Wren still smiled, but there was no joy behind it anymore. “What do you mean? Of course you are,” she said flatly.
Jae shook her head. “No. No, I’m not.”
They held each other’s gaze for an interminable moment until finally Wren looked away, huffing a laugh. “You’re being ridiculous. I’m not surprised. You never—”
“I never what?” Jae asked, hating that she was going to argue with her but not willing to sit quietly anymore. “I never stand up for myself? I never do what I want? I never take care of myself? Well, I am now.”
“That’s not what I was going to say,” Wren snapped.
“What then?”
“I was going to say that you never would leave me like that.”
Jae took a deep breath. “It’s not—It’s not about you.”
“You’re right.” Wren held the vial out to her. “It’s about you. It’s about you making the wrong decision.”
“Wren.”
“Take it.”
“I’m not.”
“Jae.”
“I won’t.”
Wren narrowed her eyes. “I will never give up on you. I will show up every day, beg you every day, until—”
But Wren didn’t get to finish, and Jae didn’t get to respond. Because James, who had been sitting silently by, reached between them and snatched the vial from Wren’s hand. Then, before anyone could react, he popped the stopper out with his thumb, brought the vial to his lips, and tipped his head back, drinking the potion in one gulp.
Jae gaped at him, mouth opening and closing like a fish’s.
Wren looked back and forth from her empty hand to the empty vial as if unable to believe what just happened.
James smacked his lips, smiled at the girls, and then slumped to the side and toppled into the water.
Jae dove after him, ignoring Wren’s sudden cry of outrage. James was sinking fast, and he hit the bottom, sending up a cloud of sand and dirt. She swam through it, grabbing him by the collar to pull him up.
But then she stopped, studying him. His skin was turning blue, but not the sickly, breathless blue of a drowning human.
What was it that the potion did exactly? According to Wren, it would turn the drinker human, but according to Clove . . . The potion would allow the drinker to take on the form of the one they loved.
James, still unconscious, jerked and bucked suddenly. Jae hovered in front of him, wanting to help but not knowing how. Not even really knowing what was happening. Red stains of blood appeared to soak through his shirt. She wrenched the shirt open with her claws, tearing it down the middle, and saw the gashes that had appeared by his ribs.
Gills.
He was turning into a merman.
Which meant . . .
Which meant that he’d left out one very important detail when he’d let her go.
His face twisted in agony, his body seizing, fighting the change. She did not remember much of her own transition, and hoped that he wouldn’t either, but that didn’t make it any easier to watch. So instead of thinking, she gathered him up in her arms and held him tight.
“I’m here, I’m here,” she whispered against his ear. And she planned to be there for a long time, as long as he needed her, and longer if she could. Forever was an awfully long time, but it seemed about right.
When the worst of it was over, Jae returned an unconscious James to Marooner’s Rock. The change was complete, and he was stunning, with a slick, black tail. His already strong features were somehow made even more distinguished. He was impossibly, painfully handsome.
Wren did not think so. Her sister gasped in dismay when she saw what had happened. “What did he do?”
“He changed his life for me,” Jae answered, knowing Wren wouldn’t get it, but it was the best answer.
“He stole your chance at becoming human again,” Wren wailed.
Jae shook her head. “I was never going to be human again.” Then she grasped Wren’s hands tightly in her own slick, blue ones. “This isn’t the end of us, sister. You will go on living and having your adventures, but now, I’ll get to do the same. And you’ll always know where to find me. Come visit me, and we’ll love each other, and each other’s families, and tell each other the stories of our lives.”
Wren sniffed. “And when I’m too old to come visit you beneath the ocean?”
Mermaids aged slower than humans, so Jae said, “Then retire to Starlake, and I’ll come visit you instead.”
After a few more reassurances, Wren and Archer stood to go. Bell sprinkled fairy dust on their shoulders and they effortlessly floated up off of the rock, hand in hand.
“This isn’t goodbye,” Wren called down, but this time it sounded more like a promise than a threat.
“No,” Jae agreed. “I’ll see you soon.”
James slept as the day wore on. Queen Naunet came with her guards—Mara, Tal, and Assana—to extend a welcoming hand to the newest merman.
“You stayed with him through the change?” Naunet asked.
Jae nodded.
“And you will stay with him after?”
Jae nodded again, a small smile creeping onto her lips.
The queen waved her hand at the ocean. “You are welcome to take any available home in the colony.” Then added with a wink, “Might I suggest the coral caves? They’re beautiful all year round.”
Jae thanked the queen, who left with her entourage in tow.
It wasn’t until the moon was high in the sky and the stars were twinkling and bright, looking down on the couple, that James finally stirred. Jae, who had been dozing while holding his hand, jerked awake and stared down at him.
“James?”
He blinked once, twice. “Jae?”
“Do you remember what happened?” she asked him.
He nodded and let his eyes drift shut again. “Did it work?” he asked.
“Depends on what you mean.”
He smiled. “Did Wren stop arguing with you?”
She laughed. “Yes. But only just.”
“Am I . . .”
“A merman? Yes. Did you know that would happen?”
“I wasn’t sure, but I thought so, after what Clove said.”
