I didn’t doubt her. They made a wonderful team. I thought back to John and Anthony back at the palace, taking over my role while I was here partying on a boat. At the moment, they were my team.
“What do you say?” she added as I opened the door to the captain’s room.
“I’ll think about it,” I answered. She already knew this. Something was making her forgetful.
I left her there and headed up to the deck. Before the wedding, we’d all had to stay inside, but now that it was over, I was perfectly free to watch the water outside. I took a deep breath, filling my senses with the briny smell of the ocean I loved so much and pulled my tight dress up to the knee and stepped up onto the bottom railing to really feel the breeze on my face. Even without Ari, I would still have wanted to jump overboard, to feel the freedom of the vast ocean. Of course, I didn’t. It would only mean disrupting the wedding not to mention ruining the dress I was wearing.
“Don’t jump!”
Before I’d even had a chance to look behind me, I felt two arms circling my waist, tugging me from the railing. I let go, and the pair of us fell backward onto the deck, with me landing on top of whoever it was.
“You idiot!” I turned my head to find the man with the gray eyes who had winked at me earlier. So now he was not only rude, he was stupid too. I peeled myself off him and righted myself on the deck.
“I wasn’t suicidal! I was enjoying the sea air!”
He sat up straight, putting his hands behind him. “Oh, I knew that, but I couldn’t miss an opportunity to grab hold of our new queen. It’s not often opportunities like that present themselves.”
I opened my mouth, unable to formulate the words I needed to tell him what an odious ass he was. He’d gone beyond rude and straight into creepsville. I was about to blast him with some choice words when he held both hands up.
“I’m kidding. I’m sorry. Of course, I thought you were going to commit suicide. You were standing on the railing looking like you were about to leap over. My reaction was just instinct. I could hardly let the new queen kill herself, could I? I’d rather have made a mistake, which it seems in this case, I did, than not do anything and watch the future of Trifork’s monarchy off herself and not do anything about it.”
My hands went to my hips. I guess he had a point. I was leaning right over the railings, and to a passerby, it might have looked more sinister than it actually was.
He stood up and held his hand out. I deliberated on ignoring him but decided to give him the benefit of the doubt and shook his hand.
“I’m Josh by the way. I believe this is our hook-up.”
I cringed at his choice of words.
“Do you not know who you are talking to?”
He ran his hands through his hair, letting it flop back to where it was before and gave me another wink. “Of course, I do. Sorry, am I supposed to bow?”
I could see he was challenging me. In all my television interviews in the past few weeks, I’d made it quite clear that I wasn’t a fan of being bowed or curtseyed to and as queen I was going to phase the practice out except on special occasions. There was no doubt in my mind he’d seen them.
“It is customary,” I replied, not looking him in the eye. He was far too good-looking for his own good, and those pale of eyes of his unnerved me a little. It was like he could look right through me.
He nodded his head slightly, and then with as much flourish as he could get away with, he gave me a very deep bow, his right arm around his middle and his left extended behind him. I felt my cheeks go red as a couple of wedding guests came through the door. They took one look at Josh and me and headed straight back inside.
“Get up, you oaf.” I grabbed his hand and pulled him into an upright position. “I don’t want to sound like a bore, but winking at me is not acceptable. You should also refer to me as Your Highness until my coronation, and then, I should be addressed as Your Majesty.”
I could hear the words coming from my mouth and hated myself for saying them. If Hayden could hear me now, he’d think I was being a pompous idiot. No doubt, he’d find this whole situation funny.
“Ok, Your Highness, would you like to accompany me inside for a dance? That is, if that’s acceptable behavior?”
I was just about to tell him where he could shove his dance when a familiar feeling came over me. My heart swelled making me feel almost giddy. I only ever felt this way when Ari was near. It was part of the bonding. I didn’t even need to see him in order for him to have an effect on me.
I held onto the rail and looked over the side, to where the boat met the water causing foamy waves and sea spray. To my utter shock, I saw a merperson keeping up with the boat. Long black hair fanned out in the water behind him. I didn’t need him to look up to know it was Ari.
The Adventurer
My heart racing was a direct result of Ari being there, but seeing him had only made it worse. I had no idea how he knew where I was, but it was no coincidence he’d chosen this ship to swim next to. As far as I was aware, he wasn’t in the habit of following ships for no reason.
I opened my mouth to shout down to him, but then closed it as I found that I didn’t know what to say to him. What was there to say to the person you thought was your soul mate, the man you were magically bonded to for life and yet had chosen another woman...correction... a mermaid over you?
He looked up causing me to step back. I didn’t want him to see me. I didn’t want to see his face. I couldn’t bear it. My heart was happy he was nearby thanks to our bonding, but my soul was tired. Tired and scared. I don’t even know what it was I was scared of, but it was definitely fear coursing through my veins, making my breaths come heavily as I backed towards the door of the ship.
