Kesh shrugged. “I thought at first that I would persuade many of the Selkies and Mer who had been forced to leave their homes to follow me instead. When they did not, I took the few who were wise enough to listen to be my new subjects, and sat back to watch the rest of you die. You turned your back on me, so I turned mine on you. It was only fitting.”
“Fitting?” Boudicca sputtered. “Fitting to kill babies and old people because your father decided that you were unsuitable to rule? He did not banish you from the kingdom; you did that to yourself, leaving when matters did not spin in the direction you wished. You are a spoiled child, for all your age, and you would never have been half the ruler Gwrtheyrn is, or your brother will be.”
Gwrtheyrn shook his head, eyeing his eldest son with something almost approaching pity. “Do you not see, Kesh? All you have done is to prove that I was right: You are not nor could you ever be a proper king. A king cares for his people, and you care only for yourself.”
The old King heaved a sigh, turning away from his son to face Beka, his movements heavy and slow. “Might I ask one more favor of you, Baba Yaga?”
Beka braced herself. “I cannot set him free, Gwrtheyrn. I know he is your son, but he must face the Queen’s justice. She has commanded it, and I would not dare do otherwise.”
Gwrtheyrn gave a harsh barking laugh. “Nor I, Baba Yaga. Nor I.” He didn’t look at Kesh at all; it was as though the younger Selkie had suddenly become invisible. “I do not wish to circumvent his punishment. He deserves everything she chooses to mete out and more. But as you say, he is my son, and therefore my responsibility.”
The sadness in his deep black eyes almost undid Beka, but she could see what it cost him to stay strong in front of her and Marcus, and so she forced herself to sound as calm as he did.
“I see,” she said softly. “You want to bring him to the Queen yourself.”
“It is my duty and my shame,” the King said. “I will not shirk it.”
Beka rubbed her hand across her face, pondering his request. She had really been looking forward to taking Kesh to the Queen of the Otherworld herself, throwing him down at the Queen’s feet in a grand gesture of triumph that would demonstrate her worthiness to be a Baba Yaga.
But the Queen had only demanded that the traitor be brought to her; not who did the bringing. She would hear from Gwrtheyrn that Beka had been responsible for Kesh’s capture and know that Beka had fulfilled that part of her assignment.
Gazing at the furious and heartbroken King of the Selkies, she knew he needed to do this—needed it even more than she did.
She looked at Marcus and he nodded, clearly agreeing.
“Very well,” she said, with only a tiny pang of regret. “You may take him. See that he reaches the Queen alive.” She glanced over at Kesh, who curled his lip and sneered at her. “Although if he collects a few more bruises along the way, well, the water passage can be rough, I hear.”
Still ignoring his son, Gwrtheyrn gestured for his guards to come and take custody of Kesh, who was dragged away cursing voluminously and with greater imagination than Beka would have given him credit for. She suspected this was the last time she would ever see him. The Queen of the Otherworld was not known for her forgiving nature.
“You have earned the boon we promised you, Baba Yaga,” Boudicca said. “Have you aught to request from us? Perhaps a chest of precious jewels, or ancient coins reclaimed from the broken ships that lie upon the floor of the sea?”
Beka shook her head. “Neither of those, thank you, although I appreciate the offer.” She took a deep breath. “What I would really like is for you to make sure that the fish go back to where they belong, so that men like Marcus’s father can make an honest living doing the thing they love.”
Boudicca nodded gravely. “Easy enough to do, and little enough to ask after all that you have done for our people. Are you sure you desire nothing for yourself?”
Beka shook her head. She had almost everything she could wish for—and the only other thing she wanted, they didn’t have the power to give her.
“I am well satisfied, Your Majesty. After all, I was merely doing my duty as a Baba Yaga. I expect nothing in return for that.”
She expected the royals to leave, but Gwrtheyrn apparently had one more thing to say. He bowed low to Marcus, much lower than she would ever expect from a Selkie King facing a Human commoner. Boudicca came to stand again by his elbow and gave a small curtsy of her own.
“I am told by the Baba Yaga’s Chudo-Yudo that we owe you a debt of gratitude as well, fisherman,” the King said gravely. “He says that you have been of much assistance to the Baba in her search for the answers to our problem.” He eyed the knife slices in Marcus’s clothing and the fading remnants of the bruises on his knuckles. “And it is clear that you came to her aid in apprehending Kesh as well.”
His voice only broke a little when he said his son’s name, and everyone there carefully ignored it.