“Our balls are renowned throughout the sea,” Amabie said, swimming toward me. She hooked an arm through mine, her eyes shining. “Come on, Aika. Let’s get you to your room. We have just enough time that I might be able to turn you into a princessyet.”
17
In the end,there was no way to leave, even if the dragon king hadn’t invited us to his ball. As he’d said, theUmigamehad made one too many trips today and was exhausted. We wouldn’t be able to ride him again until tomorrow, so we might as well stick around and enjoy thefestivities.
“It’s still creeping me out that this even works,” I said as Amabie’s maid arranged a fish scale clip in my hair. She’d dragged me back to her suite, and I was sitting in her boudoir while her maids fixed me up. At first I’d been reluctant—after all, Amabie’s flirty behavior with Shota wasn’t winning her any favors with me. But she was the princess, and I couldn’t refuse such a generous gesture without coming off as a totaljerk.
Amabie gave me a strange look. “What do you mean?” she asked as a second maid laced her up into yet another ball gown. This one was a brilliant orange that matched her scales—the eighth one she’d tried on tonight. And there were several more candidates I had a feeling she would try on before she made adecision.
I gestured to myself. “All of this. I’m wearing a dress, jewelry, and makeup, and I look almost exactly the same as if I were standing on land.” Yes, the skirt was waving a tiny bit in the water, and my hair wasn’t staying completely still. But it was still a lot better than I’danticipated.
“Well, you certainly couldn’t get away with this outside the palace, but so long as you are in my father’s domain, there is no reason why you can’t enjoy nearly all the creature comforts you experience on land.” Amabie sniffed as the maid bent to check my makeup. “In many ways, we sea-dwellers have it better thanyou.”
I didn’t know aboutthat, but I decided it wasn’t worth arguing over. Instead, I studied my reflection in the vanity mirror across fromme.
Somehow, Amabie and her maid had turned me into a princess, just as she’d promised. They’d found a backless dress in her closet with—big surprise—a mermaid-style skirt that hugged my body and made me look like I actually had realcurves.
It was made of a satiny fabric that looked like mother of pearl shot through with some kind of shimmery robin’s egg blue thread, and the skirt was embroidered with fish scales of the same shade. The maid had swiped pastel pink across my lips and given me a smoky eye look with shimmering teal eye shadow that, at first, I’d worried would be too much with my pale skin. But strangely, it wasn’t. It just tied everything together and made my dark eyes look sexy instead ofboring.
“All I need are heels, and I’d be red-carpet worthy,” I joked when the maid stepped back to studyme.
“You look wonderful,” the maid said, her fish lips widening into what was probably a smile. “Princess?” she asked, looking toward Amabie forapproval.
Amabie paused what she was doing and came around to look at me. A slow smile curved her lips as she looked me up and down. “Raiden won’t be able to keep his hands offyou.”
My cheeks flamed. “I’m not doing this for Raiden,” I said, smoothing my dress self-consciously. Oh god, what was he going to think when he saw me? Was I too overdressed? I couldn’t remember the last time I’d dressed up for anything, and even though Amabie had made me look like a princess, deep down I knew I wasn’t one. I was just a strugglingstudent.
And my mother was dying ofcancer.
What was Idoing?
“I can’t do this.” I bolted out of the chair, heart hammering in my chest. This was allwaytoo much. Panicking, I yanked the pearl clip out of my hair and tossed it on thevanity.
“Hey!” Amabie’s eyes flashed with outrage. “What do you think you’re doing?” she demanded as I tried to unzip the dress. “I spent a lot of time getting you intothat!”
Tears burned my eyes as I struggled, and failed, to unzip the dress. The angle was too awkward to reach. “I’m sorry, but I can’t go to your party,” I said, refusing to meet Amabie’s angry gaze. “Give the dragon queen mybest.”
“Aika!” Amabie called as I burst out the door. I shut the door behind me, then hurried down the hall before she could come afterme—
And ran straight into a rock-hardchest.
“Aika?” A familiar set of strong arms wrapped around me, and to my utter mortification, I looked up into Shota’s concerned face. “What’s going on? Are youokay?”
“L-let me go,” I stammered, pushing ineffectually at his chest. “I don’t want you to see me likethis.”
“What are you talking about?” Shota asked, holding me out at arm’s length. “You look…” He trailed off, his expression going slack with shock. His eyes grew darker as they slowly moved up and down my body, and my mind skidded to a halt as I recognized the look in his gaze. It was the same hungry look my last boyfriend would give me when he saw me in an outfit he thought was hot. The one that told me he’d be demanding sex by the end of the night, and that I’d have to find yet another excuse tobail.
Except with Shota, I had a feeling I wouldn’t want to bail if things ever got that far betweenus.
“Incredible,” he murmured softly. He slid his left hand up my bare arm, and I shivered a little as his rough palm glided over my skin. My body went completely still as he cupped my cheek with his hand and used his other arm to pull me closer to him. He was wearing an old-fashioned suit, I realized dimly, made from some kind of velvety, dark teal fabric. It had long coat tails and big brass buttons, and it should have made him look ridiculous. But the damned thing fit him like a glove and somehow only made him look even morehandsome.
“This isn’t about how I look,” I spluttered, trying not to let myself get distracted by the look in Shota’s eyes. The warmth from his hands kindled a fire in my own body, one that was doing its damnedest to drive everything else out of my head aside from the need to touch him. Why was he touching me like this, after all the effort he’d made to put distance between us? “It’sjust…”
“There you are!” Amabie exclaimed. I cringed at the sound of her voice, my shoulders hunching. I didn’t want to face the mermaid princess, not after I’d stormed out on her. “I was worried something had happened to you, but it looks like you’re doing just fine.” She crossed her arms over her breasts, pouting. “Why do you like her so much better than me, Shota? Is it because I have too manytails?”
“Aika and I are friends.” Shota’s arm tightened around my waist, and I instinctively knew he was frowning at her. “What did you say to her inthere?”
“She didn’t say anything wrong,” I said wearily, pushing out of his embrace. “I just got overwhelmed, that’s all. I feel guilty about getting all dressed up and going to a party while my mother is locked up in a dungeonsomewhere.”
