"You would be the only man to do so. My father—my grandfather cast her out unjustly.”
“Then we will extend an olive branch for her in our kingdom,” he said simply.
Ursula blinked. “What?”
"She’s family, isn’t she?" He squeezed her fingers lightly. "If she saved your life by calling for help against humans who meant you harm, I would consider her my ally."
It was a small thing, those words. The hand gesture. A simple acceptance, a quiet promise. But it stole the breath from Ursula's lungs.
She had spent her life knowing betrayal, knowing what it was to be silenced, to be cast aside, to be unworthy. This naïve prince with his easy trust and acceptance was lucky she was going to be here to protect him. He'd given her the shirt off his back, for Poseidon's sake.
“Are you worried?” she asked.
Eric gave a lopsided smile as he looked down at her. “Worried?”
“About my siren song.” Ursula tilted her chin, watching his reaction carefully. “Do you think I’ll use it against you?”
He didn’t flinch. Didn’t look away. Instead, he smiled, slow and knowing, as if the idea genuinely amused him. “I doubt it would have any effect on me.”
Oh? So he was one of those. One of those men who thought he was different, that he could turn a woman's eye from her husband—or her girlfriend. One of those men who thought the rules didn't apply to him.
“I fell under your spell when you saved me. When you breathed life back into me. I can't think of anything you could ask of me that I wouldn't give to you.”
Ursula should have felt satisfaction at that. Should have rejoiced in his gratitude, in his growing devotion. But he wasn’t done.
“I’m offering you my hand in marriage. I only hope one day to win your heart.”
The world around her blurred. The sounds of the marketplace dulled to a distant hum. The voices of the crowd that had irritated her were forgotten. For the first time in her life, Ursula was tongue-tied. She had no words, no clever retort, no sly quip. Nothing at all.
She had stolen a thousand voices in her time. Had taken the wills of men and women alike. But this man had just unmoored her.
She looked away from the prince. A ship rocked gently in the harbor, its sails catching the wind too perfectly, its hull just a little too polished for a vessel claiming to be a humble merchant ship. But it wasn’t the ship itself that made her pulse quicken. It was the flag.
The emblem stitched into the fabric lookedinnocuous enough to an untrained eye, the symbol of a distant trade guild. Ursula knew better. It was a false flag. A deception meant to mask allegiance, to slip past watchful eyes unnoticed.
A ship like that wasn’t here for trade. It was here to spy, to steal, to prepare for something far more dangerous. She would know. She'd made deals with other kingdoms, sold intel, and played the double agent.
She almost pointed it out to Eric.
Almost.
The words died before they could leave her lips. She couldn’t afford to be too knowledgeable, too sharp, too aware. Ariel wasn’t supposed to know the markings of rival kingdoms, the tactics of war, the flags of deception. So instead, she tilted her head, forcing curiosity into her voice, and let herself become Ariel again.
“Oh,” she mused, eyes wide with feigned innocence, “that’s such a lovely symbol.”
Eric followed her gaze, brows creasing into a flat line as he studied the flag.
“The red reminds me of corals in the reef. I think I saw something like it before,” she continued, keeping her tone light, airy, offhanded. “Somewhere near the”—she hesitated as if struggling to remember, then smiled like she’d just placed it—“the capital of Ravenhold, wasn’t it?”
She felt his posture shift beside her. Eric’s attention lingered on the ship for just a second longer than it should have, his lips pressing together in thought. Then he smiled at her. Easy. Carefree. As though waving it off, dismissing it as a meaningless observation.
His hand slid from hers, fingers curling subtly into a fist at his side. "Do you mind if we take a slight delay? I just want to check on a shipment."
"Of course, Your Highness."
"Eric. It's always Eric to you, Ariel."
CHAPTER ELEVEN
