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His alertness faded. At first it was only a strange, delicious ennui that accompanied the shivers. His weak, human body no longer resisted the cold but accepted it, the icy rain hitting his cold skin and running in rivulets through his hair, down his bareshoulders and the hard point of his hip, down the length of his legs and feet. What strange things feet were, with a knobby joint above the foot and stubby little fingers at the end!

Kaerius, child of the sea, fell into darkness and cold. His clenched hands relaxed, and he slid a little sideways, and then a little more, so that he lay on his side, only his shoulders and one arm against the door. His shivers persisted long after he lost consciousness, but eventually they faded, leaving only an occasional shudder.

Chapter 8

Asolid thump on the back of his head jolted him forward, and he curled into himself, only distantly aware of the chill that fogged his mind and stiffened his fingers. He had the vague impression of darkness. Perhaps it was night, or perhaps he hadn’t actually opened his eyes as he had intended to.

“Get off the palace doorstep, you halfwit!” The sharp words were followed by another blow to the back of his broad shoulders.

“What?” a voice called from farther away.

“A naked beggar is at the door,” the woman snapped. “I’ll have Brighton throw him out.”

Hard fingers dug into his biceps, but he could not muster up the energy to protest.

A deeper voice said something which Kaerius could not understand.

“How did he get up here? He could barely stand up!” the princess interjected.

Then he was dragged across a hard floor and hefted to flop into something that felt like a kelp bed, soft and enclosing, but there were no tendrils to tangle in his hair. Something fuzzy and strange settled over him, and the voices continued overhead, buthe could no longer keep track of what was speech and what was the roaring in his head.

He dreamed of gulls screaming overhead, the crash of waves, and the bargain he had made with the Lord of the Deep. He woke with a start, his mind full of the kraken’s beak and a thousand barbed suckers on thrashing tentacles.

“You’re finally awake,” the same deep voice said, and Kaerius forced his gummy eyelids open. What a strange feeling it was to be so dazed, still half in the dream, his skin crawling with chills, even as he focused on the man across from him.

He had no interest in the man; he had not bargained away his voice and princely status to make friends with men. He wanted the princess. When she saw him, she would recognize his strength, beauty, and honor, and she would love him. As she should!

“Why were you on Her Royal Highness’s doorstep, naked as the day you were born, except for Her Royal Highness’s cloak?” The man’s eyes were a steely blue, hard and skeptical, and he held a long, sharp dagger in one hand, which he had apparently been sharpening before Kaerius woke.

The Mer prince struggled to a sitting position, finding to his dismay that it took far more effort than he had imagined. He felt as weak and useless as a piece of sea foam.

“Answer the question.” The man studied him for a moment, then huffed out a soft breath through his nose and turned his attention to the knife in his hand. He stroked a sharpening stone down the blade with practiced skill.

Kaerius swallowed. At the man’s look, Kaerius made a vague, helpless gesture at his mouth.

“Are you mute as well as witless?”

Kaerius shot to his feet in outrage, for of all the insults ever leveled at him, no one had ever dared call him stupid to his face. Then the room whirled, and he would have fallen on his face butfor the fact that his interrogator caught him and let him back down to the couch with surprising kindness.

The amused smile that now played across the man’s face did not endear him to Kaerius in the slightest, but he did appreciate the help enough to duck his head in acknowledgement. He was a prince, after all, and a prince should acknowledge the good service of those beneath them.

“All right. You can’t speak. You owe Her Royal Highness your life, because Jill and I would have thrown you out on your ear for having dared clutter up the doorstep with your embarrassingly unclothed self.” The man’s white teeth flashed in a quick, dangerous smile. “Her Royal Highness said she didn’t want to feel responsible for having left a mind-sick man out in weather like this. She sent men back to the beach to find you and offer you help, but you were gone. Now that you’re here, you’re to be given warm clothes, a few days to recover here if you’re ill, and a bit of money to start you on your way.”

Kaerius blinked. That was remarkably generous of the princess, and he wondered whether she was so kind to everyone who came to her door.

“Do you understand?” the man prompted.

Kaerius nodded, his golden hair falling over his face. He could not remember when it had ever been so dry, and he reached up to feel the strangeness of the fluff upon his head. His long golden waves were thoroughly tangled, and he scowled as he felt the sand beneath his fingertips and under his nails. His lips were salty.

“Here.” The man passed him a heavy mug which seemed to be made of ice, for it glittered in the lamplight.

Kaerius took one sip and flinched, for the taste of fresh water was strange and disagreeable. It was sweet and alien, and for a moment he did not want it at all. Then his thirst overcame him, and he realized that his body must be human in this regard, too,for humans did not drink salt water, and his thirst would not be quenched by the familiar richness of the ocean.

He drained the glass and held it up so he could see the lantern light dance through the angles of the design. The smile that crossed his face was of childlike wonder, and the guard’s frown relaxed.

“Never seen crystal like that, have you?” the man asked. “It’s beautiful, but it’s hardly magic.”

Kaerius huffed in amusement at himself and handed the cup back. He gestured at the man inquiringly. If he must interact with this man, he ought to do so with knowledge of him and his position in relation to the princess.