Page 27

G ripping the shell, I charged out of the candlelit alcove. My thoughts raced faster than my feet against the carpet. I’d take the shell to the beach, speak with Adriana, then let Cora know what I’d found out the following morning. All going well, we’d have a cure for Raphael’s curse in time for the wedding. The butterflies inside me took flight at the thought. Only to dive down again when my foot caught against something firm and leg-shaped.

I smacked a hand against my mouth. A man lay across the floor in front of me. Or at least it was a man. His skin was wrinkled and pale, while his gaunt face had sunken in on itself, as if all the life had been sucked out of him.

Gasping, I stumbled back. I’d seen corpses before. Many times. But this was unnatural. His body seemed centuries old, but his brown hair was thick and youthful, and his servants’ uniform appeared new. This man hadn’t been dead for long. Someone must’ve—

Hot breath hit my ear. “Grow tired of healing, Princess?”

I whipped around to find Arenn looming over me. His head tilted as he continued with a dark smirk, “Turning to murder instead?”

“Did you do this?” My heart pounded in my chest. If this was all some cruel trick to scare me…

Arenn chuckled. “Calm yourself. Stealing lifeforce is not really my style. And besides,” he wrinkled his nose in disgust, “though he might smell like it, this creature isn’t dead.”

“He’s not dead?” I gasped.

Looking past me, Arenn drew closer to the man. “No. Just severely weakened. He’ll recover after a few days of rest.”

“But if this is magic, and you didn’t do this, then who?”

“Who indeed, Princess.” Eyes glinting, he dropped to a crouch and picked at the servant’s tunic. “Either my sister has escaped her prison or your merfolk king’s accepted he’s not so powerless after all.”

“Lukas isn’t merfolk. He’s human.” I folded my arms. But in the back of my mind, I wasn’t sure I believed that any more.

Arenn shrugged. “His mother was, and whatever gift she gave to Lyssandra, she clearly passed down to her son too.”

“The Divine Gift,” I thought out loud before shaking my head, scoffing. “You think Lukas did this? Really?”

“Who else could it have been?” He poked the man nonchalantly. “The real question though,” he turned to me, eyes glinting, “is why?” Pushing up on his knees, he rose to his full height. “Do you think perhaps one of the books here gave Princess Callie a papercut and your beloved king got a bit carried away while healing her?”

My eyebrows pinched together. Arenn didn’t know what he was saying. Even to save a life, Lukas would never do something like this – at least not on purpose. He was good. Honourable. As I scowled, the crystals in my wrist tingled, the tiny bubbles inside them fizzling against my skin.

I almost died today, and Lukas did save me. Somehow…

“Or maybe he was just testing out his new power for fun?” Arenn’s babbling made me flinch. Quickly, I hid my wrist behind my back. “Either way, he must’ve transferred this poor soul’s lifeforce somewhere. I suppose we’ll find out soon enough when someone waltzes through the palace tomorrow, all full of life and glowing.”

I blinked. Now that he mentioned it, I did feel unusually awake considering it was well past midnight and I’d spent the entire evening dancing.

“Oh Ancients…” I breathed, holding back a gag.

Arenn spun away from the servant. “What is it?” But then his amber eyes narrowed, scanning my trembling body. “No,” he muttered. “It can’t be. I would’ve felt through our bond.”

I moved to back away, but Arenn was upon me before I could take a single step.

“Show me your crystals, human,” he growled, backing me against a tall bookshelf. “I can still sense your presence so you’ve not broken our connection, but if someone has interfered with my marking on your wrist—”

“You can still feel me?” I hissed. Fear clawed up my throat as I processed what he’d just said. I definitely couldn’t sense his presence anymore so Lukas must’ve done something…

Shaking my head, I swallowed down the lump in my throat. I didn’t have time for this. “Let me go, Arenn. I have business to attend to.”

The faery spat out a cruel laugh. “And would this business be with Lukas? Or is he finished with you for the night? You know, I can smell him on you.” He gripped my arm, leaning closer. “Tell me you’ll never love him and I might let him live.”

Love? Something fluttered in my chest before I forced the feeling away. “Just let me pass,” I seethed.

Arenn scowled and yanked my wrist up to his eyeline. He studied it, ignoring every move I made to try and escape his hold until finally he dropped my arm.

“Whatever merfolk tricks he’s used on you won’t be enough to break our bond,” he snarled.

“I don’t care if it’s broken or not. All I care about is that I cannot feel you anymore. We’re finished, Arenn,” I said firmly. For once, my voice was strong. Without the bond toying with my mind, I could finally speak clearly. “If you have any dignity left, you’ll take this poor man to the infirmary, then leave here tonight and find another girl to bother.” I’d escort the servant myself, but just looking at him made me feel queasy with guilt.

Arenn’s jaw tensed. “I cannot just leave you.”

“Yes. You. Can.”

A few moments passed before I found the courage to sidestep away from the bookshelf and hurry towards the main library doors.

