“There is no greater honor, than to die beside their Emperor.”
Odele bit her bottom lip and my eyes followed the movement longingly before she released it and shook her head back and forth, as if she were clearing the thoughts there. “But that’s what theychooseto do. The mer of Thalassar are forced into battle.”
I looked at her, assessed her, and then slowly, “If you are in disagreement with the laws, why not help change them? You’re the Princess. You have more power than your father, surely you have the Queen’s ear.”
Her face flushed, her body tensed. “I’m tryin’,” she whispered. Something about the way she said it was strange, different. Her accent… She blinked and her head snapped up, face flushing. “Of course,” she said, her Eramaean, lilting accent back in place. “If I had more royalty backing me when I go before the Queen to make my case…”
I smiled, accent now forgotten and nodded. “Of course I’ll help in any way I can. Though we find honor in fighting, it does not mean that it is something we like to do.”
She bumped her shoulder against mine. The move was starling, warming. “I’m glad to hear it.”
She seemed to move closer to me then, her shoulder brushing mine. The skin of our bare fingers grazed and on impulse, I reached for her hand. My heart beat rapidly as I threaded my fingers through hers, almost afraid that she would snatch her hand away again as she had earlier. But when she gave my hand a squeeze back and held tightly, I loosed a sigh of relief.
“There’s something I want to show you, Odele.” I smiled tentatively as I pulled her forward and we swam through the labyrinthine gardens. The soldiers followed, matching our pace. But I didn’t care about their presence. I didn’t care that they’d later talk about the fact that we held hands and it might seem inappropriate for royalty. All I cared about was her. So I pulled her forward until we made it into a small clearing of the garden.
There was a patch of neatly cut seagrass, and in the center, a large wooden and stone statue of a mermaid. The statue looked like it had fallen from a pirate ship and had sunken deep into the garden in an upright position. The base was stuck deeply into the sand, and seaweed and sea vines climbed up the base of it, looking like small green cracks in the structure. Tube worms were in bright blooms around the carvings of her scales.
Surely, Odele had seen this a million times already. This was her palace, her kingdom, after all. But there was something special about showing her this place. As if she were seeing it for the first time. When I looked down at her face, her fingers were pressed tightly against her lips and her eyes were widened with awe. I watched with fascination as a small tear bubble emerged from the corner of her eye.
Never before had she looked so beautiful.
It was then that I realized that after this short swim through the gardens, I was falling in love with my betrothed.
That was my last thought before the spear zipped through the water and hit Princess Odele.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
Tiberius
IT HAPPENED SO FAST.I wish I could’ve seen it coming sooner. I wish I hadn’t failed at my duties. One minute I was watching them closely, it was all I seemed to be focused on. The two of them, their intertwined hands, and searing jealousy soaring through my chest.
I didn’t know why the sentiment filled me. So I reminded myself that it was because of who she looked like, and what the Princess had meant to me. And seeing their hands clasped tightly together, seeing them laugh and joke, and then seeing her eyes fill with tears wrenched the envy straight out of me.
I was so focused on them, on the feelings in my chest, that for a brief moment, I forgot my duties. For a fraction of a second, I nearly missed the spear spiraling through the water and head straight for her.
I gave a shout, my body already moving on instinct. I gave a kick of my powerful tail and rushed forward to knock Maisie into the silt, just as the spear hit the ground a second later, right in the spot where she’d been floating. My body hovered over hers, arms caging her head in at their sides. The silt clouded around us and she coughed. When it cleared, our lips were but inches apart.
“Are you okay?” I whispered. I was sure she could feel the thundering of my heart through her own chest. “Are you hurt?”
“I’m fine,” she whispered. Her eyes looked dazed, as if she wasn’t quite sure what was happening.
“Stay down,” I commanded and then shot up in the water, turning to give a vicious look around. Already, my guards—as I’d trained them—were dispersing. Some herding the Prince, his advisors and Maisie into a protective circles, while others swam towards the direction the spear had come from.
I tightened my hands into fists and unsheathed my sword. Every bone in me told me to stay with Maisie and the Prince. To protect them. But the bigger part of me told me to catch the sea scum that was trying to kill her. I turned to my soldiers and ordered them to protect them with their lives. Knowing they would, I looked to Prince Kai and brown eyes met my own.
“Protect her,” I commanded menacingly. Probably not the correct way to speak to royalty. But if anything happened to Maisie, I’d kill anyone that played any part in it.
The Prince glared at me, as if to say he didn’t need to be told, because he was the Dragon Prince of Draconi, and that was all confirmation I needed before I shot off towards the direction the spear had come from. I was a fast and sure swimmer, and within moments, I’d caught up with my guards and had surpassed them. I put in a burst of speed through the garden and that’s when I saw the merman.
Dressed in black, with a spear gun at his side, he was zipping through the shrubbery in an attempt to escape. Rage boiled hotly inside of me. He had tried to kill her. And once I got my hands on him, he’d wish he were dead.
I zig-zagged through the maze. He didn’t see me coming as I tackled him to the silt from behind. He twisted and we struggled. There was a scuff of fists and pain as he hit me against my vulnerable spots. I grunted, but kept him pinned, using my own fists to punch and maim. The spear gun dug into my side, and I gasped as I felt the sharp tip of a spear graze my uniform.
He was a strong fighter, but I was a soldier, my rage making me stronger. I smashed my forehead into his and he grunted, going limp beneath me. It took but a moment for me to haul him up by the throat of his collar. It was then that my soldiers caught up to us. They advanced quickly, pulling the spear from his hands and then bringing his wrists to his back and holding them there.
I tried to keep my cool, but my head was fuming, my thoughts swirling. He’d tried to kill Masie. He’d triedshootingat her.
I shook him by the collar. “Do you know who you were trying to murder?” I demanded angrily.
