The Sea Witch (The Era of Villains Book 1)

by Valfroy, S. J.

  “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.

  Chapter 5

  Triumph and Tribulation

  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 ma
ne 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.”

  Loud gasps and squeals of excitement rippled through the young mermaids in the crowd. Serena’s breath caught in her throat. Hazel whipped her head around to catch Serena’s expression and smiled coyly. Serena held Hazel’s hand. Hazel looked down at their interlocked fingers in surprise and then squeezed Serena’s hand gently.

  “Over the next month,” said Poseidon over the increasing murmurs, “a grand dinner party will be thrown every week. Every eligible young mermaid in the entire kingdom will receive an invitation telling her which week’s dinner party she is to attend. By the end of the month, Prince Triton will choose his bride.”

  The sound that followed was deafening. Squeals and shrieks and giggles pierced the water. Tails flailed with abandon. Hands reached towards the balcony as if they could pluck off their prize and have him right then and there. The older merpeople murmured excitedly together and looked around with annoyance when they were smacked in the face by a flailing tail or arm. The loudest cries came from the poorest mermaids. Finally, they were invited to a dinner party at the palace. Finally, they had a glimmer of hope of getting close to the Prince, even being his bride. Some of the wealthy mermaids’ elated faces fell when they looked around and realized that the competition had just gotten a lot fiercer.

  One of Serena’s hands clutched Hazel’s and the other went up to touch the locket. It was better than she ever could have hoped for. The love potion ensured that Triton would fall in love with her, and Amphitrite’s death had actually sped up the time table. Her mother had been right once again. Not only was there no longer any
obstacle standing in her way of marrying Triton, she was actually going to be whisked down the aisle in record time by a decree from the king.

  “Hazel! Can you believe it?” she said, turning to her sister with a radiant smile on her face.

  For a moment, Hazel’s face lit up, infected by Serena’s joy, but then her mouth pulled down in a sour frown, and she said, “Believe what? You getting everything you want? Sure. You always do.”

  Serena’s joy was making her feel light enough to float up to the surface and into the sky, and she hardly registered Hazel’s frown or her morose comment. She grabbed Hazel around the waist, lifted her up so that her head was centimeters from the stomach of a mermaid floating above them, and spun her around, squeezing her tight and laughing in her ear. Hazel’s eyes widened, and she said, “Serena!” in a scolding tone, but a small laugh escaped her lips as she did.

  “Oh, can you believe it, little sister! We’re going to live in the palace!”

  “We?” said Hazel, looking down at her beaming sister, her own smile growing.

  “Of course, ‘we,’” said Serena, her eyebrow cocked in a playful look that suggested any other scenario was absolutely absurd. “You, me, Mother, and Casius. I refuse to live there without you.”

  Serena spun Hazel around again with a powerful twist of her tail, and this time Hazel hugged her back and laughed along with her. Serena let go of Hazel and threw her arms around Moira.

  “Mother, you were right!” said Serena. “I should have listened to you sooner.”

  Moira was stiff in Serena’s arms, but she put an arm around Serena’s shoulders and patted her lightly.

  “I hope you’ll remember that in the future, darling.”

  Serena looked up at Moira. Moira smiled, but her face remained hard. She looked angry and disappointed, and Serena realized that Moira had been expecting Poseidon to announce a reversal of Amphitrite’s decree banning business with witches. Serena was slightly amused that her mother could let her emotions get the best of her too. A reversal of the decree would not have been announced like this, it would have just been posted around the city. Moira should have known that, but still, she had hoped. Serena’s amusement turned to pity. She knew how her mother felt. She hugged her tighter.