Page 89 of Battle Fluke

“How you’re…” Honour trailed off.

Hudson moved forward a little, halfway swimming between Honour and Soulara. “Don’t you think they deserve a home just like we do?”

“Who are you?” Honour snapped.

“I’m someone who’s learned a thing or two about second chances, about love, and about standing up for what’s right in the last few months.” Hudson stared Honour down. “I thought you’d learned those same lessons based on what we were just talking about. Doesn’t Kyree deserve a home? Doesn’t she deserve someplace safe to live?”

“She’s a mermaid.” Honour crossed her arms. “She’s not one ofthem.”

“She’s someone who risked her life for our world to survive. And so are these humans that Soulara is talking about.” Hudson looked to Soulara for confirmation.

Soulara nodded sharply. “Exactly.”

“I don’t like this at all. I don’t think anyone will accept them.” Honour was already backing away. She couldn’t do this, not right now, not on the heels of a war. “Where’s Autumn now?”

“On the surface, helping to dismantle what’s left of the humans’ outposts.” Soulara put her hand out in front of her, halting Honour in her retreat. “I want you to think about this. Please. For me.”

“I don’t know if I can.” Honour slipped back even more. “And I don’t think you should be asking your people to do this just so you can have Autumn in your life. It’s selfish.”

“It’s not just for that. We need to find a way to make peace. Not just with the Kwights or the Talons or the deep sounding mers or the creatures of the sea, but with the humans, and any other alien that comes along to our planet. We have to be aware of what’s going on outside of our waters.”

“You sound like you’re building an empire.” Honour was aghast, first with fear and then with respect. Soulara had been thinking about this a while, hadn’t she? She was finally coming into her own as a ruler.

“Maybe I am.” Soulara put her hands out to the sides. “But I’m tired of living with the discrimination and hatred that our oceans seem to perpetuate. It’s time to take down the oppressors. All of them. And it’s time to set ourselves up for whatever is coming next.”

Honour frowned. One last glance at Hudson told her that what she was hearing was exactly what Hudson was hearing. It sounded so pretty with the words, but in action? That was going to be next to impossible to accomplish.

“Not today, Honour. Reine wasn’t built in a day. It’s going to take years, probably generations to do what I’m talking about. But we have to do something different than before.”

“I don’t think I can join you in this.”

“Please consider it.” Soulara bowed her head slightly. “I expect to see you in the morning for the full debriefing.”

Honour kneeled and bent her body in a bow as Soulara left her home. She was in more turmoil than she knew existed. She hadn’t meant to save her princess to rip apart her home piece by piece. Who would they be if they weren’t the people of Reine?

“Come with me,” Hudson said, dragging Honour by the hand back toward the moss that Kyree was sleeping on. “Don’t think about it right now.”

“Don’t think?” Honour scoffed. “I don’t think that’s possible.”

“Oh, we’ll see about that.”

32

Everything was warm. Oppressively so. Kyree shifted, raising her clammy hands to her face to try and brush the sweat away from her skin, but she was met with resistance. Her arms were locked against her sides.

Blinking her eyes open, she stared at the sleeping face of Honour. Relief flooded through her in an instant and she relaxed. She was warm because Honour was pressed up against her, and if she closed her eyes, she could feel that Hudson was behind her. She would know those two bodies anywhere. They were ingrained in her mind and memory now.

Settling in, Kyree tested her muscles and her strength. She already felt amazingly better than she had when they’d returned to Reine. She had needed the rest far more than she’d wanted to admit, and it was a good thing that Hudson and Honour had made her lie down.

Though she’d never admit that to them. They’d gloat forever, and she’d never hear the end of it. Kyree wiggled her tail when she became restless. She needed to move. She’d been still far too long.

Honour groaned.

Scrunching her nose slightly, Kyree paused and looked Honour over. That hadn’t been an annoyed groan, that was for sure. Testing a theory, Kyree moved again. She wiggled her fluke back and forth in a quick fluttering motion. Honour groaned again, the sound reaching Kyree’s ear like a siren’s call.

“Keep that up and you’re not going to get out of this bed,” Honour mumbled, but her eyes remained closed. “Hudson’s all tease without you. Unwilling to put out.”

“Is she?” Kyree whispered, making sure that her lips brushed against Honour’s ear. “Maybe she just didn’t want to leave me out.”

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