Page 28 of Drown Me Gently

“I look forward to what you have to offer this court in the future,” the Queen said by way of dismissal with a gentle wave of her hand.

He was gone like a flash light that blinded the sky, storming from the chamber before the guards had fully opened the doors.

Ulric didn’t wait for permission. He followed. Down the gilded corridors, through the glass archways, past startled nobles and curious guards. He followed the furious trail Auren left in his wake, catching up to him in a secluded outer courtyard. This particular garden was overgrown with moonberry thickets. Silvery-blue shrubs with arching branches that curled like sea serpent horns. Their translucent berries glowed in clusters, casting the whole space in a hush of pale luminance. The thickets formed a dense canopy overhead, creating the illusion of a private chamber. The current slowed here. The world felt smaller. Quieter. No one else would hear them.

“Auren—”

“Don’t.”

Ulric surged in front of him, cutting off his path. “You can’t swim away from this.”

Auren’s voice was venom. “Oh, you mean like you did? Just watch me.”

“Auren,” Ulric said quietly, as though trying to calm an agitated eelhound.

Auren didn’t turn, but the shake in his shoulders was unmistakable. “You have a lot of nerve showing up like nothing happened.”

Ulric drifted closer, careful not to breach the space between them. “I didn’t mean for things to happen like they did.”

Auren let out a bitter laugh. “What part, exactly? The way you held—” his voice cut off, unable to finish that intimate sentence. “Or the part where you vanished afterward?”

“I—” Ulric’s voice faltered. “It wasn’t supposed to go that far.”

Auren spun to face him, eyes burning. “One second, you looked at me like I was… And the next, like you couldn’t leave fast enough.”

Ulric’s throat worked around a thousand things he couldn’t say. “I had to go,” he said at last.

“You ran.”

“I had to,” Ulric growled, pain bleeding into every word. “You don’t understand what would’ve happened if I hadn’t left.”

“No,” Auren spat, “because you never gave me the chance to understand.”

Silence flared between them like a wound torn open. A moment passed, and Ulric’s gaze dropped. His eyes landed on the braid in Auren’s hair. Not silver. Gold. Ulric’s jaw clenched. He tried to breathe slowly, to keep his voice even. But the words came sharp anyway. “That silk,” he said, nodding toward Auren’s braid, “that’s new. It used to be silver.”

Auren froze, just for a moment. Then he looked away. Ulric didn’t need an answer. The truth was already unraveling.

“That human gave it to you,” he said quietly. “Didn’t he?”

Auren’s only response was a tick in the muscle lining his jaw.

Ulric couldn’t keep the bitterness from his voice. “Your mother just praised your renewed dedication. She actually believed you’d let go of this surface nonsense. So did I. I thought you were done chasing illusions.” His eyes locked on the silk. “And then you appear wearing that.”

Auren didn’t deny it—and that alone sent dark, angry thoughts spiraling through Ulric’s body. His tentacles flexed of their own accord, coiling with restless agitation, as if seeking to purge the irritation from his skin.

“The one studying the sea,” Ulric continued, jaw tight. “The one your mother is worried about. The one drawing ships too close to our waters. That’s the human you’re seeing.”

Auren still wouldn’t look at him, but his hand lifted to touch the golden silk. A quiet act of defiance. A reminder of the choice he’d made, and the promise he no longer intended to keep.

“You can’t go to him again,” Ulric snapped, wishing to tear that silk from Auren’s head. “You’re being manipulated. Whatever promises that human made, they’re lies.”

That shattered the silence, and when Auren rounded on him, there was a glassiness in his eyes. “I want someone to choose me!” Auren exploded. “Is that so hard to understand?”

Ulric reeled.

Auren’s fins flared, magic pulsing faintly from his skin. His tail lashed behind him, powerful and wild. His face flushed, radiant with rage. “You think I don’t know the risks?” Auren yelled. “You left. You ran! You don’t get to come back and tell me who I can love.”

Ulric recoiled, physically pushed back by the word.