Total pages in book: 161
Estimated words: 162269 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 811(@200wpm)___ 649(@250wpm)___ 541(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 162269 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 811(@200wpm)___ 649(@250wpm)___ 541(@300wpm)
My husband turned his head to look at me.
“Both of their fathers were kings, and both of their fathers are lost,” I whispered.
“And now we know the foundation of what makes the King and Queen of Firenze,” he whispered back.
He then returned his attention to Jorie.
“Do you know of the prophecy?” he asked the King of the Mer.
“We know much. Lena, your witch in the Great Coven, keeps us apprised of the follies of those on land.”
I could tell by the tightening of Aramus’s jaw he did not like the word “follies.”
Fortunately, he did not dwell on this.
“Silence, as well as Ha-Lah, and myself, are part of this prophecy,” Aramus shared.
“I know this too.”
“The Beast rises.”
“We feel the quakes here as well and know what causes them.”
Aramus again looked at me.
“Make your request, Sea King,” Jorie demanded.
Aramus turned again to Jorie.
“I have outlawed whaling,” he shared.
“We know this,” Jorie replied.
“I have abolished the binding,” Aramus went on.
“We know this as well,” Jorie said.
“And I have decided that any harm done to a Mer will mean the perpetrator’s death, hanging from the yardarm, blood drained from the neck.”
Jorie sat still and stared at my husband.
He did not know that.
“The law has been written,” Aramus continued. “But it has not yet been enacted, for we will wait until such time as we can call to the Mer on land, and now at sea, to share they are safe. Now is not that time. No one is safe in this time. But when those prophesied make Triton safe, I will assure the Mer are the same. And I will garner oaths from every kingdom of Triton for their protection of the Mer. However, proclaimed or no, enacted or no, if word comes to me that a Mer has been harmed, the perpetrator will hang from a sirens-damned yardarm and be drained of their blood.”
Jorie did not speak, but I did not fail to note he was watching my husband very closely.
Aramus stood and looked down the table at his fellow king.
“My wife is your people. But this is not the only reason your people are my people,” he stated. “I am the Sea King. I will protect the Mer in promise and deed, with my armies, my armadas and my life.”
Jorie remained silent.
Aramus did not.
“Now you may wish to involve yourself and your people with the happenings on land, or you may not. That will be your choice. I will not make a request for your might, your power and your magic. It will be up to you to give it. I will not negotiate you doing the right thing. I will not hold your sister from you. Not for you, but Silence adores her cousin True and she has much love to give. I would not keep a brother from her. Thus, Jorie, King of the Mer, it is up to you what you and your people will do. When you are ready to meet your sister, we will make that so.”
Jorie still did not speak.
Thus, Aramus continued.
“Now, my wife and I are going home. There are two little girls who have already lost too much in their young lives who are undoubtedly frightened beyond reason Ha-Lah and I have gone missing. We must return.”
“You seem to think much of yourself that you, at long last, have made just decisions for the beasts of the sea, and the beings in it,” Jorie returned.
“I think only that I must thank the gods for my wife. For in truth, if they had not guided her to me, I would have sailed and raided and whaled and not considered any of these things.”
“That does not say much for you,” Jorie retorted.
“Indeed,” Aramus returned. “But it says a great deal about my wife.”
“My king,” I whispered, warmed to my core at his words.
He looked to me, and when he saw my expression, his face grew soft. “You are my conscience. You know this, so do not look as if my words surprise you.”
“You are a fine man, a great king,” I replied. “For you did not have to listen to me and more, do something about it.”
“How about we settle on the fact we’re both bloody wonderful?” he teased, a twinkle in his brown eyes.
Oh, but that twinkle.
I grinned at him. “I can do that.”
“Though, you’re more wonderful,” he muttered.
And I warmed anew.
“Perhaps we can steer your conversation away from mutual admiration and back to matters at hand,” Jorie suggested, and my husband and I turned our attention to him only to see his brows draw together as he looked beyond us.
I looked that way as well, to see another bare-chested, iridescent-leather-trouser clad mermale moving swiftly our way.
Not exactly our way, he went straight to Jorie.
Jorie, taller than this brethren by at least half a foot (I had not seen many of the Mer having taken their home in this realm, but of the ones I saw, and the ones I knew on land, I noticed that Jorie was taller, broader and more powerful of frame than all of them), and thus, he bent his head so the mermale could have his ear.