Page 17 of Taken By the Alien Merrow King

“Absolutely,” he said, returning her smile. He’d just had the most amazing idea, one that was sure to impress upon his mate his sincerity about welcoming her humans and prove once and for all the depths of his love for her. He leaned down and gave his mate a kiss that left them both breathless. “In fact, get dressed. I want to show my queen her castle.”

14

ASTRA

“This is not at all what I expected,” Astra said, her eyes wide as they drove over the drawbridge and past the twin stone towers, guards in uniforms of dark green and black saluting sharply as they passed by.

When Des said ‘castle’, for some reason she’d envisioned the stereotypical fantasy castles with circular towers and tall spires piercing the sky, colorful pennants snapping in the wind, marble halls, and paintings of dour-looking royals in gold-encrusted frames lining the walls. She’d expected roving packs of lords and ladies in fancy outfits fawning over their king and gossiping about who was cheating on whom while servants dressed in black moved quietly in the background.

She shouldn’t have been surprised when Castle Ulfmar and those who lived and worked there turned out to be nothing like that.

The castle itself looked more like the pictures she’d seen in a book about Scotland. Constructed out of stone hewn from the cliffs into which it was built, the castle was originally a fortress that shielded the entire population during a season of devastating invasions by a kingdom that no longer existed.These days, its thick outer walls protected a sprawling, multi-story complex from which the entire government was run.

As Gunnar steered the fusion-powered cart around the grounds, Des played tour guide, pointing out various wings and outbuildings and their purposes. “And that’s the stables,” he said, directing her attention towards a long, pristine building with a black roof. “Spent an entire summer there mucking out stalls as punishment for accidentally flooding the treasury.”

Gunnar coughed and shot Des a look over his shoulder.

“And don’t you look at me like that, Gunnar,” Des leaned forward and nudged Gunnar’s shoulder. “You were there. Depths, you were involved.”

“Of course, sire,” Gunnar said, flashing Astra a wink. “It’s just that your memory of the event seems to be a bit faulty. The flooding wasn’t so much an accident as payback for your father taking your brother hunting and not inviting you along.”

“Aw,” Astra said, patting Des’s hand. “Did they leave you out?”

He nodded, faking a sulk, a thick wave of dark green hair slipping over his left eye.

“My poor Des. Bless your little heart.”

His head popped up, his eyes narrowing. “When you say ‘bless your heart’, it sounds like a sympathetic expression, but your inflection tells me it’s not.” He cocked his head. “Explain, please.”

“You’re so smart, you know that?” she said, her heart squeezing.

It wasn’t only that he was intelligent that drew her to him like a moth to a flame. It was that he could read people. He was really good with them. Sure, he was their king, but she’d watched how people responded in town the other day and saw how he interacted with everyone at the celebration. His people didn’t just respect him, they liked him.

But he ducked his head at her compliment, his dimple flashing as he pressed his lips together. It was as if he wasn’t used to genuine praise. She made a mental note to compliment him often and tell him how amazing he was. If anyone deserved to know it, he did. He might be a powerful king, but he was also a caring male who wore his heart on his sleeve.

A lifetime of scarcity from a hardscrabble existence had made her pragmatic and, in him, she’d found her perfect foil. And he needed someone like her around, an impenetrable shield of caution to guard that bright positivity and idealism of his.

“My turn to give a lesson, huh?” she said, giving him a slow smile. “Well, ‘bless your heart’ is a colloquialism from the southern United States. Sometimes, it’s used to express sympathy, but it can also be used in a snarky way, like I’m pretending to be understanding, when in reality, I’m rolling my eyes at you.”

“So, you were being sniffy then,” he said. “But couching it in fake sympathy.”

“Sniffy?” She huffed out a laugh. “I suppose you could put it that way.”

“Huh. I’ll have to try that expression out on the council some day.” His eyes grew distant for a moment. “Wonder how it will go over.”

“It’ll be fine until they figure out what you really mean,” she said, playfully bumping her shoulder against his.

He gave her a gentle nudge back.

Gunnar parked the cart next to a nondescript wooden door that immediately opened and spit out a sulky-looking teenager dressed in the same uniform as the guards at the front gate.

“Sire,” he said with an abbreviated bow before hopping in the cart and driving it away.

She cocked her head, watching the teen as he turned a corner.

“What?” Des held open the door for her.

“Only… it’s not how I expected royalty to be treated, especially on the castle grounds.” she said with a shrugged.

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