The Kraken King, Part 8

by Meljean Brook

  The other woman bowed. “Yes, your majesty.”

  “See to Admiral Tatsukawa before you return, Captain.”

  “I will, your majesty.”

  The empress’s eyes went dark. Lady Nagamochi stared at her for a long moment before looking to Ariq. She bowed. “I am glad you are a friend, Governor.”

  So was Ariq. He tried to speak, but everything inside him seemed to tremble, like a muscle held taut for too long before letting go. His people were safe. His town was safe.

  He’d won.

  Perhaps embarrassed by Ariq’s stunned immobility, Taka returned her bow. “We are grateful to you, Captain.”

  Grateful. No, they weren’t. The empress and the captain had forced him to this point. He shouldn’t have to be grateful when they finally acted as they should have from the beginning.

  But Ariq would not say so. Instead he said, “My brother believes that you still suspect him of treason.”

  And he wished that Taka didn’t care what they suspected him of. His brother had been innocent, yet he’d still been stripped of his honor. But Ariq could not give it back to him.

  Lady Nagamochi could—and did, when she looked to Taka and said, “Of course I do not. And her majesty also knows that you weren’t aware of your mother’s activities or assisting her. It was only misfortune that you suffered while the guards at the prison discovered that truth.”

  “Misfortune, yes.” Ariq nodded. “Just as it would be misfortune if the fleet lingered too long near my shores and was accidentally swept away in the Skybreaker’s wake.”

  Lady Nagamochi grinned and inclined her head. “Yes, it would. So I will wish you well, Governor.”

  He bowed and started back to the gangway—stopping only when the imperial guards suddenly appeared on the ironship’s deck again. Admiral Tatsukawa wasn’t with them.

  Ariq frowned, but Taka only said, “Come,” and led the way over to Lady Nergüi. One of the guards spoke quietly to Lady Nagamochi. Without a change of expression, she nodded, then glanced at Ariq.

  “When they found him, my father was already dead,” Taka said beside him. “I do not need her to tell me that. He would die with whatever honor he had left.”

  Not the justice Ariq would have preferred, but good enough. “Tell Captain Corsair’s crew to wave the flag, then,” he said. “And let our people know we’ve won.”

  Won without a drop of bloodshed. His mother had been right. That truly was the best victory.

  But it would be even better when he shared it with his wife.

  ***

  He waited for her in the Skybreaker’s chamber. Almost three hours had passed while enough water was pumped from the cavern for them to exit, and everyone inside would still have to swim from the machine to the ladder. Ariq swam out to the machine, instead, waiting near the entrance as Tsetseg emerged, then Cooper, and finally his heart appeared in the entrance tunnel, surrounded by mechanical flesh.

  With wide emerald eyes, she looked up at him. “Did you see what we did?”

  Crouching, Ariq grinned. “I did.”

  “Did you see how high we were?”

  He reached in for her hands. “I did.”

  “And we lifted that ship right up out of the—Oh!” She gasped and laughed as he hauled her up. Her arms circled his neck. “Did you see the fleet run?”

  All but Commander Saito, who would continue patrolling these waters. “I did,” he said before kissing her.

  And finally felt that he’d won.

  Chapter Thirty-five

  By that evening, Zenobia had never danced so much in her life. She had never laughed so hard or so long. She had never been surrounded by so many friends.

  She had never been so in love and so unafraid.

  The kraken still roasted on the beach, and the townspeople had built a bonfire nearby, the flames leaping into the sky. Never had she seen such a celebration. She’d eaten until she was about to burst, and drank sour arkhi until her head swam, then cheered Ariq on when he stripped off his tunic and handily defeated opponent after opponent in a wrestling pit—even after his soldiers began rushing him in groups.

  When Ariq finally withdrew from the competition and started toward her across the sand, the sweet ache in her chest almost undid her. Oh, but he was such a man.

  Taking her hand, he pulled her out of sight behind the kraken shell, and kissed her until her knees gave out. He caught her against him, and his grin was amazing, terrible. Beautiful.

  “Happy, my wife?”

  There were no words to describe how happy. So she kissed him again, loving his warmth and his smell and the feel of him. Here they were, in almost the same place as when he’d first said that he wanted her in his bed, yet everything was so different. She was his. He was hers. And what had begun as a simple journey had become so much more.

  “I love you,” she told him. “More than I ever dreamed. You are the adventure I never expected. And I hope it never ends.”

  “It won’t,” he said. “I swear it.”

  She believed him. But he seemed already determined to prove it, sweeping her up against his chest and trudging across the sand.

  Laughing, she looped her arms around his neck. “Where are you taking me?”

  “I’m abducting you.”

  “Truly?” With a grin, she laid her cheek on his shoulder. “And what will my ransom be?”

  “Your heart.”

  “But I can’t give it to you,” she said.

  He frowned down at her. “Why?”

  “Because you already have it.” When he smiled, she let go a heavy sigh. “I suppose if I can’t pay the ransom, that means you’ll never let me go.”

  “I won’t.”

  “Then take me home . . . oh, wait. Wait. You can’t. Take me to Lady Nergüi, instead.”

  He didn’t change his course. “Why?”

  “Because Yasmeen can officiate a marriage aboard her ship,” she said. “And I need to make you my husband.”

  He abruptly stopped. Carefully, he set her on her feet and cupped her face in his big hands. His dark gaze searched hers. “You’re certain?”

  She’d never been more sure of anything. “Yes. Absolutely certain.”

  “You still have walls.”

  “And those will probably never fall,” she told him. “But you, Ariq—I will always let you in.”

  His eyes closed. “My wife. I could not love you more.”

  She would make sure that he did. Taking his hand, she tugged him toward the docks where Lady Nergüi hovered. “Come, my husband. You and I cannot board an airship without some excitement befalling us. So let’s see what awaits us this time.”

  And even if the only excitement came from the vows they spoke, no doubt their marriage would be its own adventure. The greatest one.

  Ariq swept her up and carried her toward it.

  Krakentown, Western Australia

  August 21

  My dearest brother,

  I’ve enclosed a duplicate of my latest serial adventure. As you can see by the pages, you no longer need to send me a new typesetting machine. Helene recently sent to me everything that I’d left behind in the quarantine, and I’ve been writing like a madwoman ever since. The story line is a departure from my usual tale, and features a tinker instead of an adventurer, but I believe you will enjoy it. And if you don’t, I will know you for a complete idiot and never speak to you again.

  Oh! but my silence would only last until you come and visit me. You will find me much changed since you saw me last. I was in love then, and happy, but the size of that love and happiness is nothing compared to what they are now. My husband is like the most wonderful story I’ve ever read. Every part contains something new, and even when I think I know a passage by heart, I inevitably discover something that I hadn’t noticed before wh
en I read it again. I keep turning the pages, and turning the pages, wanting to learn everything about him, yet so grateful I will never reach the end, and that there will always be another page to turn.

  But I must get back to it now. Another story awaits—one from my pen, and the amazing one that is my life. And this time, if I were to give my adventure a title, I will know exactly what to call myself.

  With all of my love,

  The Kraken Queen

  Meljean Brook lives near Portland, Oregon, with her family.