Chapter 5
AUTUMN was coming to Ipswich early this year, the air had already turned crisp and nearly frigid cold by early September, and it would not be long before old man winter was upon the realm once more, though Darius could not manage to pretend to care. The sea breezes tousled his dark hair lazily, and he let a haggard sigh escape his cracked lips as he tugged on the hem of his cloak.
Gods. He was only forty, but he felt much older, and his sweet Helena, she was only thirty, and yet time was slipping from his beloved like sand caught in her fingers. As the cold whipped through the air, he shuddered.
He often thought that the cold was an omen, a sign of bad things to come, but most of the time, the Prince's lieutenant and second-in-command alongside Captain Brutus was able to dismiss such a thought straight away, as such superstitions were for the gullible, and he had always considered himself to be a man beneath such principles.
The thought of omens and the gods stirred a bittersweet feeling within him, and a shining pressure had begun to build behind the man's blue eyes. His wife was the religious type, saying her prayers faithfully each morning without fail to Odin and to Freya, whichever Norse god she saw fit to help her with her illness, leaving any offering she could at the temples, though more times oft than not, her pleas went unheard. Darius's heart clenched as he spotted Eric and the lady Ariel in the distance, taking a stroll.
They looked too perfect together, arm-in-arm as they were, that it made Darius want to give everything to be in that state with his beloved wife, Helena. Though it was getting harder and harder to veil her condition from the Prince and the rest of the castle's staff.
Only Carlotta knew of the illness of the stomach that plagued his wife, and he had sworn her to secrecy the moment their greatest kept secret had been discovered when Helena had been too sick to scour the pots in the kitchen one morning, having found his wife curled up by the hearth in the spare drawing room, vomiting into a spare bucket.
She had claimed she had eaten something that had not agreed, though Carlotta knew within hours after speaking with Darius's wife at length about it in the privacy of their own home, that it was an ailment of the gut, one for which there was no cure.
Eric was speaking animatedly to the young redhead as he escorted the girl for a walk through the castle's grounds, careful to remain within the borders as she seemed skittish to want to venture beyond the walls. To see his best friend so happy despite his age difference of being almost twenty years his junior left him with an amazing feeling of conflict. To see him with the girl reminded Darius that cruelty and pain did indeed exist in the world, and must exist, though he found himself cursing himself of obscurity.
He was beginning to wish he could believe in the gods, that one of them could offer their help to save his wife.
Darius wondered viciously why the gods had forsaken him and Helena and why time was not on their side. Unable to stand the feeling of feeling as though the castle's walls were closing in around him, the Prince's friend and closest confidante had found his way outside to the grounds and he could not help but look upon Eric and Ariel as they walked through the grounds with longing.
Not because he was jealous of Eric, no, what he had with Helena he would trade for nothing in the world, but because Ariel seemed a healthy woman not in danger like Helena, not a woman as his beloved wife was whose time was borrowed and was running out.
He ran a hand down the length of his face, which was becoming prickly from his days without shaving, and fought the urge to go after the Prince and confess their greatest kept secret. That his wife was dying and had been the better part of a year.
The doctors and physicians could not help her ailment and have given his beloved Helena less than a year to survive.
Darius knew he was being foolish in not confiding in Eric the truth of Helena's fatigued state, why she seemed to be tired more and more these days, why it was a struggle for her to walk without searing pain in her gut, much less keep down any food that she ate.
Though even as the thought of going to his Prince and friend for help crossed his mind, an abrupt bitterness seeped its way into the pit of his stomach. No doctor in their hamlet could help her, what would make the physician at the castle be able to help his wife? The castle's doctor was a doddering old fool now blind in both eyes and needed Carlotta's help to walk and be his eyes and ears. The poor man was stooped over backward so far with the curse of old age that Darius thought it was a wonder the man could still walk straight. No. He shook his head violently to himself to rid his mind of the notion.
He would not trouble Eric with this, and there was nothing that could be done for his beloved.
At this point, he would need a bloody miracle, one that only the gods could provide if they existed.
Darius had never put much faith in the gods, though Helena has. Darius tired closed his eyes as the wind ruffled his wavy black hair gently and tried to ignore the little ache in his stomach at the thought of Helena dying before the new year came.