“I’d love to dance,” I said, turning to Josh. He appeared taken aback by words which was hardly a surprise given our inauspicious start. I held my hand out to him, trying not to think of Ari, and we both headed back indoors to the wedding party. I felt upset and angry with myself for my sharp reaction to seeing Ari. I was dripping with sweat, and my hand trembled in Josh’s. He was so arrogant that he probably thought this reaction was all about him.
People had already begun dancing. Astrid and Hayden were in the center having a whale of a time if the looks of pure joy on their faces were anything to go by.
My plan had been to quietly slip away from Josh and head back to my seat, probably drinking all the champagne I could get my hands on, but Josh had other ideas. He spun me around, right onto the dance floor and held me tight so I couldn’t escape.
I closed my eyes and gave in to it. Josh was a very skilled dancer, and it was obvious he’d taken years of dance lessons. It made me wonder what it was that he did. My mother had only told me that he came from a good family, and I’d elected not to listen to anything else. As we twirled around the dance floor, images of Ari crept into my mind. He’d been a great dancer too. That one time we’d danced together outside my palace had been amazing, but unlike Josh, his skill had come straight from the spell of the sea witch.
I couldn’t bear it anymore. I could still feel him swimming close by. I opened my eyes to banish thoughts of him from my brain and gazed at Josh instead. I didn’t like the man, but I couldn’t deny how cute he was. In another life, I might have fallen for him.
“What is it you do?” I asked him, genuinely intrigued.
“You wouldn’t believe me if I told you,” he replied, annoying me further.
“Just tell me,” I insisted, waiting for the lie to spill from his lips. I hadn’t met many men in my time, but I already knew enough to know that Josh was a cad. Unless he told me he did nothing but live off his parent’s money, I wasn’t going to believe anything he said.
“I’m a treasure hunter.”
And there it was. I wasn’t surprised by the lie, just the magnitude of it. What a whopper.
“Actually, I’m a magical treasure hunter.”
“Of course, you are,” I replied, playing along. “I bet y
ou rescue maidens from towers and fight dragons too.”
“Sometimes. Mostly it’s not as exciting as you’d imagine, but yeah, I’ve fought a few dragons in my time. I’ve befriended a few too. They aren’t all bad.”
I nodded, a fake smile plastered to my lips. The audacity of this guy was shocking. My heart was beating so hard thanks to Ari being in the vicinity, that I was beginning to feel a little overwhelmed.
Thankfully, the song that was playing came to a close allowing me the excuse to finish the dance.
“Thank you so much for the dance Josh, but if you’ll excuse me, I really should mingle with the other guests.”
He gave me a small smile and bowed his head, thankfully, not in the same way he had outside. I left his side and headed to a group of people who included Hayden’s father and some of his navy buddies. When I was sure that Josh wasn’t watching me anymore, I retreated back to my seat at the head table. My mother’s glass of champagne still sat there, so I picked it up and drank it down quickly, following it up with my own. I wasn’t strictly supposed to get drunk, but I needed something to calm my heart rate down, and a buttload of alcohol seemed the best way to go about it.
The rest of the party sped by in a whirl as my brain refused to let go of the image of Ari swimming beside us. So many questions were running through my mind. Why was he here? What did he want? Did he want to get back with me? Was he going to lie to me about the girl? All these thoughts rolled around in my head as the people around me danced and drank champagne and had a wonderful time. I kept a fake smile plastered to my face throughout, not wanting to spoil Hayden and Astrid’s big day.
“What’s up buttercup?”
I turned to find Hayden standing behind me. His hair was plastered to his head with sweat, and his face was red with the exertion of dancing all evening.
I wondered if I should tell him about Ari, but then I realized the pounding in my heart had died down. It could have been the champagne I’d consumed, but I didn’t think so. Ari had gone.
“Not much. I’m just trying to consume my own weight in alcohol. Are you having a good time? It looks like Astrid has worn you out.” I looked up at the dance floor to see Astrid dancing with Hayden’s father. They both looked to be having a great time.
“It’s been a great wedding. Thanks for being my best man.”
“Anytime.” I grinned at him. “Who would have thought we’d end up here?”
“So I have a question.” Hayden began.
“If you’ve come to me to ask for advice about what to do on your wedding night, you’ve picked the wrong best man!” I said, following it up with a hiccup.
Hayden playfully punched my arm lightly.
“Idiot! I was actually wondering how you know Joshua Davenport?”
“Who?” I screwed up my eyes. The alcohol was really beginning to affect me now. Whatever I’d said to Hayden about consuming staggering amounts of the stuff, the truth was, I’d only had two glasses. My own and the glass my mother had left behind. I was such a lightweight that those two glasses had made me feel quite tipsy.
“Joshua Davenport, the famous magical archaeologist. I didn’t invite him, and Astrid doesn’t even know who he is. As you were dancing with the guy, I figured you must have invited him.”
“Oh, you mean Josh?” I rolled my eyes and made sure he wasn’t within earshot. I saw him in the far corner of the room deep in discussion with Astrid’s mother and a couple of her friends. “My mother invited him. She wanted me to have a blind date with him, but he annoyed the hell out of me.”
