Page 156 of Of Rime and Ruin
“What?” The breath sucks out of my lungs from the shock. A thousand questions bubble up behind my lips.
“Yes, it seems the invitation you received was already two moon-cycles too late. Lost in transit, if you will,” he says. He gives me a small smile. “The prince married an Abyssal, of all things.”
“What?” I repeat.
“Ferrell!” Winona hisses through her teeth, blushing dark red. Caught in her lie?
“Were you not going to tell her?” he asks.
The room narrows in an instant as I’m swallowed by the sudden emptiness in my gut. Sound distorts until all I can hear is a distant ringing. Like I’m watching myself from third-person as I sit in my chair, balling my hands into my skirt to feel something. Anything. I’m numb.
The answer is clear on my sister’s face: I wasn’t supposed to know the truth. She would have kept it from me until the day she dissolved. The whole reason for my rebellion was moot from the start.
I should never have summoned Ramona, should never have brought her here, and I already can’t wait for the moment she guides the city out of our waters. I’m staying in the Rime, whereI’mhappyandloved. Where I belong. I found love; Winona fucking settled. She wouldn’t know love if it sat on her face.
Aethan finds my fist and unwinds it from the silk, lacing our fingers together. Holding his hand, I feel grounded. I was never lost. Not really. I was just finding my way to him.
What if mybig mistakewasn’t a mistake, after all? What if running away is what I was meant to do?
Winona scrambles for control, turning to address Aethan instead. “Your Majesty, I cannot express enough how grateful we are to you for harboring my lost sister these past several moons. We’re happy to take her off your hands, and deeply apologize for the…” She flicks her gaze over me with unfiltered disappointment, trying to fix her expression and failing. “...inconvenience.”
It’s the lowest insult imaginable, coming from my sister. To be inconvenient is to be unwanted. Problematic. Like a blemish on her forehead before the big ball. All she wants is convenience. Her marriage—convenient. Her rise to the throne—convenient. I’m the piece that never quite fit into her elaborate puzzle, and she’s always resented me for it.
Sometimes I think she wishes she was an only child. It would have been better for her that way.
Aethan’s anger rolls through our mental connection, burning hot as the sun. He braces both hands on the table and stands. His knuckles pale from the strength of his grip. Veins rise from his forearms.
“Inconvenience?” he thunders.
Winona flinches—a minute twitch in her eye, imperceptible to an untrained observer—but I see it. She’s afraid of him.
“Nahla is a fuckingdelightto all who know her, and I will not have you soil her good name by suggesting otherwise.” Aethan’s voice rumbles across the room, and his face contorts with rage. His fingers stain blue against the table, scales crawling up thebacks of his hands. “You will not take her off my hands, nor will you be taking her anywhere. I do not concede her, not now, notever. You can’t separate a king from his queen. I’ll fucking drown you first.”
Silence falls.
Winona’s jaw drops in muted disbelief. Mother stares hungrily and licks her lips. Father looks like he’s swallowed a lushfruit whole. Ferrell picks at his napkin, ignoring the tension altogether.
When Keen meets my gaze, he grins from ear to ear, shoots me a thumbs up, and winks.
My heart pounds in my ears, heavy with hope. Never has anyone stood up for me like that. In one fell swoop, Aethan put Winona in her place.
Aethan. The grumpiest sourfish I know. Called me afucking delight.
I grasp the hem of Aethan’s shirt, and he turns to look at me. His anger fades the moment our eyes meet, replaced with a warmth reserved only for me.
There’s one thing he said that I’m desperate to confirm.
“Your queen?” I whisper. “Is that what I am to you?”
He blinks, confused. Then realization dawns.
“Fuck. I was going to…” He rubs the base of his jaw. “I had a more romantic proposal in mind, I swear I did, Sunfish. I have the ring and everything.”
He grins, sheepish and devilishly handsome all at once, and my heart nearly bursts. He drops to his knee, fishes around in the pouch on his hip, and holds out a glinting diamond ring. “Nahlani Mahelona, Princess of the Brine and the sun of my heart, would you do me the immense pleasure of becoming mine?”
I launch out of my chair, throwing my arms around his neck. “I’m already yours,” I gasp. “Always and forever.” He catches me and hooks my legs around his hips as he stands again.
“Is that a yes?” he grunts.
