The Prisoner Princess

Revenge

The ring was small, too small almost. It was also plain. Unremarkable in every way but one. In human hands it was catastrophic, because they were plagued by greed. However, in Nereida's hands it didn't feel like anything except for right. This kind of power had always felt right, in the same way Sabina felt about her shadows and Loch about controlling the weather through song.

Nereida's head peaked above the surface. Loch and Sabina popped up on either side of her. The fish told her that it would be here, and the fish had always been loyal. She was not surprised to see the great ship in front of her, or the royal fleet gathered behind it.

She looked at her sisters. They nodded. They were ready.

She closed her eyes, and when the moment was over, she let go.

A single ripple emitted from her, heading in the direction of the fleet. It started to grow rapidly, becoming an enormous tidal wave of water. The sailors shouted, but the cries were soon silenced. The ships were bombarded with the force of the wave. Wood was torn apart as if it were nothing.

She could feel the death and destruction, yes, and it hurt, but she could also feel the life.

For on those ships, aside from troops and weapons of war, were the missing Naiades. Her people, stolen from the water by Vidarr's. They filled the water, restored, voices ringing and powers surging. They turned on the one boat that managed to have made it through the wave with a vengeance.

"Wait," Nereida said, and they all stopped. "Let a few live, to get a message to the land prince. Tell him," she caught a struggling soldier by the collar, "That he brought this war on himself, mobilizing like this. And that any travel on my waters is prohibited. Lest they turn out like this." She gestured. The soldier nodded quickly and she let him go, swimming toward the only ship left on the water.

Loch nudged her, "Well done, princess."

"Will there still be a war, you think?" She asked.

"That, I don't know," her friend replied, "But you will keep us safe, just as always."

With that, Nereida smiled and dove back under water, leading her people home.