“Put it in your mouth and try it.”
Xaydin obeyed the king, then realized the difference between what he’d been experiencing and the true gift the king was offering. With the pacifier in place, it was like breathing on land.
Until that moment, he hadn’t realized how heavy the water was to breathe.
With this though…he’d be just another fish in the sea. No different than his host.
The king held his hand out for it.
Xaydin reluctantly handed it over. Normally, he’d fight, but since he couldn’t survive underwater without their help, resisting them would be exceptionally stupid.
“All you have to do is return my son. It’s that simple.”
“That hard.” Xaydin jerked his chin toward the pacifier in the king’s hands. “I’ll be back for that.”
He closed the lid on the box. “I’m counting on it.”
Just as Xaydin moved back in the water, he heard a terrible struggle from outside their room.
“What have you done with him! I’ll have all your bloody fins!”
The sound of the shrill, belligerent voice made him laugh.
Gisela.
He’d know that outrage anywhere. And for once, it wasn’t directed at him.
When two guards came in with his favorite assassin squirming between them, it was all he could do not to laugh. Not at her, but at the effort it took her guards to keep her contained.
She was exceptional.
And the moment her gaze focused on him, she stopped her tirade against them. “Xaydin! You’re alive. Thank the gods!”
For reasons unknown, that expression combined with those words touched a part of him that he’d all but forgotten existed. If he didn’t know better, he’d think she cared for him.
But they barely knew each other. More than that, they were at odds.
Except in this.
She rushed toward him as if she intended to embrace him. But just as she would have been able to do so, she stopped short.
A becoming blush stained her cheeks.
Xaydin smiled. “I’m glad to see you, too.”
Her cheeks darkened even more.
“I take it she’s a friend of yours?” the king asked with an amused glint in his eyes.
Xaydin actually smiled. “She is, and I’m glad your soldiers didn’t kill her.”
“We never kill royalty. Not even bastard ones.”
Those words caught his attention. Xaydin turned back toward the king. “Pardon?”
“Being friendly with the gal, surely you know. She’s Queen Meara’s bastard.”
6
