Page 144 of Fated or Knot

He snorted a few extra bubbles and glanced over his shoulder at me. I was his extra adventure, pirates or no. Though he would prefer no pirates if it were an option.

“Surfacing.”He also warned me by bobbing us twice, deliberately, before angling for the blinding star of sunlight overhead. Checking our momentum, he slowed until just the top half of my head popped above the waterline, while he laid his equine snout flat with the water. He was effectively camouflaged in the blue-green sea. My white hair caught the sun like a flag.

“We’re going the right way. Also, look there. Humans.”

Just past a pier was a settlement of log houses. It wasn’t too difficult to spot the humans, who went about their business without noticing they were being watched. I gawked a little anyway. Some Seelie races resembled the bipedal non-fae, though Seelie fae usually had plant features that were noticeably absent from these people.

Not to say there weren’t also fae around. A huge alpha mothkin lumbered behind a curvy human omega, carrying several cargo boxes for her. Grimalkin cubs chased human kids up and down a stretch of the pier. One of the females stopped and turned our way. That small, pink human was looking right at us and waved. I raised my webbed left hand to wave back, while Marius tossed his head and sent up a spray of water.

The child was giggling and pointing when we disappeared back into the sea, leaving behind ripples in our wake.“They look like they’re doing well,”he commented.“Mother’s been making overtures with Linfall for decades to convince a small population to join the Unseelie. We have three human settlements right now. One here, one further inland, and one on the outskirts of the dreamlands.”

When he said “join the Unseelie” he meant it the same way the dreamlanders had joined. As Kauz had told me of the original dreamlanders, they’d crossbred with Unseelie races to gain designations and fae blood. The same thing could happen to humans, who had the benefit of already having the same designations we did. Their fae-blooded children would enjoy longer lifespans, and they’d bring their clever innovations to Serian first.

I wondered if the human nation of Linfall knew that was why Nemensia had sold interested settlers small parcels of land. Time would tell, I supposed. I’d one day inherit this diplomacy and didn’t see anything wrong with it if it meant we’d have more things like rain rooms and toilets.

Though Marius agreed, he was still hesitant at the idea of inviting in too many humans.“As long as they don’t bring their wars.”There were other, more distant human nations past our islands, and there were contentions over one thing or another. He knew of it only because the occasional ambassador visited from a desperate faraway land in search of magic.“More like looking for a miracle army that will fight their enemies. We always say no. We have to. Serian is too small to have stakes in distant conflicts.”

I hadn’t even realized. The world was so much bigger than I’d expected from my life in Osme Fen.

“Will you tell me about it?”he asked.

“About what?”

“Osme Fen. What was it like?”

Well, there wasn’t too much to tell, but I showed him some of my memories. The lake. The restaurant my father took me to, where I’d stuffed myself with the same meal each time: roast boar with sides of herb-stuffed mushrooms and cheesy potatoes, plus apple tartlets for dessert.

My book collection, those dog-eared tomes that became my prized possessions once Cymora started removing joy from my life. I didn’t dwell on that, though I had the sense that Marius wanted to see it. He wanted to know all of it. But he understood why I tiptoed around a lot of Osme Fen. I wanted to enjoy the day with him, not live in the past.

“Someday soon, then. Fal heard it all from the fish’s mouth.”Guilt tugged at him, feeling sour in my belly.“I wasn’t strong enough to stay in the interrogation for long. But I still want to carry the burden of your past with you and help you heal.”He viewed his abrupt departure from the questioning as weakness in himself, and I had the impression it was because he’d heard something he personally couldn’t bear.

“You’ve already helped. I’m healing,”I rushed to assure him. Just taking my side and removing Cymora’s talons from their death grip on me, he and the pack had helped me get to a much better place than I’d ever dreamed of being in.

He agreed but still wanted to help. Stars, even delivering me the still-beating hearts of my enemies was better than letting any of my past hurts fester in silence.

“No violence required,”I practically yelped.“I’m fine. Promise.”

He exaggerated a disappointed huff.“Not even a single heart?”He’d eased off the intensity to joke about it, even though he was perfectly capable of giving me bloody revenge if I so desired it. He’d relish in delivering it, even.

“The only one of those I’m interested in is yours.”

“You’ve already claimed it, p’nixie. It’s been yours the moment you sank your teeth in me. Maybe even longer than that.”

Maybe, but we didn’t really remember that time. And it would be unfair to dwell on the what-ifs related to what could’ve been if we hadn’t been parted for so long.

He agreed, saying,“I love you so fucking much. I’d stop and show you, but…”

His thoughts admitted to something that had me cackling. We were, in theory, supposed to finish our bond underwater. But he took a look around the sea around us and wondered how that was supposed to work. No handholds or anything to brace against so he could actually thrust. He imagined it’d be a very disappointing fuck.

“I’m going to be a good mate and finish our date. Then I’ll take you to the nearest bed like a gentle male.”

“So generous,”I teased.

His ear flicked, and he bobbed twice, signaling that we were surfacing. This time, we emerged up to his shoulders into thelate afternoon sunlight. I stretched muscles gone stiff from such a prolonged trip on his back. Marius turned us toward land, though we wouldn’t be able to get to civilization from here. Foaming white waves pounded huge cliffs of rock. The water roared and occasionally revealed jagged teeth of rock jutting out just beneath the surface.

“We’re close. Look for a sea cave opening,”he said.

We scanned the cliffs for a hole that, apparently, I would have to be blind to miss. We searched for a good half hour before we spotted it. It was definitely unmistakable, fifteen feet high and crumbling around the edges to become even larger. The tide was low enough that we could see the bottom curve of the cave opening. Marius rode a wave overtop it and treaded water in a small circular space with a low enough roof that we both had to duck.

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