Jae shifted uncomfortably on the rock. “You mean, it’s true then? That you . . .”
“Love you?” He gestured down at himself. “Apparently so.” Then, his eyes shot open and his eyebrows furrowed. She was glad he had not lost that in the change. “If you don’t feel the same, you don’t have to—”
She didn’t let him finish. Instead, she pressed her lips to his. It was different than kissing human James had been—colder, wetter—but it felt right in the way that kissing human him maybe hadn’t. He pulled away, looking up at her, cupping one of her cheeks with his hand.
“I love you, too,” she said.
He smiled and pulled her down onto him. “Good,” he said. “I’m glad. Otherwise, this could have been really awkward.”
“Why did you do it?” she asked, nuzzling into the crook of his arm and wrapping her arm across his chest. The stars were reflected in the dark pool of his eyes, like he had the whole universe inside of him.
He shook his head. “I didn’t want you to make your decision because of me, but I realized that I also didn’t want to lose you. There was nothing left for me on the land, and you were already making a life for yourself under the sea. A life that I wanted to be a part of. I don’t need gold and treasure if I have you.”
“I never would have asked you to do this, but I’m glad you did.”
“Because Wren’s off your back?”
She swatted playfully at him. “No, because now I get the best of both worlds.”
They kissed for another long minute and Jae pulled away, feeling giddy. It was hard to believe her luck. She was supposed to have been long-married to a prince who didn’t care about anyone except himself. She would have been kept in a glass cage, like a pet goldfish, swimming in circles and doing as she was told. The ob
edient, sickly princess.
Now—now she had a life she loved and a man who loved her. For the first time in a long time, she was excited to see what the future had in store for her.
“Now,” James said, flopping his tail against the rock. “Are you going to teach me to use this thing?”
Wren looked at it. “It’s like walking,” she said. “You’ll figure it out.”
And then she dove in, slicing through the cold, dark water, headed for home, trusting that he was right behind her. There was no hesitation and no looking back. Jae Darlington knew how to swim, and nothing terrified her anymore.
Epilogue
Captain James Hook had never expected a happily ever after. He was not born with a silver spoon in his mouth, or a kiss in the corner of his lips. He was the villain, the bad guy, always one step behind. He never dreamed of having more—or of being more.
Until Jae.
She smiled at him, teeth sharp and eyes sparkling from the opposite end of their makeshift aisle. It was really just a gap in the crowd of merpeople and pirates and Lost Boys and fairies that had gathered for the occasion—the first ever Never wedding. That wasn’t to say that no one had ever been married, but it was the first time that people from across the island gathered in one place to celebrate such a union. The lagoon, a place of so many beginnings, seemed the right place to do it.
Queen Naunet stood behind him, a golden trident that she only brought out for special occasions in one hand.
“Look at her,” Naunet said in a low voice.
“I couldn’t stop if I wanted to,” he replied.
It had been two years since his transition. Two years with Jae, learning who she was and who she wasn’t, what she liked and what she disliked. Sometimes, she disliked him, like when he accidentally killed their pet goldfish when he’d been learning how to hunt (How was he supposed to distinguish it from any of the other fish he was allowed to spear?). And sometimes, he disliked her, like when she and Tal had painted the beautiful natural-coral interior of their home a sickening pastel pink. But they’d always come through it, and now they were here, promising each other forever.
Jae reached him at last and handed off her seashell bouquet to her sister, who floated nearby with her newborn baby in a sling on her back. The babe was a small, delightful thing that had Jae’s small nose and Wren’s brass-colored hair. James couldn’t wait to see what his own children would look like, someday soon, he hoped.
The queen officiated the ceremony, and while he was sure it was lovely, he heard very little of it. He held Jae’s hands in his and spoke when he was told to, and then he was being told to kiss her, his new wife. He was more than happy to oblige, wrapping his arms around her and pulling her close, devouring her mouth in a way that was maybe not entirely proper but elicited cheers and whistles from their audience.
The reception lasted late into the night. The pirates, led by Mr. Smee, set off fireworks when it was dark enough. There was plenty of food, and even more ale, and everyone was in good spirits. James lounged on Marooner’s Rock, watching his bride play with her niece in the water not far away, when Wren appeared from the sky, landing beside him.
“Brother,” she said in greeting.
He smiled. “Sister.” He had never thought to call her that, but was glad now that he could.
She squinted out at the revelers, as if she couldn’t quite look him in the eye. “I have something for you.”
“A wedding present?”
“You could call it that.”
“You shouldn’t have,” he teased.
She grunted. “That remains to be seen.”
There was a pouch slung around her waist, and she opened it now, withdrawing a small ball of light and holding it out toward him.
A dream-orb.
Not just any dream-orb, though. His. The one he’d been searching for when he accidentally started this whole crazy adventure. He stared at it, not sure what to do. To be honest, he had been without his dreams for so long, that he didn’t know what it would be like to have them back. Instead, his reality was like a dream, a life he had never even dared to imagine.
