Ytgar made up for his foreign diplomat’s lack of enthusiasm, clapping his hands together excitedly. “Congratulations to you both. What a joyous event! A wedding! But, two weeks is rather short notice…”
The Queen shrugged one delicate shoulder, and gave a venomous smile. “Worry not. Prince Kai and I had a lengthy discussion before this meeting, and invitations have already been sent out with the swiftest of our messengers, as well as being broadcasted on every telly in the kingdom.”
Gods. My hands went to tighten in my lap. This couldn’t be happening. My mind was reeling. Odele was back, that meant she and Kai… But they didn’t know she was back. I was the only one who knew. Did that mean I would have to go in her place? Would Odele allow it? Why was the Queen even allowing it? She was adamant that the throne was hers. She’d killed her cousins to possess it; surely she wouldn’t relinquish it that easily. What was she planning? And why had Kai planned this without telling me?
I avoided his gaze, even as he spoke. “The Emperor knows the contents of our marriage contract,” Kai explained. “Even with such short notice, I do not doubt he has sent warriors and family to Thalassar. They should likely be here before the wedding.”
Wedding. Wedding. Weddingweddingweddin—
“I am sure you are most anxious to wed,” Ytgar commented. It took a moment for me to realize he was directing the words towards me, and was expecting a response. His blond eyebrows rose, and the bright blue of his eyes were shining with equal parts mischief and curiosity.
I swallowed past the lump of panic. “Of course,” I replied tightly. “Most anxious.” I was sure everyone in the room could see past my lie.
Ytgar just looked amused, and turned to whisper something in Val’s ear. The dark skinned, silver haired and eyed mer nodded in response, a smile twitching at the side of his lip.
“Do not fret about the short notice. Even if your guests cannot make it to the actual wedding, there will be days of celebration afterwards. I can assure you. Now, if you all do not mind, I would like a word with my daughter alone.”
The mer all began to murmur as they got up from their seats. I could only stare at the hands clasped in my lap as I listened to the sounds of them vacating the room, leaving me alone with the Queen.
I feared to look up at her. Feared of breaking some sort of spell, and to find her holding a dagger in her hand and aiming for my throat. Would she kill me? Would she do it before the wedding? It was all a possibility, one I’d be powerless to avoid.
“I am sure you think yourself quite the lucky mer,” the Queen commented cruelly.
I finally looked up at her, but she wasn’t staring at me. The Queen was looking down at her crown. A massive looking thing made of silver and diamonds. When had she taken it off? I hadn’t realized… She was looking at it like it was a real living, breathing thing. Like she couldn’t bear to let it go.
“You came from nothing, and now you are here. A pretend Princess, ready to wed the Dragon Prince…” She sighed and turned to me. There was a burning fever in her eyes. Madness, it looked like an eruption waiting to happen. “I hope you do not think you will truly wed the Prince.”
Because I wasn’t sure, I said nothing.
The Queen let out a tinkle of a laugh. “You will sign the paper with Odele’s name, yes. You will join Kai in union. But the moment my daughter is found, your places will be switched. You will go back to your filthy little pond with nothing but your silence, as if you’d never been here in the first place. Do you understand?”
If she had any intention of letting me out of this palace alive, Odele’s words echoed in my mind. She wanted the both of us dead and I didn’t doubt she would try and accomplish it. I just couldn’t be sure when.
“I understand,” I breathed.
Her eyes bore into mine, and I wondered if she was searching for a lie in me, for something to exploit. Then, she turned back to the crown placed perfectly on the table before her. She fingered the jagged edges at the top.
“My cousin wore this crown,” she said gently, running her finger across the tip and holding it there. “There are many crowns in the vaults, too many to be worn in a lifetime. But my cousin Odette wore this one during her benediction, when she ascended the throne.” Her voice held a whisper of remembrance, and the madness in her eyes slowly faded, like she was vanishing into an ancient memory. “We used to have so much fun together, the five of us.”
I blinked, and dared interrupt. “The five of you?”
