Page 13 of Whispers Beneath the Deep
The queen stroked her pointed chin in thought as she gazed down at Odele. Her bright eyes were narrowed on my betrothed in an expression I didn’t like at all.
Finally, she dropped her hand back on the armrest of her throne, flicking her fingers absently. “Perhaps,” she purred. “He would not have had you in the first place, had you not been so foolish to challenge the law.”
Odele snapped her head up, and it was her turn to glare. She didn’t even bother trying to mask it. Royalty usually did. “I won’t apologize for swimming up for what’s right.”
The queen’s gaze flickered with annoyance. “Right?” she huffed. “Who areyouto say what is right for the kingdom of Thalassar?” She pushed herself up from the throne in one angry stroke, as if she meant to loom over and intimidate the rest of us from her position.
Odele looked far from intimidated. “I am just trying tohelp.The merpeople of Thalassar aresuffering.Surely you must know that? Do you really think that violence and death is the way to rule?”
Never before had I seen the queen move as fast as she did in that moment. She sped through the water until she was face to face with her stepdaughter, nose to nose, and the tension between them was all too palpable.
“Howdareyou speak to me that way, insolent little wench!” She reached her hand up high and brought it down in a swing.
I grabbed her before I could blink. Catching her wrist in my hand, squeezing tightly. I felt the dragon in me stir into the wakening of unbridled violence. “Don’t…” I warned in a voice that was as deadly as the heat of lava on bare skin. “…harm her.”
The queen was staring at me with the most shocked expression ever. Her eyes, bright and wide, held only disbelief. She couldn’t quite fathom my sudden change, my sudden willingness to stand up for her stepdaughter. I’d been so meek before, so quiet and proper and polite in this dreadful kingdom. I’d have never dared to lift a hand to them before even if I was more than capable.
Things were different now.
Everythingwas different.
“Drop the queen’s hand. Now.” Captain Saber was suddenly at my side, and I didn’t need to look over to him to know that he was pointing the tip of his precious sword at me. I could have disarmed him easily. Instead, I dropped the queen’s hand, placing my own, clasped, behind my back.
The queen took a jerky stroke away from me. She was staring at me as if she couldn’t quite believe who I was. Like, instead of having a prince before her that she could easily manipulate into doing her bidding, she found an untamed beast in his stead.
“Forgive me.” I calmed the heat that had built up inside of me, took the slightest of bows, if only to conceal my expression of rage. I should never lose myself in front of these merpeople. Ever. And yet Odele had awoken that part in me more than once.
I straightened and turned to look at Captain Saber. There was a calm among my features that could be akin to the stillness of waters before a storm. I wondered if the good captain realized just what a mistake he had committed. If so, he didn’t show it. He looked at me, sword still pointed in my direction.
“I was told weapons weren’t allowed in the throne room.” The sarcasm that left my lips really couldn’t be helped.
The captain sneered. “I am a trusted guard, and I have sworn on my life that I would protect the Malabella lineage until I draw in my last dying breath. That includes the princessandthe queen. No matter who or what I face.”
I did nothing but raise a brow. Nonchalance, I knew, went a long way. In some cases it also served to annoy those who thought themselves better than me. And though he was merely a captain, and I a prince, I knew he thought me no worse than a bit of stray kelp stuck to a hippocampus’ hoof.
“If that were true, then you would have stopped at nothing to save my betrothed from danger earlier. Yet, you let a common criminal get the best of you.” I’d hit my mark. His face reddened with humiliation.
“That criminal was—”
I turned away before he could get the rest out. A dismissal. Not a method I was practiced in, but effective. Usually, I was averse to the lesser treatment of others. Not now though.
I looked to the queen. “With your permission, Majesty, I would like to set one of my own guards and my advisor to watch over the princess.” I gave a side look at the captain and then back again. “Security in your kingdom is quite lacking.”
Odele huffed from her place. “I don’t need a guard!”
“She already has guards,” the captain ground out tightly.
I flicked my fingers in his direction. Another dismissal. “They seem to be doing a poor job of things so far. She has been poisoned, shot at, and abducted by a criminal among hundreds of Thalassarins. My guards’ and advisor’s skills are equal to my own. They would not let harm come to her.”
The queen pinched the bridge of her nose with her thumb and forefinger. “I will allow it.” Captain Saber took a stroke forward, mouth opening as if he meant to argue, but reeled back last minute, holding his fists tightly at his back. Remembering his place. I smirked. The queen cleared her throat. “If you please, Prince Kai. We’d like to speak to our daughter. Alone.”
I did not trust her to not raise a hand to Odele again. Still, she was the ruler, and I’d already challenged her once. To do so a second time could very well wage a war between our two nations. Marriage contract or not. So I settled with piercing her with a look that was menacing, a warning. Then, I turned to Odele. She looked unhappy about my current suggestion, but let me take her hand in mine.
“Until we meet again, Princess.” I pressed a kiss to her knuckles, wishing with everything inside me that it could be her lips instead.
Chapter Nine
Maisie
