Chapter 13

Thirteen

“ O pen the gate,” Sebastian shouted, riding up the drawbridge of Macada Castle, not bothering to even slow his horse.

“It’s the king!” shouted the lookout atop the battlements. “Quickly, raise the gate.”

The gate lifted slowly, squeaking, creaking, and rattling as it enabled him access to his home. Sebastian lowered his head and upper body closer to his horse as he rode through to the courtyard, not even waiting for the gate to lift up all the way.

“My lord!” Farrimond and Drell were in the stable. They saw him and came running across the courtyard with a stableboy right behind them.

“My king, we were concerned when you didn’t return last night,” Drell told him.

“Farrimond, didn’t you give the others my message?” Sebastian slid off his horse feeling frustrated for more than one reason. He tossed the reins to the waiting stableboy.

“Yes. Yes, I did, my king.” Farrimond bowed. “I told them to close the gate for the night if you didn’t return in time.”

“Good.” Sebastian nodded and started walking at a brisk pace toward the keep.

“Where is the girl, my lord?” asked Drell, making haste to stay next to him while he walked. “The sea witch. Did she escape?”

Sebastian stopped so abruptly that Drell almost crashed into him. “Don’t call her a sea witch again, or I’ll have your head,” he said over his shoulder, not bothering to look back. He entered the keep and made his way to the great hall. “Jocet! Hitch! Where are you?” He headed over to his chair in front of the fire where he liked to sit and think.

“My king!” Jocet raced out of the kitchen with a metal pitcher of ale in his hand. Hitch hurried after him with the king’s ornate tankard, shining it with the sleeve of his tunic as he walked. “We didn’t know you’d returned.”

“Ale,” he commanded, plopping down in his chair.

His steward poured him a tankard and handed it to him.

“Where’s the mermaid?” asked Hitch.

Sebastian downed the contents of the cup and held it out for more. “She’s not here, squire. I thought that would be obvious, even to someone like you.”

“We see that, my lord.” Jocet filled his tankard once again. “Is everything all right?”

By this time, his advisor and captain of the guard had joined them.

“Of course, everything is not all right. One of the Blackseed brothers, his wife, and that obnoxious elf not only left with the other two sea nymphs, but with Merrow, too.”

“They stole the sea nymph?” asked Drell. “This is awful. How did they get her when she was under your protection?”

“I knew I should have stayed to assist you, my lord.” Farrimond shook his head in disgust.

“I don’t need assisting or protecting.” Sebastian’s head ached and his body felt stiff from sleeping on the ground in the cave. “Merrow left of her own accord. It was her choice to go back to the sea. No one stole her from under my nose.”

“Her choice? Now you’re giving our prisoners a choice?” snapped Drell.

“She wasn’t a prisoner,” Sebastian corrected him. “Not really.”

“I thought you held some kind of control over her,” said Farrimond in confusion.

“I did. But I gave her back her shell charm, and had no control over what she did. Or does anymore.”

“My king, I advise you to go after her,” urged Drell.

“I agree,” broke in Farrimond. “I’ll ready the army. We can head them off before they make it to the sea. Even against magic, we’ll still have the numbers to put up a good fight. I am sure we can get her back, as well as claim her sisters as ours, too.” He turned to go get the soldiers, but Sebastian stopped him.

“Nay! They don’t belong here, and certainly cannot and will not be owned by any of us. Hearing what you two are saying, I cannot blame them for wanting to leave.”

“What are you saying, my lord?” Drell leaned in closer to speak softly in his ear. “If you let them leave, you will lose all respect of your men. Not to mention, you’ll look like the weakest king that ever ruled Mura.”

“Nay. That’s not true.” Anger grew within him.

“Then prove it, my lord. Take your troops to the sea and bring back what is yours.” Drell wouldn’t back down and it made Sebastian feel anxious and upset.

Sebastian truly didn’t want to look like a weak ruler. Neither did he want Merrow leaving before she’d even given him an explanation as to why she didn’t want to stay. He had to go after her, even if it was only to hear what she had to say. “All right. Prepare the troops, but no one leaves before I am ready.” He started to walk away.

“Where are you going, my lord?” called out Drell.

“I have to make a quick trip to the dungeon and then we’ll be on our way.”

Sebastian hurried to the dungeon, pushing open the door to find his guard eating a meal and drinking wine. “Open the cell door of the handmaid,” he instructed.

“Yes, my king.” The guard did as ordered.

Sebastian stepped in through the open cell door, stopping when he saw the woman hunkered down in a heap on the floor with her arms wrapped around her. She looked tired and weak and almost as if she were dying. “When is the last time she had food or water?” he asked the guard.

“Yesterday, my lord,” answered the man. “Before she escaped.”

“Why haven’t you given her anything since?”

“I figured you would want her punished, like any of the other prisoners who try to escape.”

“Dammit, I never gave that order,” he shouted. “Now, go get your food and wine and give it to her. And hurry!”

“Aye, my king.” The guard rushed away to do as ordered.

“Dee, get up,” he told the woman, walking over and pulling her to her feet. When the woman looked up at him with hollow eyes, he could tell she’d been crying.

“Kill me if you need to, but please don’t hurt Merrow,” came the woman’s plea. “She only helped me escape because she felt she needed to do so, but I am not going anywhere. Please, don’t hurt her, my king.”

“Merrow has escaped with her sisters and is heading to the sea as we speak.”

“She has?” Hope filled her eyes. “Then they have a chance to get back home after all. Thank the gods that they will soon be back through the portal.”

“What do you mean she felt as though she needed to help you? Is it because, like she told me, you were once a sea nymph too?”

“Nay, my lord, that is not the reason at all. It is so much more than that. A much deeper reason.” She looked directly into his eyes now, all her fear having left when she discovered the sea nymphs were headed back to the sea.

“Then what?” he asked, needing to know. Such devotion between Merrow and this simple handmaid was like nothing he’d ever seen before.

“I suppose it no longer matters if I tell you, my king. Before you can stop them, they’ll have made it back to the sea and they will be wary of your nets this time. Once they are in the water and in their undine forms, you’ll never be able to catch them.”

“Tell me what?” he asked, not understanding any of this. It almost sounded as if the women held some sort of secret between them.

“King Ravenwolf, there is something special between me and Merrow, as well as me and Galene and Melite. You see, I love them all deeply and they love me too.”

“You do?” he asked, having felt something that might be love for Merrow as well when they’d spent the night together.

“I do. I love the three of them as well as all the rest of my many children.”

“What are you saying? Do you mean that Merrow and her sisters are?—”

“Yes, my lord. The sea nymphs are my daughters.”