Please don’t follow me. Please don’t follow me , I repeated in my mind, as if he could somehow hear me. But when I glanced over my shoulder, the library aisle was empty. Both the faery prince and the servant were gone, as if they’d never been there at all.

“You want the two of us to what ?” Raena b lurted as she hurried along by my side. Our extravagant ball gowns had been replaced by simple white nightgowns and slippers that left soft footprints in the sand.

“We’re just meeting a mermaid,” I explained again. “It won’t take long. I just didn’t feel safe going there alone.” The beach was drawing closer. I could hear the waves crashing and caught peeks of white sand through the palm trees surrounding the path.

“So you chose me to once again risk my life for you?” Raena huffed, but there was a playful edge to her tone.

“It’ll just be like old times.” I grinned. “Anyway you’re just upset I caught you with Erik in your bed. You’re not even engaged yet,” I teased. “What would your father say?”

“That’s ‘Sir Erik’ to you,” Raena chided, smiling. “And my father would probably congratulate me on winning the heart of one of King Lukas’s prized knights. Do you know how much he gets paid each season? If I marry him I’ll have a new gown each week. He said I’d want for nothing.”

“So he’s proposed then?” I paused our steps to face her. This was big news. Why didn’t she tell me?

“No,” she said, sheepishly. “But I think he’ll do it soon. There’s no reason to wait.”

Smiling, I patted her shoulder. “If he doesn’t do it by the end of the year I’ll have my husband force him to do it.”

“Husband?” Raena gasped. “Naria, what? When?”

“Don’t worry you haven’t missed any weddings,” I laughed. “But he’ll be my husband soon enough. Lukas wants to marry me here before we leave tomorrow.”

“Tomorrow? Naria, you cannot just get married tomorrow!”

“Why ever not?”

Raena just flapped her hands as if I were missing something obvious. “You have no dress, no decorations planned. And what about musicians? Not to mention, you haven’t even asked me to be one of your bridesmaids yet!” She pushed her lower lip into a pout. “Don’t tell me you’ve started planning all this without me?”

Chuckling, I pulled us back into a slow walk towards the beach. “Nothing is planned yet,” I reassured her. “But there’s still time for us to figure things out tomorrow morning. You’ll help me, won’t you?”

“As if you even have to ask.” Raena grinned, before launching into a stream of excited babbles about the wedding.

Though any excitement soon fizzled out as the palm trees parted to reveal a moonlit beach. Because sitting by the shoreline, for once completely unglamoured, was a rather lost-looking Prince Arenn.

“What’s he doing here?” Raena asked nervously.

I wanted to scream but I satisfied the urge with a sharp exhale. “I’ve no idea.” I adjusted my sleeves, unsure if it was because I may need to grab Raena and run, or just be ready to hit him. “But if he’s got any sense at all, he’ll leave us alone.”

Raena winced as we approached the prince, who lifted his head slowly to nod in greeting.

“Why are you still here?” I was in no mood for games.

Arenn’s lips thinned. “I overheard your plan to meet with a mermaid. Surely you know they can’t be trusted? As if I could let you come here alone.”

“You followed me?” Rage bit at my words. “I told you to leave.”

“And I told you I cannot do that. We’re bonded through magic.” Fists clenched, he pushed up to his feet. “Perhaps you do not feel the same way as I do, but for me, it hurts to not be by your side. I’m in pain, Naria.”

“Then see Ivy for some anti-pain medicine to mix in with your tea.” I turned my focus to the crashing waves, ignoring the hurt on his face. “And once you’re feeling better you can break what’s left of our bond. There must be a way for you to do it. I wasn’t lying when I said we were done.”

He opened his mouth to reply, but then stopped himself. After a few broken moments, he said the last words I ever expected to hear. “I… I can try.”

“What?” My eyebrows shot up to the stars. “You’re actually considering breaking it?”

His jaw clenched. “I said I’d try. If you really do not care for me then there’s nothing left for me here. As much as I may want to force you to love me, I won’t do that. I’m not a monster.”

I wanted to argue that he’d been nothing but monstrous so far, especially during the Oceans Ball, but somehow I held my tongue. This was progress. I didn’t want to push it.

“Thank you,” I said quietly. A quick glance at Raena showed her to be just as surprised by his words.

“Shall we… call for Adriana?” she suggested after a few more waves hit the shore.

“Yes.” Coming back to my senses, I unhooked the necklace from my neck and held it out in front of me. The golden shell glittered in the moonlight, looking very pretty, but otherwise very useless. When no mermaid emerged from the waves, I spluttered, “I… um.”

“You have to blow on it,” Arenn said beside me.

“What?”

“Like this.” Huffing, he snatched the shell from my hand and blew hard into the thicker end. A loud whistle echoed down the beach. Wincing, I brought my hands to my ears, but then the sound became more gentle as the shell glowed a soft yellow.

“How did you know to do that?” I asked as he lowered the shell.

Arenn tossed me a strange look. “Did you learn nothing from your schooling? Everyone knows how to use a summoning shell.”

