Page 77 of Sea's Secret

“Shut it, Sands, not now. What is this thing about a giant octopus?”

“I will tell you in a minute, but for now, you should know that last night you were saying the sweetest things to Meria–that she was beautiful–that you wanted her to stay with you forever,” Sands said, clasping his hands to his chest as if he were a child, excited for a sweet.

I grunted, finally moving from the bed. I felt a bit light-headed, but other than that, I was fine. I noticed that I was still only wearing pants, and I quickly went to my closet to change.

“Please do not take those off with me here!”

I turned as I was about to slip off my pants to see Meria sitting in the chair at my desk.

“Are you well?” I asked, as she looked very tired. Her beauty was still evident, but her eyes seemed wilted.

“I am fine as long as you do not take your clothes off. I can only handle so much,” she said with a frown, pulling a blanket up from her lap to cover half of her face.

“You let Peter out?”

“He’s your brother, and I thought he should be allowed to see you after such an injury. He was worried about you, and as Sands said, he promised not to take the ship’s command from you.”

I turned to Peter. “If you give me any hint that you are planning anything–”

Peter raised his hands. “I don’t care who captains this ship, truly, I only want to rescue my friend. You let me do that, and we will have no problems.”

I sighed and nodded, not sure what else to say to that. I was outnumbered. I turned back to Meria as she stood up. She was still wearing the same slip of a dress from the night before. I watched as she slowly made her way over to where Sands, Peter, and I stood. She almost fell over, but I moved to catch her.

“Sorry, I am still a little tired, it seems,” she said with an embarrassed smile.

“Go, lay down; the bed is free.”

“Yes, sir,” she said with a chuckle. I grabbed my clothes and briskly walked out of the door with Peter at my heels.

“You need to rest, Dom,” Peter said.

“Dom.” That sent a pain through my chest. I wasn't sure if I liked it, but it did something to me.

“No, it seems there is a giant octopus trying to eat the ship. I am needed; plus, my arm feels fine,” I said.

“Hard to believe. I wonder if you might have lost it. I am prepared with options to replace it, should that be required,” Peter offered.

“Replace what?” I asked.

“Well, your hand, of course–if you’ve lost it.”

“Nonsense,” I grunted as I entered the smaller room that Meria had used. Peter, of course, remained on the other side of the door, still talking to me as I dressed. It reminded me of the time when he had wobbled down the hallways in the castle after me with his toothless grin and the way he called me “Dom” because he could not pronounce my full name.

“I was thinking, you could attach a sword to it.” There was a pause. "Or a fake hand–made out of wood. I am sure someone could craft something handsome enough for you. We could commission an artist to carve little ships and waves onto it, make it personal.”

“I am not losing my hand,” I grunted. He was worse than Sands.

“I also thought about a hook–quite fitting for a pirate. You could hook all who get in your way–slice them right through if it is sharp enough.”

I opened the door, and Peter stopped.

“Are you done? I have things to do, Prince,” I said.

“Sure, Crown Prince, but you like the hook idea, don't you?”

“I am not playing this game, Peter,” I said, walking down the hall.

“It is not a game. I mean, it is an important thing to think of. I mean, you should be prepared. If I lost a leg, of course, I would commission a nice pegleg–”

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