by Munt, S. K
Until the tsunami. Roan had perished, and though the kingdom had been heartbroken, they’d instantly launched into deliberation over who the next candidate for Ivyanne’s hand should be. Ardhi had seen himself placing Ivyanne’s crown on her head during a wedding ceremony, and the image had turned on millions of switches inside him he hadn’t realized were there until then. He’d gone to his parents, to get advice on how best to handle his sudden desires-only to have them inform him that Nigara Loveridge had come forward, and that the queen had already decided on him, and that Ivyanne had agreed.
The Kayu-Api’s weren’t fond of the Loveridge's, for the way Tristan had rejected an offer of marriage from heir oldest daughter Lumi back in the eighties, but when they learned that Nigara had a human girlfriend and child he was prepared to walk away from to marry Ivyanne, Ardhi’s family had been too moved to say a bad word against Nigara. Even Ardhi. Feeling like a child in comparison to a man, he’d kept his feelings to himself.
But the feelings hadn’t gone away. The queen had given Ivyanne until her twenty-eighth birthday to remain independent, hoping that would give Nigara time to disentangle himself from his human family and do one final service in the war on terror-something he’d never be able to do again, as future ruler of the mer people, while Ivyanne came to terms with the new arrangement.
And so Ardhi had remained Ivyanne’s constant companion. And every day, he fell more in love with her. The dreams had intensified. She haunted his every thought, and yet somehow, she hadn’t noticed.
Then the news came that Nigara had died, and knowing that Ivyanne would once again have to choose a husband, and terrified that he’d be the victim of silence once more-Ardhi had found her that very afternoon and dropped to his knee, begging her hand. In hindsight, that had been a big mistake. Ivyanne had been in shock until then, but his declaration made her fly into a rage. She’d screamed at him for lying to her by concealing his feelings, and had ordered him out of her bedroom-and out of her life until he: ‘Got his senses back.’
Ardhi had been devastated. His parents had been shocked-and the entire kingdom had been scandalized. Unbelievably, no one saw his actions as those of a man in love-but an opportunist who didn’t have the sensitivity to hold his tongue.
But Ardhi hadn’t seen a reason to be sensitive about the situation-he’d never expected Ivyanne to mourn the death of a fiancé she’d barely known. But according to her mother, who actually had taken the time to hear Ardhi’s explanation-it wasn’t just the loss of Nigara that had broken Ivyanne’s spirit, but the belief that she was cursed. Vana had explained that Ivyanne’s grief was compounded by guilt-Roan had died en route to her, and Nigara had taken on an extra service to give the princess time. So she felt responsible for the lives of both men, and guilty that she couldn’t mourn either the way they deserved-with a broken heart-as she’d loved neither.
So, naturally-the belief that Ardhi might lose his life too had terrified Ivyanne, and she’d handled it badly. And because she hadn’t had an inking about his feelings towards her, his proposal had come as a massive shock. Vana had explained that Ivyanne had reconciled herself to a loveless marriage, one forged from duty, not desire, and she’d been comfortable with that. The concept now, that her future spouse might actually love her, and require love from her in return, had spooked the overwrought princess, who valued Ardhi too much as a friend to gamble with his heart. That notion had cheered Ardhi somewhat-had given him hope that Ivyanne was only keeping him at arm’s length because she cared too much for him. Not too little.
Once Vana had explained all of that-she’d informed Ardhi that her days of choosing husbands for her only daughter were through. That Ivyanne was to make the decision herself, with no pressure from anyone, and that if Ivyanne could love him, she’d be free to do so.
But the problem was-Ivyanne had never made a choice for herself in her life, and she had no idea of how to go about it. So she’d buried her head in the sand and refused to discuss the subject until she was ready. Which included freezing Ardhi out.
That had been almost seven months ago. Ardhi had been patient. He’d given her space, but he hadn’t disappeared from her life either. And when she’d told him that she was going to the mainland because she needed a break from the pressure, he’d kept his protests to a minimum.
But where had his tolerance gotten him? How could Ivyanne abandon him, claiming that she wasn’t ready to even consider her future, only to allow Tristan bloody Loveridge to wrap himself around her, mere days later? When he’d seen them silhouetted against the bonfire, two heads of curly blonde hair, Ardhi had felt his heart shatter into a million fragments.
