The Sea Witch (The Era of Villains Book 1) (18 page)

Then
Athena raised her head and put her shoulders back. Serena’s
breath caught.
She wouldn’t! She
wouldn’t dare!
That little tramp was
going to speak to them—speak to
her
merpeople.
Who does
she think she is? That crown isn’t on her head yet, and it
never will be if I have anything to do with it!

“
I
know what you all must be thinking,” Athena yelled into the
crowd. Triton snapped to life and pointed the Trident at her throat
so that her next words carried over the merpeople, who grew
instantly silent. “I know you must be thinking that I’m
an outsider. That I’ve come from a distant city with the sole
purpose of snatching away your king, of usurping your beloved queen.
I want you all to know that the truth is, I love your king dearly. I
came here as an adventurer. I came here to discover what I could do,
who I was, and who I could be, and I discovered that who I truly am
is intertwined with this merman floating next to me. I didn’t
plan on finding love, but I did. I did not plan on becoming friends
with a lovely, powerful, and intelligent mermaid, either.”

Is she
talking about me?
Serena’s scream of
rage was internal, but her eyes came alive with blue sparks. What
could she do? If she denied it, if she screamed it wasn’t
true, if she shouted curses and ugly names, she would look like the
lesser mermaid, and that was not going to happen, ever.

“
I
am not here to usurp Serena. I look forward to working alongside her
to serve you, the citizens. I look forward to learning from her, for
we all know she has much to offer. Merpeople of Adamar, I did not
come here to be your queen, but I will accept that title with joy
and determination. That is, if you’ll have me.”

Utter
silence followed. A smile began to twitch at the corners of Serena’s
mouth, but Athena kept her head high. The roar of applause that
burst from the crowd was deafening. In seconds, they were chanting
her name. “Athena! Athena! Athena!” Serena felt as
though she might vomit. The name stung like a poisonous blade as it
filled her head.

Triton’s
smile was warm and genuine now. He gazed at Athena enraptured, like
her face was the only thing keeping him alive.

The
way he used to look at me
, Serena thought,
and her rage turned to a sorrow so great that she could not even
cry. It filled her up so thoroughly that it seemed to stopper all
emotion, all action. She felt empty, carved out like a mollusk
ripped from its shell.

In that
same moment, Triton looked at Athena and thought,
She’s
the most beautiful being on the planet,
and
she’s mine. Somehow, she’s mine.
And
for the very first time since their first kiss a month ago, he was
sure he’d made the right decision.

He had
fought with the idea since that day in the cave. From the moment
he’d kissed her, he knew that Athena was the perfect mermaid
for him.
But didn’t I think that about
Serena? Don’t I still think that about Serena?
he had thought. But upon consideration, he had realized that he did
not still think that about Serena, and the realization startled him,
even frightened him. Was he really so flippant? Was he shallow? Was
he insane? From the moment he had kissed Athena, Serena became a
mystery to him. He was no longer sure how he felt, and he had no
idea why. It had kept him up at night. He had scolded himself,
yelled at himself, fought with himself. The change was so sudden
that it was disorienting. He’d felt half-deranged.

Finally,
he could no longer deny it. He no longer loved Serena, at least not
in the way he loved Athena. Serena was an astounding mermaid. She
was the smartest merperson he knew, and the most talented. She was a
fantastic queen, and he felt a warmth in his chest when he thought
of all the wonderful things she had done for Adamar. He respected
her more than he had his own father. She was the mother of his
children. She had given him the greatest treasures in the sea. His
daughters’ faces were his definition of love, and they would
not exist without Serena. He cared for her deeply. She was his
friend, his fellow ruler. He did love her, but not in the same way.
Not the sort of soaring, swooping, can’t contain his joy when
he sees her face sort of love that he once felt—that he now
felt for Athena. When he had a thought, it was Athena he wanted to
share it with. When he wanted to have fun, it was Athena’s
name he called.

