George Evan had always kissed her gently, with a light brush of his lips on hers and with their mouths closed. He always touched her like she was the most delicate piece of glass, beautiful and fragile.
That was one of the things she loved most about him, the way he always protected her and treated her like she was more precious than anything else in his world.
Prince Gideon was unlike any man she'd ever met in many ways, and his kiss was another example of that.
It hadn't been wet and noisy, but it hadn't been light and gentle.
He'd pulled her close to him, and instinctively, she'd tensed, waiting for a gulping, desperate attack on her lips.
Nothing could be further from reality.
Gideon's kiss was more present than George Evan's ever were. That was how she could best describe it.
George Evan's kisses had been like a memory, sweet and pleasant, but something you could feel only in your mind.
The Prince, however, made sure that she could not only feel his kiss on her lips, but he touched her face with his fingers, stroking her cheek, her jaw, and down to her neck.
Their Water Sensitivities met, and her pleasure in the kiss was reflected back at her and multiplied, she realized, as his own joy combined with it. The sensations wrapped around her until she thought her body would dissolve with the intensity of it.
All the while, his lips caressed hers, drawing out a yearning for her to do some exploring of her own. She noticed a slight scar at the corner of his mouth, and without realizing what she wanted, she reached out with her tongue to taste it.
A low growl escaped from his throat, and his hand moved to her hair, his fingers wrapping themselves in the strands and pulling her closer.
Her breath caught, and her lips parted on a gasp. Their tongues met and a pool of liquid fire grew in the middle of her being.
He pushed away then, releasing her and putting the tiniest bit of distance between their bodies.
"I need to go," he said, giving her face one last caress. "You are too tempting, and I have wanted to kiss you for so long. My family took you from a man you wanted to marry. I won't take you from Josiah if that's what you want."
Ursula wanted to tell him he was wrong. She didn't want to marry Josiah, but every moment of her life, every lesson she'd had at her mother's feet, told her that royals marry for political reasons. Would her being Josiah's wife get the prisoners returned? She couldn't give in to what her body wanted from Gideon when men were being beaten and starved somewhere, and she could do something about it.
"Good night," Gideon whispered as he left her cottage.
Now she wandered around Evangeline's shore house still feeling his touch and the desire it sparked in her. She'd sent her servants home or to their beds, fearing that her actions could get back to Veronica who would, without a doubt, make Gideon pay for touching Josiah's potential wife.
However, while everything in her head was telling her to tuck Gideon's kiss into her memory and focus on Josiah and the prisoners, her body was telling her that it needed more of what Gideon was offering.
She tried to push these treacherous thoughts out of her mind by looking around the cottage. Evangeline had collected lovely works of art, furniture covered in sumptuous fabrics, and figurines and knick-knacks of the finest, most precious materials and jewels.
Ursula was drawn to a small, oblong box made from crystal rimmed in gold. A tiny clasp held it closed.
Curious, she opened the box. A small bronze key, tarnished with age, on a matching chain, lay on the black velvet lining. A small folded piece of paper was also there.
When Ursula unfolded the paper, elegant handwriting said, "Attic." She looked at the key, then at the stairs that led to the second floor of the cottage.
She'd seen no evidence of an attic, and from the outside of the building, it appeared to only be two stories. What did this key open?
The Queen hung the key around her neck and went upstairs.
Six bedrooms and three other rooms were up here, so she took her lamp and went into each one, looking for a door that might lead to another staircase. However, even after searching for an hour, she'd found nothing.
Frustrated and tired, she dropped into a chair in what, from its size and location, had to be the bedroom where Evangeline and Everett had slept. Why would the Princess have a key marked "Attic" hidden in a box if it didn't unlock something?
Was the attic somewhere in this house? And if that were the case, where would it be?
Ursula stared at the ceiling. Was there something above her head? Something Evangeline had wanted to keep secret?
Suddenly, she saw a fine cord lying tight against the molding that ran around the edges of the ceiling. Tiny silver rings were embedded in the wood, and the cord, which was virtually the same color as the molding, ran through these.
Standing, she tracked the cord until it ran down from the ceiling on the wall to the window frame next to the bed. Another ring, this one a bit larger than the others, marked the end of the cord. It was camouflaged as a decoration and another matching one was on the opposite side of the frame.
Ursula went to the bed and examined the first ring. The cord it was attached to seemed unworn, so she gave it a tug.
A narrow door opened between two bookcases that met at the corner of the room. Even though the lighting was dim, she could make out a staircase, only wide enough for one person to traverse it at any given time.
Feeling like she was about to embark on an adventure, Ursula took the key and went to the staircase.
Chapter 31
The painting was huge, almost life-size from what Ursula could tell. It had been hidden under a sheet up against the wall in the attic, which was not much bigger than the dressing room Ursula had had back in Valborough.
When she uncovered it, she saw a beautiful portrait of a woman who had to be Evangeline sitting on a chair holding her baby.
The Princess wore a full ruffled gown in shades of blue, green, and turquoise, and her throne was gold and carved with scenes of mermaids, fish, and underwater plant life.