And what was the deal with the human? Ardhi hadn’t been close enough to hear them conversing, but he’d seen Ivyanne’s face alight with animation-seen her knock back a full drink in one gulp the moment the tall man had loped away. She’d then turned to the ocean, and rested her hand against her heart with a ridiculously moved smile on her face. A smile Ardhi had never seen before. A smile no human should be capable of gleaning from their princess.
His initial instinct had been to emerge from the water, grab both men and shove them into the fire, so they could burn like he was. But he’d retained enough sense to get the hell away before he outed their species, and now here he was. Lost in the familiar. Aching from an old wound that had been torn anew, and completely clueless as what to do, to make the burning stop.
⁓
The first thing Lincoln had done when he’d awoken on Tuesday morning was strap on his joggers-and head down the rainforest lined road, towards Seaview township. He had a lot of thinking to do-about Adele and Tristan, about the fact that Pintang had seemingly become best friends with Ivyanne overnight, and about the fact that he was rapidly falling out of love with his girlfriend-and in love with someone else.
But he had a lot of showing off to do as well. And he’d known just where to start.
‘Good morning,’ he greeted the ogre behind the register. His grin was so wide, he could practically feel the corners of his mouth touch his ears. ‘How are you?’
She did a double-take, and Lincoln had expected no less. She was a small person, with a small mind, and easily impressed. The fact that he’d ever allowed her and her resentment of his rejections manifest into such a crippling blow to his self esteem astonished him. He should have known better, and put her in her place two months before.
‘Did you have surgery or something?’ She asked, her hazel eyes accusatory.
He let that tactless remark roll of his back-his lean, tanned back. ‘Actually no- amazing what two weeks of exercise and a fabulous spa technician can do, isn’t it?’ he winked at her. ‘You should try it sometime-her name is Aubrielle. Mention me, and she’ll give you a discount.’
The barista instantly went about the business of steaming his milk, pushing a sweaty, copper colored lock of hair over her ear. ‘Yeah right-with a newborn baby and a business in these times? Like I’ll ever have the chance to book into a spa for a day.’
Lincoln studied her while she worked, feeling a stirring of empathy. Her nails were bitten down to the quick and the space between her index and middle finger stained heavily from nicotine. She’d gone to some trouble to twist her hair up into a bun, but the steam from the expresso machine had worked it out and apparently, evaporated most of her make-up at the same time. In the background, a child wailed, and when Lincoln peeked around the corner, spotted her tiny infant on it’s back in a playpen in the small kitchen beyond. It’s face was red and scrunched with newborn-indignation. That’s when it occurred to him that he’d never seen a husband around. Was she doing everything by herself?
Lincoln swallowed as he got an insight into what her life was like: Hard, boring and sleep-deprived. Forced to wait on the lifeguard turned business man who had spurned her advances repeatedly in her youth. He felt a rush of sympathy-this had never been about him, not really.
‘You know what?’ he said, dropping the smug act and soft
ening his tone. ‘You really should make time for it, just once. We all need to put ourselves first occasionally, don’t we?’
She said nothing, only shrugged. Lincoln stepped aside to allow the other customer behind him place his order, sliding a five dollar note across the steel counter top to exchange for his coffee. He waited there for three minutes, glancing around the well-decorated coffee house as though seeing it for the first time. It really was a warm, lovely little place. He liked the way she mixed chocolate colors against stark shades of cream and white, and the art on the walls had obviously been done by a local artist, because they were local scenes-only skewed by impressionism.
‘Did you decorate this yourself?’ he asked as she bustled about.
She nodded. ‘Yeah. I always wanted to be an interior designer....’ She made a face. ‘But dad left me this place when he died, and a Barista course was a lot faster than going through uni!’
‘You did the paintings too?’Lincoln guessed.
Lydia glanced at the largest portrait in the wall-the one of the Cape as seen from the look out, and shrugged. ‘Yeah. I’ve been meaning to replace them though. You can see how I rushed it.’
