by J E Feldman
The Caesar rocks his daughter back and forth, as the evening tide laps against them. “I feel,” he says. “That words fall short, my love.”
Salacia smiles tentatively at first, then more broadly. “So, then, are you happy, my Julius? Can we return to the way we were? Go back to our private fantasy together?” she asks hopefully.
The emperor carefully shifts the baby’s weight to hold her in one arm, before reaching out with his free hand. He cups the queen’s face.
“Come here, my love,” he says, closing the small distance between them with a passionate kiss.
The queen pressed her body to his, lost in the moment, having missed him for months. Just several breaths later, their kiss is broken, and her mother wears a grotesque look of shock, pain, and horror. Again and again, she winces in disbelief. The sea around them turns red as she pulls away, clutching the hilt of an iron dagger buried deep in her belly. Several stab wounds pepper her shimmering skin. She gasps, her hands trembling as she withdraws the blade. It falls from her grasp, lost to the sea and sand.
“Julius,” she whispers. “What have you done?” She tries in vain to staunch the bleeding, her hands pressing into her abdomen, as she sinks lower into the sea, just head and shoulders above the water. “Why?” she cries, tears flowing from her eyes, revealing the depths of her pain and sudden betrayal.
“I am an emperor of Rome,” he says coldly. “And I am weighed down by no woman, least of all a fishwife. This child could bring the wrath of Neptune against me. The seas would never be safe for Roman ships again and I can’t allow that to happen.”
“Julius, please- our baby,” she whispers, ignoring his rhetoric. Her pale, bloodied hand breaks the surface, reaching out for her infant child in tragic desperation.
“I haven’t the heart to murder a child, myself, even if it is a bastard monster,” he says. “So I’ll give you the mercy of greeting death, together.” With that, Julius smiles down upon his daughter, before launching her like a stone, into the air. The tiny baby soars through the air, falling some distance away, into the dark embrace of sea.
“Morluna!” Salacia screams, and with the last of her strength, she turns her back on Julius Caesar and man-kind, and swims to rescue her baby, leaving a tell-tale trail of crimson in her wake.
The vision fades to black once more and I find myself numb. I feel so much pain, sadness and heartache, that it overwhelms my senses to the point I feel nothing, and yet, everything at once.
“He killed her,” I whisper, the truth suddenly fanning a furnace of dormant hate within me. “He betrayed her!” I say hotly, my eyes red and bloodshot, dark veins rising to become visible beneath my pale skin. “And he tried to kill me!” I turn away from the sea witch in an attempt to hide the war of emotions playing out upon my features. I can feel myself shaking with the sheer effort of reigning in my feelings.
“How is it that I am here?” I ask. “I saw my father toss me to the waves like discarded burly. What happened next? A baby mermaid cannot survive the open sea, alone; and my mother could not have possibly survived long enough to make it back to Atlantis.” I turn back to the sea witch. “Say your words,” I demand. “Show me what happened next!”
The sea witch reaches into the conch shell a third time. “I told you to prepare yourself, child. There is more to come. You will learn your mother’s ultimate fate, and how you came to survive the events of that fateful night, and,” she pauses. “How Neptune and I came to be enemies that we are today.”
My gaze meets hers in question, but she merely shakes her head.
“You will see, my dear. All will be revealed.”
***
Salacia catches her baby beneath the waves before she can hit the sea floor. Swimming backward, in the general direction of home, she crushes the infant to her chest.
“I love you, Morluna. Forgive me,” she says in a barely audible whisper. “I have failed you and with all my heart, I am sorry.”
Before long, her strength is spent. She has lost too much blood and she sinks to the sandy bottom, still clutching her little princess tightly in her arms. In the distance, her keen eyes make out the dark silhouettes of sharks in the gloom. They have scented her.
“God help us.”
Then, from out of the shadowy depths, an unexpected figure emerges, swimming into focus before the dying queen. It is the sea witch, in all her dark, disturbing splendour.
