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I would have kissed her if not for the witness of hundreds of Thalassarians all around us. Much too soon, she was called to Marek’s side, the spectacle of both women, now surrounded by the Tidebreaker fleet who had been summoned the moment the challenge was issued and who had arrived one by one, a striking one.

It would take some time for them to get to the docks and sail out, close enough for us to witness but far enough from shore that the depths of the sea would be at their disposal.

“Should we watch from there?” Mev asked, pointing to the stand that had been erected for the queen and her inner circle.

“Certainly,” Caelum said. “I will get Aneri.”

I was less than pleased about this turn of events, though thankful to have had the vision. Unfortunately, Mev must have been thinking along the same thread. Arms crossed, she waited for me to explain.

“Can we discuss this later?”

“Sure,” she said. “Maybe we can have a chat about that after we talk about the googly eyes you were giving Nerys.”

Though I wasn’t familiar with the term, I could discern her meaning easily enough.

“Can’t say I blame you,” Kael said. “She is quite…” He stopped when Mev cocked her head to him.

“A looker?” she provided.

“A what?”

“Looker.”

“What’s a looker?”

“This will be quite a shock but… it’s a person easy to look at. Get it?”

“Oh, I got it,” he said suggestively. “As will you tonight when?—”

“Perhaps we should join the others,” I cut in.

“Classic dodge,” she said. “But you can’t avoid me all day. Clearly, there’s something going on between the two of you, and I want the scoop.”

I looked at Kael, who shrugged.

“Classic dodge, as in… never mind. Two peas in a pod, you guys are.”

With that, Mev left us, but Kael and I remained.

“She’s different,” I said. “In a good way.”

He smiled at her retreating backside. “She’s becoming her father.”

“Most would see that as a good thing.”

Kael and Galfrid had a complicated relationship. Once enemies, they now worked together as family, a fact Kael’s father could not have taken gently.

“Have you heard from Adren?”

“Aye. We’ve much to discuss later. But first, maybe you can answer Mev’s question.”

“About the shard?”

Kael shook his head slowly. “No. Not the shard.”

Nerys. How could I explain it to him when I was just beginning to make sense of it myself?

“As you said, we’ve much to discuss. Later.”