“Odette and Odessa, of course. They were inseparable, even as they grew older. But we were children then. And Xristo and Dorian…”
I tried not to suck in a breath, tried not to let any surprise or emotions show on my face. She’d known them when she was young. Xristo. Dorian.
“I always felt like an outsider looking in at them, the odd one out. No one ever looked at me. They were too busy looking at my cousins. Dorian was such a pretty mer. We’d been friends once…”
Before you murdered his wife and ordered me stolen from her arms.
My jaw locked to avoid saying anything I’d soon regret.
“I know everyone thinks me cruel,” she sighed and picked up the crown. “But I am Queen, and what I do, I do for my subjects.” She placed it on her head, and it was a perfect fit. “I often tried to mend the rift between Thalassar and Kappur. I tried to appease King Dorian time and time again, but he would not even see me. As if the friendship we’d shared so long ago no longer meant a thing to him. Fickle little mer, with moods that change like the waters and a thunderstorm.” Her hands came to rest on the table. “He’s been dragging this dreadful war on and on and on. I need not tell you it is taking a toll on Thalassar. You’ve seen the broadcasts for yourself. The mer are angry.”
They were. I was. This war was pointless, it was wrong, even if I was slowly beginning to understand the reason behind Dorian waging it. He’d lost everything. He was a broken mer trying to find what was his. Yet to kill hundreds, thousands… It was inexcusable. Like killing your cousins for a throne was inexcusable.
“This alliance with Draconi is what we need to put a stop to it all. So you will do your duty perfectly, as if you were really and truly my daughter. You will marry Kai, and we will stop this war, and when my daughter is found, you will go home and breathe not a word of this to anyone. We cannot afford any failures. Do you understand?”
I swallowed. “I do, Majesty. I understand perfectly.”
She nodded. “Good. Now leave, and send Captain Saber in. I would like a word with the guard.”
CHAPTER SIX
Kai
“LEAVE ME BE,” I hissed to Ichiro and Lee in our mother tongue. They both opened their mouths to reply, but my glare cut them off. They presented me with twin, stiff bows before they turned and left. They were becoming insufferable, the both of them. With news of the wedding and my intentions, they’d become unbearable. All they wanted was to ready me, feed me lessons of marriage traditions I already knew.
And I, well, I wanted to see Maisie.
She’d barely met my gaze the entirety of that meeting, and there had been a sudden, obvious, nervousness about her that I didn’t know how to interpret. Was she happy, angry? I couldn’t tell.
So I’d wait for her, with my own thrill of nerves trickling down my spine. She was still inside, speaking to the Queen. I fought not to tighten my nails into my palms. What could the Queen be doing to her, saying to her? I hadn’t wanted to leave her alone with that shark, given all that we knew. But one moment, my eyes were on Maisie, and the next my advisors were hauling me from the room, chattering away in my ears about all the preparations left to make.
The Promising. The Gift Exchange. The Claiming. Dragon Riding. Dragon Choosing.
A myriad of things I had no desire to think of at the moment, when all that possessed my body was her and the thought of finally wedding her, of having her as my bride. The Dragon Princess.
That thought made me smile through my nerves.
<
br /> Maisie showed all the signs of being a true Dragon Princess, with all the qualities of a great ruler.
If only she could see it.
“You’re going to marry her…”
I glanced up at Captain Saber with surprise, not having realized he was there. In fact, we were mostly alone now, with a mere handful of guards. The captain and I were closer to the doors, further away from straining ears. Though his words were a tight whisper, I still swept a cautious glance around before replying.
“That was always the plan.”
His back and blue tail was so straight; it was a wonder he didn’t sink straight to the floor with the rigid posture he was holding. His hands were at his sides, but I was well versed in the stance, hand hovering near the hilt of his sheathed sword, eyes darting from every angle in search of danger.
“The plan was to marry—” He paused, not saying it out loud, but I knew perfectly well what—rather, who—he meant.
Odele.