The thought of never seeing his wife smile at him, the thought of never holding her in his arms, never feeling her lips against his in a kiss, or losing himself in the sensation of loving her when the world faded away to nothing else in the night, was not something Darius was willing to entertain. The thought of Helena dying was not something he could handle, and the thought put a sour taste in his mouth and a desperate yearning ache in his chest. He thought there was nothing he would not give to save her life…
Visions of his wife's pale face flooded through his mind as he kept his eyes closed and though she was not here by his side, he already imagined her labored breaths. When he opened his eyes and stared out at the sea before him, the man's wintry blue eyes were filled with desperation. He blew out a deep breath as he forced the words from his throat that he never thought he'd speak.
"Oh, gods of the sea, hear my plea. My beloved wife, my Helena, is a gentle woman and she has suffered enough. She fades before my eyes and will be dead before the new year. I implore you, to grant me the power to save my wife's life. I will do anything, I will become anything. Please. Help me." His voice cracked and broke as he swallowed the tears that began to swamp the back of his throat.
"Darius…" A ghostly call of his name left the Prince's friend frozen in his tracks.
It seemed like a series of female voices were calling his names in whispers and screams that he could not decode where it was coming from, though his feet moved as if by rote memory out of the Courtyard of the castle and towards the sea.
A seagull cawed somewhere in the distance above his head and his breaths caught in his throat with a halt. Every step forward left him feeling a foreboding feeling of dread in his gut, but he continued to move as the sound of his name continued to be called.
"Darius…Darius…"
The voice nearly made him jump. He cast around for the sound of the ghostly voice that called to him, but if there was a witch about, she hid well. He came to a halt at the edge of the beach, unable to explain how he could feel the thrum of magic in his blood. His narrowed and hardened eyes landed upon a ripple in the water, and he watched, both mesmerized and disgusted, as a formidable and cunning-looking creature, a sea witch he supposed, rose from the ocean, though this wretch that had revealed herself was no god or goddess that he had ever heard tales of or prayers whispered to.
Darius fought the urge to crinkle his nose in disgust and pull a face as he looked upon the sea witch's many tentacles that flicked in all directions around her. She made no move to leave the water, or perhaps she could not, and Darius made no move to wade into the water to greet her, content to remain right where he was.
The witch's eyes were a piercing catlike green and they moved with a listless disinterest over his slender form. She was no goddess that he recognized, and he suspected Helena would not know this one's name if he were to ask his wife.
He could not say what she was, beyond that he was sure this creature was the source of the voice he had heard, beckoning him to her side. He hissed in distaste and took a step back. The creature parted her lips as if to speak, though it took the sea witch a moment to find her voice, and when she did, her voice was a smooth buttery purr that made the hairs on the back of his neck stand up on end as she spoke to him in a coy-sounding voice.
"Was it you that called upon the gods of the sea?"
Darius's eyes widened in astonishment as he pursed his lips, his blue eyes making a quick scan of the tentacled creature in front of him. A flicker of something sparked in those dark and otherwise lifeless green eyes. Anger.
Her lip curled upward into a feral snarl that suggested to Darius that she did not care for such a silent assessment.
"Who are you?" There was an edge to his voice, but not even he could discern it and what his tone sounded like. He did not bow, though he did offer a slight head incline. She was a witch after all, even if she was no god. "How did you know of my plea? You look like no god or goddess of the sea I have heard of or seen pictures of from the stories," Darius spat with no small amount of suspicion laced in his voice as he looked the tentacled monster in front of him up and down.
"I am Ursula, and though I am no god as my brother, I have answered your plea, did you not call upon the gods for our help?" A low throaty chuckle left the back of the sea witch's throat, coming from deep within her throat.
It reminded Darius of a wolfish growl, low and threatening.
It unnerved him and he almost turned heel to flee, regarding in his moment of desperation calling upon the gods for help if this is how it was going to be, but he was rooted to his spot and unable to move at all.
There was little that he could do at this point, and he thought bitterly to himself that he might as well humor this witch. Perhaps this sea witch of the deep fathoms below could help him.
The sea witch's lips twitched as she fought back a smile. Perhaps she had realized she had Darius reluctantly at full attention, for she spoke in that smooth buttery purr that never failed to set his voice on edge as he realized nothing this witch said to him would sound sincere until he witnessed a glimpse of her power with his own eyes.
"My dear boy, I am Ursula, the witch of the sea, and sister to King Triton of Atlantica, the realm underneath these waters. And it was I who heard your call for help as my 'dear' brother is called for other matters…"
The witch trailed off, her green eyes turning glossy and somewhat concerned as she looked into Darius's troubled blue eyes for a moment longer than the Prince's lieutenant was comfortable with, yet she quickly looked away for it to not be too strange.