“Apparently not everyone.” Raena spoke for me, looking equally as confused. Though we didn’t have time for any more questions. Within seconds, the water ahead of us began to bubble and steam, as if a cauldron had been buried in the sand.

“What is that?” Raena gasped before both of us yelped in surprise. A huge bubble rose from the sea, something crimson swirling in the midst of it.

Raena’s hand gripped mine. The bubble popped. A familiar red-headed mermaid flopped down onto the waves, landing with an ungraceful ‘oof’ into the shallow water.

“You know, cousin, it’s considered rude to summon a merfolk so close to the shore—” Adriana paused as she pushed the hair from her face and sat up on the sand. “Oh.” She beamed at me. “Naria! How nice to see you again, and you brought a friend with you too.” Her grin widened upon noticing Raena. “How lovely.”

“Good to see you too.” I spoke quickly. “But I’m afraid we didn’t come here just to chat. I really need your help with—”

“And oh.” Her cheery mood faded when she glanced at Arenn. “It’s you.” She frowned. “Again.”

Arenn scoffed, matching her tone. “And you are?”

The mermaid’s cheeks flushed in offence. “My name is Princess Adriana,” she grumbled. “Your sister and I grew up together after my mother took her in. Lyssandra was like family to me. We used to watch you on the pearl all the time.”

“You know Lyssandra?” I gasped, recalling the blue-eyed half-faery and her awful dinner party from months ago.

“Of course I do. Mother adopted her after the faeries gave her away,” Adriana explained. “She was one of the only merfolk to ever understand me. We were closer than sisters,” she added in a sad tone.

“Well she never talks about you now.” Arenn shrugged, clearly unphased by her confession. “Not that she does much talking these days.” He stared out to the horizon. “It’s difficult to find things to talk about when you’re locked in a bedchamber.”

Something inside me ached at his words. Despite what she’d done at the faery palace – how she’d tortured Lukas to hurt Ikelos. I couldn’t help but feel a twinge of sadness for her. Just like she’d said, we were both victims of King Ikelos’s cruel actions. Only now I was free to move on with my life, but she…

I swallowed, not wanting to think about how awful being locked away in the faery kingdom would be.

“You should bring her home.” Adriana’s tail fizzled out into two legs as she pushed up to stand. “I know she had her problems with King Ikelos, but that’s resolved now. She should come back to us. To her sisters.”

“She has her sisters.” Arenn scowled. “As difficult as I may find her, the twins have had no issues with keeping her company. Besides, I doubt my mother would let her leave anytime soon. My parents are convinced that somewhere, deep down inside her, she’s still their innocent baby girl. Clearly not.” He folded his arms. “If you ask me, she’s gone mad.”

“She is not mad.”

“Please stop.” Raising my palms, I stepped between them. “There’s no time for arguing. Please I…” Desperate, I turned to the scowling mermaid. “I need your help with Queen Cora’s son, Raphael. He’s been cursed, and we’re certain it was the merfolk.”

“A merfolk curse?” Adriana’s anger faded to confusion. “That’s unlikely. There’s so few of us with enough power to actually curse a human, and my mother’s been behaving herself for years.”

“But what if she hasn’t?” I argued. “Or what if there was another powerful merfolk out there somewhere. How do we fix it?”

Please. Please, give me something.

“Well, that depends entirely on the curse.” She tapped her chin, far too calm for my liking. “And sometimes they’re unbreakable too – otherwise what would be the point of going to all that trouble to cast the damned thing?”

“But there has to be a way to fix him!” I clenched my fists. “He’s just a child. Please, Adriana.”

The mermaid chewed her lower lip in thought, until finally she purred, “There is one thing you could try.”

The three of us blinked at her expectantly.

“It’s quite far, and dangerous too,” she added, curling her damp hair around her fingers. “And this will only help him if it’s a weaker curse. Like I said, some are truly unbreakable.”

“We only have tonight,” I told her. “Can we return by dawn?”

Adriana wrinkled her nose. “It’s possible.”

“Then let’s go,” I decided.

“Naria…” Arenn grabbed my arm and spun me to face him. For once, there was genuine fear in his eyes. “Are you certain about this? She said it’s dangerous.”

“Then don’t come with me,” I said plainly before I turned to Raena, squeezing her hands. “You too. Stay here if you’d like. I won’t hold it against you.”

She glanced around hesitantly, but then her gaze hardened. “No,” she said in a firm voice. “I’ll come with you. Prince Raphael is a good friend of my brothers and I’d never forgive myself if you didn’t make it back from this because I was too much of a coward.”

“It wouldn’t be cowardly for you to stay.” I placed a hand on her shoulder. “Only come if you really want to.”

“I do.” She gave me a small smile. “It’ll be just like old times, remember?”

“Just like old times,” I laughed before pulling away and facing Adriana again. “Please take us there.”

“If you’re certain?” She drew closer. When I nodded, she took my hands. “Well, you know how this goes.”

Before I could speak again, she pressed her lips against mine and dragged me below the surface.