Arenn spun away from the servant. “What is it?” But then his amber eyes narrowed, scanning my trembling body. “No,” he muttered. “It can’t be. I would’ve felt through our bond.”
I moved to back away, but Arenn was upon me before I could take a single step.
“Show me your crystals, human,” he growled, backing me against a tall bookshelf. “I can still sense your presenceso you’ve not broken our connection, but if someone has interfered with my marking on your wrist—”
“You can still feel me?” I hissed. Fear clawed up my throat as I processed what he’d just said. I definitely couldn’t sense his presence anymore so Lukas must’ve done something…
Shaking my head, I swallowed down the lump in my throat. I didn’t have time for this. “Let me go, Arenn. I have business to attend to.”
The faery spat out a cruel laugh. “And would thisbusinessbe with Lukas? Or is he finished with you for the night? You know, I can smell him on you.” He gripped my arm, leaning closer. “Tell me you’ll never love him and I might let him live.”
Love?Something fluttered in my chest before I forced the feeling away. “Just let me pass,” I seethed.
Arenn scowled and yanked my wrist up to his eyeline. He studied it, ignoring every move I made to try and escape his hold until finally he dropped my arm.
“Whatever merfolk tricks he’s used on you won’t be enough to break our bond,” he snarled.
“I don’t care if it’s broken or not. All I care about is that I cannot feel you anymore. We’re finished, Arenn,” I said firmly. For once, my voice was strong. Without the bond toying with my mind, I could finally speak clearly. “If you have any dignity left, you’ll take this poor man to the infirmary, then leave here tonight and find another girl to bother.” I’d escort the servant myself, but just looking at him made me feel queasy with guilt.
Arenn’s jaw tensed. “I cannot just leave you.”
“Yes. You. Can.”
A few moments passed before I found the courage tosidestep away from the bookshelf and hurry towards the main library doors.
Please don’t follow me. Please don’t follow me, I repeated in my mind, as if he could somehow hear me. But when I glanced over my shoulder, the library aisle was empty. Both the faery prince and the servant were gone, as if they’d never been there at all.
“You want the two of us towhat?” Raena blurted as she hurried along by my side. Our extravagant ball gowns had been replaced by simple white nightgowns and slippers that left soft footprints in the sand.
“We’re just meeting a mermaid,” I explained again. “It won’t take long. I just didn’t feel safe going there alone.” The beach was drawing closer. I could hear the waves crashing and caught peeks of white sand through the palm trees surrounding the path.
“So you chose me to once again risk my life for you?” Raena huffed, but there was a playful edge to her tone.
“It’ll just be like old times.” I grinned. “Anyway you’re just upset I caught you with Erik in your bed. You’re not even engaged yet,” I teased. “What would your father say?”
“That’s ‘Sir Erik’ to you,” Raena chided, smiling. “And my father would probably congratulate me on winning the heart of one of King Lukas’s prized knights. Do you know how much he gets paid each season? If I marry him I’ll have a newgown each week. He said I’d want for nothing.”
“So he’s proposed then?” I paused our steps to face her. This was big news. Why didn’t she tell me?
“No,” she said, sheepishly. “But I think he’ll do it soon. There’s no reason to wait.”
Smiling, I patted her shoulder. “If he doesn’t do it by the end of the year I’ll have myhusbandforce him to do it.”
“Husband?” Raena gasped. “Naria, what? When?”
“Don’t worry you haven’t missed any weddings,” I laughed. “But he’ll be my husband soon enough. Lukas wants to marry me here before we leave tomorrow.”
“Tomorrow? Naria, you cannot just get married tomorrow!”
“Why ever not?”
Raena just flapped her hands as if I were missing something obvious. “You have no dress, no decorations planned. And what about musicians? Not to mention, you haven’t even asked me to be one of your bridesmaids yet!” She pushed her lower lip into a pout. “Don’t tell me you’ve started planning all this without me?”
Chuckling, I pulled us back into a slow walk towards the beach. “Nothing is planned yet,” I reassured her. “But there’s still time for us to figure things out tomorrow morning. You’ll help me, won’t you?”
“As if you even have to ask.” Raena grinned, before launching into a stream of excited babbles about the wedding.
Though any excitement soon fizzled out as the palm trees parted to reveal a moonlit beach. Because sitting by the shoreline, for once completely unglamoured, was a rather lost-looking Prince Arenn.
