Part of Your World (Disney Twisted Tales) - Liz Braswell Page 0,71

serving boy came m and pretended not to notice the exasperated, obviously not eatmg prmce, and the princess who had to keep chewing ponderously because of the amount of food she still had m her cheek pockets. Off a silver platter the boy took two paper cones—Bretland style, of course—filled with perfectly deep-fried baby squid gleaming m a crispy golden batter. After carefully setting one down in front of each of them, the boy immediately withdrew, trying not to look over his shoulder. The mood m the room was palpably icy.

Vanessa looked at the cone with delight, and the moment she swallowed the bread—another large, loud, disgusting gesture that showed the bolus gomg down her throat in an Adam's apple-y lump—she picked up a squid with her fingers and popped it mto her mouth.

"How can you do that?" Eric burst out, unable to contain himself.

"Do what?" Vanessa asked innocently.

"Eat... something that looks like you. Something out of the sea. Can't you talk to sea creatures?"

"Well:" Vanessa said thoughtfully. "There are seas: and there are seas. There are the seas that you know and fish out and dump your garbage into and generally destroy m your careless human way, and the seas you don't know. Seas that hide secret treasures and kingdoms of merfolk and portals to the Old Gods. And there are seas beyond that... between the waves, between the stars... where some of the truly Elder Gods come from. What I'm trying to say is"—she leaned forward and popped another squid mto her mouth—"these are very delicious."

"Disgusting," he muttered.

"Like you humans care," she said, rolling her eyes. "Have you ever tasted latium shark?"

"No. Is it good?"

"No idea, because you idiots ate it into extinction. Along with several kinds of sea anemone—such beautiful fronds!—sweet-hake, and other fish whose names were literally also the names of food. We could have quite a long discussion about tuna and lobster and cod and shrimp if you cared. I don't. But then again, I'm what all of you call an evil witch. 'Evil' indeed. Meanwhile you humans scuttle across the sea and land literally devouring everything even remotely edible. If only you knew—you're not that different from the more apocalyptic Elder Gods. Not really."

Eric slumped, all the fear, anxiety, anger, and energy draining out of him.

"What do you want?" he asked wearily.

"What?" Vanessa asked, surprised. A squid was poised halfway to her mouth.

"What. Do you want" he repeated. "Why are you still here? If my... memory... and legend has it right, you really are a powerful witch under the sea. What do you want to be here for?"

"Hmmm," Vanessa said thoughtfully, chewing on the squid. "Powerful witch under the sea. My, I do like the sound of that. I suppose I was. But...does legend have it? Or did a certain little ridiculous mermaid tell you?"

"You got all the revenge on her you wanted!" Eric said, smashing his fist down on the table. "You got rid of the Kmg of the Sea, you stole his daughter's voice, you kept her from getting the prmce...me. Why stay here? Why not return to the ocean, where you're a powerful witch? Why do you linger? Why stay married to...me?"

His last words sort of trailed off, like a weak wave returning from the shore to a vast sea, disappearing m the limitless water.

Vanessa laughed throatily and deeply. If Eric didn't look directly at her he could easily imagine a much older, much larger woman, voice husky from years of cigars or hard living. But he did look at her, and the dissonance he experienced while viewing the weirdly innocent face was too much like a fever dream.

"Oh, dear, no," she said, moving her face m a way that implied she was wiping tears of laughter, but her hands moved differently, still breaking the legs off baby squid. "I will say you have a certain... charm. And youth is always attractive. But, my love, you're short at least eight tentacles. Maybe six, if I were generous and counted your legs. Also, I like my partners with a bit more...heft to their physiques."

Eric was unsure if he was more horrified or relieved.

"It's always the case, isn't it? Men are pretty much the same the world around, regardless of their race," Vanessa said, exasperated. "They always assume they have the complete, undivided attention of whatever female creature happens to be in the room."

"All right, yes, I get it, this is a marriage of convenience, thank you. But why? Why are you here?