Without a second thought, Salacia kisses her daughter’s brow, before offering her to the witch. “Please, Malanima,” she begs, as the light fades from her eyes. “Save her.”
“Of course, sister,” says the sea witch, taking her niece into her arms. “You have my word.”
“Thank you,” says the queen, a small, weak smile pulling at the edges of her lips.
“Find peace, Salacia,” replies the sea witch. “You will be avenged. I will see to it.”
With that, the Queen of Atlantis closes her eyes, succumbing with dignity and serenity to her fate. In the moments that follows, her lovely form dissolves, melting into the sea, as if she had never lived at all.
Before the vision is ended, I pull myself out of it, my eyes snapping up. “You’re my mother’s sister?” I cry. “You’re… you’re family?”
The sea witch’s expression is unreadable. “Watch, blood of mine, and learn. There will be time for questions and answers, soon enough.”
Lips parted in sheer disbelief and awe, I wrench my gaze back to the swirling contents of the cauldron and allow myself to be pulled into the past, once again.
“You are unwelcome here, sea witch,” barks Neptune, golden trident in hand as he sits upon his great throne of twisting coral and flawless pearls.
“I have a name, your highness,” she retorts, not the least perturbed by the king’s tone. “It’s Malanima.”
“What do you want, Malanima?” he demands. “In case you had forgotten, you were exiled from Atlantis. What could be so important you would risk open combat, again? I will not be made a fool of, witch.”
Malanima approaches the throne, unbundling her burden as she goes. “I have come to return your daughter,” she says curtly. “For which I thought you might be grateful.”
“Return her? What are you talking about? How is it that the princess came to be in your charge, of all creatures that dwell within my domain? Where is my wife? Where is Salacia?”
Salacia’s eldest daughter, Corallia, swims forward and with a nervous glance at her aunt, takes her baby sister into her arms, cooing and shushing her, as she returns to her place by her father’s side.
Malanima holds her head high, meeting Neptune’s eye with a ferocious intensity. “We must speak alone,” she says, her tone, dark and grave.
Neptune sits rigidly, unmoving for several moments, before he waves his hand in a dismissive gesture. “Go,” he orders all those in attendance. “Leave us!”
When the great throne chamber is emptied, Malanima clears her throat. “My sister is dead,” she announces. “Killed by a mortal man this very evening.”
“Lies!” Neptune booms, rising from his seat of power. “Where is my queen?” The king points his trident at the sea witch, threatening her, its three prongs sparkling with unleashed magic. “Speak, or I will end you once and for all.”
“I speak the truth,” says the sea witch defiantly. “I have no reason to spin tales. I came to deliver your child, the last living part of your beloved wife. I believe that warrants some courtesy, don’t you think? You know I could have let the child die.”
Neptune glowers, his rage barely holding back the torrent of emotion that so clearly threatens to surge forth.
“Your queen broke her vows,” she went on. “She has, for this past year, been seeing a man of Rome. Their ruler, the emperor they call Julius Caesar. She believed it was love, and the pair were mated upon the shores, in the embrace of the sea. It is the Caesar’s seed that gave that little mermaid life. He is the child’s true birth father.”
�
��You expect me to believe this? My wife of some one hundred years, defiled the sanctity of our union with a human?”
“Belief is irrelevant,” says Malanima. “You know I could show you what unfolded, if you so desired. Though- I warn you, you would not like what you see.”
Neptune’s chest heaves, but he manages to maintain most of his composure. “You still have not answered how you came to be in possession of the princess,” he says through gritted teeth.
“I saw in a vision your wife’s murder and so I set off after her. Despite what she took from me, I have always had a soft place in my heart for my younger sister. I would no sooner see her come to harm, than myself; but I was too late. Caesar stabbed Salacia to death with an iron blade, and then threw his own infant daughter to the waves to die. I arrived only in time to witness the tragedy. Salacia had rescued Morluna with the last of her strength. Seven times she was struck, and still she held on. When I came to her, in her moment of need, she beseeched me to save the princess, and I gave her my word that I would. And so here I stand, having honoured and fulfilled my promise.”
