“Then remove the bounties. You’ll not find finer sailors on either sea. Pay them to sail for the navy, give them good wages, lots of grog, and some damn respect. If you give the poor jobs that give them pride in themselves, they won’t have to resort to crime to survive. It’s a simple concept that nobility cannot seem to grasp. I ask that they sail with us freely after the offer has been made. If they wish to sign on, they may. If they don’t, they can move on from Light’s Keep to other jobs. I hope that our parlays with the Sandrayans over the ports will lift the need to steal to live from the backs of the indigent. If we accomplish naught but that, then I will consider that a good stroke done. What say you, Commander of the Royal Navy?”
I released my brother’s hand, sight locked on the queen. She glanced at Lady Merrilyn, then at Aelir, before rising. I stood as well, wrap slipping down to my elbows, and watched as she spat into her palm before offering it to me. Ah, a sailor, blooded and true. I repeated the age-old gesture of a deal made, spat on my palm, and slapped my hand into hers.
“Then things are settled. A small fete before you leave for Renedith. Let them see the one who is going to rule the vills as the elder Stillcloud,” Aelir announced as he got to his soft kid boots.
“If you don’t mind, I would prefer to be known as Coelum Cadere. Perhaps even Tidebound Prince Coelum Cadere Stillcloud, if we—royal we—must use musty titles?” I requested as we were all bearing our truths. Nothing ventured, nothing gained, as the old washerwomen say.
Aelir looked stricken.
“We have many in the Black Sands who take on numerous surnames after weddings, adoptions, or when a soul wishes toadopt a masculine or feminine nurture,” Mahouk Nouradi spoke up from his seat at the table by the teapot. “Also, if I may plod on?” I nodded. “The inclusion of the Cadere name will lessen the upset the three sisters are feeling, while the addition of the Stillcloud name will ease him into society with less friction.”
Aelir sat back down and drew in a long breath. “Very wise. So be it then. From this day forth, you shall be known as Coelum Cadere Stillcloud, Tidebound Prince of Land and Sea, Hero of Melowynn, Ruler of the Vills of Renedith, and Apostle of the Three Sisters of the Sea. Does that sit well with you, brother?”
“It’s a mouthful of noble speak, but aye, it sits well enough, although I’m not sure the term hero needs to be included,” I replied, dropping back down to my chair as my body began to give up the ghost. It had been a long, trying morning.
“I disagree,” Aelir and Raewyn said in unison. That jerked my sleepy eyes from the fire to the queen. “You saved us and the children when the dewraiths appeared, leaping in to fight them off while we were led to safety. That is heroic to me. What do you think, Aelir?”
“Mightily heroic,” he agreed and gave my soggy knee a pat. “So it is settled that Hero of Melowynn shall be included in your title.” I opened my mouth to argue. “I would not pick nits with her over this. The queen is very stubborn when she sets her mind to something. Pasil, would you summon a court scribe so we can amend the proclamation? Oh, and have notes sent to each noble who was in the temple this morning to let them know we would see them attend a meal with us this evening to welcome my brother to the family. Someone notify Widow Poppy we’ll need dinner enough for an intimate meal for the nobility present in Avolire this evening. I would do it myself, but she still threatens my backside with a wooden spoon even though I wear the crown.”
We all chuckled. I nodded off. Someone to my right shook me gently. I looked over to find Le’ral’s dark gaze on me.
“You are spent, Your Highness. Let me escort you to your chambers so you can rest and recover before your gala tonight,” he said, rising and offering me his arm.
I took it, bowed gently to my brother and my sisters-in-law, and then to the commander of the guard before leaving the solar. I was far too tired to be witty at the moment. Was I now supposed to bow to the consorts or not? Only the witches knew. And Le’ral.
“I would enjoy lying down in bed with you at my side,” I said as we made our way through corridors filled with bright sun and warm winds. The sea was peaceful again. I must keep it that way, no matter the cost. If the witches felt me to be their liaison on land, then it fell to me to ensure tranquility between both realms.
“Let us get you into bed first,” he replied, his voice soft, as he took me to my suite and dismissed the guards following us. First, the royal guard was on my heels due to distrust, and now they dogged me over the coral crown atop my matted hair. “Would you like a hot bath?”
“Aye,” I said, toeing off my soggy boots as I placed the sea crown onto a side table. My wet clothes fell to the floor in a heap as Le’ral rang for servants. “Let me just stretch out here on the bed until they come.”
He walked over to me as I spread myself over the soft mattress, sighing when he pulled a thick duvet over me. A moment passed in sweet quietude before he ran the backs of his fingers along my cheek.
His touch eased me into a sleep so deep that only the ringing of a small bell by a nervous young elven maid woke me several hours later. The fire leapt in the hearth. A tea service was laid out on the table, the tub sat filled with hot water, and a suit of satiny sea green lay out on the chair by the table.
I sat up, blurry-eyed, and felt a pillow next to mine. Cold. Flat. He’d snuck off then, the wily elf of shadow.
“The king wishes to send a valet in to assist you, Your Highness,” the petite elf informed me as she lingered by the doorway.
“That’s fine. What time is it?”
I scrubbed at my cheeks, fresh whiskers rough on my palm.
“Seven bells just passed, Your Highness. Dinner will be served at eight bells.”
“Thank you. You may go.”
She skittered off, easing out of the door on silent bare feet, leaving me to sip tea as I soaked in the tub. Nerves began to pluck at me as the valet arrived to dry me off. He brushed my hair after shaving my face. His soft conversation was pleasant, as was he. Quite pleasant indeed, and fair of face, but my thoughts were on the grand advisor, wherever he may be. Shame he wasn’t here with me, for I would have liked his company right now. He’d become important to me since my arrival here. A tenderness warmed me when I thought of him, an odd occurrence as I have never let any lover wiggle into my heart. Perhaps he had done so with such ease, as he was a man of secrets and shadows. Yes, that was surely it. For I had stout walls about my heart, yet he had gotten through the cracks, like water seeping into an undercroft, filling the cellar up drip by drip, smile by smile, touch by touch.
“I think I have caught a case of emotions,” I whispered to the valet. He peered up at me as he buffed my white boots with a soft brush.
“Better than a case of crabs, Your Highness.”
“I’m not so sure.”
“A small fete he said,” I muttered as I stole yet another peek into the Seafarer’s Hall. Hundreds of nobles were packed inside the garish ballroom. I glanced over at my crew stuffed into a tiny antechamber with me. Pith met my look and tittered, yet again, as her eyes roamed over me. “I’d not laugh too loudly, you old coot. Your garb is—” The cutting remark stalled on my tongue. My entire crew was dressed to the nines. Perhaps even the tens. Some to the twelves. Unsure of where they had come upon such garish clothes—probably gifts from my brother—they all looked like the unhappy little puffy dogs the noblewomen carried about. Dogs likely did not wish to be dressed in gowns or ruffled surcoats. Neither did my crew, aside from Pith, who was thrilled over her pink kirtle with elaborate yellow sleeves. “Your garb is lovely.”
“Good thing ye changed your tune, or I’d be wearing that longish canine tooth of yours about my neck,” the cook warned with a shake of a finger at me. That was her standard warning to me, so I wasn’t overly worried about my teeth. “Why the shits is your skin all glowy and white?”
