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I could see the pulse beating on her throat like the thrashing of a fish caught within a net. The rapid thumping of it made me want to interrogate her, but I didn’t want Maisie to know that I was staring at her, that I was concerned. Last time I had, she’d promptly pushed me away. Though what else had I expected? I’d treated her so badly that she didn’t care for my touch.
It was easier this way. Easier to balance ourselves on the edge of the line that separated us in the sand. Friends? Enemies? We were neither, yet we were both. It was just blurry right now. Everything was a mess; it was chaos.
I’d promised to protect her like I’d not protected Odele and I was failing. No wonder she couldn’t stand my touch. Maybe next time I would be the one to swim in front of the arrow for her. Would she weep for me as she wept for Kai?
“Where are your guards?” I asked hoarsely. My eyes narrowed. I’d left her alone for a bit. Just a bit, and she was sneaking about the palace at night without anyone to accompany her. Typical Maisie behavior. Lectures begged to be released from the tip of my tongue, but I choked them down my throat. My lectures only served to make her hate me more. I wasn’t sure I could bear the weight of it any longer.
She tensed at my question, and slowly, near reluctantly, she shrugged her delicate shoulders. “I don’t know.”
My hands tightened into fists. “I will find them and reprimand them immediately.”
Her hand went to me then, gripping the hem of my sleeve tightly. The action shocked me into complete stillness. She looked at me, obsidian eyes wide and pleading. “Please don’t,” she begged. “It’s not their fault. I sent them away... I had to be alone.”
My throat tightened as I took her in, face betraying none of the turmoil I was feeling inside. In the soft, buzzing glow of the hallways, shadows and light flickered across the elegant curve of her face. She looked... different. She no longer seemed that awkward mer I’d picked up in Lagoona all those weeks ago. There was confidence around her, a surety that hadn’t been there before.
She filled out the dresses now. Her body and posture were elegant, royal. Her cheekbones were high, chin pointed, neck arched and long. She looked like a real Malabella now. The realization of that was staggering.
“They had a job to do, and they failed.” I hated to sound like such a cad when she was looking at me like that.
She tugged at my sleeve once before letting go, releasing the spell of immobility her touch had seemed to cast over me. We swam again.
“I’d just hate to see them get in trouble because of my decision.”
Gods. I closed my eyes for a second and opened them again. Why was she so kind? She cared about mer. All of those less fortunate. She had so little herself, and still she cared. She would have given the clothes off her back, knowing it would leave her naked. Royals were born with everything, and so they wanted and cared for nothing. Everything was easily replaceable. I knew this, because it was their way of life here.
Life for us guards and servants was different. If something didn’t get done properly, there were consequences.
If she’d been attacked without the protection of palace guards...
“You’re to be protected, Mai—Your Majesty.” I couldn’t forget myself, make a mistake. Just because no one seemed to be around, it didn’t mean they weren’t. Even barnacles spoke and spread news and rumors.
Maisie fiddled with her fingers. “I know.”
“I’d hate to see anything happen to you.”
She stumbled at those words, then righted herself, casting me a long sideways look. “Captain...” A warning. One I didn’t quite comprehend.
We stopped in front of her chambers. I turned to her, so many words I wanted to say, though nothing seemed appropriate. “I want you to be safe.”
She reached for the handle of her door, looking at me a little sadly. “Is it really me who you want safe, Captain?” She twisted the handle and pushed the door open.
“Of course.”
Her lips pulled into a tight, thin line. I already knew what she was thinking before she even said it. Still, when she spoke, my heart nearly ceased beating. “Do not confuse us, Captain Saber.” She didn’t need to specify who ‘us’ was. Odele, and her. “I know who it is you really want.” There was a pause. “Goodnight.” Going into the room, she closed the door softly behind her. The soft clicking of the lock settling into place resonated louder in me than slamming the door ever could.
I did not wait by her door but retraced our strokes, back down to the hallway I’d found her in. Taking the turn, I stopped. She’d swam about the palace as if someone had been after her, but there were no signs of anything. Not an overturned picture or vase, and no one was about either. It wasn’t surprising, as the castle’s inhabitants were all resting.
Swimming down the length of the hallway, I stopped short when I felt the slightest of breezes. I turned and noticed that a window had been left open. The current from the outside was getting in.
I stalked over and pulled the window shut. When I took a stroke backwards, my peripheral caught sight of an object glowing on the ground. Unmistakably steel. I bent low and picked up the knife by the hilt, bringing it to my face for closer examination.
It was a common enough weapon. Every mer in the streets likely had one, but what was it doing here in the palace? Palatial weaponry was more refined, showy and adorned with jewels for flourish rather than made for slicing. I doubted a servant had dropped it.
I leaned forward and sniffed the blade, edging back with a start. A bitter scent emanated from it. One that was all too familiar to me.
Sea wasp poison.
Someone had been in the palace. Someone had been carrying this around.
I recalled Maisie’s expression when she’d rounded that corner. The obvious relief on her face. The pounding of her heart against my chest. And her fear.
Had someone chased her around the palace with this? My hand tightened around the hilt until my knuckles went white. Had she thought me unable to protect her? Was that why she hadn’t told me about this?
No more, I vowed.
There would be no more secrets between us.
And the only way to keep her safe was to get her to trust me. Completely.