And that, my sweet, is the truth. Not the sanitized, sugar-coated drivel the bards will sing in the courts above. They will sing of a brave Prince and Princess of foam being a stain on a dress, and of the King of Barnacles. And of course, of the Sea Witch who vanished into the dark. They will paint me as a nightmare that was briefly endured and happily discarded.
But you know better now. You’ve heard the whole sordid affair. The betrayal. The drag. The absolute nerve of that boy. I paused.
I wasn’t much to look at in the moment. I was just a mantle. A swirl of sentient ink and rage clinging to the severed body of my torso. My lower body was gone. It was left rotting on those rocks where he shot me like a trophy buck. He failed to shoot me in the hearts. He missed my brain. And the soul? The soul is a stubborn stain. It doesn’t wash out.
I looked at my guest. She was weeping. Big fat wet tears of familial grief. No one ever held concern over the pH of my home. I don’t want to breathe in those tears. But, she was a plain thing. Skinny and nervous, so desperate for approval.
“Oh, Octavia,” she sobbed while wringing her hands. “It’s horrible. It’s just... horrible.”
“It was,” I agreed. My voice echoed from the walls. “But it means so much to me that you came when you heard the news. To avenge me. Such a loving thing to do.”
The old girl sniffed and straightened her spine.
“I will,” she vowed. “I’ll kill them all and sink their ship. They will pay.”
“Yes, yes revenge is sweet,” I said. I moved my mantle to face her. “But let’s be practical, darling. You were always... subtle. You don’t have the horsepower for a war. Not yet.”
I gestured with a tendril of ink to the contract floating in the water between us. It was a fresh parchment. Standard boilerplate.
“What you need is a signature,” I purred. “I can’t wield the power without a vessel. And you... you need guidance. Sign the contract. Give me access to your reserves. I will keep you safe. I will hold you, protecting you in the barnacle garden safe and sound while I do the heavy lifting.”
“Safe?” she asked while eyeing the contract. “And we will rule together?”
“Forever,” I wasn’t lying. “Just a signature, little one. To reforge the line. And you will be by my side every day.”
She hesitated. She looked at the contract. She looked at the remnant of who I once was. And then, driven by a lifetime of being second best, in a moment of grief, she reached out.
She signed.
Refelda
The ink flashed gold. Then it turned blood red.
“Excellent,” I whispered.
“What happens now?” she asked.
“Now?” I laughed. “Now I molt.” The magic flowed out of her.
Refelda gasped as her essence was ripped away. Her skin turned gray. Her eyes bulged. She shrank faster and faster until she was nothing more than a small barnacle planting itself firmly in the garden soil. Safe and sound. Just as promised.
I drank it in. All of her magic and all of her power, I drank it. And I ignited with the power of my family line.
The Leviathan Trench burned. A storm of electricity and ink swirled around the center of the room. The water boiled. It all turned red with a fire from within. The spell rose in my throat. It was the cry of a bird born in fire.
“Caviar of a fallen star
Dead Sea salt and scroll,
From the fires of the Phoenix,
Let this mer exact her toll!”
The explosion could be heard in the Arctic Sea, and the shockwave it emanated was so heavy that a tsunami was born in the Colonies on the other side of the world.
The clouds cleared and the water cooled. I floated there. I looked down at myself. Gone were the eight tentacles. Gone was the billowy white flesh. I had reforged myself anew.
My tail was covered in vibrant, blood-red mermaid scales shimmering like a fresh wound. The scales grew up the front, just enough to cover the girls, but still left space for ample cleavage. The most magnificent part was at the waist four muscular tentacles burst forth. They were a milky white covered in deadly black spots each ringed with electric blue. Still toxic.
I was mesmerizingly beautiful and deadly lethal.
I reached up to touch my hair. It was no longer black. It was a mane of orange fire impossibly burning underwater and defying the ocean itself. I suppose I was always meant to be a redhead.
I floated to the one remaining mirror on the wall. I turned to admire the silhouette. I marveled at the hybrid vigor. I had a killer figure, literally. I smiled. My teeth were white and sharp against the red lips.
I reached out my hand, hoping to call the Spear. It took a few moments. But it met my grip with a force that spun me. The Spear of Lir knew its owner. Immediately afterward, my crown, the platinum-spiked accessory that brought with it the rule over the sea, came careening through the water like a barracuda. It met my other hand, and I placed it into the flames of my hair. It burned itself black, but it stayed right where it belonged.
