Page 10 of From the Mouths of Sirens

“Tell me why you want to become bird food so much,” Selussa murmured in her ear. “Surely you’re aware that the Kingdom of Elorshin has not won the Tournament in a century. What makes you believe that you can win?”

Selussa’s question wormed its way into her head, suddenly making her doubt herself. There was something about the Witch’s voice that made her feel uneasy and insignificant.

“I have trained with the Torqen for ten years. And I am gifted with the powers of the Sea,” she answered. She lifted her hand, forming an orb of seawater in demonstration. “I could be the first Mer to win in a hundred years.”

There was cold hunger in her eyes as she watched Saoirse manipulate the orb of water. “Impressive,” Selussa conceded. “A determined little thing, aren’t you? I like that.”

The Sea Witch left her side, swimming to a shelf of books. She ran a long nail across the spines, searching for a volume. She grabbed one off the shelf and flipped through the pages.

“It won’t be too difficult to break your father’s command over the Sea,” Selussa said confidently. She went to another shelf, grabbing several glass vials. “The difficult part will be slipping my mind-altering serum into his cup,” she added, her red lips catching the light of the fire.

“You can do that?” Saoirse marveled, watching as Selussa gathered all of her materials across the room.

“Why yes,” Selussa replied proudly. “I can alter minds and change thoughts with just a drop of my elixir. I am a potions mistress, among other things. I was the one who first discovered the properties of mangrove root and willowherb, you know. Have you ever wondered where the Elders get their supply of titanblood elixir? Without my potion, the Mer could never breathe on land.” She glided through the water to a stone table, laying out all of her containers and jars before her.

“What is the price you demand for your services?” Saoirse asked. She wasn’t naive enough to believe that the Sea Witch’s help came without cost. She watched as Selussa began measuring out the liquids and pouring them into a crystal-encrusted bowl. She swirled all of the ingredients together, her eyes lighting up as the liquid melded into a homogenous potion.

“To receive your heart’s desire, worthy prizes you must retire,” Selussa recited. “To win a gift and acquire, three sacrifices are required.” The potion she stirred in her pot began to glow with otherworldly light and hiss with heat.

“In short,” the witch explained, “I require you to willingly give me two treasures of great value. Oh, and you must also fulfill a bargain.”

“But I don’t have anything to offer you,” Saoirse replied, looking down at her Torqen armor and the empty purse at her waist.

“Oh, but you do,” Selussa purred, coming across the room with the now-completed potion. “You have great power over the Sea, as you just mentioned. Power you inherited from that father of yours,” she said, gesturing to Saoirse. “Power said to have been passed down from the Titan of the Sea.”

“I can’t give you my powers,” Saoirse breathed in disbelief. “I need them to win the Tournament.”

“Don’t worry, love,” Selussa replied, “You’re more than equipped to handle yourself without control over water. As you said, you are a warrior of the Torqen.”

“Will I ever get them back if I allow you to take them from me?” Saoirse asked, looking down at her palms and imagining what it would be like without her abilities.

“I promise you,” Selussa nodded, “as soon as you win the Tournament, your powers will be restored.”

Saoirse narrowed her eyes at the Witch. “How can I trust you? I’ve never heard of you before. There must be a reason why you have been banished to the Fretum,” she added suspiciously.

“Thanks to a minor crime long ago,” Selussa replied with a casual flick of her hand. “I was once the potions mistress of the royal family, hired to concoct various elixirs to treat ailments. On occasion, I even developed truth serums for interrogations.”

Potions mistress? Saoirse had never heard of such a position in the royal household, at least not in recent years.

“Fine. Keep your secrets and don’t tell me what you did to wind up here.” Saoirse looked around the cold room, trying to imagine living in such a lifeless place for decades. “If High Elder Adda can open the Fretum, why haven’t you left after all this time?”

Selussa frowned, as if annoyed by her questions. “It doesn’t work like that, child. I was banished here by blood, sealed into this tomb with ancient magic. Even if Adda can enter, I can never leave.” Her eyes darkened with memory, the first real sign of emotion in her black eyes. “I was banished a long time ago and certainly well before your time. Enough about me, love,” the Sea Witch said dismissively, “all you need to know is that I never break a bargain once it has been made.” Her black eyes glittered in the green light.

It was clear the topic of Selussa’s origins was off limits. Saoirse relented, deciding it was for the best not to push the Sea Witch. She wasn’t here for Selussa’s secrets. “And what of the second requirement? I must offer you two valuable items. But I have nothing left to give.”

Selussa smiled gleefully at Adda. The Elder reached within her long, flowing robes, pulling something out of the hidden folds. The dark pearl shone in Adda’s palm.

“I retrieved it after your father’s dramatic show at the ceremony. Angwin didn’t stop and think about how valuable this is,” she breathed, holding it up to the light. “To think it could’ve been picked up by a child or swept into the dust of the amphitheater, never to be seen again…”

“Take it,” Saoirse said abruptly, turning to Selussa. “I have no need for it. I stole the pearl because I believed it would win me a place in the Tournament. And it appears as though it still can.”

She took the dark pearl from Adda’s outstretched hand, anxious to get the bargain over with. “It’s a worthless trinket,” she said, tossing it to Selussa unceremoniously. The Sea Witch caught it in mid-air, her claw-like fingernails flashing in the torchlight with unnerving speed. She grinned, her black eyes seeming to grow darker. It reminded Saoirse of the black eyes of sharks when they tasted blood in the water.

“A fine bargain this will be,” Selussa murmured, utterly transfixed by the pearl in her hand. Her gaze snapped back up, narrowing on Saoirse once more. “You have offered two gifts,” she told her, moving across the room again. “Now you must make a deal.”

“What do you want?” Saoirse asked warily. She had already taken everything she had to offer. What was one more promise in exchange for changing the lives of her people?

“What do you know of the Aura?” the Sea Witch asked slowly, her eyes darkening with something like wicked glee.

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