But, he
had thought, did that justify what he was thinking of doing? He
wanted to marry Athena—wanted it so bad that he could hardly
think straight. But Serena was his wife. Serena was queen of Adamar.
Could he really take those things from her just because he’d
lost that warm, tingly feeling in his gut when he looked at her?
Could he really throw away fifteen years of marriage for a mermaid
he had just met? The answer, of course, had been no. He was not that
kind of merman, and he did still care for Serena. He couldn’t
do that to her.

And then
the idea had come to him. It had come in one of the moments when he
was looking at Athena and needing her so bad he knew it would drive
him mad if he could not call her his wife, share his life with her.
Why couldn’t he give Athena the same things Serena had—his
hand in marriage, a crown, a title—without taking them from
Serena? He could have two queens. It had been done before. It had
been the norm just under a century ago. There was no law against it.

But
Serena wouldn’t like it. He didn’t have to ask. He knew
it. He knew she wouldn’t just dislike it; she would hate it.
In fact, it might crush her. He could not hurt her. Would not. So he
had kept the thought to himself, but it had grown like seaweed in
his head.

To drive
it out, he had tried to spend more time with Serena, tried to
reignite the old spark that had been blown out so suddenly, feel the
way he had just a few days befor. But even from that very first day,
right after he had come back from the cave trying to hide what he
had done with a smile and a kiss, it seemed that she knew. He could
not understand how she could know. Female intuition? Or something to
do with her magical ability?

At first,
when he had tried to speak with her, do things with her, she just
turned and swam away, tossing some weak excuse over her shoulder at
him. Each time she had done this, his guilt was nearly unbearable.
He could see the pain in her eyes. She felt betrayed. But she
wouldn’t speak with him, let him explain. Finally, after a few
agonizing days she had suddenly started acting normal again, as if
nothing had happened. She smiled at him at breakfast, lovingly
brushed crumbs from his beard, laughed with him about old jokes, and
went on their usual picnic. He had let himself believe that she had
just been busy over the past few days, or not feeling well, and that
his own guilt had made him perceive her mood incorrectly. She had no
clue what had passed between him and Athena, and he would keep it
that way until he had decided what to do about it all.

But her
cheery mood had not lasted for long. The longer Athena stayed in the
palace, the more morose she became. She was always saying things
like, “If she doesn’t leave soon, she’ll be
travelling in cold waters,” and “I thought she wanted to
travel, not hole up permanently in a new city,” and “It’s
sort of rude of her to stay in the palace on our hospitality for so
long, don’t you think?” Each new comment had a sharper
edge behind it. Each time he dismissed her comments with things
like, “Summer is just now coming to an end. The water will be
fair for months to come,” and “She wants to fully
experience the places she visits. You can’t do that in a day,”
and “It’s not as though she demands much or takes up
much room. And besides, the kids love her,” her face grew more
and more angry. Her eyes narrowed to slits. Her lip curled in
disgust to go along with the ugly noise she made.

She had
grown more and more unpleasant to be around as the weeks went by.
When he had asked her to do things with him, she snapped back with
things like, “Do you really think I have time for that right
now?” or “I’m tired of that,” or “I
have more important things to do,” or “Will
she
be coming along? She’s dreadfully dull; I won’t be doing
anything if she’s coming along.”

She
belittled his opinions, second guessing him in front of citizens
during audiences and talking over him. He had begun to suspect that
he had been wrong, that she did know something was going on between
him and Athena. It had been a while; if she hadn’t known in
the beginning, she had certainly figured it out. He had wanted to
talk to her about it, but he dreaded being around her more and more.
Instead, he had found himself confiding it all in Athena. When
Serena turned him away with a harsh word and an ugly look, he swam
off to find Athena.

