Page 52 of Tide of Waves and Secrets

“Your friend is inside already,” she said to Nerys. “With luck, this one does not have so high an opinion of himself.”

“Marek adores you,” Nerys said, defending him.

“Not as much as he adores himself. You are the human Marek told me about.”

“I am,” I said, bowing in the Thalassari way. “Sir Rowan of Estmere.”

Nerys hugged her as we walked inside.

“I already like him more,” she said as we made our way through to the sitting room.

Aneri’s home was modest yet inviting. Wide windows let in natural light, casting shimmering reflections from the nearby canal. A polished driftwood table was surrounded by cushioned seats, while shelves displayed hundreds of seashells, weathered books, and vials of liquid. We walked through a kitchen with pearl-inlaid stone counters, the scent of citrus lingering.

She led us into a back courtyard, a fountain centered around water plants in pots and shallow pools creating a tranquil retreat. Aneri’s home was clearly a place of warmth and belonging.

“Your home is lovely,” I said, trying to imagine Nerys outside in this courtyard. She’d told me once that she’d spent many hours practicing water magic on that very fountain.

As Marek did now. He was toying with the water, making it leap and fall with small splashes.

“Thank you.” Aneri eyed Marek warily.

“Caelum will be arriving any moment,” Nerys said. Before she’d even finished, Aneri disappeared back into the house, apparently to fetch him.

“I thought you were exaggerating,” I said to Marek.

“Unfortunately not,” he said, still toying with the water. “She tolerates me but…” He shrugged.

I looked to Nerys for an explanation.

Sighing, she glanced back to the door where there was no sign of Aneri.

“Aneri does not agree with some of his”—she nodded to Marek—“trade ventures.”

“Ahh,” I said, understanding better. “You are a smuggler?”

Marek shot Nerys a look. “I would not call it as such.”

Nerys laughed. “What, then, would you call it?” she asked him.

Marek’s easy grin told me he was unbothered by judgment, even from Nerys. “I’d call it… creative trade negotiations,” he said smoothly with a hint of mischief in his tone.

Nerys arched a brow. “Creative trade negotiations that happen to bypass official routes and involve contraband?”

“Contraband.” Marek tsked. “I prefer to think of it as the redistribution of goods.”

“So.” I crossed my arms. “Smuggling?”

Marek placed a hand over his heart in mock offense. “I am a Thalassari Navarch, not a criminal.”

“Aneri would disagree,” Nerys said, her eyes flicking to the door again before returning to me. When our eyes locked, it brought me immediately back to last eve. Nerys, in my bed with her atop me, the second time we made love. Hair spilling around her, Nerys’s full breasts above me as she moved?—

“Ahh, by the tides. Really Nerys? A human?”

The spell broken, we both turned our attention to Marek.

“I’m jesting, of course,” he said to me. “I actually quite like you.” Uncharacteristically, his smile faded and Marek looked at Nerys. “I like you together.”

“Soon, all will change,” Nerys said in response. It was the same refrain I’d heard from her more than once last eve, as if reminding me of the temporary nature of our relationship. Not that I needed reminding. Just this morn, upon waking, I had another vision. This one, I could not untangle. It was a group of people, none of whom I could make out, sitting on stools in an unfamiliar place. We raised our glasses, toasting, as I was among the group.

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