Page 35 of Entangled

Eleven

“Oh, Merrow, why didn’t you tell me this before now?” Sebastian put his arm around her shoulders, pulling her against his chest. “If I had known⁠—”

“Would you really have done anything different if I had told you?” she asked. “You said you needed to put her in the dungeon to punish her for speaking so boldly to you. You told me that it was expected of you since you were king. And that you didn’t want your people disappointed in you.”

“Now, in all fairness, I never said that last part.”

“Mayhap not, but I know it’s what you thought.”

“Perhaps I did. Can you ever forgive me?”

“Dee didn’t deserve that,” she told him. “She is a gentle, kind person who never hurt anyone or anything.”

“You’re right. I see that now. I promise you, I will release her from the dungeon upon our return.”

“You will?” She looked up at him with big, sad eyes. The sunlight lit up her clear blue-green orbs, drawing him in until he felt he would drown in her beauty.

“Yes. I will. For you.” He took her hand and kissed her webbed fingers. The sun was starting to dry their bodies, and her hand shifted in his grasp. Magically she had human features now from the waist up but still the tail of a mermaid, being half in the water. He reached over and collected the pouch that held her personal shell charm. Lifting it out with two fingers, he held it up in the sunlight.

“Are you going to use that to control me again?” Her gaze fell to the shell in his hand.

“Nay, Merrow, I’m not. But I am going to give it back to you.”

“Y—you are?” She batted away a few tears that welled in her eyes.

“I want you to be in control of your own life and emotions. I want you to be able to make the choice of who you will bed, what you will do, and where you will go. I don’t want what happened to Dee to happen to you. No one deserves that.”

“So you are setting me free?” she asked, sounding even more shocked than he for what he just did.

“I am,” he said, kissing her gently on the hand, still staring into her eyes. He wasn’t sure how he was going to explain this action, or his decision to release a prisoner to his advisor and captain of the guard. Neither did it matter right now. He didn’t care what others thought of him right now. All he cared about was Merrow and her happiness. He handed her the charm. With trembling fingers she took what he offered. She tied it back into her hair, the shell hanging down in front of one partially exposed breast.

“What will your subjects think of you for this? Won’t this action be frowned upon, and make you look like a weak king?” she asked him.

“Aren’t you the one who told me not to worry about what others think and to make decisions for myself? Not because it is expected of me?”

“Yes. Yes, I did say that.” When her gaze drifted down to his mouth, he thought she wanted to kiss him. Still, he didn’t want to misread her and needed to be certain that it was her decision, not his.

“Merrow, there is one thing I will regret by having given you back your personal charm.”

“What’s that?” she asked, their bodies and faces still close together.

“If I still held the charm, I would know right now exactly what you are thinking.” His eyes focused on her lips. He wanted more than anything to kiss her right now.

“Perhaps I can help you know the answer to that.” She leaned in closer and kissed him. His heart soared. He hadn’t read her wrong after all. The kiss was proper and gentle. He liked it, but found himself wanting so much more.

“I suppose you will be leaving me now? Heading back to your sisters, or to the sea?”

“Nay. Not yet.” She smiled as if she knew a secret.

He chuckled because she looked so cute. “What is it?” he asked. “Why don’t you want to leave?”

“I heard you tell Farrimond not to wait supper for you. And to close the gate if you don’t return tonight. Why did you say that?”

“I guess I was hoping to spend the night with you in my arms. I see that it was too bold to have such hope that it would really happen on its own.”

“Was it?” she asked, looking around. “Where did you plan on spending the night?”

“There is a cave behind the waterfall,” he told her. “It is private and no one ever goes there. The floor of the cave is covered with soft moss.”