Page 34 of Bride of the Sea King

“You expect me to be comfortable withprobably?”

“No, but I expect you to deal with it, just like you deal with everything else. When you’re finished staring at your mate, come inside and solve another argument between Greta and Plett.”

“They can wait until I have my mate safely inside the castle, assuming she doesn’t make a run for it.”

Rayna snorted. “You’re lucky she hasn’t already. Oh, and Hana will leave the rest of Aria’s new clothing inside your closet. She’ll be working on the holiday outfit for a while longer, but she’ll bring it by when she’s done.”

“Thanks.”

Rayna slipped back into the castle, and I watched my mate’s interaction with our resident merrae wildcard closely.

I couldn’t tell what was being said, but at least I’d be able to tell if Aria got upset.

eight

ARIA

By some miracle,I managed to find my way out of the castle and onto the beach.

No one I passed had chased me out or tried to stop me, so I assumed it was safe enough from the selkies. And the kelpies’ magic wouldn’t work on me with my shiny new mate bond, so I wasn’t worried about that either.

I walked on the sand for ten minutes or so before finally sitting down. I was far enough away from the water that the waves shouldn’t have reached me, but I hadn’t managed to get away from the castle. That thing was monstrous.

The wind kept blowing my hair away from my chest, exposing my bare tits, but I was too overwhelmed by everything else to care who I might be flashing.

It was just going to be their lucky day.

Sitting down on the sand, I tried not to let my mind wander back to Triton and his damn magic, but I failed.

Repeatedly.

“Can I sit here?” a woman called over the wind, after a few minutes had gone by.

My head jerked toward her, and I found a merrae female wearing pastel pink sea silk. Her hair was a similar shade, but it was clearly dyed, fading in multiple places and totally orange from bleach in others.

She sat down beside me, spreading her legs out in front of her like she was trying to catch all of the sun. Her olive skin practically glowed, and her eyes were a bright shade of green.

“I’m Aria,” I said, figuring I should be polite enough for an introduction at the very least.

“I’m Joa,” she said. “You’re the new queen.”

“I guess.”

She snorted. “You and everyone else. We don’t like newcomers, but we’re trying to adjust. Kind of.”

“I can tell. And I can assure you, I’m not any more excited about the situation than everyone else.”

Joa cackled. “I thought half our people would keel over when the vote about Triton taking a mate went through.”

She lowered her back to the ground and spread her arms out.

Maybe she reallywassunbathing.

“Some people don’t care about breeding?” I asked, curious.

“Some of us lost our mates in the war. We’re bitter. It’s hard to want someone else to have love and babies when you’re pissed you’re still alive.”

“I get that. I don’t actually want a baby right now, though.”

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