"I can save your wife, handsome, but it comes at a price. All magic does, boy, you will surely learn it in time, you seem intelligent enough to know and do not need me to tell you that, yes?" The sea witch's expression turned grim as a grave as she spoke. "There is always a cost that must be paid in the end. What would you be willing to give to save your pretty little slip of a wife, hmm?"
"I would see my wife healed and kept safe no matter the cost. Whatever the price, I will pay it," he promised passionately, as he gazed at Ursula, contemplating the sea witch's words, wondering if he could trust her, his conflicting emotions warring within him. "Name your price, witch. I will pay it, I will do whatever it takes to save my Helena and see her smiling at me again. I will get her back," he vowed.
The sea witch's eyes slid past him and her eyes lighted upon Prince Eric and Ariel in the distance, too preoccupied with enjoying one another's company and seemingly too distracted to pay much attention to anything else around him and they did not notice them. Though Darius had a sinking suspicion in the pit of his stomach this creature's magic protected them both from being seen by those she did not wish to lay eyes upon their private conversation. Warmth—or was it affection?—seemed to animate the sea witch Ursula once more as she flicked her gaze back to Darius once more, a smile twisting her features strangely.
It was subtle, but there. But just for a moment, underneath her grotesqueness, Darius thought he saw the shadow of someone beautiful, someone un-cursed.
The sea witch studied this man who reeked of desperation and fought against the coy smile playing at her lips. This one was a handsome man, of that she could not deny, an enchanting type for a mortal, in a rugged sort of way. He was slender, with a lean face with handsome features that would not arouse suspicion and when he moved, he moved with the kind of quickness that Ursula was looking for. Yes, he would do quite nicely.
"I have a proposition for you, it is a deal that I am sure you will trust. I would heal your lovely little wife, but in return, you will become my eyes and ears on land where I cannot follow my niece. Oh, yes," she added, nearly cackling with glee as a tentacle whipped forward and the end stroked Darius's chin as his mouth went slightly slack in surprise and his brows furrowed in confusion as he looked towards Ariel. "Has my darling niece Ariel not told you? She is not part of your Prince's world. Not yet, anyway, though she hopes to be. She came to me, wanting to get away from my dear brother, her...charming daddy, the sweet girl who suffers much at his hand as his youngest of seven daughters. How could I possibly refuse help from my niece, but I fear that she has stolen something of mine, something that I fear will never be returned to me… and...since I cannot follow, as even my magic has its limitations, I would have you become my eyes and ears, spy on them, every stroke, every secret, they will all be mine and I would have you be my messenger."
Darius's face contorted in anguish. He loved Helena deeply, though the thought of betraying his friend, and the mysterious but enchanting Ariel, filled him with turmoil. He could tell that the Prince cared for the girl, he recognized the smitten look in his friend's eyes well enough, having seen it in his own in a mirror a time or two again whenever thoughts of his wife would cross his mind when she would smile at him shyly out of the corner of her gaze.
"I…" Darius struggled as he searched for the right words. "What you ask of me, witch, I cannot betray them. Eric is my friend as well as my Prince, and one day, he will be my King. My loyalty will forever lie with the royal family, as it has in my family for generations past and those to come."
Ursula made a noise of dissent through her nose and clapped her hands together in wicked glee. Darius nearly jumped at the sudden noise as the witch rubbed her hands together.
"How noble of you. Loyalty. Such an unnecessary sentiment. But do take care to remember, poppet, that it was you who called upon the gods of the sea for help, and I answered, though the longer you linger, you waste my time, and I am a merciful witch, but I am not without my limits." A shadow flashed across the sea witch's face, and a violent shudder went down Darius's spine to see the shadow of the monster this witch had made herself, whether, on purpose or accident, he did not know. But he had no time to dwell on it as she spoke in a voice that stuffed the chills down his throat. "What is it that you truly want, Darius? Will you let your wife die, or are you willing to do as I ask to save her life?"
Darius's gaze shifted between the Prince and the lady Ariel's silhouettes in the distance and Ursula's penetrating green eyes.
He took a deep breath, steeling himself for the decision he was about to make. He knew that Helena would disapprove, and he cringed to think what Eric would say if the Prince learned of his decision to accept his offer, or how betrayed the younger man would likely feel, but honestly, he knew of no other way. If this was the only way to save his wife's life, to save her, he thought that he could do anything, he could become anything, even if it meant he'd become an enemy of Eric.
