30. Soren
Chapter thirty
Soren
I storm down the hallway toward my bedchamber, the soft slap of my bare feet echoing through the empty space. My hands flex and close inadvertently at my sides, moving of their own volition.
I did my duty. I fed the princess, talked with her, and delivered her to her chamber. Mentally, I check the task off my list. But emotionally? My heart squeezes painfully, brimming with a feeling I’m terrified to name.
Why was I letting the handmaid get under my scales? Why couldn’t I just leave her alone? I could have easily escorted Aris into the surrounding waters, bonded with her over the awkwardness of the tavern’s bathroom arrangement. Instead, I had deliberately chosen to leave her to discover that bit of reef district culture for herself, knowing it would buy me time with her handmaid.
In my mind’s eye, Enna’s purple eyes flash once more, holding my gaze with unwavering intensity.
I round the corner, and at the end of the hallway, Captain Nara leans against the wall next to my chamber door, sharpening the tines of her trident. She eyes me with a smirk, as if she knows she’s the last person I want to see right now.
“Greetings,” she says. “Looks like I’m on guard duty tonight.”
I cross my arms, slowly resuming my walk.
“The captain doing the work of a lesser soldier? I’m honored.”
She rolls her eyes. “Count yourself lucky, I wanted a change of scenery tonight.” She gestures broadly to the white-washed walls and endless stretches of marble. With her red stripes, she’s the most colorful thing in the room, and that’s not saying much.
I stop across from her, leaning against the wall in a mirrored position. “You discharged him, didn’t you?”
She smiles. “Guilty.”
“What for?”
“He was sleeping on the job.”
The familiar throb of my headache pricks at the side of my temple. “Why do they always fall asleep, Nara?”
She tests the sharpness of each tine of her trident with a gloved finger, then inspects the soft white leather for punctures. “It’s entirely your fault your sex life is uninteresting, you know.”
“Yet here I am, arriving at high tide after spending the evening at the tavern with my betrothed.”
“And you delivered her to her rooms just now, I assume?” She glances down the hallway, empty of any pursuing females. “Pity. You could use a good fuck.”
I grunt and nod toward my door. “Just unlock it, Nara. Please.”
She smirks, fishing for the right key. “That princess is a fine royal specimen. Are you trying?”
“I took her to the bar tonight. She got drunk.”
“Very romantic.”
I run my hand over the back of my neck, massaging the knot that’s forming. I roll my shoulder to ease the tension. “She came onto me, at the beginning of all this, but I turned her down.”
Nara pauses with the key in hand. “I assume you’re telling me because you want to know what I think. So here it is.” She looks over her shoulder to glare at me. “This is your future wife, no?”
“Yes. Yes, she is.”
“Then you’re an idiot.”
“I’ll be marrying her in six days, but gods , Nara. She’s—” I wave my hand, trying to pull the words from thin air.
“Gorgeous? Rich? Super polite? Hardly ever says anything wrong? Has perfect hips for bearing all your royal bloodline guppies?”
“Thank you,” I say. “That’s not the word I was looking for.”
She drops the key on the floor and kicks it down the hallway. It slides to the far wall, where it settles with a dull clink.
“All right,” she says. “Talk to me. I’m not getting that key until you say what’s on your mind. And by the way you look right now, you’re not walking for it.”
She’s right. The exhaustion of this moon cycle is seeping into my body. I’m nearly swaying on my feet.
“Aris has that look in her eyes,” I say, leaning against the wall. “I figured that out the day I met her.”
“The one where she looks at you and just sees your throne?”
I nod.
“Ah. You were hoping it’d be different with a princess, no? Someone already used to the power.”
“Are my standards really that high?”
She sighs. “Probably. You may be a hopeless romantic, Soren, but you’re still the prince. Have you ever had a choice?”
I close my eyes. “No.”
“If you did have a choice, what would you be looking for?”
“Someone worthy. Not some pretty thing to… gods, what was it you said? Bear my royal guppies?” I flex my jaw. “I want an Amura to my Eero. Someone intelligent. Interesting. Challenging.”
It’s my best secret, pretty prince. What right do you have to uncover it?
When Enna’s voice sneaks to the front of my mind, I suck in my lip and gnaw on it.
“And Aris is boring, then?”
“She’s less interesting than a pile of sand. Hell, her handmaid is more interesting than she is.” I open my eyes.
Nara sucks air into her cheeks, then blows it out. “Ah. Your little beach dancer.”
Aside from the captain, Enna may just be the one female that doesn’t have that look in her eyes. And she’s funny. Stunningly beautiful. Smart. Quirky. Unpredictable. Interesting. A witty conversationalist who’s unafraid to fight with me.
I shouldn’t be thinking about her so much. She’s a handmaid; I’m a prince. Anything more would be impossible. Inappropriate. Not to mention those poisonous Abyssal spines and set of fangs. Her claws. Gods, what would those feel like running down my back? Would she draw blood? Would they leave me itching, too?
And yet, warmth churns deep in my gut, and I bring her face back to the forefront of my mind once again. There’s something I cannot pin down, despite my scientific study of her. And after an entire evening with her, I’m no closer to finding my answer.
I’m not even sure what my question is anymore.
“Never mind,” I say and nod toward the key. “I need to sleep.”
Nara levels me with a look, her amber eyes worried. “All right, but only because you look like you’ve been hit by a fleetwhale.”
She retrieves the key and lets me into my room. I walk into the cool air of my bedchamber and sigh. “Nara?”
“Hmm?”
I smile over my shoulder. “Thanks.”
She touches her hidden gills in the sign of respect and dips her head, closing the door. “Get some sleep.”