Oceanborne by Katherine Irons Page A

the throne. He doubted if his father would ever forgive him, let alone name him crown prince over his half-brother Morgan.
    So far his mother’s plotting had come to nothing, and he was far worse off than before. His estates had been confiscated, his herds of sea horses, and personal fortune, all taken from him and redistributed to the masses. Even his allowance had been cut off. How was he to live in the style he’d been accustomed to?
    â€œAren’t you going to ask me what I want of you?” Halimeda said.
    â€œI’m sure you’ll tell me soon enough.” He was sick of dancing to her tune. It had been a mistake for him to try to be reconciled with the king, his father. Alexandros would need only the faintest excuse to put a knife in his back. Far better to be a visiting prince off some tropical island surrounded by adoring females than a dead prince here.
    â€œMorgan’s wife is with child.”
    â€œRhiannon?”
    His mother lunged forward and slapped him sharply on the cheek. “Yes, Rhiannon, you fool! What other wife does your brother have?”
    He ducked away, his hand itching to draw the sword and cut off her head, but he knew he wouldn’t. She was right. He was a coward. The last time he’d disobeyed her openly, she’d cast a spell over him, paralyzing him, filling his throat with nasty, crawling creatures. He shuddered. “What do you want me to do? Do you want her dead?”
    She shrugged. “He’d only marry again. No.” She shook her head. “It’s better to put an end to the child. Rhiannon is a changling. Lord Melqart has given me a potion that will drive her insane and shrivel her womb. That will end Morgan’s line and keep his mad wife from spawning any more half-breed brats.”
    â€œEasy enough to do,” he reasoned. “I have connections in the kitchens. But if she becomes barren and loses her wits, what’s to keep him from taking a second wife?”
    Halimeda laughed. “Your noble brother has sworn before witnesses to take no other wife while Rhiannon lives. You know he never wished to be high king. If he loses both the wife that he loves and the children he hopes to father—”
    â€œThe twins will become Father’s heirs, not me!”
    She flung the octopus. It smacked his other cheek and slithered over his head and down the back of his neck. He stood there immobile, quivering with rage while she ranted at him. “Never say that! You will be the next Poseidon! Lord Melqart has given me his word. You were the firstborn. You should have been crown prince from the first moment you drew breath.”
    â€œMaybe I would have if your grandfather hadn’t been a commoner.”
    She hissed and extended a hand. Light shot from her fingertips, and he dropped to his knees as blood filled his throat and poured from his mouth and eyes. Searing flame ignited his skin. It peeled and curled as his screams choked in his throat.
    Caddoc felt his body slam against a marble pillar. He slid down to the floor and lay there panting as the pain gradually seeped out of his battered flesh. “I’m sorry,” he sobbed. “I didn’t mean it. I will do what you say … anything you say.”
    â€œGood.” She rested her hands on her hips and sighed. “Get up! There’s nothing wrong with you. At least nothing that a helping of courage wouldn’t fix.”
    Trembling, Caddoc looked down at his hands. He feared there would be only bone and blackened tendons, but to his surprise he found himself whole. He’d suffered nothing but loss of his dignity. Still shaken, he got to his feet. “Tell me what to do, Mother. I am your servant in all things.”
    She looked down her pretty nose at him. “I should hope you are. I created you, and I can as easily rid myself of your incompetence. I’m young enough to have other sons, bold sons who are worthy to sit on the throne of