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Without realizing it, I cut him off with a long, drawn-out yawn.
“—authority. You know what? I think someone needs some sleep,” Leander said, pulling me away from the door. “Let me and my father deal with them while you get some rest.”
“No, no, I’ll be okay until tonight,” I lied, blinking my eyes wider. They felt so dry, like salt and sand had worked their way into them. Honestly, they probably had.
“Uh-huh.” He grinned, steering me back in the direction of the warehouse by my shoulders. “At least try to rest some. Don’t worry. No one’s allowed to come into my bedchambers. Not even the captains.”
“Is that right?” I let out another yawn. “Sure didn’t stop me,” I teased, but the thought of Papa being forbidden to enter sounded almost too good of a deal to pass up. Maybe a tiny nap wouldn’t hurt. It was that or stick around for the princes to argue over which kingdom got to use me first. I knew in my gut that there was no way Leander would let them take me. Especially not now that he knew how easy it was going to be to use me to get King Eamon’s trident back. With the magic from one trident, they could use it to break the curse and wouldn’t need me for the rest. At least, I hoped.
“Okay, fine. Just a little nap. And then you can fill me in on what King Eamon says after you’re done with your boring undersea politics.”
Leander chuckled as he led me into the warehouse, heading for a certain cheerful, plastic printed dolphin. “Sure thing.”
17
Kai
“Okay, so that makes five beef sticks, two tins of nuts, a package of sugary bread rolls, and whatever these little fruity things are.” I held up one of the pods and gave its thin, see-through skin a test squish, watching as the yellow juice inside it swirled. “It says ‘lemon scent’ on the box, but do all lemons look like these?” Bringing the box to my nose, I drew in a deep breath.
Oh yeah.That smelled nice.
Before I could pop the little morsel into my mouth, Barren plucked it straight from my fingers. “No.” He dropped the golden pod back with its friends and snatched the entire box from my hands.
“Hey, man, I was going to let you have the beef sticks!” I said, diving for the box with grabby hands, but Barren’s long arm easily held it out of my reach. “Geez, I know it’s not much of a breakfast, but I don’t know how long it’ll take Claira to get back here with her stuff. How long do you think it’s been?”
One of Barren’s eyebrows slanted in strong disapproval. Using the side of an oil-slicked shoe, he lifted an overturned trash can and plopped the entire box of fruit pods inside it.
“Wait! You’re not even gonna eat them?” The empty pit of my stomach sank. What a waste! I was so hungry, too.
Snorting like he’d heard some joke I wasn’t aware of, Barren straightened out his pant legs and took a seat on the floor. “She’s not coming back.”
I nearly choked on my saliva. I could hardly believe it—he’d finally spoken more than just a word to me!
First Claira, and now Barren. I’d only been away from my family for a couple of days, and I was already making new friends. My brothers were wrong after all. I knew this trip wouldn’t be a waste.
Eager to hear more sweet, sweet words, I grabbed the beef sticks and scuttled across the floor to get closer. “Oh? And why’s that?”
Crossing his ankles, Barren stretched his long legs out in front of him like he was hunkering down to share his thoughts on the subject. I leaned in closer.
Then he dug his phone out of his pocket and went back to ignoring me.
Exasperated by the letdown, I shook a beef stick at him. “Aw, come on, dude. I thought we were friends!”
Man, that phone sure looked laughably tiny nestled in the curve of his palm. Almost like he was holding a merfry’s plaything. Still, a wistful longing rolled through me as I watched his thumb glide over the remarkable little device.
It sure would have been nice to have a phone of my own. But with so many brothers in line before me, it made sense that I was left without. Sure, the first half a dozen princes all got one, but at a certain point, it seemed Queen Javalynn—much like my parents—sort of forgot about the rest of us. I couldn’t blame them, though. It was hard keeping track, even for us.
Well, if Barren wasn’t going to elaborate, that just meant more time for him to warm up to me.
“I think she really took a shine to us,” I began. My lips curved as I thought back to the look on Claira’s face when we’d suddenly appeared to help her.
Without looking up from his phone, Barren let out an abrupt snort that suggested he didn’t agree. At least he wasn’t completely ignoring me.
“Maybeyoucouldn’t tell, but I saw it.”
Sure, Barren might have led an exceptionally cool life for a merman, but his reserved nature hadn’t won him many allies. At least, according to all the rumors that funneled their way back to the Pacific. I probably had years more experience making friends. And not only with sea creatures, but other merfolk, too. He could trust me on this.
“It’ll be great to get her away from the Atlantic. Could you believe what their scribe wrote about constructing a cage while they tracked her down? My mother gasped so loud when she got to that part in the letter. Well, with Queen Javalynn as your sister, I’m sure you know how particular mermaids can be. I sometimes wish the Pacific kingdom would travel around, too, but my father absolutely forbids us from stepping one foot on land. Well, until recently, of course.”