“Yes, but she is not here.” And while she was nowhere to be found, and the public thought Maisie was Odele, it was her I would marry. It was her I would fight for. It was her who I would take back to Draconi if the secret were discovered. Because it was her name I’d ask her to sign on the binding marriage contract.
“What if she comes back?” the captain asked skeptically.
My eyebrows rose as I took him in, not quite knowing what to think. He was a difficult merman to read, the captain. Yet his frustration, and his love shone as brightly as Draconian waterworks. But whether that love was for Maisie or Odele, I didn’t know. Maybe it was for both. And even though Maisie loved us all equally, and could have us all, I knew that someday, Captain Saber would have to choose between the two.
“Then I would still choose her, because she is the one I love. The one I want.” My lips pulled back into a mocking smile. “Can I say the same for you?”
A jolt seemed to shoot through the captain’s body before he tensed again. Instead of looking around for danger, he finally deigned to face me. His lip nearly pulled up to his teeth. A sneer. “What are you talking about?”
“You care about her, even if you won’t admit it. But do you love her, or is it the other one you prefer?” I did not like referring to them like this. Yet I couldn’t very well throw both of their names around without a care. So I would speak of them like this, in terms we both understood.
The captain bristled. Surely if he had spikes running down his body, they’d have perked by now. The glare he shot me was nothing short of mutinous, but didn’t affect me in the least.
“How dare you?” he ground out.
I smiled, shrugged. “I’m asking you a simple question. Your unwillingness to answer leads me to believe that maybe you do prefer the other one.”
Captain Saber took one stroke until our bodies touched, and though we were the same height, he straightened in an ineffectual attempt to loom over me. There was lava blazing in his eyes, molten blue exploding. Fury. I welcomed it.
“I care about Maisie,” he punctuated on a hissed whisper. “I will not lie and say that I don’t care about Odele, because I always have. But if you think you can turn my doubts of your plan into something it’s not…” He broke off, casting a furtive glance around before turning back to me. “I will not play these games with you, Dragon Prince. I played them already at the behest of that criminal, and I won’t do it again. I don’t have to prove to you that my feelings for her are genuine, that I would protect her. Die for her.”
A smile pulled at my lips, wide and content. I was not the sort to play the same games as Elias. The sheer ferocity in his words was proof enough for me that he cared, and that he loved. I needed nothing else. I lifted a hand and set about patting his shoulder like he was nothing more than a child. A gesture that made him bristle.
“Good mer,” I complimented. “Good mer.”
I was spared his tedious reply when the door opened and Maisie emerged, her facial features pulled tight. She stopped when she saw us by the door, and her eyes narrowed in on our close proximity. I took a deliberate stroke away from the captain, and smiled at her.
She didn’t meet my gaze.
“Captain, the Queen wishes to speak with you.”
Captain Saber’s eyes traveled down the length of her in question. He gifted her with a bow, murmuring, “Your Majesty,” before pushing slowly past her and into the door. I noticed as he passed, his fingers grazed over Maisie’s knuckles, like an act of quiet reassurance, but just when her fingers extended to reach for his, he was already gone with the door closing behind him.
Maisie floated in front of the closed door awkwardly, eyes staring past my shoulder.
“My gem?”
She finally looked at me then, but there was no softness in her gaze. Her eyebrows pulled tightly together to form a frown, her lips thinned into a tight line. And she did something I didn’t expect of her.
She ignored me.
My eyes widened as she swam straight past me, like I was nothing more than a disturbing piece of furniture placed in an unconventional spot.
I whirled, watching her retreating back, posture tight and angry. The guards did not hesitate to follow her, forming a wall of protection around her figure. My body moved, weaving my way between the guards until I swam at her side.
She didn’t even acknowledge me.
“My gem, what is it?” I asked. Still, she did not reply. Panic and irritation surged through me. I gripped her upper arm, pulling her to a stop. “Princess, talk to me.”
She glared vehemently at me and yanked her arm away from me. The simplicity of the action hurt.
“Leave me alone, Prince.” She sneered the word like it was an insult. I fought not to stagger back from the hatred she packed into the word.
