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“The pleasure is all mine, Mistress Era.”

Maris dismissed him by waving her hand. The whole “mistress” thing was too much, and she frankly didn’t like it.

“Oh, please. I am not a mistress. You can call me Maris, I insist.”

Isen turned to look at Valda as if asking for permission. “If it is all right with my Queen.”

“Captain Hurley, I called you here to make you an acquaintance with my assistant. She has expressed to me that she has no recollection of her home kingdom and that she has never met another Sealian.”

Isen regarded Maris with a strange look until his eyes widened with sudden realization. His gaze went from confusion to wonder and then utter adoration. Maris moved uncomfortably in her seat before clearing her throat and looking up at Valda. The queen, of course, wasn’t paying as much attention to her as Isen was. Valda seemed distant; her mind was somewhere else.

“I want you to talk. Tell her what you know of the Sea Kingdom,” Valda said, her fingers touching Maris’s arm as she spoke.

Isen narrowed his eyes to the spot where Valda’s fingers grazed Maris’s skin. He forced an awkward smile, his large hand coming to touch his knees. “I enjoy nothing more than to talk about my kingdom.”

Valda nodded and turned to Maris. “I will leave you two to talk. I will be heading to my chamber. I have something to get in order.”

Confusion glinted in Maris’s eyes. She couldn’t help herself. She knew her place, especially in front of others, but she couldn’t stop herself from grasping Valda’s callused hand and holding her firmly as she was about to leave.

“What is it?”

Valda didn’t reply, instead she turned to Maris, arching her eyebrow.

“I mean.” Maris quickly released her hand and tucked it in her lap. “I will see you later then, Your Highness.”

Tightening the grip on her cane, Valda left the throne room, closing the door behind her.

A shiver ran down Maris’s spine as her eyes settled on Isen’s darker ones. She smiled politely and placed her hands on the table before her. “Well.”

“Well,” Isen chuckled and mirrored Maris’s hand placement. “What is it that you want to know?”

Maris swallowed; her throat suddenly dry. “Everything?” Isen’s gaze burned into her, taking all of her in.

“Maris, I can assure you that although I am staring at you because I am fascinated by your beauty, I do not wish to take you to bed.”

Maris scoffed. Aren’t you the honest type? “Then why do you look at me as you do?”

“Because,” he said, his broad chest expanding as he took in a deep breath. “You carry the scent of the sea as if you were born in the Sea Kingdom.”He tilted his head. “You are younger than I am… Were you born here?”

“No, I was months old when...it happened.”

Isen nodded. “I was born and raised on the northern island of Nereid. I was thirteen when the hurricane hit. I managed to escape with my twin sister and my injured mother through one of the many ships near the coast.”Isen’s face softened, and he looked away from Maris to the tattoos on his arm.

“You had access to a ship?”

Isen nodded. “My mother was a soldier in the Sealian army, my father worked as a fisherman.”He chuckled, disguising the sadness in his voice.

Maris rubbed her knuckles as she took in Isen’s features now that he was closer. He had a subtle dark shadow, a blueish stubble on his face like the color of his mane. There was also a small bald spot on his right eyebrow, probably from an old scar.

“I was able to escape. My father didn’t. I am not sure if he is still out there. I went back for him, but our home was destroyed and the handful of people that lived there weren’t able to tell me if he survived or not. They said that he tried to come here using a smaller boat, but disappeared, never to be heard from again.”

“What about your mother?”

“My mother did not survive the trip.”

Maris’s stomach dropped. A thirteen-year-old alone with his sister, in an unknown kingdom with strange customs? “And your sister?”

“She is currently living in New Agenor. She married another Sealian She...she is happy, I suppose.” He didn’t sound that convinced.