time. I have both good and bad news.”

“I don’t
think I can stand any bad news right now, but I suppose I must. What
is it?”