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Abyssal

T he image of my dear captive’s face flashed before me, along with memories of how she’d felt in my arms and that maddeningly innocent look in her eyes. I could still hear her ridiculous question— do you think I’m soft? Oh, I thought much more than that.

And her lips...

Gods, those lips.

“Tsk.” The sound escaped me in a hiss as I slammed my pen onto the pile of work on my desk. A splotch of ink puddled over the top scroll, as unbidden and erratic as the thoughts that plagued me.

How tiresome. My concentration had been completely broken since returning to the Undersea.

What was the use of working on my tasks when all I could think about was her? There was no focus, no peace—only the dark, unrelenting desire to take her back . The hunger twisted inside me, a cruel blade that never stopped turning. The urge to tear her from their grasp, to feel her in my arms again, was maddening.

Soon, the crown would command it. But the princess wasn’t mine anymore, was she? No, she belonged to them .

I had to let her go. I had to release her from this… thing we shared. The thought alone was wretched torment, but I’d endured watching her start a life with them once before. I could do it again.

Couldn’t I?

A bitter laugh escaped me, low and cruel. No. I wasn’t sure I could.

“Master.” My familiar pulled me from my thoughts, his small voice cutting through the pain. “Aracos sees movement.”

“Oh?”

An image of the royal hallway flickered in my mind, viewed from where Aracos lay hidden.

Ah. The brute of a knight had returned from Malkeevo—alone. My pulse quickened.

I’d doubted their competence, but perhaps the princess’s lovers had finally proved useful.

“Well done, Aracos,” I murmured, summoning my trident. The surge of power hummed through me as I teleported to the adjacent corridor.

“Jagati,” I called, loud enough to reach the royal hallway. “You’ve returned.”

His massive back faced me, scarred and bleeding. Intriguing . My lips curled with dark curiosity as I added, “Wounded, I see.” Which of her lovers had managed that?

With any luck, he’d divulge the entire tale. I was willing to endure his incessant rambling if it meant delaying him from reaching the queen.

“Not now,” the knight said, dismissing me like he had no clue who he was speaking to. His voice was rough, like he’d spent the time since our last encounter gnawing on metal. Perhaps that explained why he only carried one of his usual two spears.

“And where is the princess?” I straightened, savoring the chance to humiliate one of the crown’s most loyal knights. “I distinctly recall leaving her in your care.”

Jagati turned, and there was something unexpected in his expression—almost amused . His sharp eyes glinted, and despite his wounds, a fierce smile settled across his vile mouth.

“Puppet,” he rasped, his smile sharpening into something more dangerous. “I was hoping for an opportunity to meet with you. Although, I am afraid your lesson in respect will have to wait.”

My eyes narrowed at him from across the royal hallway, watching as one of his tentacles curled possessively around something he seemed all too eager to bring before the queen.

This infernal hallway. I refused to humiliate myself by crawling across it to reach him. With a snap of magic, I teleported before him, taking hold of his repulsive form to whisk us both back into the neighboring hall.

“P-puppet!” he growled, his tentacles thrashing futilely as I caught them one by one, binding them with streams of my magic.

“You’re right,” I whispered, leaning my weight onto my trident as I inched in to see what he held. “The lesson can wait. Now, what, exactly, are you so desperate to deliver to our queen, knowing she’s commanded no one to disturb her?”

The ever-loyal knight swallowed my deception whole. “She commanded no one to disturb her?” he asked, his confidence wavering. Imbecile.

“Indeed, she did.” Four days ago, but I saw no need to clarify.

“She will forgive the intrusion. I am sure of it.” His eyes gleamed with a perverse pride as he unveiled what his tentacle clutched—a small, helpless fish. “Once I present her with this.”

A male betta .

My mask nearly slipped. “You wish to disturb our queen over a mere merman?” My tone remained steady even as chaos swirled in my mind.

It had to be one of her lovers—the na?ve one, Kai, perhaps?

Instantly, my mouth began moving, weaving, smoothing. “Surely, you must know that Queen Sagari will not be pleased by such an intrusion. She’s currently in the company of her pawns, each a paragon of strength and virility, and you think to bring a merman to her? She finds them to be repulsive in their true forms, and even more so in this pitiful state.”