Ursula realized they were not mermaids but Anamii, and the background of the painting confirmed this. Evangeline sat in front of a wall of water where a man wearing a crown made of coral was looking at her, smiling.
Evangeline must have commissioned this painting soon after Carsten was born, but who was it for and why wasn't it hanging in her cottage or in the main palace?
She had to move a trunk out of the way to get closer, but when she did, she noticed a small metal placard on the bottom of the frame.
"In memory of my beloved Everett, grandson of the 65th King of the Anamii. May your son one day unite our peoples together in peace."
Ursula sat on the floor in front of the painting, looking at the woman whose tragic death and loss of her child so affected the royal family of Heyton and changed the succession. If this woman and her son were alive, she wouldn't be here, and she'd have never met Gideon, let alone kissed him.
Her eyes fell on the baby. He wore a short robe that matched his mother's garment and a gold circlet on his head. One leg stuck out from the fabric, with Evangeline's hand seeming to be putting it back.
On the baby's hip was a birthmark, a rose colored mark that was shaped like a seahorse. Was that common among the Anamii?
She stood and dusted herself off. The painting was beautiful, and given that this trip was to honor Evangeline's memory and this was her cottage, there was no reason why this painting shouldn't be hanging where everyone could see it.
Gideon splashed his sister one more time as she tromped out of the water. "You're not leaving already, are you?"
The sun had been visible at the horizon for about an hour, but he and Harriet had come to the ocean before light. They'd sent the carriage back to the Shore Palace to bring anyone else who wanted to swim.
After what had happened with Ursula the night before, Gideon hoped she wouldn't change her mind about swimming.
His action
s had been impulsive and inappropriate for more reasons than he wanted to count, but his whole being was drawn to her. He had wanted to kiss her since the day he heard her tell the servants at Chaisson Manor that she was going to palace regardless what Veronica said.
"I've had enough, Gid," Harriet said. "I'm hungry, and I want to get back to the cottage to get some breakfast. Mother and Father are planning to head into the village, so I can work on that tablecloth I'm making for their anniversary."
He sighed. "I appreciate that, but if you leave, I won't have anyone to swim with. It's not as much fun on my own."
Harriet laughed. "You sound like a whining baby now. I don't like the water as much as you do. You know that."
"No one does." He lay on his back and let the gentle waves bob him up and down for a few moments as Harriet grabbed her towels and headed to the road where another carriage waited for her.
"Maybe it's a Water Sensitivity thing."
The new voice startled him, and as he got to his feet, he ended up splashing water in his nose. A feminine laugh greeted him as he sputtered.
Finally, he was able to get enough water out of his eyes and nose to see Queen Ursula standing just at the end of the waves' reach.
"Are you going to live?" she asked, grinning at him. "I will feel quite bad if I caused you to drown."
"I assure you I am a much better swimmer than that," he said. "You startled me. I thought I was alone."
"I apologize." She stepped into the water. "Your sister doesn't like to swim?"
"No. She's a Floral Sensitive like the rest of the Princesses, so she's more comfortable on land. She loves to paint, whereas that sounds boring to me."
"I suppose it wouldn't be a very interesting world if we all liked the same things," she said, taking another step toward him.
"Your Majesty," he started, but she shook her head.
"I'm Ursula today, not the Queen." She dove under the water and swam away.
He swam after her.
To his surprise, she had outdistanced him as she headed toward a natural reef he used as his landmark when he came here with his family.
In general, he was used to being a better swimmer than other members of his family, even with his bad leg, so he was shocked to see someone who was faster than he was. Determined to catch up before she made it to his reef, he called on his Sensitivity in a way he never had before, hoping to increase his speed.
He could see her ahead of him as he swam, and just before he reached her, something wrapped itself around his ankle and pulled him back and under the water.
Trying to stay calm, he batted at his leg, thinking he'd gotten caught in a mess of seaweed, but just as he felt whatever it was release his ankle, a hand gripped his from below and yanked him down.
Involuntarily, he gasped and water filled his mouth and nose. He struggled to swim toward the surface but panic had him disoriented, and he couldn't find his way to air.
Relax. It will be fine.
A voice filled his head, but he couldn't tell where it came from or if the speaker were male or female. He had to be hallucinating due to lack of oxygen to his brain. Panic would make things worse, but he found himself unable to master his fear.
You belong here. You know that.
What did that mean? Why would his brain conjure those words? Did something in him want to drown? Surely the fact that his family didn't consider him whole enough to be a true Prince wasn't enough to make him want to end his life.
Suddenly, his head broke through the surface and he gulped pure fresh air. However, that did nothing but cause him to cough and gag.
"Relax," Ursula's voice said. "I've got you. We're almost at the reef. You'll be fine."
He continued to cough as she helped him up onto one of the larger sections of reef. Then a gush of water came out of him, to his embarrassment.
The Queen patted his back and held onto him as spasm after spasm of retching cleared the sea water from his body. When he'd regained control of his body, he wiped his eyes and turned to her.
"What did you see out there?"
"I saw you go under the water and not come back up. What should I have seen?"
Gideon scowled at the water. "Something pulled me down."
