Page 60 of A Sea So Cruel
The empress came around her grandiose desk and her breath hitched. She dove forward and pulled Kaid into the warmest embrace he had ever received. His nerves dissipated with each second they held each other. He had a mother.
When Queen Arielle pulled back, she surveyed Kaid’s face closely, likely taking him in while also looking for injuries. Her eyes landed on the iron shackle and chain he dragged from his wrist and her brows furrowed.
She quickly signed to Asta and Kaid only knew a few words—he, stuck, hurt.
Asta shook her head and signed back—tried, open, fight, warrior.
Kaid looked back and forth between the women, wishing someone would include him somehow.
“She asked if you were stuck, and if the cuff hurt. I told her I tried to release you and you were bruised but that’s it.”
Kaid was new to sign language, but he definitely saw the words fight and warrior thrown in there. Asta was keeping something from him, but his mother read her lips closely and made no objections.
The siren queen signed again and Kaid spoke aloud as he translated. “You are home. You are safe here. My son, I, uh, something?”
Kaid looked at Asta and her cheeks flushed. “I love you.”
His heart skipped a beat when she first said it, his breath frozen deep in his lungs momentarily.
Asta shook her head. “That’s what she said. ‘My son, I love you.’”
“Right, of course,” Kaid cleared his throat. She was translating. She had never taught him the word love because he had never asked. It was never in his vocabulary before now.
Kaid signed with his mother, Asta helping with the more complicated words from time to time, but he could get the gist of most of her sentences. The empress of the Ventarin Sea explained that now that the lost prince had returned, the finfolk would be relentless in their quest to dominate the sirens. She could hold them off, as she had been doing for many years, but they would only grow stronger now that they had more motivation. Kaid essentially had a massive “abduct me” sign on his back.
“I do not want you to leave home so soon, but there is work to be done,” Arielle signed. “There is a way for us to get the advantage over the finfolk, but it is a mission.”
“We will do whatever it takes,” Asta signed back.
The siren queen smiled softly. “If you can find the trident, the comb and the mirror, we may be able to end this war. For good.”
Chapter 35
Linnea’s legs felt like they were going to fall off after days of riding horseback. She typically traveled by carriage for long distances, but that would have drawn too much attention to them.
The worst part was that Linnea was wearing pants for the first time in her life. The tightness around her lower half made her feel exposed, especially whenever she caught Halsten staring. It always made her search her body, brushing away any dirt or horse hair he may be looking at, which made him laugh and shake his head.
They stopped for the night at an inn about a half a day’s ride away from the Blomvin Manor. There was no sense in traveling in the dark when they could rest for the night and eat a good meal, then get an early start in the morning and be to the manor early in the day still.
Gyrial approached the innkeeper to inquire about rooms and Liva rushed over, speaking to him in hushed tones. Gyrial nodded and returned to his conversation with the plump man behind the desk.
Linnea’s movements were stiff due to the ache in her limbs, but she concealed it as best as she could.
“Are you walking like that because you are not accustomed to long journeys in the saddle, or because you feel like the entire room is taking in your figure in those trousers?” Halsten jeered.
Linnea’s face flushed a deep red, heat creeping up her neck. “I, erm. Mostly because of the soreness, but I am not quite adjusted to my figure being on display. I have always worn dresses.”
Halsten looked Linnea up and down, then grabbed her hand and held it above her head, spinning her like a ballet dancing figurine in a music box. He clicked his tongue.
“Take a hot bath, then stretch your legs as much as you can. It will help,” he leaned in close and whispered in her ear, so quiet only she could hear. “And to clarify, your figure is drawing the attention of everyone in here. They cannot stop observing your long legs, your rounded behind, or your hourglass shape. The puffy shirt is doing nothing to hide that, by the way.”
Linnea’s cheeks were now heated for a completely different reason. There was no way that her feeble frame was drawingthatkind of attention. She always assumed people stared because of how weak she was; how flat and shapeless she was. Though she hadn’t really observed herself in the last few months. She hadbeen eating better, taking the long way to any destination in the castle she was heading so she could climb more stairs.
She stepped back quickly so she could no longer feel the heat coming from Halsten’s body. She needed to get away before she leaned into it.
The universe was on her side when Gyrial approached with room keys for everyone.
“Three rooms. Niklas, Halsten, and I will take a triple. Liva requested her own room, so Linnea, that means you will be on your own. Is that okay?”
