Page 53 of Bride of the Sea King

He wanted to help them. Something on his face said as much.

“You can go over there. I don’t mind sitting alone.”I nudged him in that direction, but he didn’t leave.

“I’m not leaving you to eat alone.”

With an inward sigh, I tugged Triton toward the couples. I didn’t have a problem with socializing, but I had been exhausted even before I came up into the castle and was itching to go back to bed.

I could wait, though.

The toddlers climbing around the table made sounds of excitement when they saw Triton. All four of them barreledtoward him, three little boys and a little girl who crashed into his legs as they exclaimed, “King Triton!”

They couldn’t pronounce all of the sounds right, which was kind of adorable.

Triton laughed loudly, scooping all of them into his arms. My heart melted just a tiny bit, though I tried to harden myself against the feeling.

It didn’t really work.

There was no way to avoid acknowledging how attractive it was that the king was good with them.

“I think you’re supposed to be eating,” Triton said, setting them down in their seats before we took our own.

“They are,” one of the moms agreed. She looked even more exhausted up close, and was the only adult who wasn’t currently holding a baby.

“Do the magic,” the little girl yelled at Triton, pounding her tiny fist against the table.

One of the moms sighed heavily.

“After your food is gone,” Triton promised.

All four of them complained, but slowly started to eat.

Triton introduced me to everyone at the table, and the kids waved and grinned at me. One of the little boys told me he liked my weird blue hair. Another one said he wanted tattoos on his arm like mine. The girl countered that she thought my tattoos were stupid.

I couldn’t help but love their bluntness. It felt like a breath of fresh air.

The adults were friendly too, and asked polite questions about my life on Earth before we started talking about their kids and babies when our plates arrived.

The food was insanely delicious. I was shocked by how good it was, and when I stole a bite of Triton’s, I realized his was even better. He scooted his plate right next to mine, and we shared all of the food without discussing it while the conversation at the table flowed.

Triton seemed to know many small, personal details about the families, so it seemed safe to assume he was actually their friend. I never would’ve expected their king to know all of those things. But then again, I was still learning how the merrae worked.

Triton teased the kids and grabbed them with magic before they could run off every time. They thought it was hilarious, and slowly worked through their food.

My gaze kept going back to the babies.

I only had one cousin on my mom’s side of the family. We were only a few years apart in age, but she was always off on service missions in third world countries. I hadn’t seen her since I was twelve, and we didn’t talk on holidays or anything.

On my dad’s side, I had four cousins, but they were assholes just like he was.

So family wasn’t really a thing for me.

Little kids weren’t either.

They were cute, though. In a messy, wild way.

And Triton clearly adored them.

One of the babies made a loud sound as I finished up my plate, and I looked his way again. He waved a toy at me, grinning with a face covered in some kind of food. He was strapped in a small seat that was set up on the table, like a weird version of Earth’s highchairs.

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