CHAPTER TWENTY FIVE

Esmeralda Bastian—or at least one of the countless names she had adopted over centuries—was a name whispered in fear and loathing. Known to most as the Enchantress, her life was a tapestry of curses, heartbreak, and devastation woven across time and space. To those who encountered her, she was a mystery cloaked in malice, her motivations unclear. But one curious Selkie had uncovered the truth: Esmeralda's crusade of sorrow was rooted in her own broken heart.

It was a Selkie who pieced together Esmeralda's story, for she had a personal stake in the Enchantress's dark deeds. The Selkie's own mother, Yareli Swan, had been a victim of Esmeralda's cruel manipulations—a name once immortalized in the folklore of the Makah Tribe.

The tale of Yareli Swan was etched into tribal legend, a story passed down with equal parts reverence and sorrow. Yareli was a human woman whose beauty and grace captured the heart of Ahanu Ateara, an ancestor of the Ateara family. Their love story began as most great romances do: with chance, followed by passion, and culminating in a marriage that promised to unite their souls forever.

But their union bore no children, and therein lay the seed of tragedy. Yareli, unable to bear children, became the target of disdain from one bitter elder of the Ateara family. This elder, blinded by pride and prejudice, saw her barrenness as a threat to the family's lineage and status. He wove a web of lies and schemes to rid the family of Yareli, though he dared not spill blood himself. His every plot was met with failure, for Ahanu loved Yareli deeply and protected her fiercely.

Ahanu, aware of the elder's sinister intentions, devised a plan to flee with Yareli, away from the family and its poisonous politics. The two lovers communicated through letters, pouring their hopes and fears onto pages meant for each other's eyes alone. But the elder intercepted their messages, twisting their plans with false words. Each lover received a forged letter, one that led them not to safety but to despair.

On the fateful night of their planned escape, Ahanu arrived at the designated meeting place, believing he would reunite with Yareli. Instead, he walked into a trap intended for her—a cruel end orchestrated by the elder. The elder's mistake, however, sealed his doom. The family, horrified by his treachery, banished him from their tribe, erasing his name from their lineage. Yet, justice brought no solace to Yareli, who was left alone, her heart shattered by the loss of her beloved.

Grief consumed her, and Yareli's sorrow became a tidal wave that carried her to the doorstep of the Enchantress, Esmeralda Bastian. Desperate to forget her pain, Yareli begged Esmeralda to erase her memories, to strip away the agony of her love lost. Esmeralda, ever the master of manipulation, saw an opportunity. She promised Yareli relief from her heartbreak but instead cast her into the ocean, believing she would vanish into obscurity.

What Esmeralda did not anticipate was Yareli's rebirth as a Selkie, a transformation born of the sea's magic. Nor did she foresee Yareli capturing the heart of the Lonely King, the ruler of the deep waters—her King. The Lonely King, a figure cloaked in his own legends, had long been the object of Esmeralda's infatuation. She had spent centuries attempting to claim him, weaving spells and schemes to win his heart. But no amount of enchantment had succeeded.

And now, Yareli, a former human with a fractured heart, had accomplished what Esmeralda could not. She had won the King's love. Together, Yareli and the Lonely King found solace in each other, their shared pain forging a bond unbreakable by magic or malice.

Esmeralda's envy burned hotter than the sun on the ocean's surface. This was not just an affront to her pride but an unbearable slight against her very being. The Lonely King was hers to claim, hers to possess. Yareli's triumph was unacceptable, and Esmeralda vowed to undo it.

Her vengeance was methodical and cruel. She unleashed curses upon the sea and its people, sowing discord in every corner of the ocean. But her hatred was not sated. She wanted more than destruction; she wanted Yareli to suffer as she had.

Yet, in her obsession, Esmeralda overlooked a crucial piece of the puzzle. Yareli and the Lonely King had a child—a child born of love, a child destined to be the hope of a kingdom in turmoil. That child was the curious Selkie who pieced together her mother's past. The child who would one day rise to challenge Esmeralda Bastian herself.

For in her relentless pursuit of vengeance, Esmeralda had not merely cursed the world—she had unknowingly sown the seeds of her own downfall. The child born of Yareli Swan and the Lonely King was no ordinary being; she was a being of extraordinary power and potential, destined to restore balance to a fractured realm.

This child, Zahra, carried within her the strength of her mother's resilience and the boundless depths of her father's oceanic dominion. Her existence was a living contradiction to everything Esmeralda had sought to destroy. Zahra was love in its purest form—a love that had been tested, broken, and rebuilt stronger than before. She was the embodiment of hope and unity, a light that could pierce through even the darkest waters.

Esmeralda, in her arrogance, had underestimated the strength of the bond between the Lonely King and Yareli, and more importantly, the power of the love they had passed on to their daughter. Zahra was not merely a child of destiny—she was the force that would rally the sea and its inhabitants against the Enchantress's tyranny.

The years had shaped Zahra into a young woman who, though curious and compassionate, bore the weight of her lineage with a solemn sense of duty. Her journey had been fraught with challenges, from uncovering the truth of her parents' past to navigating the fragmented memories her mother had left behind as a guide. Every step brought her closer to understanding her purpose: she was the bridge between the human and Selkie worlds, the key to undoing the enchantments that had plagued her people for centuries.

But Zahra's greatest challenge was yet to come. To confront Esmeralda Bastian, she would have to face the Enchantress's greatest weapon—fear. Esmeralda thrived on the despair and insecurities of others, weaving them into her magic to bind her victims in chains of doubt. For Zahra to succeed, she would need to overcome not just her fears but also the lingering shadows of her mother's pain and her father's sorrow.

Esmeralda, for all her cunning, had created the one being she could not control. Zahra's existence was proof that love could outlast hatred and that even the darkest curses could be undone. And though the Enchantress still held the sea in her thrall, Zahra was the tide that could not be turned back.

The ocean itself seemed to respond to Zahra's presence. The waves whispered her name, the currents carried her forward, and the creatures of the deep rallied to her cause. They saw in her the promise of a brighter future—a future where the Lonely King's kingdom could thrive once more, free from Esmeralda's iron grip.

As the final confrontation loomed, Zahra prepared herself for the battle of her life. She carried with her the lessons of her mother's sacrifice, the wisdom of her father's rule, and the unyielding support of those who believed in her. Zahra was not just a daughter of love; she was a warrior of light, a beacon for all who had suffered under the Enchantress's wrath.

In the end, Esmeralda Bastian would come to understand a bitter truth: the power of love and hope could not be extinguished, not even by the most powerful of curses. For the very force she had sought to suppress was now rising to meet her—and it would not rest until her reign of terror was brought to an end...

kate mcgrath as esmeralda bastian