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“Do I have to remind you I am able to command the sea and waters, Valda?”

“Right now, right in this place, there is no water that you can use as a weapon.” Eyphah sighed, rubbing the back of her neck. “You need to learn how to use one. The trident is heavy, yes, but with some training I am sure you will be able to wield it as if it was another arm. I can show you.”

Valda growled. “I will teach her.”

Maris bumped her elbow with Valda. “You will not teach me how to wield a sword, and you,” she looked at Eyphah, “will not teach me how to fight with a trident.”

“Maris—” Valda began, but was quickly shut down by her mate.

“And that’s final.” Maris added, handing the trident back to Eyphah. “Put it back on the altar.”

Eyphah opened her mouth, probably to protest further, but decided otherwise. “Fine,” she snapped, taking the trident, and returning it neatly to the altar. “I will have my room cleaned up. You may move your things there and I will move to one of the new buildings near the square.”

Maris’s face twisted in a confused frown while Valda felt her shoulders tense. “What do you mean, Eyphah?”

“Well? You are staying, right?”

“Of course not! She is coming back to Oberon with me.”

“Valda, wait—”

Valda huffed and looked down at Maris; their eyes met for a moment as a million questions went through her mind. “You want to stay?”

“I haven’t made that decision yet.”

“But, I—”

“It is a hard decision, one that cannot be made right now,” Maris added.

The silence was suffocating, and as much as Valda wanted to keep her gaze locked with Maris, the younger woman turned away to smile at Eyphah.

“I will be staying at House of Arago with Valda, for now.”

Eyphah nodded, probably affected by the same awkward silence. “As you wish…” With one final bow, Eyphah left the two women alone.

Valda stared as Eyphah left, trying to concentrate her energy on something other than wanting to ask Maris what she was planning to do. Before she could even formulate the question, Maris’s hand rubbed the skin of her abdomen.

“Not now, Valda.”

If not now, then when?

24

The awkward silence suffocated her. She couldn’t turn to face Valda. Already she could feel her pulling away, blocking her thoughts and feelings as she left the makeshift altar.

In all honesty, Maris wasn’t sure if she should stay. She knew there was much to be done and learned; to join in with her people, become one with them. To discover all the things that made her a Sealian. To hold the hands of those who fought for survival twenty years ago. To learn the deep-seated traditions, the history, to engulf herself with the foods, the songs, to rule with love and heal all the traumas they’d suffered. Even if they were born in the Sky Kingdom, all Sealians carried a collective invisible scar of what happened all those years ago.

Yet, Maris knew she couldn’t do it all, and putting that much strain on her shoulders wouldn’t do any good. But she needed to try, for them and for herself.

She should stay…

Returning meant falling back into the comfort of Valda’s embrace, and being taken care of, to drift into the blissful love Valda’s arms promised. To open her eyes and see her, to close her eyes and know she was there right next to her. That she would help with everything and anything. It was tempting, and she wanted it more than anything. If she stayed in Oberon, she could pull Dristan by his collar, sit him down, and tell him everything that needed to be fixed not only in the settlement, but also in the Sea Kingdom and have Valda help rebuild.

But then, how would it feel to finally return to the Sea Kingdom and see its beaches, the castle, and bridges all rebuilt? She couldn’t do all of that alone, and as much as she wanted to stay, to reconnect, she still had other things to attend to back in the castle.

The settlement had been working fine under Eyphah. Now she would have the helping hand she had long wanted. Maris would never decide on anything before discussing it with Eyphah. She had already been a loved leader; Maris saw no reason for that to change.

If Maris left with Valda, they could coordinate all the help her people needed. If she stayed, she would have to get messengers to go to the castle. A reality that trailed her thoughts back to Eyphah. She always knew what all Sealians needed, not to mention she had the character to make her voice be heard. Maris could always let Eyphah continue in her role, but Eyphah was not the ruler.