“You saved the halfling child of a human for your sister,” he blurted, his face red with incalculable rage and pain. “But you murdered our son for dark magic! Was being queen of Atlantis, being my wife, and being the mother to the first prince of the Seven Seas not enough for you? What more could you have possibly desired?”
Malanima met the king’s eye, before turning to leave, her many tentacles propelling her toward the doors. Before she reaches them, she pauses a moment to look over her shoulder.
“Loyalty,” she answers finally. “Perhaps if your eye had not wandered. Perhaps if you had not lusted after my own sister, I could have found happiness,” she said. “But it was you who showed me that love is a lie; that is it fleeting and untrue, and that family means nothing. Your actions changed the course of fate of the Seven Seas that day. I merely reacted… out of hurt. Everything that has transpired was born of your infidelity. And now, your majesty,” she says, alluding to the king’s most recent loss, “we both shall suffer.”
I back away from the cauldron as the past fades away, nothing more than a distant dream. “You were the queen of Atlantis?” I ask, my mind racing. “You were Neptune’s wife?”
“I was.”
I stare, wide-eyed, lost for words.
“Believe it or not, I did not always look this way,” laughs the sea witch. “I was once beautiful and young,” she says. “Though, evidently I could not compete with your mother, and her voice… it was a gift of legend. She was a true siren. There was enchantment and power in her song.” She pauses, looking me over with a stern, but thoughtful expression. “You are her mirror image, child.”
I don’t know what to say, but I have too many questions, so I must be bold and risk incurring her wrath. “Is that why you killed your baby son?” I ask, bracing myself for the sea witch’s response.
“I sacrificed my child to the Old Gods, for dark powers unrivaled… but yes, my descent into the black side of magic began when Neptune betrayed me. He promised me the world, to love me long after we had returned to the sea foam from which our old mother, Venus, had sprung. But then he fell for your mother, she with her voice and pretty face. He did not love me, or our son, enough to remain loyal. And so, I spiralled into a deep abyss of pain and self-loathing, from which there was no return. I grew distant from our son…”
Malanima circles the cauldron to confront me, her long kelp-green hair billowing around her. “I found strength in the darkness of my heart as I wallowed, princess. I wanted Neptune to feel my pain, to know how it felt to have what you treasured most taken from you. And so I decided to take his son from him. I wanted magic to rival his, but no great magic can be attained without great sacrifice…”
The sea witch reaches out, twirling a lock of my midnight blue hair around her fingers, a deepening, sinister smile upon her face. “But enough about me, princess, let us discuss the matter of you.”
“Me?”
Circling around behind me, she whispers in my ear. “What is it that your heart desires, now that you have learned the truth? Will you return to Atlantis and the life you left behind? Can you dwell there, knowing your father is not your own; knowing that your birth father murdered your mother… because of you?”
I may be young, but I know she is taunting me, directing me. “What do you want from me?” I ask, spinning around to face her. “What do you have to gain?”
“Ah, my dear niece, now you are thinking like a witch! Life is a game to be played, sweet thing, and my aim is to be the victor. It’s really quite simple, I am not a complicated beast. To ascend to my rightful place and reclaim the throne of Atlantis for myself, I need specific weapons. One of which, you happen to possess.”
“What weapon?” I ask, my brow furrowing deeply. “I am no warrior.”
“Not all weapons that prosper are made of iron, Morluna. I have foreseen that whilst it has remained unbeknownst to you, you possess your mother’s siren song, her innate talents of enchantment and allure. I could use something like that,” she reveals.
“Against my fa-” I catch myself. “Against Neptune?” I ask. “You would have me befuddle his mind, with a voice just like his lost lover’s?”
“Precisely, child. Precisely!” she crows.
