Maame Water: The Legend Of The Fish Queen

Revelation

As the King sat on the floor of the vibrating cave, he assessed his situation. He had more than forty warriors under his command and each and every one of them would give their lives for him. All those forty men were skilled warriors, so skilled that these forty had defeated two hundred and fifty enemies in the Giant War, during the Battle of Diamonds. These forty warriors were feared in all of the lands and no army will be foolish enough to go up against them without more than five hundred men. Yet these women, no, creatures, in front of him held so much power that his warriors actually stood frozen in fear. If The King were to lead these men into battle against those fish-women, they would surely die. He had to buy time, give his men time to recover their wits.

"What is it brother? Are you scared?" the Fish-Queen laughed, causing the cave to vibrate yet again.

"H-how? How did y-you become this monster?" the King stuttered.

The Fish Queen frowned, "Monster? Oh come on brother, don't be so bitter. We both know that I am the most beautiful woman you have ever laid eyes on."

True, the Fish Queen was very beautiful, but the King noticed that her eyes were cold and that her smiles sent shivers up his spine. Even her hair radiated great evil, evil from the very depths of the underworld.

"Fine," she sighed. "Since you have been so good to me, I shall tell you how I came to gain this power. It was-"

"DON'T LISTEN TO HER!! DON'T LISTEN TO THAT WITCH!!" Adotey's brother screamed.

The Fish Queen turned to him and said in a voice made of ice, "Silence boy!"

Adotey's mouth snapped shut involuntarily.

The Fish Queen sighed, "Where was I? Ah, yes. Months before my husband disappeared, I suspected he was cheating on me and although I had no proof, I was determined to win him back. I thought he had fallen out of love with me because I could not bear him a child, because he thought I was barren. I was determined to prove him wrong. That is why I went to see the medicine man on the day he disappeared- do you remember brother? I went to see the medicine man to prove that I was fertile. I was, of course, devastated when my worst fears were confirmed and old man said I would never be able to bear a child. My husband, instead of comforting me, got very angry with me and blamed me for my infertility! He said that I had outraged the gods and they had cursed me with the infirmity! I had done nothing wrong! And yet he blamed me. He left home that night because he could not stand the sight of my shameful face. You remember brother, don't you? The way he screamed at me that night?"

The King remembered perfectly well, how his sister's husband had stormed into the palace that night roaring like an enraged lion, shouting at his sister. He would even have hit her, had the King not intervened. The Princess's husband eventually decided to leave the palace that night, so he would not have to look at his wife. All the while, The Princess, with her eyes red and her voice hoarse from crying, begged her husband to stay but her pleas only served to incense him. Her husband left the palace, and never returned.

"I begged him to stay, brother. I told him that I loved him and that I would find a way to make it right. But he wouldn't listen, would he? He did not love me enough."

"No, sister. He was shocked, he left the palace to gather he thoughts. He would have returned-"

"HE WOULD NOT HAVE!" the Fish Queen screamed. "He would not have. I followed him that night -without your knowledge of course- to make sure he was alright, because I loved him so much. I followed him, to make sure he did not get hurt, to make sure he got back to the palace safely. To make sure he didn't... hurt himself. I was disguised so he did not notice me when he went into the tavern. I thought it was reasonable that he would need a few drinks until I saw... her."

Her? So she found out, the King thought . Is that why she became this evil?

"He was sitting there drinking and... and laughing, w-with another woman! Another woman other than me!"

When the Fish Queen said this, she did not look like an evil mermaid. She looked like the innocent heartbroken Princess she once was. The King saw the pain and betrayal she had felt so long ago in her eyes. He almost felt sorry for her.

"I sat there in my corner of the tavern, watching them, watching him. He had never been that happy when he was with me. The woman who he was with was very beautiful, unnaturally so. She had silver hair, silver eyes and silvery-brown skin. I understand that it is easy to fall for such beauty but still, I was his wife! Had he no honour? They finished their drink and walked out of the tavern and I followed them like how you taught me, brother. I blended into the shadows and became one with the darkness. Eventually, the woman led my husband into this very cave. I watched as she got into the lagoon and I watched as my husband bent down to kiss her. With every kiss she pulled him deeper and deeper into the lagoon and still I watched, unable to move."

The Fish Queen stopped talking and smiled, "She drowned him and I watched her do it. I loved him and she killed him and I couldn't even lift a finger to help. After I realized he was dead, the fear vanished and all I felt was anger, outrage. I picked up a branch off the ground and rushed at her. She looked at me with slight amusement, she was not even scared of me. When I got close enough, I swang the branch, aiming for her annoyingly beautiful face. It was only when she stopped the branch with her hand that I realized the folly of my actions. My husband was one of the King's strongest warriors, second to Adotey, The Pig, yet this skinny, fragile-looking woman had managed to drown him without so much as a struggle. Ha, she was not even out of breathe. She effortlessly threw me to the ground and got out of the lagoon. That was when I saw her tail."

The King's men gasped. So the mystery woman was also a witch.

"I see that you are surprised. I too was surprised when I saw her silver-and-blue tail change into legs. I tried to run away but my bones felt like water. I had been crippled by fear again. It was not until much later that I realized that she had used her powers on me. She looked at me and said: "So you were the wife of that man? Pity." Her voice was so soothing but this was the evil that had killed my husband, I would not be seduced like he was."

"So I called her a murderer. I even threatened to have her arrested. She of course laughed at my outburst and told me something I would never forget: Your husband did not deserve you. I know you loved him, but he did not deserve you. He left you, his wife, for someone he has only met once before. Is that love? He saw you as weak and helpless, but I know you are not. I see the fire in your eyes. Only one with such fire could have broken my spell and attacked me. What you need is power, and I can give you that. Join me, and you will have any man you desire. Join me, and no man will disrespect you ever again."

"And so you took her offer? You joined her?" the King asked.

"No," the Fish Queen scoffed. "I was too young, too naïve. I would never form an alliance with the being who had murdered my husband. I still loved him you know and at the time, the wound was still fresh. So though I knew she would most likely kill me if I did, I denied her offer. However, she only smiled and told me I would come to her eventually. She made me swear not to tell anyone- not even you- what had happened to my husband, and so I did not."

"You just sat in your room, all day and all night, and cried your heart out," the King remembered.

"Yes, I was mourning the death of my husband."

The King now understood why his sister never had hope that her husband would be found alive. She'd always hoped they would find his body because she knew he was already dead. "So if you did not accept the offer, then how did you become the Fish Queen? Who caused you to become... this?"

The Fish Queen flashed an amused smile, "Adotey, The Mighty Pig."

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