And not just anyone—the people they worked for.
I clutched them a little tighter and stared up at the night sky, the wavelets of brine splashing around us. The velvet dark held the stars hostage, so far away I’d never be able to reach. But as I soared through the water on Ursuline’s back, for a few transitory moments, they grew closer.
Chapter 10
The day of our engagement party had arrived, and I’d been dreading it.
Social affairs in high society were something I loathed, and this time I had a whole different family with their own set of expectations—plus my parents. The fact the Durand family would be there was far from a comfort. Angus and Mina would be analyzing my every move, making sure I upheld our family’s reputation, or else.
A knock sounded on my door, startling me out of the whopping nothing I’d been doing apart from absently staring at my pressed and hung-up attire for the evening.
“What’re you doing there?” Arielle said, sweeping into my room. She wore a gauzy pink dress that swished when she walked, and her eyes sparkled like she held a secret. “Meditating?”
I snorted. “I was never very good at meditation. Your mind is supposed to be blank, and mine always wandered.”
She plonked down next to me on the bed, with a casual familiarity I wished we actually had. But no matter how hard Itried to get to know her, she remained a bit guarded and elusive beneath that sunny exterior. It’d be easy to chalk her up as superficial, but I didn’t believe that about people. Everyone had emotions, cares, fears—some people just chose to ignore or hide theirs away from the world.
“I’ve tried it a few times, but same,” she said. “Meditation class is boring as sin. Just like this engagement party is going to be, unfortunately.”
“Not looking forward to your debut as my fiancée?” I joked, even though the words tasted like ash on my tongue. The more we talked about our engagement, the more my soul rioted. When our arrangement was in the abstract, I could ignore it, but moments like this where we would set the date we’d be bound together by marriage…they shredded the dreams I’d held from an early age.
Of finding something real. Someone who’d love me with a depth that rivaled the ocean.
Not this farce of a role I’d been forced to play by our families.
Arielle let out another tinkling laugh. “Papa and Mama have gotten off my back ever since you proposed, so I have to thank you for that. I don’t mind being married, so long as I’m free to do as I like.”
That was where we differed, I supposed. I hated the constraints of the society I was born into.
“We’ll enjoy the food tonight, the fanfare, and ignore the catty bitches who’ll have comments on my hair, dress, whatever,” Arielle said, swishing her legs back and forth. “They’re all jealous anyway.”
“What if I hate the fanfare?” I responded, my mouth drying at the thought of the spotlight. When it came to our society, that spotlight meant more focus on my mistakes, my inadequacies.
“Then you can stick to the food,” Arielle said. “I’ll navigate you through the rest.”
I offered a genuine smile at that. Even though she’d barely been around since I arrived here, the idea we’d be in this together tonight gave me a bit of solace. I’d been hoping for a bigger connection with the person I was going to marry, but for now, I’d accept a temporary alliance.
Hell knew I’d need it tonight.
“I suppose I’d better start the process of getting ready,” Arielle said, swinging her legs back and forth along the side of the bed. “I’ve got a lovely seafoam-green affair for the party.”
“Sounds beautiful,” I said, and she preened. Arielle had a wild effervescence that felt impossible to pin down, impossible to know. However, out of the Triton family, she was the only one willing to give me any acknowledgement. Olivia and Pearl spent most of their time beneath the sea in New Atlantis, evidenced by the occasional glimpses I caught of them returning to land. And whatever affairs Frederick and Darla got up to kept them far away from here.
Arielle hopped up from the seat she’d taken and strode to the door. “See you at the engagement party.”
With that, she vanished.
I made quick work of putting on my suit for the party tonight, the fabric form-fitting and well tailored in a way only money could buy. Of course, I hadn’t gotten to choose it. The colors were a deep navy with the insignia of the Triton family, since that was who I’d been bartered to. My stomach churned, the suit a restrictive reminder of the society we were a part of.
However, I wasn’t about to bide the rest of the time until the party cloistered in my room. I stepped out and strode down the hallway. The estate hummed with an energy that had been lacking since I’d been here—probably because more people occupied the place.
Maribella strode in my direction, carrying a teetering stack of folded laundry. The top few towels shifted precariously, and I quickened my pace to nab them before they fell.
“Oh, no,” she said, shaking her head. “You don’t need to take those.”
“I’ve got nothing better to do,” I said, matching pace with her. A few strands of her practical bun had slipped out of place, and the sheen of sweat hinted at how hard she’d been working. The staff operated in full swing right now, and Jacques was probably cursing up a storm in the kitchen with the rest of his sous chefs.
“The party is in your honor, sir,” Maribella said, a hint of a stern note in her voice. She was barely older than me, though, and she had a sunny disposition that didn’t confuse me the same way Arielle’s did. “I can handle these.”
