I loved her so much it hurt, and if I lost her, then I would be lost too. It was a wound I’d not get back from. The Dragon Prince, the vicious soldier of Draconi who rode into battle on his great dragon, who did not bow down to enemies, who feared nothing, not blood nor death or war, would fall apart if Maisie died.
I couldn’t bear the thought of losing her.
I kept my face buried into my palms as I prayed, over and over to the Great Dragon, god of my mer, that if he brought Maisie back from the depths of paradise, that I’d give up Draconi, to Him and for Him.
All he had to do was bring my mate back.
CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE
Maisie
DARKNESS SWALLOWED me whole. I didn’t know where I was, hardly remembering who I was. All I’d known at first was pain before it consumed me whole and kept me pinned down, numb. I gave into it without fighting. I let myself sink into the depths, I let that anchor pull me down...down...down…
And then I heard the voice.
Three voices, four, pushing down with me, wrapping around me in an attempt to bring me back up again.
Wake up.
Great Dragon, please save her.
Come back to me.
Cousin, please live.
Daughter…
It was that last voice that gave me pause, that awakened me in the darkness, made me grapple for a scrap of memory. When I remembered everything, when it all hit me painfully, made me thrash against my invisible bindings.
They were waiting for me, praying over me. Who were they? That’s right, my family. I’d never had a family before, but now I did, and they were calling out to me. They wanted me, accepted me, and I was failing them. I was giving in to the pain, falling deep into the depths of an abyss that would swallow me up and spit me from their memories.
I wouldn’t give up.
I was not a victim.
I was not afraid.
Wake up.
Great Dragon, please save her.
Come back to me.
Cousin, please live.
Daughter…
I grabbed onto the voices like a lifeline, I let them wrap themselves around me and I pulled with all of my might. There was no pain in my fins with the strain. There was nothing inside me but determination, and love, so much love. Whether it was mine for them, or theirs for me, I wasn’t sure.
All I knew was that it saved me from the darkness.
And pulled me from that abyss.
CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR
Odele
“SHE’LL BE alright,” I assured the four mermen at her bedside. Even if I wasn’t sure I believed in the words myself, I had to say them. I had to hold onto them, for I couldn’t bear to believe the worst.
If Maisie died, I doubted I could ever go on. Perhaps my lineage truly was cursed, and everyone I ever let myself love was destined to die. But those thoughts were too morbid to contemplate. And I didn’t want to say them aloud in front of Tiberius, Elias, Kai, and King Dorian. The four of them hovered over her bed, waiting for some sign of a flutter, whispering, praying in her ear.
The sight was enough to cripple me, as I remembered the time my mother had died. I’d been young, but I still remembered it vividly.
I pushed the painful memories away, and straightened my shoulders, donning the facade that kept me sane and alive. Donning the mask of Princess. Pulling it close to me until it enveloped me like a second skin. I threw my shoulders back and ventured into the room.
“You all need to leave,” I ordered.
Four hopeless gazes turned to me.
I rolled my eyes and let out sounds of exasperation. “She probably isn’t waking because the stench of the four of you is keeping her knocked out. Seriously, when was the last time any of you took a bath? Get out, and get out now. Give her room to breathe for a moment before you come hovering again.”
King Dorian straightened, piercing his gaze into mine. I met it unflinchingly. If he thought I was afraid of him, he had another thing coming. He was an attractive royal, with eyes that were like my cousin’s, a slender neck and prominent cheekbones. All features she had inherited from him. Even the agony in his expression could not hide his beauty. And I liked beautiful things.
“She’s going to wake up,” I promised, dreading to do so but seeing no other option. “She just needs time and space. Bathe, fix yourselves, and then come to her later.”
They still stared at me, and didn’t move.
I sighed. “Get. Out. Now.” I used my most murderous voice. My Princess voice, the one that bespoke of command and power.
The one that had the all obeying instantly.
