Free The Sea Witch (The Era of Villains Book 1) by S.J. Valfroy Page B

your face like that.”
    “ I
was surprised you had the guts to finally speak up. At least you
kept your head held high,” said Moira, making Hazel’s
eyes narrow. “You disappointed me, though. Sniveling in front
of Amphitrite like that. I shouldn’t have been surprised.
You’re a constant disappointment.”
    A wicked grin spread
across Hazel’s face at that.
    “ And
then she swam away like a little baby,” said Hazel, puffing
out her lip in a theatrical pout again.
    “ Yes,”
said Moira, dunking a clean vial into the cauldron and stoppering up
the blue liquid, “poor little Serena swam off because she
didn’t get her way. You swam like you have always swum from
your destiny, your powers. You let that weak, insecure little tuna
fish of a queen and her precious little brat get the best of you,
beat you down, drive you from your own home. You’re a
disgrace. Did you come back because you were hungry? Because you
were cold? You’re so sure you’re better than me, so sure
you don’t need me or my magic, and yet you come swimming back
to me when you need something.”
    “ I
didn’t come back because I was hungry or cold,” said
Serena, her anger quickly overpowering the small twinge of guilt
Moira’s words had brought on—she had let Amphitrite
drive her out of Adamar, and she had come back to Moira because she
needed something. “If you had bothered to keep track of your
own daughter like you keep track of the queen, you would know that I
went to a new city to start over.”
    “ If
you would let me train you, you would know that my window spell
doesn’t have the range to see things outside of Adamar,”
said Moira.
    “ I
know that, Mother,” said Hazel.
    “ Oh
bravo, should I give you treat?” said Moira.
    Hazel hung her head
and glared at Serena.
    “ I
was just fine without you,” said Serena, ignoring Hazel. She
should know better by now , she thought. But
she always has to be such a kiss-up. “ I
had a real job in Arcanus. I worked as a nurse. I could be one here
if I didn’t have your name hanging over me.”
    A purple spark caught
flame in Moira’s eyes and her tattoos vibrated.
    “ You
should be proud of my name, you ungrateful polyp! My name is power.
My name is feared. My name is respected—no matter what your
handsome prince’s mother thinks. What have you done? Who knows
your name? You think your little prince remembers it just because
you bumped into him once and flashed your eyes and wiggled your tail
at him?”
    Serena looked at
Hazel, hurt at the betrayal. Hazel tried to muster a sneer, but the
look of broken trust in Serena’s eyes made her cast down her
own and rub her right arm with her left hand in discomfort, as if
her shame was making it ache.
    Moira’s words
hurt even more than Hazel’s betrayal. She was right. Unless
something changed, Triton would never know her name. And for the
first time, Moira’s rants about her name being powerful and
respected did not ring so false in Serena’s ears. Serena
sucked in a deep breath, preparing to do what she’d sworn she
never would.
    “ You’re
right, Mother,” she said.
    Hazel’s head
snapped up so fast she hurt her neck. She rubbed it, glaring at
Serena with suspicion and something like terror. The flame in
Moira’s violet eyes was choked out, and her snarl smoothed
into a look of surprise that she quickly covered up with a sly
smile.
    “ I’m
sorry, darling, I didn’t quite hear you. What did you say?”
    Serena clenched her
jaw, seeing how much her mother was enjoying this, but she couldn’t
back down now. She had made up her mind.
    “ I
said, you’re right, Mother. He doesn’t know my name, and
I mean to change that.”
    Moira cocked her head
to one side and leaned it back slightly, her eyes narrowing and her
lips pursing quizzically.
    “ Finally,
you’re ready to take what you want. I can see it in your
eyes.”
    “ Yes.”
    “ And
you plan to use magic to get what you want?”
    Serena hesitated,
digging