I tried to take Julian’s advice, trusting in Nicholas, and attempted to relax. By now, Julian had sat up, so I took the open seat next to him. Elva squeezed into the middle space between us.Veronica soon came to join us. She was apologetic, it seemed none of the staff members on board had extra swi
Holding Elva’s hand, I lead us both down the stairs.As I dropped beneath the surface of the water, I instinctively held my breath. Beside me, Elva hadn’t. She looked around, surprised, and then laughed. Oddly, I could hear her voice clearly, even under the water.In front of us, Jessica and Veronic
I gasped. Ambassador Zale!Yet unlike the last time I had met him, when he had been more human shaped and wearing a tuxedo, now he was even more otherworldly. The biggest change was the lack of human legs. Instead, he had a long and coiling fish tale, covered in scales the same as the blue-green one
The merfolk royal swam over toward me. I stood very still, continuing to grip on Nicholas’s arm.The merfolk cleared his throat. I braced myself, unsure if he would speak in a language I would recognize. Despite any potential awkwardness here, I certainly didn’t want to be rude.“My lady,” the merfo
With that reassurance, I nodded at Elva. “Enjoy yourself,” I said.She laughed and immediately began to chase after the other children as she swam away.The loud excitement of her laughter warmed me from the inside out. It was so rare to hear my little girl having so much fun. I half wanted to stay
“Piper isn’t feeling well at the moment,” Nicholas said. He kept one arm wrapped protectively around my waist. “In fact, I was about to take her to one of the private rooms to rest.”“Oh,” Ronan said, and his bright smile fell somewhat. “How disappointing. Well, recover and rest well, Piper. I hope
As we had swallowed down each other’s pleasure, there wasn’t much need for clean up, other than returning into our swimsuits and checking ourselves in the mirror. As our hair was already wild in the water, no one would notice if Nicks and mine had been tugged and pulled.I did have a few new love bi
I didn’t have a clear way out of this. For the sake of international relations, I had to accept. So I did. I placed my hand in Prince Ronan’s offered one and repressed by shiver as he closed his fingers around my hand. “I would be honored to dance with you, Prince Ronan,” I said. Ronan’s eyes