I watched with satisfaction as they all began exiting the room, albeit slowly, but exiting just the same. Once they were all gone, I busied myself with opening the windows and straightening up the room. I called in servants to place flowers, lilies, all around the room for fresh scents and color. When she woke up, it would make her smile. I hoped.
When everything was ready, I sent my own silent prayer to whoever would listen to gift my cousin with life. As I did, her eyes fluttered, and her body moved.
Hope flared in my chest, it had seemed like days since she’d last moved about. The action, however small, gave me hope that the family I’d fought so hard for, would live after all.
~~
“PRINCESS ODELE.” The voice, a slow curl of promise, stopped me mid stroke. I turned, watching as Prince Ytgar swam hurriedly towards me, the blond of his curls bouncing slowly against his forehead.
His presence clenched something inside me, threatening to curl my tail fin and flare my other fins. His presence just reminded me of the way both he and Val had swam towards me all those days ago, to protect me from Percival’s poisoned arrows, the way he and Val so bravely discarded him of his weapon. The way they’d had a hand in his downfall.
I should have been furious that they’d taken my vengeance from me. The kill should have been mine. The blade that skewered through his chest should have been mine, a bloody tribute to my mother and my aunt. But I’d killed the mercenary already, and it still haunted my nightmares. Even if I’d wanted to kill Percival, even after everything he’d done, it would have destroyed what little bit of heart I still had left.
So I was glad for him, and glad for Val, though I’d never show them just how badly they affected me at all.
I sneered at the Prince. “What do you want, whale Prince? I have things to do.”
My snark only seemed to bring out a challenge and a smile from him. “Always so welcoming. I just wanted to make sure you were okay.”
My heart clenched. No one had asked me, not when they were hovering so viciously over my cousin. Not that it mattered what I felt. I had not been shot. Still, his words warmed through my core, and I willed the sensation away, and the reply I truly wanted to give him.
“I’m not okay. My cousin isn’t waking. My heart hurts. My mother is avenged, yet why don’t I feel at peace?”
“Fine. Now go away,” I snapped impatiently and turned. He pulled me back around with a sharp tug against the skirts of my dress.
“You know, I’ve been thinking…”
“You don’t say?” My eyebrows shot up sarcastically. “Please, don’t harm yourself with such an arduous task.”
He ignored me and went on, “I’ve been thinking about our every encounter, and I realized, I was finally able to separate you and your cousin in my mind.”
I snorted. “So, you can miraculously tell us apart now?”
His answering smirk was gods’ damned breathtaking. I ignored the sudden pounding of my heart. “I propositioned your cousin, but it was you I kissed.”
“Well, if you call that a kiss…”
“I do. And I know you enjoyed it.”
My hands curled into fists. By gods, I wanted to punch the smug expression off his face. “I didn’t, actually.”
“And I’ve been contemplating my marriage proposal quite a bit…”
I startled. “Pr
oposal?”
“Since you are no longer promised to Prince Kai, I thought you would now be open for new suitors. Iol could use a Princess.”
My heart felt like it would explode inside my chest cavity. Nerves tingled through me, pleasantly and unpleasantly. And then the anger overtook. he’d already played with the question one time, why was he joking again? What would make him think that after one awful—joyous, wonderful, erotic—kiss that I’d ever meet him at the end of an altar?
Smug bastard.
I snorted. “Get this one thing straight, Iolish. I would rather take a poisoned arrow to the heart than to ever marry you or ally myself with your ilk. Do you understand? I would never, ever, marry you, even if you begged.”
I whirled around and swam away as fast as I could. But my speed didn’t keep his reply from drifting towards my ears, or blind me to the smile I somehow knew was plastered onto his arrogant face.
“We’ll see…”
CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE
Maisie
UNLIKE THE first time I’d been poisoned, I did not awake feeling quite so awful. My eyelids were a little heavy, and my fin was throbbing, but I felt rested, relieved.
