Page 22 of Voice of the Ocean

Nerissa turned and fixed the princess with her glossy black gaze. “I know many things,” she said. After looking Celeste over, she added, “What do you want?” It wasn’t a demand but a careful question. As though everything Celeste could ever hope for could be hers, and all she’d have to do was say the word.

Celeste swallowed. “Legs,” she said. No point in drifting around the coral about it.

The witch laughed. It was a surprisingly normal sound. “Why?”

Celeste had imagined the Sea Witch would have all the answers. But Nerissa had only questions, and Celeste had plenty of her own questions to deal with.

“I—I want to find a human,” Celeste said. Something in her gut told her that she shouldn’t trust the Sea Witch with the entire story. But when Nerissa did nothing but stare at her for several long moments, the princess finally added, “On land.”

This was goingswimmingly.

Nerissa contemplated this for a moment, then swam forward. She took Celeste’s chin in her hand, turning her head left and right to look at her face from every angle. Celeste balled her hands at her sides and attempted to keep her face neutral.What was she looking for?

“And so you ask me to give you legs,” Nerissa said. It wasn’t a question.

“I mean—” It felt like a trap, but Celeste wasn’t sure she wanted to tell the Sea Witch any more about herself or her objectives than she had to. What if as soon as she said yes some sort of magic happened, and she was stuck in a terrible situation that she couldn’t get out of? Maybe her fingers would end up in a jar. “Yes,” she finished. She alreadywasin a terrible situation she couldn’t get out of.

The witch laughed again. “You are funny, Princess. I am not trying to trick you.”

Sure you aren’t.

Nerissa turned and swam across the room, stirring the bioluminescent seaweed that hung from the ceiling in waving tendrils and lit the grotto with a blue-and-purple glow. She lay languidly across the soft pink insides of a massive shining clamshell. One of her numerous sharks swam after her, circling her lazily. The sharks were everywhere. At least a dozen of them, from what the princess could see. Celeste remained where she was, waiting silently until Nerissa at last continued.

“Icanmanipulate the body,” she said. “Change the fin into feet, remove your gills.”

The princess’s eyes widened. It was at this point that it dawned on her that she would essentially become a human. A fact she should have realized sooner, but in her defense, it had been a rather long few days.

“Will I still have my Song?”

Nerissa turned the question over in her mind. “Yes,” she said at last. “So long as you have your voice, you will have your song. But humans do not have magic. You would have to hide it or risk discovery.”

Celeste nodded, the cold reality of her situation settling in. She cleared her throat and charged forward. “Rumors say you require payment for your services.”

“Of course. I do not simply help any unfortunate who wanders into this grotto.”

“Name your price,” Celeste said.

She expected the witch to take a moment, but her answer came right away.

“A favor,” she said simply.

“A—a favor?” Celeste’s voice came out an octave higher than normal.

Nerissa smiled. “Yes, Princess. Any favor I wish at any time I wish it.”

Silence fell between them. Being in debt to the Sea Witch sounded both better and worse than what she’d imagined. A favor could be anything, and Celeste doubted it would be something simple. What if it was her firstborn? Not that she was considering reproducing anytime soon. Or what if the Sea Witch asked Celeste to murder someone? Countless questions ran through her mind, but she was unsure how to ask them. Still, she couldn’t back down now. She was in too deep. Both literally and figuratively.

“A favor is rather broad,” Celeste said.

“That is by design.” Nerissa smirked.

Celeste fell silent again.

“I can agree to this price,” she said at last. “But I would require boundaries.”

Once more the Sea Witch laughed. Her black eyes crinkled with her smile, and Celeste saw not a monster—but not a friend either. She almost wished Nerissa were a monster. Monsters seemed far more straightforward.

“Name them,” the witch said.

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