“And why would I help you kill the king?” I ask. “He and my sisters were all I ever had. What have I to gain from using this talent of mine, for such dark purposes?”
Malanima smiled, throwing her hands in the air. “Yes, my little witch! Yes! Now you’re bargaining like a witch, the mark of our kind.” When she was done with her cackling, she turned on her charm once more. “I promised your mother revenge, though I did not say how, or when. How would you like to be the one to exact that justice? There is more to you, as a hybrid mermaid than a soul, my dark pretty. You have your mother’s gift, and, you can walk on the land, just like the humans do.”
“On two legs?” I gasp, breathless. “How is that possible?”
“It is a trait passed on from your birth father, Julius Caesar. I have seen you walk already my dear, in the turgid depths of my cauldron. All you need do is leave the sea. Once you are upon dry earth, you will shift forms naturally, you need not even think on it.”
I swim back and forth, pacing the sea witch’s lair. “I can’t believe it,” I utter. “I’m some kind of… mermaid shifter? I can live above and below the waves?”
“It would seem so,” confirms Malanima. “Imagine what you could do with such talents… if I were to tutor you in the dark arts of the Old Gods? In return for your allegiance in attaining the throne of Atlantis, I can teach you such magic as to make your true dream a reality.”
“What do you know of my true dreams?” I ask. “I’m not even sure I know truly what it is I want out of this life.”
“Come now,” says the sea witch. “You came to see me because of it. Why do you want immortality? To live forever? Obviously. But what attracts you to such a concept? What appeal is there in having all the time in the world at your disposal?”
“Freedom,” I say, the truth finally dawning on me. “I want to do as I want, go where I want, be what I want, without restraint.”
“Exactly, child! And I can help you achieve this glittering dream of yours, if you will only aid me in achieving mine. I can teach you the arts of divination, of glamour, of spells and potion craft. I can show you the power of blood and bone. I can show you how to take what you want. Imagine walking amongst the mortals, unbeknownst to them; a shark among schools of fish. I can teach you how to take another’s form, so as to be indistinguishable from the one whom you are imitating. Such a talent could be used to get close to the emperor…” the sea witch trails off, her face a mask of delicious, mad, glee.
“Close enough to return the favour and kill him myself,” I say, the possibilities setting my very blood on fire.
“You could rule kingdoms, become a queen upon the land, or travel
to places so distant, that you’ve never dared dream of them. Imagine the adventure, Morluna!”
My heart thunders in my chest, slamming against my ribcage like waves crashing upon crumbling cliff faces. This is what I came for, I realise. I came for help, for an ally in achieving my dreams- and here she is. She has an agenda… but so do I.
“Do we have an accord, dear niece? Will you become my apprentice?”
I nod solemnly. Blood isn’t thicker than water. “We have an accord,” I say. “Teach me all you know, make of me a prodigy to be feared, and I will do all in my power to ensure Atlantis is yours, aunt.”
“Then the deal is struck!” she cries. “Give me your hand, Morluna. All contracts accorded by the Craft are sealed in blood.”
I extend my arm and offer my hand. “So be it,” I say.
Malanima pulls a flat, sharp shell from her hair and slices my palm, before wounding her own. We unite the flats of our palms, fingers folding over one another’s.
“It is done,” says the sea witch. “Go now, go home to Atlantis and play your role as you have always done. Be Neptune’s good and obedient daughter, be your sisters’ friend. Let no one know what has transpired here this day. Until we are ready to act and you are a fully-fledged witch, this secret is ours to keep.”
I sigh, elated and exhausted simultaneously. “When will I see you again?” I ask. “I am eager to begin my learning.”
“Soon enough, my little witchling, soon enough. I will call and you will know.”
“Til then,” I say, full of hope.
“Til then,” echoes the sea witch.
As I turn to leave, she calls after me.
“Morluna?”
I pause, turning back.
The sea witch reveals a shining dagger, offering it to me. “This belongs to you,” she says. “Keep it as a reminder of your pledge and destiny.”