"Something. You mean like seaweed?"
"I...It didn't feel like that."
"What else could it have been?"
Shaking his head, he said, "I don't know, but I'm too good a swimmer to be pulled down by seaweed. I've been swimming in these waters all my life. I know this part of the sea almost better than I know the inside of the palace." He turned to face her. "Something was down there."
She sighed, thinking he was crazy or that he was still hallucinating from water in his lungs. "Well, whatever it was, you're safe now."
Gideon studied his ankle, the one that had been grabbed. He was sure he could see the marks where fingers had held him tight. Couldn't she see it, too?
"What's that?" she asked, and he smiled in relief. He wasn't insane. Someone or something with fingers had taken hold of him.
However, when he returned his attention to her, she was looking at his hip. His swim trunks had bunched up, exposing the top of his thigh, right below his hip joint.
"That mark," she said. "Did you get burned there?"
"Oh, that." Gideon shook his head. "It's just a birthmark. I've had it my whole life. Aunt Veronica said that it was a sign from the Elements that I'm not normal."
"What?" She'd been staring at his birthmark. In fact, she'd reached out as though she wanted to touch it, but at the last minute, she must have realized how inappropriate it would have been for her to put her hand on his thigh. Not that he would have minded.
He cleared his throat, adjusting the hem of his swim pants. "You were saying."
Her hand dropped to her lap. "I...um...I only meant that the Elements wouldn't be so cruel as to mark a child as abnormal." She sounded so sure.
"You must have a different view of the Elements than I do," he said. "I don't think they care one way or another about people. They give what they give and then they walk, or maybe float, away."
"You don't think the Elements are an important part of our lives?" She shifted back from him, and Gideon sighed.
"Should we talk about last night?"
She blushed and looked away from him. "I don't think that's necessary. Let's just say it was an enjoyable moment between two adults."
Raising an eyebrow, he grinned. "Enjoyable? So you don't regret it?"
Ursula sighed and met his gaze. "I don't regret a thing. Can we please get back to the subject at hand?"
"I'd rather talk about when we can repeat that enjoyable activity."
She blushed again, and Gideon chuckled and ran his fingertip over her cheek. "You're so beautiful. You couldn't be considering marriage to Josiah."
Now she sighed, took hold of his wrist, and moved his hand away from her. "I have to get the prisoners released. That's why I married your uncle in the first place."
"You don't think he'll do that unless you marry him?"
Shaking her head, she said, "I don't know."
"What will you do if and when he does finally release them?"
"I can't think that far ahead." Then she lifted her eyebrows. "Maybe I'll be free to do whatever I feel like. After all, Dowager Queens have a bit more freedom than third born Princesses."
"Maybe you'll be free to kiss a Prince with a deformed leg."
"Maybe I will be able to do that."
Chapter 32
Flirting with Gideon had been fun, but when Ursula got back to Evangeline's cottage, the only thing she could think about was the birthmark on his leg.
As soon as she got back to the cottage, she stared at the painting again. It rested against the wall in the small library as it was too large and heavy for her to hang.
Sitting on the floor looking at baby Carsten's birthmark, Ursula felt a shiver run through her. The marks were identical.
What did that mean?
It couldn't be what she thought it was. That wouldn't make any sense, would it?
Then she shook her head, laughing at her flights of fancy. Of course, it was possible that all the Princes had similar birthmarks, and paintings didn't have to be totally accurate. Perhaps both Gideon and Carsten had the same birthmark.
The explanation had to be as simple as that. She had to ignore the tiny internal voice that knew the truth and wanted her to do something about it.
When she got to her bedroom to change, Rebecca told her that the family had nothing planned for the afternoon and that it was customary for the Queen, when she was in residence, to visit one of the other cottages.
"That's fine," Ursula said as her maid put the finishing touches on her hair. "I wanted to go to see Princess Delthyn and Duke Thomas anyway. Prince Gideon had a bit of an accident while swimming, and I want to make sure he's not injured."
This was a good excuse. She didn't want to tell anyone, even Rebecca, about the birthmark and what she'd thought it meant.
Princess Delthyn was more than happy to see her, and right away, the Queen was ushered into the large sitting room.
"I'm glad to have this chance to thank you for helping Gideon when his leg cramped up in the water this morning," the Princess said as she motioned for Ursula to sit in the largest, most comfortable chair in the room.
Keeping her expression pleasant, Ursula asked, "His leg cramped? I didn't realize that was what had happened."
Now, Delthyn frowned. "What did he tell you?"
"Oh, nothing. I just saw that he was having trouble, but he didn't say."
"That's odd." Gideon's mother stood and began fussing around a nearby buffet on which were arranged tea and cookies. "He is a strong swimmer." She turned to look at Ursula. "And he didn't tell you what had happened?"
"He may have mentioned seaweed."
"Seaweed. Hmm." Delthyn brought two cups of tea over and set one in front of Ursula. "Nothing else?"
"Should there have been something else?" What did Delthyn suspect? Gideon said someone or something thing had grabbed him. Was that a possibility? Were there Anamii in those waters? Why would they want Gideon?
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