“What’s wrong?” I demanded. “I cannot make it better unless you tell me what’s wrong.”
I was aware that the guards had given us distance to argue, but not enough so as to not be able to jump in between us, should they need to.
“What’s wrong?” she hissed. “What’s wrong is that you went to the Queen and demanded a speedy wedding without talking to me first. That’s what wrong!” She turned and began swimming vehemently away from me. I followed.
“How can you be mad about that?” I asked. “The date of our marriage is set in the contract…”
She whirled angrily and shouted, “No, it’s not!” Her exposed chest rose and fell angrily, the light pink of her skin flushing a bright red. Her black eyes were as wide as jewels, glossed over as if they’d been polished one too many times.
She didn’t need to say the words aloud for them to hang thick in the waters between us.
The date of your’s and Odele’s wedding is in the contract. Not mine.
“But…” I was at a loss for words. What could I say? I knew what I wanted to say to reassure her, but I couldn’t utter any of it with the guards present.
“Don’t bother,” she sniffed, and for a moment, I wondered if she was going to cry. “There’s no point in arguing about it. What’s done is done.” She started away again, and I stopped her by grabbing her wrist. This time, when she tried to pull away, I didn’t let her.
Mine, the dragon in me growled. Mine!
I let a sliver of my other self slip through. She didn’t cringe at the sight of the dragon in my eyes, but tilted her chin higher in defiance. A worthy opponent.
“I thought you’d be happy.”
Her eyes blinked rapidly. Then, she let out a bark of bitter laughter. “And why would you think that?” When I didn’t reply, she tugged her arm lightly. “Did you think I’d bow at your fins and be grateful? Because you’re the Dragon Prince and because I’m…” She cut off, bit her lip, but pushed through. “…Me?”
The dragon inside roared in anger. How dare she? How dare she think so low of me? Had I not proved to her time and time again that I loved her? That despite what my kingdom needed, I had chosen her? She was my mate. Mine. Mine. Min
e.
When would she realize this?
“Of course not.” My voice had become a guttural growl. “I love you. Does that mean anything?”
Her posture slackened, and she looked suddenly very, very sad. A single bubble tripped from the edge of her eye. “Of course it means something,” she whispered, voice cracking. “It means I would have thought you’d have the decency to at least ask me first, to include me in your plan. But you are so used to getting everything you want. Of everything being planned for you. The marriage date was set in your contract. But it was never set in mine.”
I still didn’t understand. I thought… I thought she’d want this, as much as I wanted this.
“So sorry to interrupt…” I turned sharply to the voice that had sounded anything but sorry. Charismatic ice blue eyes met my dark ones, and a wide mouth was quirked up into a smile.
“Prince Ytgar, Val.” Maisie’s face flushed. Because she was embarrassed Ytgar and Val had caught us arguing, or because he inspired that color on her cheeks with his flirtatious face? “Hello.”
I growled. “Leave.”
His blond brow rose as he took me in. “I think I won’t. In fact, I may just stay. The Princess looks rather winded…” he trailed off. The implication in his words said I’d hurt her, that I would do it if he didn’t stay.
“This is a private conversation…”
The blond—I refused to call him a Prince—flicked long fingers in my direction, a sign of dismissal. “Not so private if you’re shouting at each other in the halls for all to hear. And I don’t think the Princess wants to continue this conversation anymore than I do.” He gave a pointed look down at the hand I still had clasped around her wrist. “Princess, would you like Val and I to escort you to your rooms?”
She gifted him with an unwavering smile. “I am feeling a bit… winded… and would like to lie down.”
The blond looked at me triumphantly. “The Princess has spoken. If you’d kindly release her.”
Mine.
Possessiveness burned through my insides in a way I’d never felt before. But a casual glance over my opponents showed me the tension in their bodies. The way the blond’s hands were casually at his back, though no doubt reaching for a hidden dagger somewhere. The dark skinned, silver-eyed one was more obvious in his hostility. His hand wrapped tightly around the hilt of his ice-like sword.
Death Beyond the Waves Page 5
