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“That Ursula took Circe. I thought that’s why you were helping her.”
“No, we called her for help. She said she’d help us find Circe once we destroyed Triton.”
“I see, so you agreed to ruin Ariel and kill Triton for your own pleasure?”
“Not for pleasure! For Circe! Ursula told us her tale and gathered our hate so we could destroy Triton together! In return she was to help us find our sister! Now our hate will rain down on her like a thousand nightmares for betraying us! She will live in baleful agony beyond the end of her days for this!”
Lucinda rose to her feet. Her sisters remained sitting, utterly astounded that Ursula had used them so shamelessly. Clearly Ursula hadn’t been lying about her brother; they had seen the proof of Triton’s treachery in the divination fires.
“Triton truly deserves to die, there was no question, so why this betrayal?” Lucinda screamed. “There was no need to deceive us! I don’t understand. Perhaps Ursula thought we would refuse her. We would have helped no matter, and what if we had refused? Was she going to threaten us with the life of our sister? Blackmail!”
Lucinda was raging with anger, clutching the hand mirror. “Where is Ursula now? Show me the sea witch!”
Vanessa appeared in the mirror. She was on the wedding ship, looking like a maniacal bride. Her pallor was almost ghastly. It was as if her anger was starting to distort her lovely guise and the sea witch was now melding with Vanessa. Ariel was lying on the deck of the ship and Eric was looking on in horror as Vanessa bellowed, “You’re too late! You’re too late!”
Lightning burst from her fingertips, penetrating the sky like the worst of storms, before her true form exploded from her human shell, causing everyone on the ship to scream in horror, as she crawled along the deck like a slithering thing of nightmares toward Eric and the little mermaid.
“She has Ariel!” screamed Ruby. “We’re too late!”
Lucinda clutched the mirror and said, “No. No we’re not!”
She cast her hand at the chamber door, sealing it with her magic so none of the servants would be able to get in. She moved to the center of the room and stood beneath the glass dome. The sky exploded with light as fireworks burst above their heads, raining down upon the dome. Ships had been gathering near Morningstar Castle all evening for the winter solstice, there to pay tribute to the Lighthouse of the Gods with offerings of fire and light. Lucinda recited a new incantation.
“Kill the witch and make her bleed, release our sister, my words you’ll heed!”
Ursula’s brother appeared in the mirror, his face full of wrath. “Let her go!” he yelled at Ursula, who had Ariel in her grasp. Ursula laughed. “Not a chance, Triton! She’s mine now. We made a deal!”
Ursula showed Triton the contract Ariel had signed, and wondered what was going through his mind. Was he frightened for his daughter’s life? Perhaps I should make him watch while I kill his precious child—make him suffer the pain and fear my father felt before his death, the death he said my father deserved!
“Daddy, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to! I didn’t know!” cried Ariel.
Triton’s anger was growing with each breath, swelling, until he released his rage at Ursula, slamming her into a rock with the power of his trident, trying in vain to break the contract.
“You see! The contract is legal, binding, and completely unbreakable, even for you.”
Then she smiled at him, in that way she knew he hated, the smile that meant she couldn’t wait to see him choke on her hate.
“Of course I was always a girl with an eye for a bargain. The daughter of the great sea king is a very precious commodity.”
And, I daresay, the little sister of the dreaded three is even more so, she thought.
The odd sisters’ anger filled the room like a choking smoke. As much as they hated Triton, they hated Ursula more. How dare she take our little sister! How dare she use her!
“Ursula’s deceived us, Sisters! She has no intention of letting Circe go!” Ruby’s and Martha’s screams were heard in the many kingdoms, but Lucinda remained eerily
calm.
“Quiet, my darlings, we don’t want Ursula to know we’ve learned her secret. She intends to use our Circe against us, as a tool for bargaining, to ensure our help in her future plans. The Dark Fairy was right. We have to stop her.”
The witches again began their chant, which grew louder and more violent as their bodies convulsed and contorted with every word…
“Slice the witch and make her bleed, kill the witch, my words you’ll heed!”
…and they watched Ursula and Triton in their magic mirror.
“But I might be willing to make an exchange for someone even better,” Ursula said.
Triton knew what she wanted. It had never been Ariel; it was him. His power. His soul. This was her vengeance, and part of him felt he deserved it. He had chased his daughter away with his hatred of humans and brought madness upon his sister with his betrayal of her. Yes, this is what I deserve, he thought. He would take his daughter’s place. Ursula’s words rang in his ears as he signed the contract: If I am this foul creature you describe, it’s by your design! Ursula had been right when she said that. He had created this monster and there was nothing he could do to amend it. His regret would mean nothing to her. His words would be like ashes.
