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It fit all too well and showed far too much. Mama would have a fit, and Papa would forbid her to leave the house. Arden, of course, would have come up to quietly whisper that she looked amazing .

“Do I have to come in there?”

Geysers, he was impatient. She opened the door to find him stalking toward it and prayed her smile would halt him. She gave a little twirl to assist in the effort. Surely he wouldn’t come too close if he thought he’d get hit by a twirling limb. “How does it look?”

She was wrong. When she stopped, he was close enough that he only had to take one more step to put a large hand against her waist, which he did with a dangerous glint in his eyes.

“Very nice.” His voice was too low, a thrum in her ears. His other hand touched her neck and then trailed down, over the shoulder covered only by the thinnest of straps. “You are a beautiful woman, Jade Bleu.”

Calimore . She found herself wanting to shout it, not because she’d ever minded being considered a Bleu, but because these people thought it meant something it didn’t.

“Thank you, Your Highness.” She glanced briefly up into his eyes but didn’t like what she saw there and focused on his chin instead.

He pulled her closer, and she couldn’t shake the feeling that he, so much taller and broader, swallowed her whole. Caged her in.

Tears stung the back of her eyes. Storm was just as tall, just as broad. But when he had held her, she’d felt protected. Excited. Loved.

“You don’t look pleased. Have I not been a generous enough host? Have I not provided you with everything you could need? With these beautiful dresses?” Though his words were smooth, she heard the anger within them. Felt it in the fingertips that pressed into her back.

There was nowhere to run. Nowhere to hide.

No chance that she could use the lessons Papa had taught her to defend herself when every single person in this palace had sworn loyalty to him.

Even if she kneed him in the groin and escaped the room, then what?

Someone would drag her right back here, and he would make no show of kindness then.

They wanted her to be a warrior—but that had never been who she was.

She was a diplomat. So she raised her gaze and let him see the tears within her eyes.

“Forgive me, Your Highness. It is my mother’s birthday today, and I am missing her keenly.

It is no reflection on your hospitality, I assure you. ”

Praise the Triada, the thread of anger she’d detected eased away. But then something darker took its place. He eased closer still, pressing her against him. “I understand. Perhaps you need a…distraction.”

The hand that had trailed down her arm threaded its way through her hair, to the back of her head.

Please, Triada! Deliver me!

His mouth was only a breath away from hers when her door swung open again, a black-clad figure stepping inside as if she owned the place. Jade had never before been grateful to see Electra striding into her room, but now she was willing to call her an angel in disguise.

The mermaid looked every inch a general now, from the black split tail to the metallic black armor glinting in the light, her hair in a braid so tight it had to be giving her a headache.

She didn’t so much as blink at the embrace she was obviously interrupting.

“Forgive the intrusion, Your Highness. The generals have assembled, and Durgon will have to leave again soon. Mariana’s forces are on the move. ”

Finn pivoted from Jade as he cursed, letting the hand on her waist fall away. The other merely drifted down to settle around the nape of her neck. “The intel is reliable?”

“I saw her army myself.” Electra lifted her chin in the way Jade hadn’t dared to.

“And what of Coral and Shell and Reg? Were they among the army?”

Electra’s expression didn’t change as she shook her head. “The only Awakened I could sense was Mariana herself, at the back of the force. But perhaps one of the others will have news of them.”

“How quickly is the army moving?”

Electra darted a glance toward the door, as if wondering why he was questioning her now instead of going to the meeting for the full report. But she said, “I expect they’ll be here in three days. Less, if Mariana calls up a current to aid them—though given their numbers, that would tax her.”

“We should have destroyed the waystations,” Finn muttered, punctuating it with another curse.

Electra’s countenance went stormy.

Jade’s no doubt did as well. “But—Librus said the waystations were there to ensure the safety of all the mer traveling between cities. If you destroy them, wouldn’t you be putting your people at risk of drowning? Especially if the domes take damage in the fighting?”

The look he sliced into her was pointed as a trident. “Forgive me, darling. I didn’t realize you, at the ancient age of nineteen, were an expert on mer battle strategy and safeguards.”

Wisdom said she should apologize and lower her head.

And perhaps if Electra weren’t right there, she would have.

But subservience wouldn’t come, not when his tone grated on her as it did and the mermaid watched so intently, amusement tugging at her lips.

“I make no claim to be a military strategist, Your Highness. I am only concerned for the welfare of the innocents caught in the middle of this coming war.”

“There are no innocents. Every mer will have to decide whose side they are on, will have to be willing to die for that allegiance.” He turned back to Electra. “Go. I’ll follow momentarily.”

Electra spun and obeyed, but Jade saw her fingers pull into a fist. That was a woman who didn’t like to be commanded, even by her prince.

The hand at the back of Jade’s neck squeezed. Went hot. And then—she didn’t know what happened. She felt something inside her move, rush, and then the breath she tried to pull in caught in her throat, choking her, and her head went fuzzy and dark. Her knees gave out, her arms flailing for support.

And then all was normal again, except that she was leaning against Finn, her hands on his muscular arms.

His smile dark and menacing, he leaned his head down to put his mouth by her ear. “Any other concerns you’d like to share? Darling?”

He’d…how had he…? She pushed herself away and made herself meet his gaze. Looked for that softness she knew lived inside him, the bits that peeked out only when the topic was his siblings. He wasn’t all monster. Wasn’t unfeeling.

But the hard glint in his hazel eyes made it clear that he would give none of that softness to her. She was a weapon in his arsenal, nothing more. And until she became that, she was nothing at all. A pretty face, but not one worth wooing.

She willed a clever answer to come to her tongue. Willed herself to find something, anything inside him that she could appeal to, that she could use to bridge the gap. To get to know him. To turn him into a friend.

But she’d already tried the one thing she knew. She could only step away and offer the truth. “Yes. I am concerned for you . I do not blame you for fighting for your life, Prince Finn, and the lives of your family. But in your quest for life, I pray you don’t lose your soul.”

At the way he went tense, she braced herself, sure he’d either strike her or lash out with his magic again. But he shook his head and turned for the door, muttering something about “too much time with the priest.”

Only once he’d slammed the door behind himself did she let her knees turn to jelly. She sank to the floor, bending over until her forehead pressed against the cool tile. And let herself be a child and cry for her mama.