‘No don’t-’ Lincoln said quickly. ‘They’re amazing! The whole place looks great.’ He jerked his thumb over his shoulder. ‘Come up and see me some time. We have a function room that needs a bit of sprucing up-I’d appreciate you taking a look at it. Maybe we could work something out.’
She finally looked at him, agog. ‘Seriously?’
He smiled. ‘Sure. Might as well hire locally, hey?’
‘I’ll definitely consider it!’ She placed the lid on his coffee and pushed it back across the counter to him. ‘My name is Lydia, by the way. You never actually asked.’
Lincoln was blind-sided by the guilt. Of course, she was right. He hadn’t. He’d had eyes only for Ivanna back then-every other girl had become white noise in comparison. That mustn’t have felt good for her.
‘Nice to finally meet you Lydia,’ he said with an impish smile, taking a sip of his coffee. ‘I’m Lincoln. Excellent brew, by the way. And I hope you swing by soon.’
‘Bye Link,’ she called after him, a brighter note in her tone. ‘I will!’
When Lincoln left the building, he felt ten times better than the last time when Ivyanne had shot the other woman down for his benefit-because this joy came from giving instead of taking. He could definitely get used to that.
⁓
‘Tristan Loveridge, shirtless and alone? Is something amiss in the world?’
Tristan looked up from the board he was waxing, pleased to see Pintang smiling down at him. She was wearing her uniform-a crisp white polo shit like Ivyanne’s own, but with black slacks. Her hair was braided back from her face, and delicate gold hoops dangled from her ears. She looked fresh and pretty.
‘Passing time,’ he said, rolling the wax in a circular motion over the board. The truth was that he was less likely to bump into, or irritate Lincoln and Adele if he stuck to the beach and avoided the bar. Not even his room felt safe. He kept expecting to hear a knock on the door, and find himself knee-deep in drama. Lincoln was clearly crazy about Ivyanne and probably chomping at the bit for a reason to get her away from Tristan-and Tristan didn’t want to give Lincoln reason to do so, until he was sure Ivyanne had fallen hard enough for him to forgive his past.
‘So, have you seen Ivyanne yet? Think she’ll be hungover?’
‘I don’t know.’ Tristan smiled at the memory of Pintang forcing Ivyanne into the ocean the previous evening, to sober her up. They’d waited until the party was over, and it was a good thing too, because Ivyanne had transitioned almost instantly and taken off. ‘What time did you guys get in?’
‘About three.’ Pintang rolled her eyes. ‘Never let her drink again, okay? She was dead-set on making it to Hawaii to say ‘hi’ to Bane, you know-to be fair.’
Tristan snorted. ‘Sorry I left you to it. I just didn’t think it was a good idea to be alone with her in the state she was in.’
‘That makes two of us.’
Tristan smirked. Ivyanne had been so cute the night before-emotional and flirtatious and completely adorable-having her swimming naked next to him would have pushed his limits. He glanced at Pintang now.
‘Shouldn’t you be at work?’
She shook her head. ‘I start in half an hour. People loathe the cleaning lady before nine.’
‘I’m surprised your parents let you come here to scrub toilets,’ Tristan said. ‘Being a precious full-blood and all.’
Pintang laughed. ‘Yes but I have an older sister who’s already mothered three children, and a full-blood brother. I don’t suppose they’ll care much about what I do until he’s married off or Ivyanne has a son.’
Tristan nodded. It was the exact reason his own parents had been lax with him, at least, until Nigara had died. ‘You’re parents haven’t even brought it up yet?’ he asked. ‘Your future, I mean?’
‘I had my own plan.’ Pintang looked out at the water, squinting at the glare of the early morning sun reflecting off the surface. ‘He was a bit wild though, so I was waiting for him to settle down. Unfortunately, his parents picked a match for him when I wasn’t expecting it, so I never had the opportunity to speak up.’
‘Sounds like a guy I can relate to!’ Tristan joked. ‘Who is it?’
Pintang turned to look him in the eye. ‘Wow, for someone who’s so used to putting the moves on someone, you’re certainly a bit daft when it comes to being on the receiving end of them.’
