Total pages in book: 157
Estimated words: 156907 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 785(@200wpm)___ 628(@250wpm)___ 523(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 156907 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 785(@200wpm)___ 628(@250wpm)___ 523(@300wpm)
His brows drew together. “The Sisterhood of the Beast?”
“Silence, Farah, Elena and I,” I educated him.
“Yes, I could put that together, my wife, but you’ve…named yourselves?”
His body felt like it was shaking.
With laughter.
This meant my brows drew together. “I don’t know why it’s amusing. For the Beast brought we sisters together, and together, we sisters will defeat the Beast. The name is fitting.”
“It is. Right on the nose,” he muttered, his words also shaking.
I decided to ignore his continuing humor.
“I wish to tell them my command of the seas and my kinship with its beasts.”
Aramus did not find that particular morsel amusing.
“No,” he denied.
“Aramus—”
“No.”
“Your men know,” I pointed out, for they did. We’d told them (and I’d shown them, covertly) along our journey to Notting Thicket.
“My men are my men. I know them to their bones. I barely know Silence, Farah and Elena.”
“Well, I know them.”
“Barely.”
“Aramus—”
“Ha-Lah, no,” he stated implacably. “I forbid it.”
By the seas.
He did not just forbid something.
I stared at him.
He withstood it for such an admirable amount of time, it was I who broke the silence.
“We must know our own powers. We must know our own strengths. We must know the weapons we can wield. And in knowing, understand our weaknesses.”
“This is not a weapon you will wield,” he retorted. “It is a gift you have that you will not share…with anybody save those that already know, who are those I know I can trust.”
“Aramus, you, the king of the seas, me, harnessing the powers of them, you must understand this is why we’re destined to save Triton from the Beast.”
“And should that need ever come about, and as days wear into weeks that are currently wearing into months, it seems it won’t, if things deteriorate to a point of concern where they’re needed, then we will unleash your powers and thus share them. Not before.”
“What I wish to say is, Elena, Farah and Silence might have similar powers. Elena does not hide hers, but there might be more we do not know. And you saw yourself what Farah could do today. That was formidable.”
“And the powers you don’t know about, I can assure you,” he pressed deeply into me, “absolutely assure you, my queen, their men have forbidden them to share for the exact purpose I do the same.”
Mars, I could see this.
Cassius and True?
Not a chance.
“Aramus—”
“No.”
Oh dear.
Now I was getting angry.
“Aramus,” I said slowly, my new mood vibrating in his name.
“Ha-Lah, you will be at risk. This power will be coveted. I will protect you and the knowledge of it until I have no choice but not to.”
You do not have to protect me. You don’t because you don’t understand just how powerful I am, as I’m mermaid.
I almost said it.
I did not.
As I had not in the weeks since that day long ago when I’d determined to do it.
Frey, Finnie, Apollo, Maddie, dragons, breaking camp, sailing, meeting Aramus’s ships, weddings and assassinations had all gotten in the way.
My husband now knew nearly everything about me. And along the way, he’d put great effort into memorizing every inch of me.
That was the only thing of grave importance he did not know.
And the longer it took for me to tell him, the harder it was to do so.
For before, I worried what he would feel, being married to one of my kind.
But now, I worried how he would feel that I kept it from him for so long, through so much, including us falling in love, consummating our marriage (repeatedly), and moving from one traumatic drama to the next that befell our friends.
My husband broke into my thoughts by asking, “Is what I said understood?”
“I still wish to spend time with my sisters,” I mumbled.
“I would not deny you this, my queen, of course not,” he muttered. “But protect your secret. For if you don’t, it will make it nearly impossible for me to do so.”
I did not agree with this, but I did not wish to discuss it any further. The day had been trying enough. I refused to end it arguing (any longer) with my husband.
However, I could not stop myself from heaving a deep, beleaguered sigh.
This made Aramus’s lips twitch again.
I decided I was going to ignore that too.
“There is one thing I have not yet shared,” he told me.
I braced.
Aramus spoke.
“After Cassius received his dire news, he asked me to take his daughters to Mar-el for safekeeping. He needs to discuss this with Elena. If she agrees, they will be under our protection. Do you have issue with that?”
“Of course not,” I answered. “However, wouldn’t the most expedient choice be The Enchantments?”
He shook his head. “Cassius was vague about it, but apparently, Ophelia gave him the impression The Enchantments weren’t safe. As it seems no realm on the mainland is, Mar-el is their only choice.”