Total pages in book: 208
Estimated words: 209645 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1048(@200wpm)___ 839(@250wpm)___ 699(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 209645 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1048(@200wpm)___ 839(@250wpm)___ 699(@300wpm)
Though I did not kid myself.
The joviality and courteous attention I now enjoyed had naught to do with these overtures and everything to do with the fact that Aramus and I were not only getting along, he often held my hand when we’d stroll the beach. I also endeavored greatly to make him laugh as often as I could (and succeeded frequently). Further, we had all our meals together, and when he left me, I’d made a habit of pressing my body to his as well as my lips.
This had the result of, in the beginning, making Aramus cheerful, and his men, attuned greatly to him, noticed it.
However, more recently, with many a night spent together, this had the result of making Aramus noticeably frustrated, and this Aramus made noticeable by being increasingly irritable.
In the resultant confusion (for Aramus was good-humored with me and our tent rang with his laughter in the evenings), I had taken a chance and shared with Xi and Bond what was occurring (or not, as this case was). Further, I shared what was their king’s wish to do about it. And lastly, how I wanted to rectify this as soon as possible when we resumed our journey.
Including forward planning.
The men were all in hearty accord.
Thus, the rider Xi had sent to scope a spot where my husband and I could consummate our marriage (finally) and do it in a manner that would make him happy.
Though I had plans, that evening, to do what I could to ease the tension, as it were.
Who knew how long it would take to find something that Aramus approved of for our “splendor?”
Something had to be done.
For him.
For his men.
And for me.
When I made the edge of the waves, I flicked out the toweling in order to set it on the sand, thinking I probably should stop cuddling my husband with intent when we were abed in the evenings. Kissing his neck. His chest. Pressing to him. Making him groan and roll into me so my hands could roam him as his roamed me. Offering my mouth to his enjoyable plunder.
But I couldn’t help myself.
My king was just that delicious.
I settled my rear on the toweling, my knees to my chest, arms around them, and gazed at the sea, the breeze ruffling my curls and wafting the thin material of my dress about my thighs.
I did this smiling at my thoughts.
This smile faded as I realized the sea would be behind us tomorrow.
No more night swims.
But it was more.
I had not yet told my husband I was mermaid.
He knew I had Mer blood, but he did not know the fullness of that.
When he was with his men, doing captain things and kingly things, outside of thinking how handsome he was, how much I was coming to like his lieutenants, how much I enjoyed my husband’s company and how it seemed I would very much enjoy the “splendor” we would share, I thought about that.
About how beautifully Aramus had reacted to learning of my magic.
But he did not know the half of it.
He would ask questions of my father, my auntie, my village, the things I did in Nautilus when he was at sea, and he would listen to my answers with the utmost attention, as if learning every morsel of my life was as delicious as his kisses.
And I shared with him even the minutest morsel.
But as each day passed into the next, and I withheld that from him, it felt just like that.
As if I was withholding something, something important, from my husband.
Keeping it a secret.
Not trusting it to him.
For he gave me his laughter freely. His attention admiringly. Time with his men. Tales of his father. His mother. His grandparents. His exploits on the sea. He did it openly, weaving rich stories that would have me enthralled.
But I was keeping the most important part of me from him.
I needed to share all of me with him.
I had decided the best way to share was to show. To find a boat, row out, tell him and dive into the sea, surfacing as mermaid.
But we were leaving tomorrow. If I did it, it would have to be tonight. And I had other activities planned for that night.
Could I do both?
Should I do both?
Would he allow me to do both (precisely, the second part) once he found out who I truly was? Would he wish his wife, his lover, his queen, the mother of his children to be a mermaid?
Or would he find me fantastical and abhorrent in some way because of it?
He’d mention mermaids before and told me, if I was one of them, he would protect that knowledge and me. Like he said he would do with my magic.
But speaking of it when he did not think that it was the case, and it being the case, were two different things.