And I mattered to Akua.
I returned my gaze to the sea, feeling a swell of compassion and light in my soul.
I have worth,I thought. Akua saved me for a reason, and maybe that reason was to meet Alaric and finally discover that worth.
As if in response, something moved towards the ship. It was so silent and sudden, when it breached the surface between the ships, Sereth screamed. Water from the whale’s massive body sprayed the area, but it was nothing compared to the giant splash that poured onto the deck, and the rocking of the boat.
It was enough for Sereth to lose her grip on me, and I took the opportunity to distance myself from her. As everyone tried to get their bearings, Alaric was already at the helm. But he didn’t stop to help me. He grabbed Sereth and put his knife to her throat.
And just like that, the tides turned.
“Put down your weapons or she dies!” Elias exclaimed and her guards and sailors immediately dropped their weapons.
“I should just kill you,” I heard Alaric say. He was seething, but I spoke up.
“Alaric, no!” When he met my eyes, it was almost as if we were going back in time, to the night the assassin came to my cottage. The whaler looked from Sereth to me, a brief second of hesitation, a chance to choose cruelty or compassion.
For a beat, I stopped breathing. I knew he had changed… he had become gentler, kinder.
And then his expression softened when he met my gaze. I let out a breath as he eagerly gave the wicked queen to the prince’s guards.
As soon as Elias’s guards took Sereth, Alaric was at my side, undoing the chains quickly, his breaths heavy and his fingers trembling.
“Malia.” When the chains dropped, I wrapped my arms around him. His hands found me, clasping my sides and then we were kissing. Hard. Desperate. Sure. He was soaking wet, and he tasted like the sea.
I couldn’t believe we’d survived. We held each other for, what felt like, not long enough. It would never be long enough.
“Look!” Lilo’s voice sounded and everyone moved to the edge of the ship. The whale had circled around before moving back out to sea. As Alaric and I looked overboard, the whale turned its body so its eye gazed up at us.
My whole body stilled as peace enveloped me, like I was being hugged by something even greater than the whale. I smiled and nodded to it.
The moment was so surreal, so peaceful. I’d never seen a whale this close and it looked like it had the wisdom and kindness of a hundred years in its eye.
The whale turned its body and headed back towards sea, the white tail the last we saw of it.
“That one saved me,” Alaric said reverently.
“It saved us all.” I smiled and felt his hand wrap around my waist, pulling me closer to him.
“You came for me,” I whispered. Alaric kissed my temple.
“There’s only one person I’m ever hunting for the rest of my life.” My cheeks warmed as he rubbed my arm gently.
“Maybe you don’t need to hunt her, because she already belongs to you.”
Alaric smiled, relaxing for the first time since I’d seen him. He kissed my temple again, then my cheek, then my jaw. I smiled with relief. “You’re right,” he said. “Youaremine.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
ALARIC
“Alaric, Malia!” Elias called, and I gave him a look, not thrilled to be interrupted, as we headed down to the deck. Lilo and Niko’s eyes were red from crying, and Jonah looked every bit the proud father. Clearly, while Malia and I had reunited, so had they.
A man stood beside Elias, Sereth’s first counselor. He looked shaken but gave us both a respectful nod.
When everyone turned to him, Elias motioned for Malia to step forward. She curtsied; he bowed.
“You’re not just her sister, Malia,” Elias said. “You’re the true heir.”