Wren sighed. “I took this from you because I thought I was protecting my sister and the rest of the world from you, the evil Captain Hook. But I’m glad you and Jae found each other, and I want you to have these back. You’ve never stopped my sister from dreaming, and I don’t want you to be left behind. Maybe soon you’ll have little ones that need a bedtime story. My nieces and nephews will deserve the very best, and it’s hard to come up with stories if you can’t dream.”
Nodding, James took the orb from her. “What about Pan?” he asked, holding the orb gingerly in both hands.
She tiled her head from side to side. “Eh. I’m still working up to that one.”
He laughed, drawing a reluctant chuckle from her, as well. Then, Wren stood, brushing her hands on her trousers as if knocking off the dust of the last decade or so.
“I should go collect my child and get back to the ship before Jae squirrels her away underwater.”
James nodded. “Thank you, Wren, for this.”
Wren smiled over her shoulder at him and then leaned forward, taking to the air to search for her child among the party-goers. James watched her go, the fairy dust twinkling on her shoulders. It was hard to imagine that she was the same girl he’d picked up in the Frostwater all those years ago, with her blue day dress and her hair in ringlets. That Wren had been running away; this Wren was running toward.
Suddenly, Jae popped up in front of him, crossing her arms over the lip of the rock and resting her chin on them.
“Is that what I think it is?” she asked, tilting her head toward the orb.
He looked at it as if surprised he held it. “Depends on what you think it is.”
She smirked at him. “Wren gave you back your dreams.”
James nodded. “She did. It was my wedding present.”
“And all I got was a congratulatory pat on the back,” she said with a teasing roll of her eyes, but James knew just how much that meant to Jae, coming from Wren.
“What am I supposed to do with it?” he asked, leaning forward so they could both look at it. Inside, a miniature version of himself floated in a black, starlit sky.
“Smash it,” Jae answered. “Let them go.”
“And then what?”
“And then you’ll dream again.”
He studied it for another moment and then thrust it at his wife. “You do it.”
Jae took it automatically without realizing what he asked. When she finally heard what he said, she looked from him to the dream-orb with wide eyes. “What? No, you should do it.”
He pressed it into her hands. “No, Jae, I mean it. My dreams are yours. My future is yours. You should be the one to do it.”
She looked like she wanted to argue more but thought better of it. Then, she wound her hand back and without any further hesitation, dropped the orb on the rock between them. It shattered into a million pieces of dust, and from it, a ghostly apparition of himself burst forth. They both followed it with their eyes as it disappeared into the night sky.
James laughed. “Is that it?”
Jae shrugged, smiling. “That’s it. Is it enough for you?”
He tilted her head up with his hook so that their mouths nearly met. “It’s a lovely surprise, and I think it will do just fine.” And he kissed her again, and thought he might never stop.
That night, after the festivities, he and Jae returned to their cozy coral cave. James lay down beside his wife, and eagerly closed his eyes. She curled into him, her hair tickling his face, her hand grasping his.
“Are you excited?” she whispered to him.
“I can’t wait,” he answered, and he didn’t just mean for the dreams. He meant for the whole rest of his life.
And then, for the first time in a long time, Captain James Hook dreamed.
<<<<>>>>
A Rose In The Ashes by M.T. Finnberg
/> Chapter 1
The world was a thin slice of green between my squinted eyes, as I listened to my sisters’ drowsy voices among the churning roll of the cart’s wheels against the gravel. The green was from a spell I’d cast to numb my nervousness — we’d soon arrive at the castle — but now I thanked it for numbing out my pain, as I listened to the things my sisters said.
“No, Amalia wasn’t invited,” Elsa repeated. “The clever girls we are, Lily and I talked Queen Marjorie over. Marjorie couldn’t possibly say no! Not after I’d just got engaged to Gabe! Her nephew! After all, aren’t I practically family, now? So, of course, she said yes…And even if she hadn’t, we would be sneaking Amalia in. Trust me, we would.”
I wasn’t invited to the baby princess’s christening?
It was one thing to assume the invite hadn’t reached me at my distant hut, as no couriers ever found it underneath all the cloaking magic, anyway…but to have not been invited at all?
By my blazing fae heart, this changed everything. I might only be a lowly peasant hag…or a witch of the woods…or call what you will the likes of me, but I had my pride.
My borrowed dress seemed to squeeze me tighter at the ribs, choking me. Lily had lent me one of her best gowns, since I’d had nothing remotely presentable to wear. The only issue about it was that it was a dark shade of crimson, the hue of blood, and therefore not the best fit for a christening. But it was glamorous, a delicious concoction of layers upon layers of lace, incredible craftsmanship, and certainly fancy enough. At every move, I’d been afraid I’d ruin it, ever since we’d left Lily’s house.
But I wasn’t welcome at the Royal Castle?
All right, I couldn’t go; it was as simple as that.
I opened my eyes a smidgen more and turned my head ahead, so my sisters wouldn’t notice I was awake. I could only see Elsa grab the hand of Catherine’s small son, and I stared at their hands with tears welling in my eyes, as the whole thing hit me. It was all of us sisters, all seven of us, in the cart today. The last time we’d all been together had to have been years and years ago.
Kingdom of Villains and Vengeance Page 45