Chapter 31

31

K yree finally fell asleep in Honour’s arms. As much as Honour itched to get out and speak with Soulara, she couldn’t bring herself to leave Hudson or Kyree just yet. And she would face the consequences later. But consequences be damned.

Wasn’t that what Kyree was doing?

Slipping from Kyree’s grasp, Honour made her way into the main living area. Hudson was resting on a rock, slipping a small snail between her lips and sucking on it with her tongue peeking out.

“Don’t give me that look,” Honour muttered as she snagged a snail for herself.

“What look is that?” Hudson’s gaze was just as brutal back. She wasn’t going to let Honour get away with anything tonight, was she?

“You find it just as disgusting as I do.”

“Find what just as disgusting?”

Honour seriously could kill the mer if she kept this up. She was directly and purposely pushing the boundaries of what Honour wanted to say out loud. And while Honour understood why she was doing that, she still didn’t like it.

“To kick her out when she’s the one who saved the world.”

Hudson canted her head to the side, her lips quirking up in a half-smile. “Not everyone comes from a home that wants them.”

Honour halted. She’d never really considered the deeper reasons behind Hudson’s desire to take the Talons and rip their current way of life to shreds. Perhaps her reasoning wasn’t so far off from Kyree’s. Pressing her lips together, Honour stared at Hudson, taking in all the changes in her as the stare continued. Hudson went from being enigmatic and stoic to breaking down second by second.

That was it, wasn’t it?

“You deserve a home,” Honour said simply, her voice carrying in the water.

Hudson’s brow furrowed and she shook her head sharply. “No, I don’t. And I don’t have one. I never have.”

“Doesn’t mean you don’t deserve one. Isn’t that what you’re fighting for? So that every Talon can have a home where they’re loved and welcomed and feel like they’re a part of the community?”

Hudson grunted and waved her hand in the space between them. “I’m trying to make Talon better, give my men a place.”

“And yourself,” Honour pushed. If Hudson could try to trick her into talking, Honour could very easily do the same back.

“You know, until I met Kyree… and you,” Hudson added sheepishly as she slid closer to Honour, “I’m not sure I would have agreed with you.”

“Oh?” Honour tilted her chin down and narrowed her gaze as Hudson slid up against her, hand on her hip, and pulled her in closer.

“But something about you two has actually made me want a home.”

“So you’ll continue to fight the Talons?”

“Yes,” Hudson answered simply. “Did you really think I would make a good housemer?”

Honour barked out a laugh. “Hardly!”

“Then we have an understanding.”

“Only if you believe that you actually deserve a home, Hudson. Because you do, just like Kyree does. And if that home ends up being in Reine, then so be it. But you both deserve everything that everyone else does—home, love, friends, family, support. Nothing will change that.”

“Hmm, careful General, you’re getting soft in your old age.”

“Maybe it’s not because of my old age but rather the company that I’ve been keeping.”

“Agreed.” Hudson pressed her lips to Honour’s.

Tingles raced through Honour’s body, pooling in her slit. She wrapped a hand around Hudson’s back, tasting the lingering bits of the snail Hudson had just eaten. But she relaxed, her entire body easing into this moment when she knew Hudson would catch her if that’s what she needed, fight her if that was what she needed. They were meant for each other, and there wasn’t a love out there that was more pure than what they’d all found together.

Hudson slipped a hand down Honour’s side and around to her front, playing the edges of her fingers against Honour’s slit. Moaning, Honour’s eyes fluttered shut. The ripples in the water were so familiar, ones that she hadn’t felt in far too long, and they brought a smile to her face.

“You’re not going to have much longer to do that,” Honour murmured into Hudson’s ear.

“What?” Hudson barked out.

“Trust me.” Honour wrapped her fingers around Hudson’s wrist and held her hand against her slit. “But this is going to be amusing in more ways than one.”

“What are you even going on about?”

“You’ll see,” Honour teased again. She was enjoying this far too much. The vibrations got stronger as they reached her, the sixth sense that she had honed for years was finally coming in handy.

The reeds at the front of her home moved to the side as a silvery hand pushed them. Honour grinned when Hudson jerked back sharply. Glancing over her shoulder, Honour’s eyes lit up at the sight of the one person she hadn’t seen yet.

