The Prisoner Princess

Reunited

For a long time, Nereida kept herself as water. It felt so good, every drop renewing her to what she was before.

But then they were in the open ocean, far from land, and she heard her sisters' voices beside her. "Nereida," they beckoned. So she retook her form, if only for them. Her skin was no longer grayish but rejuvenated. She looked as healthy as she had been before Vidarr had taken her captive, and every bit as devastatingly beautiful as before. The water swirled around her. She felt powerful then. So, so powerful.

Sabina was grinning and Loch looked awfully smug. They offered her back her circlet. Instead of receiving it though Nereida threw herself at them, holding them tight.

Briefly, she remembered love, how she had thought she had never felt it. Maybe she had, just not with the prince. Maybe it wasn't confined to just humans. Maybe there was a kind of love she felt for these two Naiades, who had come after her even though there were little ties on land, even though it was dangerous.

"What- how?" She asked, breathless, pulling away to look at them.

Shadows and light seemed to dance. "It's a really long story," Sabina answered, and so she started.

When she finished there was silence, until Loch prompted, "So what are we going to do?"

Grimly, Nereida looked up toward the surface. She thought of Vidarr, of the war brewing on the horizon that he would no doubt face, of the Naiades still missing from her waters. A shadow blacked out a spot on the surface. There was a boat nearby. An idea started to form. "We make him pay."