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“I’m fine.” Kyree’s small voice piped up from between the two mers holding her.

“You’re incredible,” Hudson answered. “But you are in need of rest. And a lot of it. You can’t keep going on like you were before.”

“The work isn’t done.” Kyree squirmed, but her resistance against the strong arms of the warriors holding her did nothing but bring a smile to Hudson’s face. That was the mer she had fallen in love with, the one who could fight even without violence. Kyree was stubborn as they came. Most days anyway.

“The work can wait,” Hudson tried again, this time using a softer tone in hopes that it would help ease whatever anxiety was flowing through Kyree’s mind.

“But—”

“No.” Honour’s voice cut off Kyree’s argument before it could begin. “All the work can wait. We have earned a reprieve. You’ve earned it more than any of us.”

“No, I haven’t.” Kyree’s voice was filled with a pain that Hudson didn’t understand. But the weight of Kyree’s body in her arms she understood all too well.

“Let’s get her back,” Honour said before Hudson knew what to suggest. She wanted to dig deeper into whatever was holding Kyree back, but at the same time she was afraid of it. Krakens she could fight to the death, but one single mer who could change the course of her future was scarier than even the meanest and violent of enemies.

“Together?” Hudson hated the pleading in her voice, but there was nothing she could do about that now. And she wasn’t sure she would want to even if she could.

“Will you come with me?” Honour asked her own question in reply.

“Yes.” Hudson’s heart hammered in her chest. She wanted to go back to that place just moments earlier when nothing else mattered except the safety of the three of them. When the fear hadn’t been present and gnawing at her stomach.

Silently, the three swam back toward the gates of Reine. They held Kyree carefully in the space between the two of them, making sure that she was cared for. The fact that Kyree didn’tput up much of a fight was telling. She truly had reached the limit of her energy.

They spoke little as Honour led them into the castle, and Hudson found herself surrounded by the grandeur that she had once thought was the ultimate goal of her life. It no longer compared to the beauty of the two mers who filled the space with her.

Kyree lay curled up in a nest of seaweed, while Hudson and Honour took turns being beside her or finding sustenance to build her strength back up again.

“It’s late, Hudson,” Honour’s voice cracked into the silence.

“D-do you want me to leave?” Hudson frowned. She’d anticipated that Honour would leave her here with Kyree to go and deal with her troops, but that hadn’t happened yet. Or that Honour would vanish into the ether just to get one look at Soulara, the princess they had risked their lives to save, because that was all Honour had been able to think about for so long.

And yet…that hadn’t happened.

They were tucked away in Honour’s home, wrapped around Kyree, caring for her together like they would if they were in a battle—routine and without talking. They knew what each one of them needed, and they weren’t going to fight to get it. They were just going to do—do exactly what needed done and nothing more.

“No!” The speed of Honour’s response filled Hudson with more relief than the word alone might have done.

“I need to do more.” Kyree’s voice came from the bed of seaweed.

“No,” Hudson and Honour smiled at each other as they replied in unison.

“No,” Kyree’s voice cracked with that same pain Hudson hadn’t understood earlier. “You don’t understand. They’ll banish me. They won’t care that I saved our world, that I connectedonce more to the souls of our fellow creatures that they’ve longed to connect with for generations. They won’t care. And right now, I’m not sure I do either. I can’t go home. They won’t let me, but more than that, more than anything else, I don’t want to.”

Honour’s eyes widened as Hudson turned to look at her. Kyree had told them some of this before, but Hudson hadn’t wanted to believe it. Everyone would be honored for fighting in battle. That was what she’d been taught her entire life, and yet that wasn’t how Kyree’s people were taught to behave or even believe.

“Why won’t they take you back? They sent you here. They sent you to help Reine find a way to save our home. And you’ve done that far more than anyone could have even dreamed possible.” Honour ran her fingers over Kyree’s long, dark hair. It was such a gentle move, nothing that would be expected from a general who had just taken down the worst enemy any of them had ever seen.

“They didn’t.”

“They didn’t what?” Hudson asked, needing more information than Kyree was giving out. She had to know how she could fix this. Because certainly there was a way to fix it, right?

“They didn’t send me.” Kyree’s voice was so meek, so desperate too. Hudson wasn’t sure she’d ever heard that tone from her before, not in this exact way. Resolution? No, that wasn’t right. It was simply acceptance of what was, and a deep resignation. Kyree deserved the world. And she was accepting the fact that she didn’t.

“They didn’t send you, so now they won’t take you back?” Hudson shook her head. This was definitely a case of it all making no sense whatsoever. Kyree must have lied before. Or maybe…maybe she’d just withheld the truth like they all had.

“Oh, Kyree.” Honour rested on the edge of Kyree’s seaweed nest and placed a hand on Kyree’s shoulder. “Why didn’t you say something?”

“Because I didn’t want it to change how you saw me.”