His mind could have invented that. But her face? That smirk? That wasn’t something a man just imagined. Was it?
“Maybe I am.”
But even as he said it, he wasn’t sure if he meant lucky to be alive… or lucky to have seen her at all.
CHAPTER FOUR
The great coral doors of King Triton’s court loomed before Ursula like a whale's mouth waiting to devour her whole. She entered with her proud head cast down as would a guppy seeking castoffs in the wake of a human's ship. It was demeaning, but she had very few choices these days. If there was one thing she could never be accused of, it was lacking audacity.
At her first opportunity, Ursula broke away from the school of simpering merpeople and sought her own path. She glided forward, her dark figure casting elongated shadows across the shimmering floor. She knew these halls like they were her own home because once upon a time they had been.
The once-familiar corridors seemed smaller now,shrunken by time and her exile. Each twist and turn of the castle whispered memories she would rather forget. A snide comment from her father here, a rebuke from Triton there. The laughter of her cousins echoing in a chamber she had never quite belonged to. She had been allowed back for her father's burial in the deep sea but then promptly escorted out once again.
She swam deeper until the voices of the court grew faint. Finding herself before a door she hadn’t seen in years, she brushed her fingers against its coral frame, and her lips curled into a sneer. This room had once been hers.
She eased the door open, slipping inside. The interior was unrecognizable. Gone were her elegant seashell furnishings and maps of the ocean floor. Instead, the space was cluttered, overflowing with an assortment of mismatched objects. Forks and candlesticks hung from seaweed strands like decorations. Rusted trinkets and chipped porcelain plates lined the walls.
Ursula’s sneer deepened as she took it all in. The youngest princess, Ariel, had turned this room into an ode to her ridiculous obsession with the human world. Ariel's fascination with the air breathers bordered on sickness, as far as Ursula was concerned. What value could these crude, corroded baubles possibly hold?
The girl was never content with what was beneaththe waves. She had seen it for years—Ariel slipping away, breaking the surface, stepping onto human land like she had every right to be there, walking side by side with Princess Aurora, their laughter ringing out over the cliffs as they vanished into the golden spires of the human palace.
Ursula had saved Ariel from humans. Pulled the girl from the depths as her blood stained the sea. Torn the harpoon from her side and called a kraken to sink the humans who had dared to harm her.
And for what?
Ariel had repaid her with nothing but loss. Her father’s trust. Her brother's… well, Triton had never done anything for Ursula. Her bedchamber had been taken. Her place in the kingdom stolen from her. She should have let the sea claim the brat that day.
Ursula exhaled sharply, forcing herself to push the thought of Ariel aside. She had wasted enough time regretting saving one fool—why had she gone and saved another today?
She hadn’t meant to. She had watched the man sink, bound in ropes, left behind by the very men he had tried to save. He had fought for them, dragged them into lifeboats, put their lives above his own, and in the end—not a single one had come for him.
He was a fool. Just like her.
She had once believed in loyalty, hadfought for something greater than herself, had risked everything for family, for duty, for the love of her people—and what had it gotten her?
Exile. Betrayal. A life spent scavenging instead of ruling.
She had learned her lesson. Hopefully, he had learned his. If he survived. She was sure he would. A bright light like his.
Something inside her hadn’t wanted to see that light die out. She had seen the way he moved, the way the crew listened when he spoke, the way he had not hesitated to throw himself into the fire for the sake of others.
It was stupid. Reckless. Weak.
And still, she had reached for him. She would never see that sailor again. He was not her concern.
What was her concern was her empty pockets. With the mess Flotsam and Jetsam had made of the royal ship, they'd let the liner that had likely been carrying the gold slip by them. All of her carefully laid plans, instead of sinking to the bottom of the sea's floor for easy pickings, were now out to sea. It would be days, possibly weeks, before the liner returned, if they were smart.
Ursula swam past a pile of tarnished silverware and stopped at a vanity adorned with pearls and aquamarine. Her gaze locked on a small chest half-buriedbeneath a tangle of nets. Flipping it open, Ursula smiled. Inside was a collection of gleaming jewels—emeralds, sapphires, rubies, all shimmering like captured starlight.
Her fingers lingered on a particularly large sapphire. This stone had belonged to their grandmother. It had been passed down to Ursula, but Triton hadn't allowed her to take it with her when he'd banished her. She tightened her grip.
It wasn't thievery. Not that Ursula had a problem with taking anything from the royal family. These jewels were her birthright. She slipped the chain around her neck and tucked the gem inside one of her seashells. The sapphire warmed her breast as she pulled the cloak back over her head. With one last glance at the chaotic space, she slipped back into the hallway.
A shadow passed over the corridor ahead. Ursula froze, shrinking into the corner as a patrol of guards approached. One of them paused, sniffing the water into his gills.
“Did you hear something?”
The other guard yawned. “Probably just a crab.”
