He gave her a bright smile.
“You’re so very clever,” Vanessa said softly. “Such a clever little musician. With your clever little operas. You’re giving everyone a free show at the end of the month, aren’t you? One wonders if you would even have time to devote yourself to the kingdom or anything military—even if you had an interest in it.”
“No interest whatsoever. I’m just the Mad Prince, that’s all. Don’t mind me,” Eric said, saluting her with the butter knife. “Carry on with your little war games. It does seem to keep you occupied.”
“I will, then, thank you,” the princess said primly. “By the way, I have orders out to kill Ariel on sight if she shows up on castle grounds again, you know. Not just her father.”
Eric choked.
When he recovered Vanessa was smiling at him venomously.
Eric worked his jaw, trying to quell the rage that would have him across the room and throttling her if he didn’t stop it.
When the immediate anger subsided he felt a terrible emptiness, a sick, sinking feeling that drained his whole body. He sat back in his chair, feeling defeated.
“Do you really have tentacles?” he asked flatly.
“Yes,” she said wistfully, through her full mouth. “Really nice ones, too. Long and black. I miss them.”
The serving boy came in and pretended not to notice the exasperated, obviously not eating prince, and the princess who had to keep chewing ponderously because of the amount of food she still had in her cheek pockets. Off a silver platter the boy took two paper cones—Bretland style, of course—filled with perfectly deep-fried baby squid gleaming in a crispy golden batter. After carefully setting one down in front of each of them, the boy immediately withdrew, trying not to look over his shoulder. The mood in the room was palpably icy.
Vanessa looked at the cone with delight, and the moment she swallowed the bread—another large, loud, disgusting gesture that showed the bolus going down her throat in an Adam’s apple-y lump—she picked up a squid with her fingers and popped it into her mouth.
“How can you do that?” Eric burst out, unable to contain himself.
“Do what?” Vanessa asked innocently.
“Eat…something that looks like you. Something out of the sea. Can’t you talk to sea creatures?”
“Well,” Vanessa said thoughtfully. “There are seas, and there are seas. There are the seas that you know and fish out and dump your garbage into and generally destroy in your careless human way, and the seas you don’t know. Seas that hide secret treasures and kingdoms of merfolk and portals to the Old Gods. And there are seas beyond that…between the waves, between the stars…where some of the truly Elder Gods come from. What I’m trying to say is”—she leaned forward and popped another squid into her mouth—“these are very delicious.”
“Disgusting,” he muttered.
“Like you humans care,” she said, rolling her eyes. “Have you ever tasted latium shark?”
“No. Is it good?”
“No idea, because you idiots ate it into extinction. Along with several kinds of sea anemone—such beautiful fronds!—sweet-hake, and other fish whose names were literally also the names of food. We could have quite a long discussion about tuna and lobster and cod and shrimp if you cared. I don’t. But then again, I’m what all of you call an evil witch. ‘Evil’ indeed. Meanwhile you humans scuttle across the sea and land literally devouring everything even remotely edible. If only you knew—you’re not that different from the more apocalyptic Elder Gods. Not really.”
Eric slumped, all the fear, anxiety, anger, and energy draining out of him.
“What do you want?” he asked wearily.
“What?” Vanessa asked, surprised. A squid was poised halfway to her mouth.
“What. Do you want,” he repeated. “Why are you still here? If my…memory…and legend has it right, you really are a powerful witch under the sea. What do you want to be here for?”
“Hmmm,” Vanessa said thoughtfully, chewing on the squid. “Powerful witch under the sea. My, I do like the sound of that. I suppose I was. But…does legend have it? Or did a certain little ridiculous mermaid tell you?”
“You got all the revenge on her you wanted!” Eric said, smashing his fist down on the table. “You got rid of the King of the Sea, you stole his daughter’s voice, you kept her from getting the prince…me. Why stay here? Why not return to the ocean, where you’re a powerful witch? Why do you linger? Why stay married to…me?”