I opened my eyes and sat up, only to be bombarded with gasps and cries of happiness. Once my eyes adjusted, they found the faces of Kai, Elias, and Tiberius surrounding me, equal looks of worry and disbelief over their equally different features.
“Hi,” I greeted, feeling my tongue heavy in my throat. I smacked my lips and swallowed, wincing at the pain in my throat.
“Lay back down,” Tiberius commanded gently, yet firmly. His hand was suddenly at my back, guiding me against the pillows.
“How are you feeling?” Kai asked, reaching for my stiff fingers.
“Gods, little fish, you gave us a scare.”
My head was whirling with the bombardment of questions, and the worry in their gazes. I blinked, struggling to remember all that had happened before the darkness. When the memories returned, quite vividly, I groaned and lay back against the cushions.
“I’m quite tired of getting poisoned,” I muttered unhappily.
They all seemed to breathe sighs of relief, and then, I was being tugged gently into the circle of Tiberius’s arms. His shoulders shook, almost as if he were crying. He pulled away, pressing a firm kiss to my forehead. “I thought I’d lost you.”
The pain quivering his voice made my face flush with sudden shame. “I’m sorry,” I whispered. “I know it was wrong, and I should’ve told you my plans, but I was afraid the Queen would have killed you to get to me. I had to pretend I was gone from your lives. Odele and I arranged for a lava bomb to go off, and we switched places quickly before anyone realized. We had to keep it a secret in order to keep you all safe.”
“Elias and Odele already explained it to us.” Kai waved off my words with a sudden flick of his fingers. His expression was drawn tight, but his brown eyes spoke of warmth and relief. “And we understand.”
My heart thundered a quick, hopeful rhythm. “You aren’t mad?”
“We’re furious,” Tiberius said seriously. “But I’ll forgive you if you promise to never almost get killed again.”
He was perfectly serious. And he hadn’t been talking about my sudden disappearance at all. When he said he thought he’d lost me, he’d meant my near death.
“You should be used to this by now,” I murmured sarcastically.
None of them looked amused, and I quickly admonished myself for the humor at the most inopportune time. But I’d almost been murdered, surely I had a right to make jokes at my own expense.
“So, what happened?” I asked eventually. I’d been there, but those last few moments had been a blur of pain and poison on my mind. I knew Ytgar, Val, and Elias had worked together to kill Percival, the true villain of the story, but then darkness had consumed me.
“All of the seven kingdoms know of your existence. They know the truth. Everything that happened within the royal throne room was recorded and broadcasted far and wide. The matter was cleared up with the Queen, the King, Odele, and your father. The truth is out, and the kingdom is eager to officially meet their newest Princess,” Elias explained, an elated grin pulling his lips.
Emotions tightened in my throat. The kingdom… they were excited at the idea of me? It was almost overwhelming, almost unbelievable.
“Your father remains a guest in the palace,” Kai added, almost shyly. “He has been sitting with us waiting for you to awaken. Odele has been beside herself with worry as well.”
Gods. It was truly unbelievable, that I finally had a family, and mer who would worry about me. I remembered the last two times I’d been lying in bed. The first at Tides’ Tavern, with only Josiah and my shame to accompany me, the second had been here in this very bed, lonely and aching. And now, I had a family to call my own. Three mermen surrounding me, gifting me with stares in relief and love in equal measure.
The tears came then. They rose, and rose, and did not stop flowing.
I covered my face with my hands, sobbing into my palms. The emotions would not stop coming. Even here, lying in the bed where they were unsure which of my breaths would be my last, I finally felt whole, complete.
“Don’t cry, little fish,” Elias pleaded. “Gods, the tears do me in.”
“Those are happy tears, I hope,” this came from Tiberius.
“Cry, my gem,” Kai whispered, contradicting Elias. “It’s all over now. Nothing can ever harm you again. I swear it on my life.”
And I believed his words like I’d never believed anything else.
“Great, now she’s crying harder,” Elias muttered like a curse. “See what you did, Prince?”
