“She lost a lot of blood.”
“Is that why she’s smiling like that?” Starla asked worriedly. I wiggled my fingers at her.
“It may be contributing. But the spell I invoked takes away all pain. Perhaps it took away all of her cares as well.”
“Oh . . . so it relieves stress too?”
“Can I have some?” Rip asked with a wry smile. But Dane was still frowning.
“She shouldn’t have been injured this badly by a couple of practice rods.”
“I agree, Your Highness,” Annaruth said with a dark look. “There is something odd about all of this.”
“I am so hungry,” I offered, trying to get a look at my own nose. I gave up and lay back again. “Beazil!” I shouted, sitting upright. “I forgot to bring him a snack!”
“I’ll do it,” Starla said. I smiled, grabbing her hand and squeezing it. “He likes lobster best,” I whispered. “So do I.”
“We’ll get you some lobster. All you can eat.”
“Aww, Rip, you are so nice. Did I ever tell you how nice you are?”
“She’s drunk,” Dane said flatly, staring at me with a perturbed look on his face. I stuck out my tongue at him. No reaction. I grumbled about that and went back to trying to see my own nose.
“Well, not exactly ‘drunk’, but yes. She does seem to be experiencing an odd reaction to the spell.”
“Are my freckles still there? I can’t see them.”
Starla patted my hand.
“Yes, Tri. Don’t worry.”
“Worry? I want them gone. They are so . . . freckly!”
Dane turned away, but not before I saw him crack a tiny smile. It made me inordinately happy. I couldn’t have explained it, even if I had been thinking clearly, which I clearly wasn’t.
“The General loves you,” I whispered loudly to Annaruth. She just laughed and shook her head.
“Come, children, let’s let her sleep. You can bring her some food in a bit. I must speak to the three of you alone.”
“I’m not even sleepy,” I protested and then promptly fell asleep.
“You are the most wonderful person in the entire world,” I said to Dane, practically humming as I bit into the first of the lobsters he had brought me. I closed my eyes in pure ecstasy as the flavor hit my tongue. I was even hungrier than usual, which was saying something.
“You had a rough day.”
“Did I? I can barely remember it.”
Dane frowned and exchanged a look with Starla and Rip.
“You have to be more careful, Tri. This cannot happen again.”
“Hmm?” I had just shoved an overly large mouthful in and was too busy chewing to try and answer.
“Tri. This is serious.”
I frowned a little bit, finally taking in the three worried faces looking down at me.
“I don’t understand,” I said, swallowing the lobster that suddenly tasted like sand. Something was wrong. I could tell.
Dane looked behind him and cleared his throat.
“We think you are being targeted.”
“Targeted?”
“We think the attack on you may have been deliberate.”
“I’d say it was deliberate! Juno is vicious with a fighting stick!”
“No, we believe it was politically motivated.”
My jaw dropped.
“Political? But I’m no one.”
They exchanged a look, then Starla and Rip backed away, waving.
“That’s our cue,” Rip said with visible relief.
“I’ll go visit with Beazil. See you later, Tri!”
I stared after them, an odd feeling settling in the pit of my stomach.
“What are you all acting so weird about?”
“Tri,” Dane said in a dire voice. He looked miserable. He looked like he was about to deliver very, very bad news. “Annaruth thinks you were attacked because of me.”
My eyes got wide as I took in the Prince’s worried face. He didn’t seem angry at me anymore, but he was definitely upset about something.
Something major.
“How are you feeling?”
I smiled nervously and flipped my fins playfully at him.
“Better than ever.”
“Good,” he said distractedly.
“What’s going on?”
“We can’t really speak freely, Tri.”
“Okay . . .” I waited, afraid of what he was going to say.
“I know what my mother asked you.”
“Right. I told you.”
“No, Katriana. I know that she asked you to step down. As Spark.”
I swallowed, suddenly looking anywhere but at him.
“And I know why.”
“So? I’m sure it was just a whim. She probably forgot.”
“You don’t know my mother if you think she forgot her offer.”
I bit my lip and exhaled.
“Look. It was a very nice offer. It’s not you or anything—”
Dane laughed bitterly.
“It’s the whole giving up everything you’ve dreamed about to become a living doll?”
I stared at him.
“Tri. I get it. I could never put you in the kind of box my mother thinks you belong in. No matter . . .”
“No matter what?”
“No matter how much I would like to keep you by my side.”
I stared at him, not saying anything. I’d never expected that sort of declaration from Dane. From Prince Pollux, I corrected myself mentally.
“Well, maybe things can be different for you. Maybe we can get you out of your box. Then you can be by my side.”
I realized I was admitting I wanted him by my side. But it was only fair. He’d told me how he felt.
Dane stared at me for a tense moment.
“I mean, if you want to be.”
His handsome face broke into a wide grin.
“Nobody else sees the world like you do, Tri.”
“Thank you?”
He just shook his head, his smile lingering.
“The problem is, there are Mers who . . . have a vested interest in who becomes Princess. And who becomes Spark.”
“So they want me to fail out? That would sort of limit my options. Outcast or Princess. It would be a hard call.”
He laughed out loud at that, but he quickly sobered.
“The thought of a common-born Royal does not sit well with everyone. I think . . . we are afraid they may be trying to do more than disqualify you.”
I tilted my head to the side.
“Then what?”
“We think they are trying to kill you, Katriana.”
My jaw dropped open. Of course. How could I be so stupid?
“Just because we . . . like each other?”
He clenched his jaw and nodded.
“Understatement, but yes.”
“And because I am common?”
“You are anything but common, Tri.”
“Oh,” I said softly, suddenly feeling shy. I was pretty sure I was blushing, which in my case basically meant all my freckles turned pink. Our admitting that we liked each other had somehow changed everything. It had made everything real. “That is a nice thing to say.”
“It’s true.” He stared at me for moment. “And it’s one of a million reasons I refuse to let anything happen to you.”
“I don’t think you can protect me all the time, Dane.”
“I know. So Annaruth is putting protection spells on all of us.”
I opened my mouth to ask but he beat me to the punch.
“Even Beazil.”
“Isn’t that against the rules? I thought only the Royals were allowed that kind of magic.”
“Well, let’s just say my friends are honorary Royals.” He winked. “Especially that shark of yours.”
“He’s not mine,” I said with a yawn, suddenly tired. “We belong to each other. Equally.”
“I like the sound of that.”
Dane chucked my chin and pressed a quick kiss to my forehead.
“Get some rest.”
As he left, I noticed the doorway wavered as if he’d passed through a membrane, like where two oceans met, or breaking the surface of a water bubble in a cave. The room was spelled.
There were several guards outside, I realized. Royal guards.
I felt safe. I still grumbled to myself about all the fuss as I drifted off to sleep.