She should have known that Soulara would come find her sooner rather than later, and the fact that she hadn’t been at the castle for the debriefing should have been a very good sign that Soulara was going to show up immediately.

“Princess,” Honour said, her voice far more a whisper of awe than a statement of respect.

“Honour?” Soulara’s eyes crinkled in a smile, and then widened when she dropped her gaze from Honour’s face to her chest to the place where Hudson’s hand was still against her.

Hudson jerked back immediately. “Fuck.”

Soulara chuckled low and deep. She was enjoying this just as much as Honour was. How many times had Honour caught Soulara with her fingers knuckle deep in some mermaid over the years? Far too many to count, that was for sure.

“Exactly.” Soulara’s laugh echoed through the room, hitting Honour’s ears like the last piece that needed to fall into place.

“I missed you.” Honour swam forward, out of Hudson’s grasp, and wrapped her arms around Soulara in a deep hug of friendship and appreciation. “You can’t do that again.”

“Do what, exactly?”

“Get kidnapped, stolen, taken away from us. We need you here.”

“So I’ve been told,” Soulara whispered. She backed away slowly and brushed her fingers under her eyes as she nodded toward Honour. Soulara never had been one for big emotional outbursts. Neither had Honour for that matter.

“We need to talk,” Soulara said, her way of changing the conversation to something far less touching and more impersonal.

Honour was thankful for the transition. She’d needed it as well. “What’s wrong?”

“Autumn.”

That name hit Honour like a ton of bricks. She hadn’t liked the idea of Autumn from the beginning. She’d purposely not asked about Autumn when Hudson and Kyree had told her Soulara was safe. She’d wanted to avoid the topic of the humans for as long as possible.

The war was over, wasn’t it?

“It’s not over,” Soulara said, her voice dropping to a quiet tone. “At least not for them, and not for me.”

“The krakens are dead. The humans are gone—”

“Not all of them,” Soulara pushed, a fire raging under her words. “Not all of them are gone.”

“What do you—” Honour held herself in check enough not to wince or grimace at the thought that there were still humans in their world, perhaps even in their waters. “Didn’t they drown?”

“Not all of them,” Soulara reiterated.

“Well, who’s left! I’ll go kill them right now.” Honour reached for her sword, but Soulara put a gentle hand on her wrist to stop her. “Where are they?”

“If you’re going to behave like that, then I’m not going to tell you.”

Honour paused. She glanced toward Hudson for confirmation that this was actually happening, and when she found Hudson’s non-confused look, she wasn’t sure what to do with that.

“Honour,” Hudson started, “before Kyree and I came to find you, we had another task to complete, direct orders from your princess.”

“What orders?” Honour ground out. She didn’t like this at all, not one bit. And the fact that no one had told her what the hell was going on yet was irking her even more. “Spit it out already!”

“Not all of the humans were fighting against us. Some were fighting with us,” Soulara finally stated.

The muscles in Honour’s shoulders tightened to the point of pain.

“I promise you that they were. It’s not just Autumn.”

“How many?” Honour ground out the question.

“It doesn’t matter, but we have to protect them from their own people.”

“Their people?” Honour’s voice was raised now. “Their people who tried to murder each and every one of us so that they could steal our resources? Their people who didn’t care that we were here?”

“Yes, those people. Not all of the humans are bad. They didn’t know that there was life on this planet. They’d been lied to for years about life being here, and when they arrived, they thought they were just going to devastate a planet, not beings.”

“And that makes it better?” Honour spat.

“It does when these are the ones who found out and chose not to follow orders, who chose to defy their commanding officers and stage a coup. You would do the same, wouldn’t you?”

“I’d murder every single mer in my troop that acted against my direct orders.”

“You wouldn’t.” Soulara moved in closer again. “Because you would know that in a situation like this, that they were the ones who were right. Not you.”

Honour growled. She couldn’t have this conversation right now. She wasn’t sure that she could have this conversation ever. Breathing deep, Honour shook her head.

“No.”

“No what?” Soulara retorted quickly.

“No, I won’t help you with this. I watched too many mers be torn apart, ripped to shreds, murdered in front of my eyes. I won’t help you find a home for the humans here.”

