Total pages in book: 157
Estimated words: 156907 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 785(@200wpm)___ 628(@250wpm)___ 523(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 156907 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 785(@200wpm)___ 628(@250wpm)___ 523(@300wpm)
It was simply that the other part of him, her husband, the man who loved her, did not.
He was buoyed when he saw Keel Castle in the distance, it’s gray stone, ocean-blue tiled turrets, the swirls of colonnades cutting through the grounds leading to it.
He and his men rode around, heading direct for the magnificent gate which was fashioned of chalk-colored stone, much different than the rest of the castle.
It was a colossal five-story-high statue of a woman, her eyes black holes, the expression on her face impassive, her hair that hung all the way down to the ground carved long and thick with curls and waves, threaded with seaweed, kelp and coral.
Great fins swept out where her shoulders should be. Out and down, through her hair, pointing at each side to the gate that would be at her womb.
And at her chest was a pendant in which was a trident, the weapon of Triton, the sea god, her husband.
It was a statue of their goddess, Medusa.
Upon seeing them, the guards at the gate opened the doors and Aramus and his men rode right through.
After they rode up the lane, through the portcullis and the arched opening under the guardhouse beyond, into the cobbled courtyard, men who were no longer bound to service (for he himself had freed his own) moved forward to take the reins of the horses.
Aramus dismounted but he saw his queen racing out of the trefoil arched doors to the castle proper, her skirts drifting out behind her in her haste.
“Aramus! Where have you been?” she demanded as she ran down the steps. “You’ve been gone ages, and no one knew where you went. I’ve been worried sick.”
He moved to her and stopped when they met, taking in her face, which was a mixture of anger and concern.
Her beauty was unparalleled, this was the sole reason why she was his wife.
But somehow, over the centuries, this had led to the kings of his realm to discovering sunken treasure for that beauty was small compared to the beauty within.
And she was mermaid.
“Well?” she spat. “I put two very anxious girls to bed—”
“You should have told me.”
She clamped her mouth shut, her eyes rounding before they filled with fear.
She knew he knew.
His men filed around him, making their way into the castle silently, eyes averted from the couple, as the servants led their horses away.
He should not do this on the castle steps. It was the last place he should do it.
It simply did not seem like he could stop himself.
“What gave you any impression that you could not tell me?” he asked.
“Tell you what?” she queried in return, and he was not angry, he was also not not angry.
But at her question, he was beginning to feel angry.
“Do not,” he whispered.
“We should go inside,” she whispered back.
“I am very aware, most especially considering a conversation we had but hours ago, that you are aware of my intense desire to protect you.”
“You did not know all I was.”
He said nothing.
“Now you know, don’t you?” she asked.
He said nothing, but he nodded.
“How do you know?” she inquired hesitantly.
“That is not for you to know,” he returned.
“Aramus—” she began.
“I love you,” he stated.
She gazed up at him, eyes again wide.
“Do you not understand what that means?” he demanded.
“I—”
“You could fall in a vat of boiling oil, your skin melted off, and if you survived, I would love you. You could fail to give me children, and I am an only child, my father was as well, the current heir to the throne a distant cousin. A young boy I do not know the man he will become, but I would leave my realm to him and have only you for my life, and I would love you.”
“My husband,” she whispered.
“And you are as you are, and I love you.”
In the firelight of the torches that lit the courtyard and doors of the castle, Aramus saw the bright of tears hit her eyes.
“And I have told you that, I have shown you that, and you did not trust me with this part of you?” he asked.
“I wanted to, but the longer I delayed, the harder it was to tell you for this very reason,” she shared. “I did not know how to explain why I didn’t, and I knew the longer I didn’t, the more it would hurt you.” She paused and finished, “And worry you for you desire so to protect me against, well…everything.”
Aramus did not reply because he was hurt.
He was also angry.
However, he could understand, for his Ha-Lah, this was not easy.
His queen said nothing either, just studied him apprehensively.
“There are more of you,” he eventually stated.
“We—”
“Have legs,” he interrupted her to point out.
“We developed the ability to…yes, have legs.”
“And pass.”
“Pass?”
“Pass as human.”
She looked away.
“How many are there?” he demanded to know.