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“Why my father?” I asked. “Why not bewitch the whole kingdom? The merfolk could rise up against the king.”
“True.” The witch ran a finger along one of the bones forming her great seat. “Dark magic is a trade. One for one. For the commander to control a whole kingdom…well, he’d have to sacrifice many. Such a thing would not have gone unnoticed.”
That idea sent shivers streaming through me.
“What will it take for me to get my father’s freedom back?” I said, holding my chin high.
The witch’s busty chest heaved from laughter.
What was so funny? She had just put a spell on the king. Under merfolk law, that was an act of treason. But something told me this witch did not follow the laws of the sea. She was like me. A lone fish. Operating under her own rules. Getting her to agree to my request was going to take a big sacrifice on my part. I felt it like a hollow pit in my stomach.
“Why would I ever do that?” Her mocking voice pounded in my brain. “Many moon cycles ago, your ancestors stole the source of my power and banished me to this wasteland. For centuries, I fed on the slugs to survive.”
As if outraged for their master, her two eels hissed and snapped at me.
I backed away, hitting a wall hard, knocking the wind out of me. Pain sliced down my back. I rubbed what I could reach.
When the pain subsided a little, allowing me to talk, I muttered, “How did you get your magic back?”
She gestured with wide arms. “By the grace of Poseidon.”
The eels opened their mouths, as if they shared a laugh with her.
Yeah, right. Pull my other fin.Why would the god of the sea do that? Legend had it the witch stole the souls of innocent merfolk who bargained with her and fed off the energy, increasing her power.
The witch squirmed over to her brewing potion. She grabbed a jar from a shelf carved out of coral, from which she plucked out the dried eyeballs of some poor creature. The potion sparked as she tossed them into it.
It felt like thousands of mollusks crawled along my skin, and I shivered. The sulfur in the water was beginning to burn my lungs and gills.
Green flashed in the witch’s eyes as she turned to me. “I would consider removing the spell on your father in exchange for the pearl of Aluria.”
I gasped, and my hands flew to my mouth. The pearl was a gift from the sea god himself. It was the heart of the ocean. It powered my father’s magical trident—granted the merfolk the ability to control the water. Without it, we were powerless. Taking the pearl was akin to condemning all my people. I didn’t want that on my conscience. But how else would I save my father?
“There must be another way,” I said, my head starting to spin and my eyes burning from all the sulfur.
“Afraid not, my princess.” The sea witch turned her back on me and threw dried clams in her bubbling pot.
Well, if I was going to give it to her, first, I wanted to know what she planned to do with it. “Why do you want it?”
She collected a skewer of shrimps from a shelf and shoved it over her fire. It cooked in an instant, and my eyes widened.
“To restore my power,” she said before taking a bite of her meal.
What a predicament I found myself in. Wed Faraall and leave my father and people as his hostages. Or hand over the sea realm’s ultimate source of power to the evil Sea Witch and free my father, while condemning my people. Dooming all the sea creatures and the entire ocean to a life of despair and pain. Both options were just as depressing, and neither appealed to me.
The sea witch stared at me, waiting for my decision.
“Very well,” I lied, steadying myself on a rock because the sulfur made me feel lightheaded.
Part of me had agreed to the deal just to escape her cave.Poseidon.I could hardly breathe. My eyes, gills, and throat itched and burned.
The witch held out her hand. Against my better judgment, I shook it. Green magic swirled around our wrists, sealing the deal, branding me with a tattoo of my promise.
But I had no intention of delivering the pearl. This witch was not going to steal my people’s treasure. Somehow, I would find another way to save my father and my people…before it was too late. Even if it meant having to make another pact with a witch on land.
“Goodbye, sweet princess.” The witch waved her hideous hands. “I look forward to our next meeting.”
I bet you do, I thought. Pity our next meeting was going to be bittersweet, ending in me piercing her through the heart with my father’s trident.
