“Not ‘my lady’ anymore. Just Rinka,” she replied with a smile wide enough to show her fangs.
“You’ll always be my lady,” said Idris. He wrapped his arm around her shoulder, rubbing her upper arm for warmth.
Rinka pulled back to look at him. “That’s the corniest thing you’ve ever said. Are you ill?”
Idris laughed. “And here I was trying to be romantic. What did she say about me in the article? ‘My affections are plain?’”
“‘Plainly written on your face,’ I believe. Obvious. Not plain as in boring.”
“Ah, that’s it. So I’m meant to be more mysterious and withholding.” Idris withdrew his arm and backed a pace away.
He was such a smart arse. He was lucky he was so handsome there in his suit and bowler, the cold sea air bringing color to his cheeks.
Rinka could not resist him.
“The time for mystery has passed,” she said. She closed the distance between them again and lowered her voice to a whisper. “I’ve seen bits of you you’ve never seen yourself.”
Idris’s almond eyes flared. The time for mystery had ended, perhaps, but she still managed to surprise him every once in a while. “There’s more I could show you—”
Admiral Northwood cleared his throat behind them. Rinka and Idris sprung apart. “Forgive me, your royal highness. Miss Rinka. We believe we’ve spotted something out in the reef.”
Rinka looked to the Wilderisen coastline. They had passed the southeastern corner and were heading up the coast towards Gull Bay, just where they’d spotted the mermaids the first time. “Is there any reply?”
Admiral Northwood, a greying human who had begun to gap the buttons on his naval uniform, smiled apologetically. “I’m not certain the mermaids have the ability to signal back. Some of my crew claim to have spotted them in these waters, and we’re picking up something large and stationary not far beneath the surface. Too large for an underwater ship.”
“A city?” asked Rinka.
“Could be,” said Admiral Northwood. “We haven’t spent much time here. We’re too slow to take on Burning Ash.”
“This is slow?” asked Rinka. She hadn’t answered Idris’s sea legs question, but truthfully, she was struggling a bit. As beautiful as theDelphinewas, her speed was rough on the stomach.
“And too obvious. Burning Ash can spot us from miles away. We’re setting course for the reef now. We should arrive shortly if you want to accompany me on the dinghy.”
“Of course,” said Idris. “And the trunk?”
“Already loaded, your highness.”
Rinka gave Idris a look as they followed the Admiral:the dinghy?She looked out over the water. It was so cold up here there were chunks of ice floating in the sea. She was grateful they’d gone overboard in the summer—going in the water now would be death.
Idris sighed as he noticed her look. Then he took off his jacket and helped her put it on. “It’s a good thing I have dragon’s blood.”
Rinka didn’t argue with that. The warmth of his skin was a blessing at this time of year.
Admiral Northwood helped Rinka into the dinghy as Idris checked the trunk. It was a large wooden thing with a great iron clasp and a set of iron weights to carry it under the surface.
“I’m sorry to your crew that they’ll have to lower us with this thing. It must weigh a ton,” said Idris.
But he needn’t have apologized. The dinghy was lowered with a great ‘lectric pulley. They hit the cold water with a splash that thankfully landed outside of the small vessel.
“Now let’s see if we can find some mermaids,” said Admiral Northwood as a Halfling crew woman started rowing.
“Do you know how to signal to them?” asked Rinka.
“I was going to ask you,” said Admiral Northwood.
“The rowing will bring ‘em if they’re out here, Admiral,” said the crew woman. “That’s if they didn’t hear theDelphinecoming.”
The waves were calm as she rowed, but the vessel didn’t have the ability to cut through them as Idris’s water boat had. The bobbing up and down was more than Rinka’s stomach could take. “How long do you think we’ll be—"
