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Now, I suddenly understood why my father favored me. He’d been grooming me. All those talks on politics. Determining my position on the other realms of Haven. Testing me on what projects within the kingdom needed the most attention.Sending me to the hospitals to read and entertain the sick merchildren. It had all been a test. To see if I was worthy of being queen.
Poseidon.How could I have been so blind? Damn me for being the level-headed one. While I might have one day considered taking over my father’s role, I refused to marry Faraall.
Speaking of the slimy slug, his hand found the curve of my back and yanked me to his chest. Horror rattled up my spine as his lips attacked mine, and he thrust his tongue deep into my throat, choking me. I tried yanking free, but he was much bigger and stronger, and he crushed me to him even more.
My father held his arms out, palms upward. “Well. Cheer.”
The crowd clapped with the enthusiasm of a tuna cornered by an orca.
Queasiness buried into me. I had to get away from him. The kiss, his touch, being near him—it all repulsed me to the core. Acting on instinct, I dug my nails into the commander’s gills. He roared and pushed me away. The menacing curl of Faraall’s lip had my stomach seizing. His hand hovered beside my face, as if he was about to slap me. But I flung out my tail and caught him in the sea pouch, where his dick and balls tucked inside his tail. He keeled over, hugging his stomach.
“I will not marry this pig,” I spat at my father, not caring if my outburst alarmed the nobles. “Look at the way he degrades me in front of your court.”
Green captured my father’s scales and eyes. He leaped to a vertical position and snared my wrist. “You will do as I say.”
“My king,” my mother tried again to appeal to my father.
“Silence, woman,” my father roared.
My mother fell back onto her throne.
Everybody gaped. My father had never raised his voice to his wife in all his years of ruling. Especially not at a ceremony.
No. I shook my head. This couldn’t be real. It had to be a nightmare. I rubbed my eyes, hoping to wake from it. But when I pulled my hands away, everything was still the same. The frozen, uncomfortable stares of the nobles and my sisters. Faraall’s snarl, flashing his teeth.
My whole world twisted out of control, and I struggled to breathe. What was wrong with my father? Faraall had tried to strike me. An insult in front of the merfolk. Hitting a female was forbidden in our culture. Punishable by a jail sentence. Striking a member of the royal family meant death. Why hadn’t my father ordered his guards to chain up the commander for his impertinent crime? What was wrong with my papa’s scales and eyes? Was he ill? Normally, when he was angry, his scales flushed bright red.
Wait a moment.Something on Faraall’s chest caught my attention. The shell on his necklace glowed green. The exact same color displayed in my father’s eyes. What was that? It looked like magic.
Then it hit me like a powerful surf wave, bowling me over.
Only one person possessed that kind of power, and the green remnants gave me a clue as to who that might be. The Sea Witch. More evidence supported my theory. The sulfurous stench on Faraall, which I’d noticed outside of the hall when he’d leaned in to kiss me. The entirety of the Sea Witch’s lands and her cave in particular reeked of it.
My stupid sister Nimian had once confessed to me that she’d made a pact with the Sea Witch to gain the heart of a merman she fancied. It had cost her five years off her life cycle. The deal hadn’t been worth it because the spell had only lasted for three moon cycles. Stupid fool! But the merman she’d put the spell on had had the greenish luminescence in his eyes throughout the spell’s duration.
Yes. This was definitely the Sea Witch’s doing. I felt it in my heart. Faraall’s betrayal pierced deeper than the witch’s treason. But why hadn’t the spell bewitched everyone else in the room, including me?
I glared at the commander. He’d always sought control. First of the army. Then by winning my father’s favor and ear. I was willing to bet my life he aimed for the crown, too. In marrying me, he would be one step closer if that was his goal.
Oh, my poor papa! His life and the safety of the sea realm were in danger. Many of the nobles and army generals would die before seeing Faraall on the throne. I couldn’t let that happen. It was high time for me to leave, find the Sea Witch, and either destroy the spell Faraall had used on my father, or make a new deal. I just had to wait for the right opportunity.
Faraall kept a tight grip on my waist as the nobles came up to the platform to pay their respects. His touch made my skin crawl.
“Such wondrous news, Princess Nyssa,” someone said.
I didn’t even bother to look in the speaker’s direction. Instead, I stared across the room, hatching a scheme to sneak away from my repulsive fiancé and leave the palace.
“You certainly kept that secret locked tight,” the well-wisher joked.
The commander’s laugh scratched down each bone in my spine and made me shiver.
“Thank you for your kind words.” He thumped his chest with his fist in the merfolk’s customary greeting.
If anyone had any knowledge of these plans, it was Nimian. She eavesdropped and spied on everyone for the latest court gossip.
I sent a message to her. “Did you know of this?”
She furiously shook her head. “Not a word.”
