“I didn’t think it was important!” Prentis protested. He seemed distressed by the predicament, though I wasn’t sure if that was because he was actually upset on my behalf, or because Adara was digging her fingernails into his bicep. “How was I to know the queen would ask for Einar? I thought the kraken tooth would be more than enough!”
Sighing, I stepped in front of the arguing pair and faced the queen. “Your Majesty,” I said, bowing low. “It seems we are at an impasse.”
“Indeed.” The queen arched her eyebrows. “Will you be taking your leave, then?”
“Actually,” I said, giving her my most charming smile, “I was hoping you would allow me to make a counter-proposal.”
“A counter-proposal?” The queen fought to maintain a disinterested expression, but I could see from the renewed gleam in her eyes that I had her intrigued. “Surely you do not have a better prize to tempt me with than your own flesh and blood.”
“Not quite,” I admitted. “But I can offer the potential for entertainment. Set me the most difficult trial you can—the one that only the most elite of your warriors have ever been able to pass. If I pass it, you’ll grant my friends and I safe passage through your kingdom both to and from the temple. If I fail, I will remain here and devote myself to you as your servant for the next thirty days.”
“No!” Adara released Prentis so she could grab my arm. She tugged ferociously, trying to get me to meet her eyes, but I refused to break the queen’s contemplative gaze. “Einar, don’t! We’ll find another way. Please.”
“Very well.” The queen’s lips widened into a catlike grin that sent shivers down my spine. “I accept your terms. And I look forward to seeing you kneel at my feet.”
* * *
“Icannot believe you agreed to this,” Adara fumed the moment we were out of earshot. Muriel had shown the three of us to a guesthouse, then left the four of us to settle in for the evening. The queen had been gracious enough to allow me one night of rest before the challenge, which was more than I’d expected.
“Of course I agreed to it,” I said as I sat down on a large, round, backless sofa I was fairly certain was a giant sea sponge. Prentis and Cascada had wisely chosen to make themselves scarce, though I was certain they could hear every word of our argument from their rooms. “I’m the one who set the terms.”
“And without even consulting me first!” she fumed, slamming her hand down on the low driftwood table in front of me. Her lavender-blue hair drifted around her head like it had taken on a life of its own, and her face glowed so fiercely I had no doubt she would be spewing fire at me if we weren’t underwater. “Shouldn’t I have a say in whether or not you offer up your life on my behalf?”
“You would if we were mated,” I said baldly, and she blanched. “But we’re not, so as it stands, my life is still my own to command. Besides, it’s not as if she’s going to kill me. Unless she doesn’t have any gillflower for me. That might be a proble—”
Adara grabbed me by the front of my tunic and yanked me to my feet. “Stop being flippant,” she growled, and I was shocked to see tears in her eyes. “If I have to mate the two of us to keep you from doing this stupid thing, I’ll carry you upstairs to bed myself. But I can’t let you do this. Not for me.”
A wave of tenderness rippled through me at Adara’s words, stronger even than the lust that pulsed through me at the idea of Adara tossing me onto her bed and having her way with me. “My little firecracker,” I said, hooking an arm around her waist to pull her close. “Do you really think I would do this for anyone else?”
“I—firecracker?” she faltered, her grip loosening on the front of my tunic. “Where did that come from?”
“Your eyes. They spark like firecrackers whenever you’re mad.” I brushed a soft kiss against her lips, smiling against her mouth as she trembled against me. “You’ve got a dragon’s temper for sure, and that’s sexy as sin. But I won’t take advantage of this situation and allow you to mate with me out of a misguided sense of duty. When you choose me, I want it to be because you’re ready and willing. Besides, you should have more faith in my abilities. I was the most fearsome soldier in the dragon army for a reason. How could you think for a second I’d fail tomorrow’s challenge?”
She bit her lip, and a fierce urge to kiss her seized me. But she wrenched herself from my arms before I could follow through, distracted by the sound of movement. A moment later, Prentis swam into the living room. His eyes darted between us, but if he sensed the sexual tension in the water, he chose not to comment on it.
“You may be the most fearsome soldier in the dragon army,” he said dryly, holding something out to me. “But if you want to best the queen’s challenge tomorrow, I have a feeling you’re going to want this.”
* * *
“Merfolk of the Coral Kingdom,” the queen announced in a booming voice, magnified by the large pink conch shell gripped in her hand. “We are gathered here today to witness Einar of the Dragons compete in our fiercest trial—The Robbing of the Kretos.
The merfolk who had come watch cheered raucously. They’d formed a crowd about ten yards away from a deep rift in the ocean, Adara, Prentis and Cascada amongst them. I stood mere feet away from the opening, my body angled so I faced both it and the spectators. I didn’t dare make the mistake of giving my back to the enemy—not after doing so had nearly resulted in death by kraken. I’d already spent several minutes peering into the rift, trying to get a glimpse of whatever horror I might face, but I couldn’t make out anything in all that ominous blackness.
“The kretos is a giant sea serpent that terrorizes the ocean depths,” the queen explained, more for my benefit than anyone else. “It usually prefers larger prey than mermaids, and rarely hunts our kind—however, its diamond-hard scales provide superior armor to any other material found in the ocean.”
She turned to look at me then, a crafty smile on her face. “Your task is simple, warrior. Steal a scale from the kretos’s hide. If you do so, I allow you and your friends to pass. But if you fail…” she trailed off, her smile widening. “Well, you know what will happen.”
Without warning, she pressed the conch shell to her lips and blew, producing a long, clear note that pierced the stillness of the water. Bubbles began to pour from the rift, followed by a rumble in the ocean floor. A thrill shot through me that was part nerves, part battle fever, and I braced myself as a serpentine creature burst from the rift.
I stared in horror and amazement as the kretos coiled above me, some fifty feet long, with glittering amethyst scales and eyes of pure silver. It was as beautiful as it was deadly, the malevolent look in its eyes sending shivers through me as it sized me up the way an apex predator did when facing challenging prey. The merfolk shrieked in terror and excitement as they swam away, retreating behind the rocks where they could spectate at a safe distance. I caught a brief glimpse of Prentis dragging Adara away, but I couldn’t stare for long—the kretos was already bearing down on me, its giant maw opened wide to reveal four-foot long fangs and a forked tongue.
I propelled myself out of the way just in time as it struck, the force of the blow kicking up rocks and debris that clouded my vision. Fear pumped through my veins as I tried to swim clear of the murky water, but before I could, something long and slimy wrapped around my torso and yanked me forward.
“Oh no you don’t!” I snarled, slashing at the kretos’s tongue with my claws. It released me with a shriek, clouds of blood spreading through the water, and I kicked away again, thankful for the wetsuit. It was a little tight, yes, but it allowed me to cut through the seawater as swiftly as if I were flying, giving me full access to the same strength and speed I enjoyed on land and in the sky.
And then there was the other gift Prentis had given me. One I would never make use of if I couldn’t get close to the blasted beast.
As the serpent reared back to strike again, I snatched a rock from the ocean floor and hurtled it toward its head with all my strength. It smacked the kretos in the eye, and it roared, thrashing its magnificent head this way and that. Thankful that it had no arms to attack me with, I rushed forward, but before I close the distance, the sea creature slammed its tail into me, sending me flying through the water.