Just as I was about to swim off to finally pay my respects to Carlotta’s grave, my rebirth was interrupted when a shadow passed overhead. It was the Royal Barge. Prince Devan was no doubt sending a party of hunters to track down the hideous woman who broke his heart. Well, not on my watch. I was now the Queen of the Ocean and I would defend my surf. I jettisoned myself with my new tail. My tentacles only added to the speed, providing bursts with each thrust. I had forgotten what I was missing. This sheer ease with which I glided through the water was like a heat seeking missile. Only I was the heat and the missile. I was going to blow that ship out of the water.
Then someone dove off the side. Man overboard. I slowed my swim. I noticed a cloud of red growing around the form. They were injured.
Suddenly, a school of sharks swam right past, making a formation as they tracked upward towards the smell. That smell is everywhere the moment it hits the water. But not the regular smell of rotting crotch that I had oddly become accustomed to in my time on the surface. This was sweeter, more tender. It was Devan. He was about to be eaten, and if anyone was about to eat that Prince it was going to be me. I raised the Spear of Lir causing a whirlpool to churn, throwing the makos off course. I then pushed off and swam as fast as I could. The four tentacles at my waist added an extra burst of speed.
I arrived to find Devan floating there. He had a small gash on his hand but he was squeezing it with his other hand. He was intentionally bleeding into the water. He saw me approaching. I could tell he was surprised by my new look. He waved. Then he smiled the goofiest smile. I stared at him. I blinked then I found myself smiling back.
I looked up at the surface, at the Royal Barge. Then back at him. He shook his head. And then he nodded towards me. He was asking to stay. I looked down, and gestured at my body, at my breasts. He nodded. Then he motioned toward his chest. He needed oxygen. But I had something better.
I aimed the Spear toward him and a whirlpool of Biomancy was unfurled upon his form. When the waves settled I saw him there. He had a magnificent green merman tail that perfectly matched his eyes. He flipped his fins, trying them out. Then gave a whirl in place. He stopped and looked down toward me. He swam. Faster than I’ve ever seen anything swim before. He stopped just a few feet away from me.
“Thank you,” he said. “I’m sorry that I shot you. I was scared and you looked like you were about to destroy everything in sight.”
I was. It’s true. I looked at him, gesturing to his tail.
“Is this what you wanted?” I asked. “I can send you back if you want to go back. I’m sorry I lied to you. I truly was only trying to help my niece. I didn’t mean to…”
He was looking at me with that hunger again. I could tell that he wanted to eat some octopus, but it wasn’t stew he was hungry for this time.
“I’m not a man, Devan. I was once. Well, twice. But I will never be a man again. And I will never be human again.”
“I don’t care,” he replied. “I didn’t fall in love with you because you were a man. I fell in love with you because I love you… Octavia. Scales and all.”
I needed to address the orca in the pool before we could truly move forward.
“You feel this way even after you saw me turn my niece into seafoam?” I asked. “You don’t think I’m a monster? An abomination? You aren’t shocked by my appearance?”
“Was I shocked to see the man I was standing at the altar with turn into a giant squid lady?” Devan laughed. “Umm... yeah. But you can’t change who you are inside. That’s who I fell in love with.”
“I saw how they treated you. I heard the things that they said to you,” he offered firmly. “If you were a monster, then you were simply being the monster that they made you be. And let’s face it, Avis was the abomination, if anyone was.”
“Technically.” I smiled. “The term would be moctopus.”
“And what of your kingdom?” I asked. “You would walk away from the throne, from your crown?”
Devan flipped his new fins as he whirled around, circling me like a silly dolphin.
“I can’t walk away from anything now,” he said. “But I’ll swim wherever you want to go. Besides, Martan will make a much better king than I ever could.”
“I could put you in the dungeon,” I replied. “For attempted murder of the Queen.”
“Whatever you wish, Your Majesty.” He smiled.
Your Majesty. He was the first to call me that. He knew right where the g-spot was on my ego.
“Okay,” I whispered.
Yes, he killed me. Sort of. But no one is perfect. Besides, have you seen his eyes? No, you haven’t.