Eventually,
though, he had gritted his teeth and told himself he had to talk to
Serena, tell her the truth of what he felt. He planned to do it
during one of her good moods, which were becoming rarer by the day.
But still, every now and then, he would hear her call his name and
he would turn around only to have her swim into his arms with enough
force to knock him backwards. She would kiss him and tell him she
missed him, that she loved him and they should take some time to be
together. But oftentimes, when he tried to suggest something to do
or tried to talk about something, she would ask, “Have you
already done that with
her
?”
or “Did you already tell
her
this?
You did, didn’t you?” Before he could answer one way or
the other, she was already mad at him again, or her face would fall
and she would be unbearably gloomy for the rest of the day, no
matter what he did.

The next
time she had approached him with a smile, though, he kept his word
to himself.

“
We
haven’t spent time together in ages, Triton,” Serena had
said, entwining her fingers in his and drawing his hand up to her
lips. “I have lots I want to talk about.”

“
Me
too,” he had said, and her brow had instantly furrowed in
suspicion.

“
About
what?” Her voice had suddenly become hard and cold.

“
Athena
and I—” he had started, but she had shoved her palms
against his shoulders, propelling herself away from him, disgust on
her face.

“
I
don’t want to hear it. I’ve already heard it all, and
what I haven’t heard, I already know.” Sparkling blue
tears had appeared in her eyes, and he had actually felt heat coming
off of her. “You and that little slut can do whatever you
want! I don’t give a damn anymore!”

“
Serena!
I’m trying to talk to you,” he had said, his nerves
turning to anger at yet another cast off from her. “Just
listen to me! Can you at least do that for me? After everything?”

“
You’re
telling me what
I
should
do for
you
? You’re
bringing up the past to
me
?”
Her voice was high and cold, and her hair took on a life of its own,
standing on end in thin strands as though she was being
electrocuted. “How
dare
you?
How dare you look at me like I’m betraying you,
your
trust,
your
feelings?
Don’t even look at me! Get out of my face! I don’t want
to see you. Go find your little slut and have all the fun you want!”

A mixture
of anger and sorrow had swirled in his gut as he’d stared
after her, making him feel sick. It was then that he had made up his
mind. He didn’t love Serena anymore. He loved Athena. And if
Serena was going to act this way and try her hardest to fight with
him all the time and make him unhappy, he might as well go ahead and
bring some happiness into his life. He still could not divorce and
dethrone Serena. He wouldn’t. She had a point, even if she was
getting it across in a poor way. He had hurt her, and he didn’t
want to hurt her any more than she was already hurt by taking away
her throne. And who knew? Perhaps she would come around. Perhaps
they could be partners again.

Floating
on the balcony overlooking the crowd, his gaze fixed on Athena, he
was sure it would all work out.

— — —

“
She’s
what?” The words were barely a whisper, much like a hiss.

Serena’s
teeth were gleaming in a snarl, but her eyes were wide with terror.
Hazel flinched back, afraid of the animalistic look on Serena’s
face.

“
She’s…she’s
pregnant. I overheard her handmaidens talking about it. It seems she
just found out. I’m sure they’re going to tell you soon.
Probably any minute now. I thought you might want to hear it from me
first.”

Hazel’s
head drooped like a wilting flower. Lately, she had started to feel
guilty about sending Athena and Triton off that day, the day the
spell was broken. At first she had been giddy, the envious monster
inside her purring with satisfaction. She had reveled in Serena’s
pain. Finally, Serena knew what it was to come in second. But as she
had watched Serena change over the past six months, the joy had
turned into a gnawing guilt, munching at her insides. Though still
convinced that Serena secretly looked down on her, Hazel realized
that what she had done was completely unwarranted. Serena had never
purposefully caused her pain, and she certainly had never found joy
in it. And yet, Hazel’s actions had perhaps been the final tip
of the scale that led to Serena’s misery. So Hazel had begun
to make it her mission to make Serena smile (something she rarely
did anymore) at least once a day. But now she was delivering news
that would shatter her already broken sister into even tinier
pieces.