Tristan was struck dumb by this comment. He gaped at her for a full ten seconds, searching her eyes for some sign that she was messing with him. But there was none. Her expression remained serious and pointed.
‘Huh?!’ He exclaimed. ‘Me? You had a crush on me?!’
Pintang grinned. ‘There we go.’
He stared at her, flummoxed. ‘Wow Pintang, you certainly are a dark horse, aren’t you? I mean, of all the names I expected to hear.....’
She raised an eyebrow. ‘Is it really so crazy?’
He shrugged. ‘No, I mean, I guess not.’ Now that he thought about it, he realized that Pintang had been sending him some pretty clear signals for quite some time. And there was an understanding that some full-bloods who were passed over by the Court family would be free to inter-marry once Ivyanne had an heir and the future became a bit more certain.
Pintang looked relieved. ‘Then why the shock?’
‘I’m surprised because you’re so serious. And reserved. And well-mannered! What the hell do you see in me?’
She snorted. ‘The same thing every other girl does, and then some,’ she nudged him with her shoulder. ‘You’re confident. And funny. And I think you’re sweeter then people give you credit for.’ She giggled and ducked her face. ‘Oh my god, this is so embarrassing. Look at me-making a play for the one guy I can’t have!’
Tristan bit his lip-she had a point there. He dusted some sand off his hands. ‘Wow Pintang. I really don’t know what to say. I’m flattered of course....but, I’m here for Ivyanne, you know? I can’t really dick around about it.’
‘I know that.’ Pintang said quickly, her neon blue eyes downcast. In the early morning sunlight, her skin shimmered with a pearly sheen. She tilted her head to regard him from the side. ‘But there are two other candidates.... I mean, it’s not like you absolutely cannot say no to her... right?’
Tristan suddenly got a taste of the pressure Ivyanne had been feeling-and he didn’t like it. He’d already had the Kayu-Api’s muddying his name for years for the crime of not wanting to marry Lumi. He didn’t need to add Pintang’s dashed hopes to that pile as well.
‘She’s beautiful,’ he said, deciding that honesty was the best option. ‘And sexy. And nice... it’s definitely a triple threat. I mean, I wasn’t in love with her when I came here, but....’ He paused, remembering the way he had felt when the princess had rested her body against his the night before, and he shivered delic
iously. ‘I’m not used to feeling this way. Is it love, so soon? Possibly not. But I am infatuated.’
Pintang grimaced. ‘Oh.’
Tristan was overcome with guilt, reminding him of how hurt Adele had looked the night before when she’d accused him of being uncaring. ‘I’m sorry but I don’t want to lead you on.’
Pintang sighed. ‘It’s okay,’ she said softly, looking down at the sand between them. The sunlight made her jet black hair gleam. ‘I’m jealous, but it’s kind of nice to hear you admit to having a heart.’
He chuckled. ‘Yay me, I suppose...’ he reached across and lifted her chin, so he could stare into those beautiful blue eyes as he spoke. ‘But for the record-you have my attention. You're a gorgeous, lovely girl Pintang. If the circumstances were different... or if they become different....’
‘You mean, if she chooses Ardhi?’ Pintang asked, hope in her expression.
Tristan nodded, although the idea of it hurt him a lot more than he would have dreamed the week before. ‘If she does, then maybe you and I can get better acquainted. With Nigara gone, I have to start thinking seriously about my future anyway so....’ he ruffled her hair affectionately. ‘Why not contemplate one with you?’
Pintang’s entire face flooded with exuberant joy. ‘I’m going to hold you to that, you know, Loveridge.’ She got to her knees and kissed his forehead quickly. ‘Thank you-for being so cool about this.’
He laughed, getting to his feet and pulling her up with him. ‘No, thank you. It’s nice to know where I stand with at least one other person.’
She wagged her finger at him. ‘You won’t forget me?’
‘Of course not, hot asian full blood,’ he teased her. ‘This isn’t the first time it’s occurred to me you know. I was only shocked that it occurred to you.’
She grinned. ‘That’s the nicest thing you could have said to me.’ She lifted her hand in a farewell and turned away. ‘Thanks Tristan. See you on the other side of this mess.’
