Page 15

LUCY

M y world narrowed to just this---Thalassar inside me, his arms around me, his breath hot against my neck.

The sensations were unlike any I had known.

This was different.

Overwhelming.

Perfect.

“You feel so good,” Thalassar whispered against my ear.

I turned my head, seeking his mouth, needing to taste him.

Our lips met in a clumsy kiss, the angle all wrong but somehow exactly right.

“Did you know?” I asked between kisses.

“That it would be like this between us?”

The blue-green light from the ceiling cast Thalassar’s features in sharp relief.

Sweat made his bronze skin glisten, highlighting the scales along his shoulders.

“No,” he answered, his breath coming faster.

“I hoped, but I didn’t know.”

Without breaking our connection, he shifted our position, the movement sending pleasure spiraling through me.

“,” he groaned.

“Do you know what you do to me?”

I ran my nails down his back, feeling the contrast between smooth skin and textured scales.

“Tell me.”

“You make me forget who I am.” He rested his forehead against mine.

“You awaken possibilities I never considered.”

“What things?”

“A future.” His words were broken by his ragged breathing.

“With you.”

Something in my chest cracked open at that---something I’d kept walled off for so long I’d forgotten it existed.

I tilted my face upward, meeting his lips in a kiss that tasted of salt and promises.

“I never expected you,” he murmured against my lips.

“Expected what?”

“Someone who sees me.” His hands cupped my face, thumbs brushing my cheekbones.

“All of me.”

My heart tightened at the vulnerability in his voice.

How many years had he lived, carrying the weight of his responsibility, never truly seen by anyone?

“I see you, Thalassar.” I covered his hands with mine.

“And I’m not looking away.”

Our movements became more urgent, carrying us both toward completion.

When release finally came, it crashed over me in waves, Thalassar following moments later with my name on his lips.

We lay tangled together afterward, his weight a comforting presence as our breathing gradually slowed.

“Stay with me,” he whispered, his voice vulnerable in a way I’d never heard before.

“Not just tonight. Always.”

I traced the patterns of scales along his shoulder, memorizing their texture.

“I want to, but my mission---“

“Can’t they survive without you?”

The question hung between us, heavy with implications.

Could they?

And more importantly, could I survive without this---without him---now that I’d found it?

I traced my fingers over Thalassar’s scales, following the pattern where bronze skin gave way to gold and black.

The texture fascinated me---smooth yet distinct under my fingertips.

Nothing in my world compared to this, to him.

“You’re quiet,” he murmured, his arm tightening around me.

“Just thinking.”

“About?”

I propped myself up on one elbow, looking down at him in the blue-green light filtering through his chamber.

“How nothing about this was in my mission briefing.”

He laughed, the sound reverberating through his chest against my palm.

“And would you have believed it if it was?”

“Not a chance.” I ran my hand along the ridge of scales at his shoulder.

“I came here looking for resources, not... this.”

“And what is ‘this’ exactly?” The weight of his question settled between us, unspoken.

I swallowed.

What was this?

Something I’d never experienced before.

Something impossible.

“I don’t have a name for it yet.”

His expression softened as he reached up, threading his fingers through my hair.

The contrast of his scaled hand against my dark strands made me shiver.

“Neither do I,” he admitted.

“But I know I don’t want it to end.”

The words pierced something in me, something raw and tender.

I leaned down, pressing my lips to his.

“Me neither.”

When we broke apart, I sighed, settling my head on his chest.

“But there are... complications.”

“Your mission?”

“That’s one.” I traced another scale pattern, reluctant to voice my other concerns.

“Also the fact that your guards were shouting things I couldn’t understand when those creatures attacked me.”

Thalassar stiffened beneath me.

“What do you mean?”

“During the attack---everyone was yelling. Orders, warnings maybe? But I caught none of it. I just stood there, useless, not knowing which way to move or who to trust.” The memory stung.

“What if it happens again? What if next time someone gets hurt because I don’t understand?”

He was quiet for a long moment, his fingers still moving through my hair.

Then he sighed.