I saw Hayden raise a brow. “You make me laugh. Every woman in the whole of the kingdom...no, make that the whole nine kingdoms is after him.”
I looked over at him again. Astrid’s mother did seem rather enamored by him, and the number of women circling him was growing by the minute.
He caught my eye and winked again. Goodness me, he was infuriating. At least he hadn’t lied to me like I thought he had. He really was a magical adventurer.
“How do you know of him?” I asked Hayden, turning back to face him so I wouldn’t have to look at Josh anymore.
“How do you not know of him? He’s on TV all the time. I love his show, Josh’s Journeys into the Unknown.
“I don’t have time to watch TV. I’m the monarch remember?”
Hayden laughed. “No, you aren’t. Not officially yet anyway. About that. Do you have a set date for the coronation yet?”
I sighed loudly. The coronation was becoming a thorn in my side. Everything that could go wrong had gone wrong. “Not yet. I keep getting given dates, and then something happens, and the date gets put back. It will be the next century at this rate... Is Josh magic himself?”
No one in Trifork had magic, at least, none of the people native to Trifork. The merpeople had some magic, with my grandfather being the most powerful now that the sea witch was gone, but even then, he couldn’t perform most spells. The merfolk had a special kind of magic that was less waving magic wands and more about helping people be able to breathe underwater. My grandfather could do a little more than that, but on the scale of magical beings, he was close to the bottom.
I hadn’t met many magical folk. I’d met the queen of Silverwood’s husband who was a mage plus a few other dignitaries from other lands who knew magic, but I’d never actually seen any performed.
“He’s from Schnee, which is one of the most magically powerful of the nine kingdoms, but his magic is being able to work with magical artifacts. He uses them to perform the magic. I think without them- he’s no more powerful than you or I, but he’s got the guts of a lion. You should have seen some of the things he’s done.”
“Fighting a dragon?” I ventured.
“In one episode he did. The dragon burned most of his hair off. He had to do the rest of the season with a half bald head.”
I sputtered the sip of champagne I’d just taken, drenching the table in front of me in a very unladylike manner. The image of Josh with half a bald head struck me as funny. Maybe I’d just drunk too much champagne.
Eventually, the wedding came to a close, and the ship was sailed back to the shore. Astrid and Hayden went up on deck to wave to the media as I went to wake my mother.
She looked so peaceful and yet deathly pale lying on the bed. As I moved to wake her, she shuffled and opened her eyes. Eyes that were unfocused, it was almost as if she didn’t know who I was.
“It’s time to go.” I helped her up as she gazed around the room, looking disorientated. Finally, her eyes came to rest on me. “Is the wedding over?”
I heaved a sigh of relief as she began to look like her old self again.
“Yes. We are coming into dock and Hayden and Astrid are up on deck waving to the media.”
“Whatever are they doing that for? The media is only out because you are here. It’s not like either of those two is famous.”
Yep, my mother was back in spirit too. She kinda did have a point. Before the fake wedding between Hayden and I a few months ago, no one had ever heard of Hayden and Astrid. Since then, though, they’d become famous in their own right. At first, Astrid was cast as the villain in the collective mind of the media, but after a great number of interviews in which I’d assured the people of Trifork that Astrid hadn’t stolen Hayden from me, the tide turned, and the public began to love them.
We got snapped too as we left the ship, but I was too keen to get my mother home to hang around. By the time I got her back to the palace, she was beginning to look sleepy again, and I began to think that maybe she hadn’t drunk as much as I thought she had and it was actually flu instead. She certainly looked too ill for it to be something as mundane as being drunk. Besides, I’d seen her drunk before, and she didn’t look like this. She also kept her alcohol drinking to a minimum in public situations, not wanting to appear anything less than graceful.
One of the servants helped me get her to her room, where she fell onto the bed with her eyes closed.
“Can you a
sk Lucy to come up here and take a look at her?” I asked the servant while looking down at my comatose mother.
He nodded and left the room.
My mother’s breathing was even as if she was sound asleep. Maybe that was all it was, and I was making a fuss out of nothing. I pulled a blanket over her and retreated to my room to get out of the long dress I’d been wearing all day. I pulled on my pajamas and in a fit of curiosity, turned the small TV that sat in the corner of my room on. I flicked through the channels looking for the program that Hayden had mentioned featuring Josh, but he wasn’t on. I turned it off feeling pretty stupid and headed out onto the balcony to gaze out at the sea. I’d spent all my life doing that, but it was only recently I’d been more interested in what was underneath it.
Following the habit I’d fallen into, I let my eyes come to rest on the moonlit surface of the water, following the line of silver light down to the rocks. My heart gave a flip when I saw the outline of Ari down there. He was sitting in the place I always met him, waiting for me.
Blue Water (A Little Mermaid Reverse Fairytale Book 2) Page 7