They could barely make out the horse head above the water. But then Ward shimmered and dove down and when he next appeared it was about twenty feet from the beach. He was back in his human form except…
“Holy shit. He’s a merman now.”
Ward scowled. “I am not a merman.”
He seemed pretty offended by the term. “Sorry,” Henry said. “I’m kinda new to all this. But… you look like a merman to me.”
The look intensified. “Can a merman do this?”
Ward shimmered again, and he returned to full horse form, prancing his way out of the water before shaking his body and splattering Henry and Eduard with cold droplets before he danced away from them with his head held high.
“Hey!”
“I blame you,” Eduard groused. “You offended our new guardian.”
“Ugh,” Henry said. “But come on!”
“He’s as much royalty as I am. It would be like calling me a mere lion. I am much more than a lion. It is an insult to imply otherwise.”
“So I bruised his ego?”
“Clearly.”
“Okay. I’ll fix it. So I take it the boat’s safe? Cause neither of you are freaking out.”
“No, I recognize several familiar piscines on the boat.”
“Pie whats now?”
“Henry, you really need to study more.”
“Oh, you went there. I’m totally telling Cecil.”
Eduard smirked and glanced back toward the approaching ship. “The piscines are closely connected with the water. Several of their schools work on the island with us and have for centuries.”
“Piscine, like pisces? The sign? It means fish, right?”
“Precisely.”
“Cool. Okay, I’m going to go talk to Ward and then we’ll get this show on the road.”
Eduard snagged Henry’s arm when he started to walk away. “You are amazing,” Eduard said. “I am in awe of your gifts and I thank the goddess every day that she gave me the gift of you.”
Henry couldn’t quite help the tears that formed in his eyes. He stepped back to Eduard and wrapped his arms around Eduard’s waist. “What brought that on?”
“I don’t tell you enough,” Eduard said softly. He ran his hand through Henry’s hair then gently rubbed the back of his neck. “What you did today? I’ve never seen anything like it before. I am so proud of you and honored to be in your life.”
“Thank you,” Henry said. He was humbled by the words and tried not to laugh them off with some awkward joke. Eduard didn’t hand out praise like candy, so when he gave a compliment, Henry knew he could cherish it as truth. He pushed up on his toes and kissed Eduard quickly. “I’m going to go apologize to Ward.”
He gave Eduard one more squeeze before pulling away. He couldn’t help the goofy smile he had plastered across his face as he walked further down the beach. Ward had remained in his horse form and was running full speed toward Henry. He stopped a couple dozen feet away and reared up on his hind legs.
“Goddess, you’re big,” Henry sighed. “And look at you. I’ve never actually seen a silver horse before. You shimmer, did you know that? So pretty. Can I touch you?”
Ward huffed, shaking his head even as he danced a few steps closer. He had his head held high, looking anywhere but Henry as he approached. Henry cooed a little, used to soothing the disgruntled animals at his father’s clinic. Often, when shifters were injured, they stayed in their animal form, comforted by fur and instincts. Henry didn’t understand it, exactly, but his brothers told him it felt safer to be in their animal forms when they were afraid.
Henry slowly reached out his hand, knowing full well Ward could see him out of the corner of his eye. It was a trick. Making Henry think he wasn’t paying any attention to him, but knowing exactly what Henry was doing. “Oh, look at you. So big and strong. Maybe one day, if you forgive me for insulting you, you’ll take me for a ride. I’ve never been on a horse before. I mean, I’ve ridden Draco and Eduard in their shifted forms, but that’s not a horse, you know? You’re… Goddess. I just want to pet you.”
Ward turned and lowered his huge horse head, bumping into Henry’s chest. It about knocked him on his ass, but he was used to shifters who didn’t quite know their own strength. He pressed his forehead to Ward’s, and then stroked his hand along the horse’s cheek. The hair tickled his fingers and he nuzzled his face in a couple times before using words. “I’m sorry I offended you. I honestly didn’t mean to. Eduard explained it to me. I think you’re beautiful in all of your forms. I hope you’ll forgive me.”