“I’ve been thinking about this problem.”

“You have?”

He shifted, gently moving me aside as he sat up.

“Wait here.”

The loss of his warmth left me suddenly cold in the room’s mild temperature.

I pulled the silken covers over me, watching as Thalassar crossed the chamber naked, seemingly unconcerned with his state of undress.

His muscular back rippled with scales that gleamed in the soft light.

He stopped at an ornate cabinet carved from some type of coral or stone I couldn’t identify.

The patterns twisting across its surface reminded me of ocean currents.

Thalassar input a sequence on a panel that looked like mother-of-pearl, and the cabinet slid open silently.

When he returned, he held something cupped in his palm.

“What’s that?” I asked, sitting up straighter.

Thalassar sat on the edge of the bed, his weight dipping the mattress toward him.

“Something... rare.” He opened his hand to reveal a pearl-like object hanging from a delicate chain of woven silver strands.

Unlike the breathing pearl that had saved my life with its clear blue glow, this one held shifting hues—pinks, purples, greens, and blues shimmering beneath its surface.

“It’s beautiful,” I whispered.

“It’s called a memory pearl.” His thumb brushed over its surface.

“Ancient technology from when my ancestors needed to communicate with other species that shared this world.”

“Something... rare.” His expression grew solemn.

“And sacred. Few remain.”

“If you had this all along, why not offer it sooner?” I blurted.

His gaze dropped momentarily.

“Because it creates a deep bond. The pearl doesn’t just translate words---it conveys cultural memory, context, secrets. To give it to an outsider...” He exhaled slowly.

“It’s not done lightly. It requires absolute trust. From both sides.”

I studied his face.

“What changed?”

“Everything.” His eyes met mine again.

“When the Mersai attacked you, I realized keeping you separate from our language was keeping you vulnerable. And I realized I trusted you with not just my words, but with everything they might reveal.”

My heart pounded in my chest.

“How does it work?”

“It connects to your mind.” He hesitated.

“It’s intimate in a different way than what we just shared.”

The thought sent a thrill through me, though I wasn’t entirely sure why.

“Will it hurt?”

“No.” He unfastened the clasp.

“May I?”

I nodded, turning so he could place it around my neck.

His fingers brushed my skin as he fastened the chain, and I felt a jolt at the contact that had nothing to do with the pearl.

The pendant settled against my skin, cool at first, then warming rapidly.

Within seconds, a tingling sensation spread from my chest up through my neck, branching out behind my ears and into my skull.

Not painful, but strange---like the fizzing of carbonated water inside my head.

Thalassar spoke, but not in Standard.

The fluid, musical language I’d heard him use with his people flowed from his lips.

To my shock, I caught fragments of meaning---“how” and “feel” and something about “connection.”

“I understood part of that,” I said, wonder in my voice.

He smiled.

“The pearl remembers our language. It will feed it to you slowly, building connections in your mind with what you already know.”

“Say something else.”

He spoke again, this time more slowly, and I caught more words---“pearl,” “stronger,” “time,” “wear.”

“It gets stronger the longer I wear it?” I guessed.

Thalassar nodded, looking pleased.

“Exactly. By tomorrow, you’ll understand simple conversations. In a few days, much more.”

I touched the pearl, feeling it warm under my fingertips.

“Can I speak it too?”

“Try.”

I recalled a greeting I’d heard Maris use.

The sounds felt strange on my tongue, but I mimicked them as best I could.

As I spoke, the pearl glowed faintly against my skin.

Thalassar’s eyes widened.

“That was... nearly perfect.”

Pride surged through me.

“The pearl helps, doesn’t it? I can feel it... suggesting the right sounds somehow.”

“Yes. It works both ways.” He touched the pearl, his fingers brushing against my collarbone.

“It’s responding to you strongly. That’s unusual for a first bonding.”

“Is that good?”

“It’s... interesting.” His expression turned serious.

“, about the attack. I believe you were targeted specifically.”

I frowned.

“Why would they target me?” As he began to respond in his language, I caught fragments again---“outsider” and “danger” among them.