Darius lifted his chin and jutted it out slightly defiantly as he glared at the witch, cursing the creature for putting him in this position and forcing him to choose between two extremes.
"Fine," he snapped coldly with a bark to his voice that had turned hoarse which made Ursula chuckle. "I will accept your offer, witch. Heal Helena, heal my wife to the fullest extent of your magic's capability, and I shall become your eyes and ears. I am yours to command and summon at will as you see fit. But mark my words, witch, if you dare to cause harm to the Prince or Ariel, you will answer to me, and make no mistake, if that happens, then I will kill you," he growled through his teeth as his temper surged.
He felt the fingers of his sword hand twitch as he moved his hand to rest over the hilt of the hunting knife he wore tucked securely in his belt for safety. Though Ipswich was a relatively peaceful fishing hamlet, they were known to suffer raids from pirates.
Ursula clucked her tongue in mock disappointment though the witch was smiling, revealing rows of sharp jagged teeth that made Darius think of a shark.
"Then we have a deal, my dear Darius. I would expect nothing less of such a brave man and a loyal friend to the Prince. You will play your part well, and your wife's life shall remain healed and untouched. But should you falter or attempt to deceive me in any way, if you breathe a word of our discussion to your Prince, the consequences for your wife will be dire. I will drag her down to the fathoms below and let her be free snack for the Kraken," she threatened.
Ursula's eyes gleaned with a mixture of amusement and malevolence, but there was no denying that her voice dripped with sinister intent as she left her threat hanging in the bitter salty air between them.
Darius swallowed down hard past a lump in his throat and his mouth, already dry, went dryer still as he licked his lips.
Though despite the worry and trepidation that wormed its way into his stomach and churned it into hard coils, making him feel slightly ill, he could feel his resolve strengthening as he braced himself to embark on this treacherous path. For her.
He lifted his gaze to the witch once more and looked at the sea witch Ursula with a mixture of determination and wariness sparking to life behind his electric blue eyes, making them sparkle like gems.
When he spoke, there was a tremble to his voice, though he fought it back down, and when he tried again, his tone was firm and resolute. He did not mistake the steel in the sea witch's voice. The witch Ursula and aunt to the girl Ariel if he was to take the witch at her word did not want any sudden acts of deceit or trickery from him.
"I understand. I give you my word and I promise you, Ursula, in my honor, in exchange for saving my wife, I will not fail you. My loyalty to Prince Eric and now to Ariel will guide my every move."
Ursula's sinister smile widened the moment the words left his lips, revealing her sharp teeth once more which nearly made Darius cringe.
"Excellent, my pet. Let our little game begin, Darius. You are mine now, and your fate and that of your wife are forever entwined with mine. Shake hands with Ursula, and the pact is sealed. Your wife will live. This I swear to you, boy."
She stretched out a hand and Darius could scarcely recall anything he had desired to touch less, and her grin widened as if she was well aware of his thoughts. For all he knew of this witch, she most certainly was.
The witch's grip was deceptively strong as he stretched his hand to hers and grasped onto her hand. The magic thrummed beneath his skin the moment her hand came into contact with his, and a little golden tendril of light appeared from nowhere and snaked its way around their conjoined hands before seeping as warmth into the top of his palm. The sea witch's fingers were unpleasantly cold to Darius, but if the warmth of his skin caused her any discomfort, then Ursula was quite good at hiding it from him now.
Darius tensed, far too late, as he felt the warmth in his veins dissipate and he knew then that pact was made, and the deal done.
The sound of the sea witch's grating voice pulled him back to himself a bit and he looked up just as she began to turn around and submerge herself in the water again. Her back was paraded to him, and Darius sensed that he was, for the moment, dismissed.
"I will call upon you in one week. Pray that you have information worth sharing, boy."
The skies above his head seemed to darken with a coming storm as the sea witch Ursula vanished from his sight, leaving Darius alone with his thoughts and the weight of his desperate deal. He did not bother to hide his disdain and turned on his heel towards the village, eager to head for home and to check on Helena.
But as he walked away, he frowned, not letting himself look back at the sea, for fear of seeing the sea witch, his new mistress.
Ursula's booming laughter drifted after Darius anyway, caught on the chilly autumn breeze that gusted through the air, leaving a deeply unsettling presence in its wake...