What nonsense was I spewing? My words danced on the edge of absurdity, but perhaps the knight would be foolish enough to believe them.

Jagati’s gaze darkened. “You underestimate the importance of this ‘mere’ merman,” he growled, thrashing against my bindings in a futile display of his own strength. “I followed her orders—the command you delivered. This merman carries a trident. I will tear it from his lifeless body in front of our queen, and she will reward me greatly for it. Now, release me, and I may reconsider ripping you apart before I make my way to her throne.”

Ah, a trident. Now I understood why the knight was so calm about returning without the princess. How fortunate it was that the queen coveted those infernal weapons more than she did her own flesh and blood.

I, however, coveted the princess above all else.

So, he was plotting the death of one of my dear captive’s lovers? That would not do.

“Rip me apart? You should be thanking me,” I said, feigning innocence. “You think the queen will admire your blatant disregard for her command that dictates where we keep our enemies? The dungeons, if you were unaware. Yet here you are, wanting to drag a mer into her royal chamber.” I tutted and, with a sly smile, released him from my magical grip. “But if you’re convinced that’s wise, then by all means, proceed.”

The knight shook out his tentacles, the one holding his spear rising, but he did not strike me with it.

“When she’s furious at having her evening disturbed by something that could have easily waited, I’ll be right here to escort both of you to the dungeons.”

He scoffed. “I am the Undersea’s most renowned hero. The queen would never order me to be thrown into the dungeons.”

How insufferably smug of him to think the queen cared about anyone other than herself.

“Of course not.” I simply smiled, giving him a nod as I gestured toward the royal hall. “Go ahead, then. I won’t intervene again.”

As expected, I’d planted enough doubt for the knight to hesitate. “The Undersea’s prisoners do belong in the dungeons,” he said as if it were a brilliant fact of his own remembering.

“They do, indeed.”

His eyes darted between the hall and the merman he carried before finally returning to me. “I shall meet with the queen in the morning. After she is well rested from her evening’s activities.”

Ah, yes, the queen’s ‘activities.’ In truth, I held no knowledge of her plans for the evening, but I could easily guess they were as self-indulgent as they were revolting.

“As you wish,” I said, my voice as steady as stone. Once the knight swung away, I surrendered to a silent sigh of relief.

It wasn’t an ideal arrangement, but I’d afforded both the merman and myself precious time to figure out what came next.

I couldn’t allow the queen to learn of him. The moment she did, his death would be an inevitability, and I would have let down the only soul in this gods-forsaken realm whom I’d vowed never to fail again.

The thought of Claira losing someone she loved was like a violent bolt of lightning to the chest. I wouldn’t let her suffer that kind of pain. Never again.

“Hurry along, puppet,” he called, not bothering to look back. The knight’s wounds made him clumsy, and he inadvertently slammed his shoulder into the wall as he turned down another corridor. “What is it that my dear Rini calls you? Puppet… scum? ” He let out a harsh laugh. “You are needed in the dungeons, puppet scum. Or should I remind you of your duties?”

Oh, I was acutely aware of each and every one of my loathsome duties.

“Insults as sharp as your renowned spears,” I countered, matching his tone. “Ah… Spear . It appears you’ve lost one.”

The tentacle gripping his remaining spear twitched as I trailed behind him toward the dungeons, a place I loathed yet knew all too well.

The entire Undersea was aware of how the queen delighted in using my magic to torment her prisoners. Although I wouldn’t be bound to perform the usual torture just yet, I would still need to seal the merman in a cell, securing him with my magic until the queen called for his release.

With any luck, she’d remain blissfully ignorant of his presence. But how to ensure it?

A deal with the lumbering knight, perhaps? I cast a scornful glance at his broad, muscled back. Ridiculous. What could that brute possibly want that he didn’t already possess?

There was one thing I knew he desired, but even if my magic could aid him, I would never surrender it to him. Claira would never be bound to the Undersea, much less by a man like him.

Hmm… I’d have to think of another way to get the merman out of this infernal pit—but I would figure out the solution. I always found a way.