“Did you each bring hand-held weapons for close-range fighting?” Jesper asked casually as the smell of salt water reached our noses. We were almost there. Alric and Reva’s weapons were strapped to their backs like usual but they didn’t have the assortment of knives on display like they usually did.
Alric narrowed his eyes at my new advisor. “Are you planning something, Shadow Elf?”
Jesper’s shoulders shook with silent laughter. “Absolutely not. Just making sure the both of you are prepared for what’s to come.”
Alric took a few steps back and eyed me cautiously. “What does he mean by that? I thought he hadn’t ever met the mermaids?”
The Shadow Elf kept walking but threw over his shoulder, “I haven’t met them because I haven’t ever had the means to get to the bottom of the ocean. Good luck swinging a sword underwater. Hopefully, you won’t need to.”
Like always, my dagger was strapped to my thigh but I knew it wouldn’t be enough in these uncharted waters. I still didn’t know how we were going to get to the ocean floor but I imagined that was something the gods would assist with when the time came.
Alric’s shoulders tightened and he looked like he was ready to kill something the rest of the walk to the ocean. Jesper kept a grin on his face the entire walk and I wondered how Alric was taking his own medicine dished to him. Reva was surely enjoying it. She didn’t say a single word but I could see it in the way she swung her arms as she walked and the little crooked smile that played on her lips. She was loving every moment of this. I would have been lying to say I hadn’t enjoyed it, as well.
Just up ahead there was a tree as big as the castle was wide and beneath it, there was a gap to walk through. Jesper waved us forward as he stepped under the arching tree and guided us through.
On the other side of the tree was the lagoon. The water sparkled, even in the shadows and the trees all seemed to be reaching down to touch the top of the water. Weeping willowssurrounded it on all sides. The only place the snow didn’t touch was the water and about a foot of the ground around it.
I frowned. “I thought we were going to the ocean.”
Alric’s lips twisted into a scowl as Jesper began to unbutton his white shirt. Reva’s attention snapped to his bare chest. Swirling black and gold tattoos were etched across his rippling pecs and biceps. Reva blinked a few times before she turned away and gave me the look. The look of, why in the seven hells haven’t you slept with him yet? Then the second look of, why in the seven hells haven’t I tried to sleep with him yet? Her eyes landed on Alric’s ferocious glare and she shot me the never mind, but you should sleep with him look. I rolled my eyes but very carefully, under my lashes, looked back to the Shadow Elf.
His body was a true show of dedication. He said he liked to spar, but this showed more than just sparring. He was a warrior through and through.
“Do you like what you see, my queen?”
“Gods have mercy, I do,” Reva muttered as she began to unlace her dress and it snapped me out of my embarrassing staring.
This man.
“He’s just a flirt,” Alric muttered as he yanked his own shirt over his head. “There are plenty of those around here.”
Alric’s body was just as impressive. You could tell by the way they were shaped that they did similar exercises. But even though it was true, I wouldn’t have ever admitted it out loud for the sake of Alric’s pride. When the Shadow Elf went to shuck his pants, the breath got caught in my throat and Reva’s fingers stilled on her gown. Alric cleared his throat and we both snapped our attention away. I needed to get my dress off too, even though I wasn’t as confident as the others.
I’d gotten used to the scars that marked the tops of my thighs, but I wanted to hold my breath for the reaction otherswould have to them. I wasn’t so sure Alric was privy to them even though I knew Reva saw them on countless occasions. But Jesper? Jesper was another story entirely. I didn’t know how I felt about peeling back this layer of myself. I didn’t know how I felt about another knowing about this side of me. This only proved the horrors I’d been through. Was I really ready for others, outside of my closest friends, to know the truth? That I was broken and damaged and then put back together?
Steeling myself, I quickly unlaced the front of my dress with frozen, somewhat stiff fingers and let the material pool on the ground. As quickly as I could, I picked the dress up, folded it and shoved it into the backpack Reva brought. Edna never let us leave without a fully stocked pack, which was smart, even if we weren’t going that far.
The swimming number the gods fashioned for Reva and I were more than revealing. They were skintight, a strange, thin, stretchy material and they hardly covered anything. Thankfully, they came with a small pair of even higher shorts. But the shorts didn’t cover the scarring on my thighs, they mainly kept my very private parts as private as they could be in this get-up. Reva opted to not have shorts and the back of hers showed off her ample figure. Both men blinked at her little black one-piece. She pulled her hair over one shoulder and I giggled behind my hand as Alric marched into the woods to take care of something. I had a feeling I knew what that was, but I wasn’t going to voice my thoughts out loud either. I wasn’t exactly on his good side these days.
Jesper finally turned to me and his mouth fell open. I closed my eyes, waiting for what was to come. I already knew. I could do this. I was strong. These injuries happened a long time ago. I couldn’t afford to fall back into one of my daydreams. I was the queen. I was the queen that needed to unite people. The queen who needed an army for what was to come. The gods didn’t voicewhat was in the future and I didn’t ask, too afraid that I wouldn’t be good enough to do what it took.
“You are absolutely breathtaking. Has anyone told you that before?” When I opened my eyes, surprised by his words, he was standing directly in front of me. His eyes were soft and his lips were serious. Gone was the flirtatious man that I never knew where I stood with. In his place was a sincere man who meant every word that left his lips. “Your beauty is out matched. One day I hope you believe it just as much as I do.”
“You can see past the scars?” I needed to get it out of the way. I needed to address it or it would keep me up at night.
His brow furrowed and he took a step back to look at me in all of my glory. His eyes seemed to roam every square inch of my skin but his genuine expression didn’t change. “In my culture, your scars show your strength. All I see before me is a true warrior queen who will lead her people to greatness. That’s all anyone should see. You’ve been through hardships, haven’t we all? But that should not define you. It’s how you move forward after those hardships that define you. They are a part of you, whether you like it or not, and they are just as beautiful as the rest of you. But that isn’t what intrigues me the most about you.”
“Oh?” I was completely stunned by his words.
He tucked a strand of my hair behind my ear before he pressed a finger into the center of my forehead. “I’m more interested in what’s going on in here. I want to know your thoughts, your hopes, your dreams. I want to know what keeps you up at night.”
“There was someone else that wanted to know those things too.” Alric broke the spell I was under. “Wanna know what happened to him?”
Jesper looked over his shoulder at Alric with a lifted brow.
“He’s dead.”
“One of these days I’m going to make sure you are too if you don’t shut up,” Reva elbowed him in the ribs and marched to the water’s edge. There was no recovering that moment, even if I wanted to. Alric hadn’t been trying to get under Jesper’s skin, he’d been trying to get under mine. He was reminding me that the man I loved hadn’t been gone long enough and I hated myself for it.
