Chapter 10: The Sea's Dilemma
Nadeira tossed and turned on her soft bed, but sleep refused to come.
Every time she closed her eyes, she saw Levius's smirk, the guards dragging Maribel, the sting in her scalp where they had pulled her hair.
She sat up with a groan. "Stupid fish princes," she muttered. "Saving me, dragging me into trouble, then leaving me with nightmares."
Yet again, she knew it was her own fault…
Everything was quiet, yet some distant voices floated in the air.
Curious, Nadeira slipped her feet into the slippers Maribel had left for her and padded down the corridor. The voices grew clearer, rougher that sounded like an argument.
She peeked around the corner and carefully hid behind the wall.
Caspian had his arms crossed, his jaw looked like it was ready to break in the lamplight.
Orrisian leaned against the wall, looking guilty, while Nyxmaris paced like a restless wolf.
"You two went too far," Caspian was rushing and hushing his voice at the same time. "That letter to Levius? You knew what it would cause."
"It worked," Nyxmaris replied back. "He humiliated himself. The whole kingdom saw. They know the sea is not to be played with."
Orrisian sighed. "It wasn't only about Levius. It was about her. She needed to see that man for what he is. To stop clinging to a fantasy."
Nadeira's hands curled into fists at her sides. They had set her up? Manipulated her?
"You speak of her as if she's a tool," Caspian growled. "She's not a game piece on your board."
Nyxmaris smirked. "Maybe not a piece. But she is the board. Everything moves because of her. Whether she wants it or not…she's now our mate."
Orrisian added quietly, "She doesn't even know what she carries."
Nadeira's jaw moved. What did she carry? She pressed closer against the wall, heart started pounding in her ears.
Caspian shook his head. "She has been through betrayal, lies, poison, beatings, and still you think the best way to earn her trust is trickery?"
"She'll understand," Orrisian murmured. "When the bond wakes in full, she'll see why."
At that moment Nadeira's slipper squeaked against the polished floor. The three princes turned their heads at once.
She stopped like a rabbit in torchlight.
"Nadeira," Caspian called for her his in a gentler manner. "You should be resting."
Her lips trembled, but she forced them into a crooked smile. "Resting? While the three of you plot like sea serpents? Don't worry, I didn't hear much. Only enough to know I'm apparently the board for your games."
"Nadeira-" Orrisian started, but she cut him off.
"Don't. Don't you dare." Her lips trembled while the voice cracked. "I already lived once as someone's toy. My father, my stepmother, the crown prince. And now you?" She laughed bitterly. "Wonderful. I should have drowned and saved myself the trouble."
Caspian stepped toward her, but she held up her hand. "Stay away."
For a moment, the hall fell into one more awkward silence, only the fountain's trickle was heard in the distance.
Then Nyxmaris spoke again, "You can hate us if you wish. But you'll see soon enough. The sea doesn't choose lightly."
This didn't bother Nadeira at all.
The next morning, the world outside already knew.
Nadeira hadn't even brushed her hair when Maribel burst into her chamber, clutching some paper. "My lady, look! Look!"
Nadeira rubbed her eyes. "If it's another love poem about Levius, I swear I'll set it on fire."
"No," Maribel said breathlessly. "It's you."
The headline screamed in thick black ink: "The Sea Claims the Duke's Daughter".
Nadeira's jaw dropped to the ground immediately. "What in the deep?"
Maribel spread the paper on the bed.
It told of how three princes of the sea had appeared in the royal hall, bruised but proud, and shamed the crown prince for offending the ocean's chosen.
Witnesses spoke of water bending to protect her, of her hair shining with purple.
"They're calling you the Bride of the Sea," Maribel whispered, wide-eyed.
Nadeira let out a strangled laugh. "Bride of the Sea? Oh, perfect. First sold to an old Baron, then promised to a lying prince, now married off to the ocean itself. Next week maybe I'll be engaged to a storm cloud."
But beneath her sarcasm, her insides felt like they were at war. People would whisper her name in fear now.
Some would bow, but others would see her as a threat.
Later, when she walked through the market with Maribel to buy bread, heads turned. Women pulled their children close.
Men stepped aside with nervous eyes. Some even touched their foreheads, as if blessing themselves.
One brave fruit seller smiled nervously and pressed an apple into her hand. "For the Lady of Tides."
Nadeira blinked. "Excuse me?"
"Yo-you ar-are touched by the sea," he stuttered. "We must honor that."
She shoved the apple back into his basket. "Keep your fruit. I'm not some goddess."
As she stormed away, Maribel hurried after her. "You shouldn't be angry. They admire you now. You're free of your father's shadow."
"Admire me?" Nadeira snorted and rolled her eyes. "They fear me. That's not the same thing." She ran her fingers through her hair, pausing as strands glowed purple in the sun. "And this… this bond thing. It's changing me."
Maribel lifted her her. "Do you hate it?"
Nadeira hesitated. "I don't know." She swallowed hard. "I only know every time people start calling me chosen, or bride, I lose a little more of myself. What's left when they're done? Will there still be a Nadeira? Or only someone the sea wants me to be?"
The golden girl reached for her hand, squeezing it warmly. "Then let's make sure you stay as Nadeira. Even if the sea itself disagrees."
For the first time that day, Nadeira laughed, small and shaky, but it was honest and kind. "Maribel, you're ridiculous."
"Ridiculously loyal," Maribel replied with a smile.
Still, as they walked back, Nadeira couldn't get rid of the words she had overheard the night before.
'She doesn't even know what she carries.'
What did she carry? Why did the princes look at her with that awe and fear?
And most of all…why did a part of her, deep inside, whisper that the sea wasn't finished with her yet?
But as she walked back, she heard a voice…disgusting, old and creepy.
"Now, little girl, would you like to be my bride?"