Page 26 of The Kraken's Queen

“Oh, you can just call me Erin,” she says hurriedly. It’s clear she’s not comfortable with the title, but it belongs to her.

“He’ll call you his queen, sweet girl. It’s custom,” I explain gently.

Erin purses her lips but relents. Part of me wanted to see her fight back, but now isn’t the time.

“I don’t mean to interrupt, but I heard you were back. Word travels fast around here, and there are urgent matters to discuss. You are needed at the palace.” Delmare seems apologetic as he gives me the news.

I can only guess what urgent matters he’s referring to, but I don’t want them discussed publicly at this time. No use in causing alarm yet.

“Can I come too? Or is this something I shouldn’t know?” Erin asks cautiously.

“You are privy to any and all information.” My answer comes out brisker than I intended, so I gentle myvoice. “I would be honored if my queen joined me for the meeting.”

Erin smiles bashfully. She asked for what she wanted, and that makes me proud of her. It’s a small step, but progress nonetheless. Maybe here she can finally heal and take back what was taken from her.

“Make sure my queen has a spot next to me during the meeting,” I say to Delmare. My guard nods, and I trust he’ll carry out my order.

When Delmare bows and leaves, I face Erin. “If it becomes too much, place your hand on my shoulder. The meeting can pause while I escort you to our room.”

“I appreciate that, Allarick. I think I’ll be okay. Let’s go. I’m eager to see our palace.” She smiles.

Our palace. I love the sound of that. Tightening my tentacle around her waist, I swim toward home.

Chapter 16

Allarick

My meeting room is busy by the time Erin and I make it back to the palace. I had wanted to give Erin a tour of her new home, but it will have to wait now. Delmare looked forlorn while breaking the news earlier. His mood matches the atmosphere of the room. It’s tense with a foreboding cloud hanging over us.

A few of my personal guards are here, along with the merperson and siren advisors. There’s another figure I don’t see as often, sitting at the round, silver table. Nori catches my eye and nods in my direction.

“My sister let you free?” I tease the merman, one of my sister’s crewmembers. It’s been a long time since I’ve seen him with a tail and gills; he usually prefers two legs and the surface. Still, he agrees to be a liaison between my sister and me. How Delmare got him here on such short notice, I’ll never know. The old kraken is just damn good at his job, despite my sister's reservations about him.

“She has a heart, occasionally,” Nori muses.

Doors close behind us as soon as Erin and I swim in. Two jeweled chairs sit together on one side of the table. I lead Erin over to her seat, but she just looks at it and then back at me, confused.

“Uhm…how do I sit?” she whispers, angling her body away from the others in the room. Her cheeks tint red with embarrassment.

I mentally scold myself for not realizing she’s new to this world and doesn’t understand how it works in comparison to her own. “I’ll guide you.” I pull out her chair and move her toward it. My tentacle glides underneath the chair and up to grab Erin. I pull her down, securing her to the chair with my limbs so her body won’t try to float. In time, she’ll learn to sit and move her body in the water.

“Thank you,” she mouths once I take my spot next to her.

Curious expressions meet my gaze before darting over to Erin. She happens to be the most interesting person at the table right now. It has been decades since the last human set foot in the palace. The significance of this moment isn’t lost on me. Humans have always been the strength and magic for their mates. They can start and end wars.

Erin doesn’t know she’s the most powerful person at this table. She’ll see in time.

“Before we get started, I would like to introduce everyone to my betrothed, your future queen, Erin.”

Erin doesn’t wilt under their scrutiny like one would expect. She smiles and addresses everyone in the room, “It’s nice to meet you all.” Her words are greeted with pleasantries and polite curiosity. Before they can ask any question that will take away from why we’re here, I start the meeting.

“What urgent matters gather us here today? I can assume it has to do with the claims of mesmerizing singing in the deep ocean and more disappearances?” From the corner of my eye, I notice Erin furrow her brow.

“You’d be correct, my king,” the mermaid—Kiera—says. “We have a total of four mermaid disappearances. All the family's stories are the same. Their loved ones were acting unusual, nervous even, and by the end of the day, they were gone.”

“Similar to us,” Bastian, the siren advisor, says. They frown and tap their webbed fingers on the table. “More reports of an unfamiliar song. Sirens aren’t—or rather, shouldn’t be—affected by songs, but three of my sirens have disappeared without a trace.”

“That goes along with what we’ve been hearing above,” Nori interjects. “We’re picking up sound in the North Sea, about two hundred miles from shore.”

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