“This isn’t a request.” Soulara’s back straightened.

Honour pursed her lips, sliding her gaze from Soulara to Hudson. She hated that Soulara was doing this to her. It was the first time she’d actually told her princess no, and it wasn’t even going to be considered? Her concerns were just going to be tossed to the side because Soulara liked a piece of human ass?

“It’s an order.”

“Then I resign,” Honour replied, never more confident in her decision than this. “I won’t help you bring them here to ruin us again.”

“They won’t do that.”

“How can you guarantee that?” Honour wasn’t going to back down, not until she had sufficient evidence that this was even going to be worth it.

“I can’t.” Soulara stared directly at Honour. “I can’t guarantee it. But we have to trust.”

“I don’t have to trust anything.”

“They risked their lives for us to live. Some of them died for our cause, fighting alongside us.” Soulara raised her chin, looking down her nose at Honour. “I won’t dishonor their sacrifice.”

Honour snorted. “And what about my troops?”

“No one will be dishonored.”

“I don’t think this is right.”

“It’s not your decision to make.”

Honour stopped. She looked directly at Hudson, not quite believing what she was hearing from Soulara. She needed someone else to confirm that Soulara was out of her damn mind. What had they done to her in that sky ship?

“This is my decision. This is how I’m going to rule Reine.”

“How you’re…” Honour trailed off.

Hudson moved forward a little, halfway swimming between Honour and Soulara. “Don’t you think they deserve a home just like we do?”

“Who are you?” Honour snapped.

“I’m someone who’s learned a thing or two about second chances, about love, and about standing up for what’s right in the last few months.” Hudson stared Honour down. “I thought you’d learned those same lessons based on what we were just talking about. Doesn’t Kyree deserve a home? Doesn’t she deserve someplace safe to live?”

“She’s a mermaid.” Honour crossed her arms. “She’s not one of them .”

“She’s someone who risked her life for our world to survive. And so are these humans that Soulara is talking about.” Hudson looked to Soulara for confirmation.

Soulara nodded sharply. “Exactly.”

“I don’t like this at all. I don’t think anyone will accept them.” Honour was already backing away. She couldn’t do this, not right now, not on the heels of a war. “Where’s Autumn now?”

“On the surface, helping to dismantle what’s left of the humans’ outposts.” Soulara put her hand out in front of her, halting Honour in her retreat. “I want you to think about this. Please. For me.”

“I don’t know if I can.” Honour slipped back even more. “And I don’t think you should be asking your people to do this just so you can have Autumn in your life. It’s selfish.”

“It’s not just for that. We need to find a way to make peace. Not just with the Kwights or the Talons or the deep sounding mers or the creatures of the sea, but with the humans, and any other alien that comes along to our planet. We have to be aware of what’s going on outside of our waters.”

“You sound like you’re building an empire.” Honour was aghast, first with fear and then with respect. Soulara had been thinking about this a while, hadn’t she? She was finally coming into her own as a ruler.

“Maybe I am.” Soulara put her hands out to the sides. “But I’m tired of living with the discrimination and hatred that our oceans seem to perpetuate. It’s time to take down the oppressors. All of them. And it’s time to set ourselves up for whatever is coming next.”

Honour frowned. One last glance at Hudson told her that what she was hearing was exactly what Hudson was hearing. It sounded so pretty with the words, but in action? That was going to be next to impossible to accomplish.

“Not today, Honour. Reine wasn’t built in a day. It’s going to take years, probably generations to do what I’m talking about. But we have to do something different than before.”

“I don’t think I can join you in this.”

“Please consider it.” Soulara bowed her head slightly. “I expect to see you in the morning for the full debriefing.”

Honour kneeled and bent her body in a bow as Soulara left her home. She was in more turmoil than she knew existed. She hadn’t meant to save her princess to rip apart her home piece by piece. Who would they be if they weren’t the people of Reine?

“Come with me,” Hudson said, dragging Honour by the hand back toward the moss that Kyree was sleeping on. “Don’t think about it right now.”

“Don’t think?” Honour scoffed. “I don’t think that’s possible.”

“Oh, we’ll see about that.”