Prologue: In Which the Sea Witch Sets the Stage

Her story is legend . . . both in Under the Sea and in the Upper World. How could it not be? People—merfolk, especially—have always loved a good martyr. Especially when that martyr was the most beloved mermaid in all the seas.

They painted me as the villain. An old and evil sea hag—an aberration of the sea with legs of an octopus. But I wasn't always old. I have never been evil. And it was for her that I cursed myself with eight suckered tentacles. Once upon a time, I was a mermaid. I wasn't happy or even content with my life but I had the most beautiful voice in all the seas.

She used my voice . . .

Kailani, the youngest and most beautiful legitimate daughter of King Merrick. I was her servant; her bastard sister. She was everything I was not. Beautiful, outspoken, and outrageously vain. I thought she was happy. Why wouldn't she be happy? She had everything a mermaid could ever desire. But despite our differences, we had one thing in common:

We both dreamt of walking on land.

A/N: New story! This if a fairly short one. I've already written it all: about fifteen or so chapters; only about seventy pages. As you can see, this story is based off of the original little mermaid. I *did* borrow a couple elements from the movie (mainly the idea of the sea witch being part octopus and the use of a seashell.) All that to say, I do hope you enjoy. I'll be posting the first chapter along with this one and be on the lookout for another update later this week.

Cassandra