“Do not mock me.”
“Will you two be quiet?”
I looked up then, brushing aside my tears and gifting them with a smile. “I love you,” I told them. “I love you all so much.”
And together, they pulled me close, arms wrapped around me tightly, as if by merely holding me close like this, they could push away everything on the outside. Every threat, and sadness, and wrap me in love.
Always their love.
~~
DAYS PASSED and I’d been confined to the bed. Not that I’d truly needed such extensive rest anymore. I was feeling revitalized, and my body no longer hurt. But they were hovering over me, and barely let me peek my head out of the room without trying to come to my aid.
It was suffocating, truly.
By the end of the week, I was bored with being treated like an invalid.
“Let me help you with that,” Kai offered, reaching over and trying to pull from my hands the beautiful dragon’s egg he’d gifted to me on our wedding. All I’d been doing was moving from one spot to another, for lack of anything better to do.
I yanked the egg back to my chest. It felt like cold stone, heavy and extremely beautiful, but the movement rammed it against my collarbone, right where I’d been shot. I gasped for breath at the surprise pain that went through me, and took a vicious stroke back when Kai made a move to help me.
“Don’t you dare,” I warned. “Stop hoverin’. I’m not a helpless guppy. I can do stuff on my own, ya know.” I’d dropped my Eramaean accent, no longer feeling the need to hide behind the perfection that Tiberius had instilled in me long ago. Everyone knew the truth, everyone knew who I was, so what did it matter what I sounded like? I was a Princess, after all.
“I just want to help,” Kai assured.
“Well, don’t. I’m not an invalid.”
Kai pulled back, defeated. From somewhere else in the room, Elias laughed. I turned sharply, watching him emerge from the bathing room, his body entirely bare, and dusting stray grains of pink sand from his long, black hair.
“Leave her alone, Kai. Our little fish is tough.”
My tongue suddenly felt heavy as I took in Elias’s lithe form. They’d all taken up residence in Odele’s—now my—rooms, and had made themselves at home. Elias was not entirely shy, and this wasn’t
the first time he’d taunted me with his body, though unfortunately, between the three of us, nothing had gone beyond light kisses or cuddles.
I was hoping to remedy that.
If they ever stopped treating me like I was an invalid.
My eyes followed the path were stubborn grains of sand still clung to the contours of his body and slid down his chest, invitingly. It was a sight to see, the way the grains clung to him, and it made me almost envious. I was crippled with the sudden urge to hold him, to kiss and taste, and my whole body flushed at the thought.
“My gem, are you alright?” Kai broke through my thoughts by taking a stroke forward and pressing the back of his hand to my forehead. “You’re feverish…”
I jerked away and stared up at him, at the worry in his brown eyes looking down on me, at the panes and curves of his beautiful face. Even though he hovered, I wanted him with a need that was baffling. I wanted them both. Gods, I wanted all three of them.
I was breathless with my cravings, and almost too embarrassed to give voice to my desires. I doubted Tiberius would want to share, anyway.
I looked over to where he sat, at the desk, kelp parchments placed before him. He claimed to be studying the safest routes from Thalassar to Draconi, just in case. In case of what, I didn’t ask.
Now, I focused on his form, hunched over the kelp parchments studiously, his eyes intense with concentration. I admired the breadth of his shoulders, the muscles teasing against the tightness of his tunic.
Gods, what was wrong with me. I was acting like a shark deprived of a meal.
My face heated to levels that were almost impossible.
“I don’t think it’s a fever.” Elias had swaggered up beside Kai, and his gaze roamed hungrily over me, leaving no inch of my body unexplored with his dark eyes. Like always, he knew exactly what I was thinking, was so in tune with the rhythms of my breath and the beating of my heart, the shaking of my limbs that he sought to ease my aches. He reached out, sliding his fingers down the skin of my arm. I shivered so hard, I nearly dropped the dragon egg to the ground.
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