Page 91 of Under Gorse and Stone

“And he loves me too. The comb was a complete accident. He picked it up to comb his hair. Suchprettyhair,” she breathes.

She pauses, and Sigurd starts to laugh. “I warrant he got a shock.”

She smiles, easing at his open, warm humour as everyone else seems to do. He’s a very effective negotiator.

“You do not know him, Sigurd. He is kind, clever, and gentle, and so very far from the slyness and venality of the Mer court.He listens when I talk, and he laughs easily and hard. He iseverythingto me.”

I’m unexpectedly touched. “Well,” I say after a few beats of silence. “He does sound lovely.”

“I want to stay here, Sigurd,” she says defiantly. “I will not leave him.”

He looks long at her and then reaches into his pocket, producing a twenty-pound note. “Go and get us all some breakfast sandwiches, Melusine. You are still hungry, and Cary is pale with it.”

“And you’ll help?”

“Let me talk to Cary.”

She shoots me a sparkling look, suddenly filled with Mer charm. “Aye, he will side with me,” she says confidently. “Because he has a kind heart.”

Sigurd rolls his eyes. “And I suppose I am cold as ice.”

She laughs, the sound like bells on the cold morning air, and leans in, kissing his cheek. “Nay, you are our kind dragon.” She looks at me. “Many are the mornings the little Mer will swim into the cove at Pedn Vounder, and the dragon will tell us stories. He is well-loved.”

“Is he really?” I say, intrigued by the flush on Sigurd’s sharp cheekbones.

“Away, child,” he says.

She laughs again and dances towards the food truck.

“You’re going to help her, aren’t you?” I ask anxiously. “She does seem to love him.”

He grimaces but doesn’t manage to cover his soft side. “Does she, or has she convinced herself of that, because someone is kind to her and not like her cold, avaricious parents?”

I consider that and then shrug. “Does it matter?”

He cocks his head. “What do you mean?”

“Well, whether she is in love or merely thinks it, doesn’t she deserve the chance to make up her own mind? When we lose something, it assumes a huge importance. More than it warrants, maybe. She has the same right as everyone else to make her own mistakes.” He seems struck dumb, staring at me. “Hello, have I broken you?” I say playfully, and he chuckles, but it sounds tense.

A couple minutes later, Melusine dances up, handing around the sandwiches, and silence falls for a few minutes as we all eat hungrily. The cold sea air is bracing, and I huddle into my coat. Sigurd pulls me closer with one arm, and I nestle into his heat.

When I look up, Melusine’s eyes are soft. “Yes, you know what I’m talking about,” she says. She turns to Sigurd. “What should I do?”

He considers the ocean, his eyes busy, and then turns to her. “I will intercede with King Llyl for you.”

“Oh, thank you.Thankyou,” she says, throwing herself into his arms. I just manage to rescue his sandwich as he hugs her back. Then he sets her away gently.

“But you will have to speak for yourself, Melusine. You are not a child, no matter how young you seem to me. If you are committed to this adult act, then you must stand your own ground.”

“But you’ll be there?”

He nods and groans as she kisses him again. “Peace, child. I need my food.”

She laughs gaily and settles back.

I hand him his sandwich and take a bite of my own. “So, what happens now?” I ask with a full mouth.

He looks over at me. “I will speak to the court, and Melusine must bring her man there.”