“They fear what you represent,” he continued in Standard.

“Change. Unknown variables.”

“But why risk attacking inside your palace? That seems desperate.”

Thalassar’s jaw tightened.

“It was unprecedented. Which is why I’m concerned there might be sympathizers within my court.”

The pearl warmed against my skin as he spoke, and suddenly I understood more than his words---I caught the undertone of betrayal in his voice, the cultural weight of what such disloyalty meant in a society built on clear hierarchies.

“You’re worried about traitors,” I said softly.

The pearl didn't just offer the word; it resonated with a cold echo of Thalassar's own feeling, the profound cultural weight of disloyalty.

He looked at me sharply.

“How did you...?”

I touched the pearl.

“I don’t just understand the words. I feel the meaning behind them.”

A sharp tap at the door interrupted us, three quick raps that sounded urgent.

Thalassar instantly tensed.

“Just a moment,” he called, rising quickly and grabbing a robe for himself before tossing me one of his tunics.

I pulled it on hastily, the silk cool and slippery against my skin.

Once we were decent, Thalassar called out something in his language that I now partially understood as permission to enter.

Maris stepped in, her eyes carefully averted until she confirmed we were clothed.

Then she spoke rapidly in their language, the words flowing too fast for me to catch more than fragments---“bodies,” “identified,” “clan markings.”

But the pearl worked its magic, feeding me not just words but concepts, helping me piece together her message.

“They’ve identified the attackers?” I asked before Thalassar could translate.

Both of them turned to look at me in surprise.

Maris recovered first, nodding and continuing more slowly.

I understood now that they had confirmed the attackers belonged to a specific faction of the Mersai---one particularly opposed to any outside contact.

“The council requests your presence immediately,” she finished, looking at Thalassar.

“They’re gathering to discuss security measures.”

Thalassar nodded.

“I’ll be there shortly.” After Maris left, he turned to me.

“You should rest. It’s been an eventful day.”

I stood up, letting his tunic fall to my thighs.

“I’m coming with you.”

“---“

“I was the target,” I said, chin raised.

“I deserve to know what’s happening.”

His expression darkened.

“This isn’t your concern. You need to recover.”

“Not my concern? They tried to kill me.”

“Which is why you need protection, not exposure.”

Heat flooded my cheeks.

“I’m not some fragile thing to be locked away.”

“I never said---“

I cut him off, the words forming in my mind with the pearl’s assistance before flowing from my lips in his language: “I am not fragile.”

Thalassar’s mouth fell open slightly, shock evident in his expression.

Then something like pride flickered across his features.

“Your pronunciation was perfect,” he said after a moment.

“Then stop treating me like I’ll break.” I moved to where my clothes had been discarded earlier, gathering them up.

“I’m coming to this meeting.”

He watched me for a long moment, then sighed.

“As you wish.”

We dressed quickly, preparing to head to the council chambers.

As we approached the door, I heard voices outside---guards speaking quietly to each other in their native tongue.

With the pearl’s help, their words crystallized in my mind with startling clarity.

“---first time he’s brought someone to his private chambers.”

“Do you think she’s really the one? The future queen?”

“Must be. Have you seen how he looks at her? The king has chosen.”

I froze mid-step, the implications washing over me.

Queen?

Is that how they saw me?

Is that what I was to Thalassar?

“?” Thalassar stopped, looking back at me with concern.

“What’s wrong?”

I touched the pearl at my neck, suddenly aware it was more than just a translator.

It was a symbol---one his people would recognize and understand in ways I was only beginning to grasp.

“Nothing,” I said, my mind racing.

“Just... processing everything.”

He held out his hand to me, and I took it, letting him lead me toward the door.

Everything was changing so fast.

Three days ago, I’d been focused solely on my mission.

Now I was wearing royal insignia, sleeping with the king of a hidden civilization, and apparently being talked about as future royalty.

The strangest part?

As terrifying and unexpected as it all was, it felt right.

I squared my shoulders and stepped forward with Thalassar into whatever came next.