Page 36 of Secrets Among the Tides
The recording suddenly stopped, her image in the bubble bursting and falling around the disk. No! I looked down. What had happened? The disk suddenly gave a jerk and the conch shrieked to a halt. I moved it, tried to start it up again. All it did was make an infuriating broken noise.
With a groan, I pried the conch off and set it down gently, picking up the disk to examine it. I had no idea what I was looking for, but I had no doubt that it was broken.
Cursing it to the abyss, I dropped it back on the table and bit the inside of my cheek to avoid screaming.
They’re after me…
This information changedeverything.Maybe her disappearance hadn’t been because she was a spoiled brat, after all. Maybe she had disappeared because of another reason entirely. Had someone wanted her dead? Why? Had she known something, seen something she shouldn’t have?
The answers were here, in this cavern.
But first, I needed to get this disk fixed.
~~
I MADE IT BACK INTO THE ROOM,secret wall closing behind me, just in time to hear a knock on the bedroom doors. Making sure the tapestry was well adjusted, I hurried to move the chair and then dashed into the bed just as the doors opened and Captain Saber swam through.
His eyes narrowed on me with suspicion immediately. “What’s wrong?”
I blew out a breath and tried to appear as casual as possible. “Nothing.”
He looked at me a moment longer before turning and closing the door. When he turned back around, he swam over to the bed, reached behind his back and pulled out the black blade. My heart soared at the sight of it. The obsidian hilt, the sharp tip…it was all intact. I longed to lurch for it and pull it from his prying fingers. I didn’t need to.
He laid it gently on my lap.
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
Tiberius
THE JOY THAT LIT UP HER EYES WAS UNIQUE,beautiful even. The shine in her round eyes matched that of the blade she now held in her palms. Her attachment to that blade, I did not understand. Nor did I want to.
“If you are going to have the blade, then I will teach you to wield the blade.” She blinked at me, surprised I’d even offered. I could see her thoughts racing with all the questions she wanted to ask, so I answered them before giving her a chance. “The Princess is a skilled fencer. Sooner or later, you will need to learn. I will teach you how.”
She closed her gaping mouth and nodded. Gently, she placed the blade next to her, on the cushioning of the bed and then patted the spot next to her. I didn’t move to take a seat. Though she was not the Princess, it still wouldn’t be proper. I did not want her to get too comfortable with me, the way she had seemed to be doing with the Prince.
It was best she get any illusions of friendship out of her mind now.
We were nothing to each other.
“I came to speak with you about a few things.”
She sighed and leaned back. “What?” The accent we’d worked so hard to instill was gone now, in its place her harsh pronunciation of words. Her small act of rebellion to grate on my nerves.
“Methods will be taken to ensure that what happened at the anniversary dinner doesn’t happen again. That means there will be more soldiers monitoring every hall, taste testers and the blacksmith will be here in a few hours to install steel bars on your windows.”
She jolted at that and then pierced me with an angry glare. Since I’d expected this, I wasn’t fazed. “Bars?” she asked incredulously. “Really?”
I nodded once. “It is for your protection—”
“I’m not your prisoner!”
I sighed. Why was she prone to such tantrums? She was more like Princess Odele than she’d probably want to admit. “I assure you, it’s for your safety. To keep intruders out.”
“Or to keep me in.” She brought her tail up and rested her chin against it, turning her gaze from me to the telly.
“Let’s talk about the anniversary dinner to celebrate Princess Odele’s and Prince Kai’s marriage,” the mer on the telly said. I narrowed my eyes at her. As if she could see my discontentment. “I want to talk about Prince Kai’s outfit. It was very traditional and elegant. I love how he wants to remind everyone in Thalassarwherehe’s from by honoring the colors and symbols of his own kingdom. He’s elegant and beautiful.”
I fought back my eye roll and looked over at Maisie when I heard her breath hitch. I wondered if she agreed. If she thought Prince Kai was beautiful, too. She must’ve, considering the way her face flushed when he was near or the way she flexed her fingers ever so slightly after he pressed his lips to them.
