Page 13 of Depths
I was torn between amusement and suspicion over Keelan. He seemed to be mocking himself, but I wasn’t quite certain. And after Radford, I was hesitant. “And who buys these statues of you?”
“Fishwives everywhere.” He winked again, and I began to wonder if that was his signature move. “Or, at least, theywould. I’ve been trying to get mother to invest in them for years, if she would only commission a few thousand, they would sell instantly … alas, she has no business sense. She’s a bit … feebleminded.” He said the last loudly enough for Sahar to overhear.
To my surprise, she swam back over to us. Her eyes narrowed suspiciously on her son as she asked, “What are you saying?”
My eyes darted between them, her annoyance as tightly tuned as a harp.
“I was just lamenting how you won’t invest in my statuary business.”
She rolled her eyes, staring at me with an expression that said, “I’m sorry. I tried to prevent this.” Aloud, she said, “There has to be a willing market, son. And no one wants to see your blobfish self sitting in their garden each morn—”
“You see? She’s practically senile.” He gestured at Sahar and shook his head, wearing a wide-eyed, completely innocent expression that I knew to be a complete lie. He was poking the bear, as we would have said in Evaness. And he was enjoying the hell out of it. He turned to me and gestured at those pecs I was avoiding. “Is there any blob on this fish? Seriously. You can tell me. I won’t cry. At least not in public.”
Sahar shook her head fondly at him. “You obnoxious little sea monkey.” She turned to me. “I told him he wasn’t serious enough for court life, Your Majesty.”
“Do you hear that madness?” Keelan put a shocked hand on his chest.
Sahar’s fist tightened, and I realized this banter must be common between the two of them. “You’ve got barnacles for brains.”
Given that Sahar was this man’s mother, I thought I might be a bit safer jesting than I’d been last time. So I decided to play along, because this was literally the most amusing thing that had happened to me since I’d inked Bloss, but also because I felt secure enough in my relationship with Sahar to tease her a bit. After all, we were side by side day in and day out. I let my brow furrow as I stared at the siren woman in concern. “Oh dear. She does sound a bit off. Are you feeling okay?”
Sahar narrowed her eyes at me, and a crease appeared right between her brows. “Your Majesty?” Her tone grew suspicious.
I turned to Keelan, false concern written all over my expression. “Do you hear that? She’s slurring her words. You’re right. She must be going loony.”
“Yes! You see! It’s the only possible explanation for why she won’t invest all her sand dollars in my risk-free,return-guaranteedstatue scheme!”
“Well, you know, if you ever need to bypass her, I can send her wages directly to you, you know, so you can ensure she gets the care she needs.” I let the years of practice at court make my tone drip with excessively false concern.
Keelan’s shoulders shook as he laughed, and Sahar glared at me ferociously, though I could see she had to tamp down on a grin quite a few times. It was actually a quite delicious feeling to tease someone I liked, but without any true fury or malice—unlike Declan, whom I was still halfway mad at. One I’d missed. One I hadn’t had since Bloss.
“Alright, you two. That’s enough. You have a minute left before I send the next candidate over. And, Majesty? The next candidate is going to be asolid-gold winner.” She let the threat linger in the water, her punishment for mockery would no doubt mean she’d send a half-wit booger-eater my way next. But I couldn’t quite be sad about it. This was the highlight of my week. I nodded and she huffed before she turned and swam away.
“That was brilliant.” Keelan grinned and cocked his head, bringing a hand up to brush his chin as he evaluated me. “Based on that interaction alone, if you asked for my hand, I’d say yes.”
I laughed. “Those are low standards.”
“Well, I mean, I’d definitely insist we commission at least forty statues of myself.” He propped a hand on his hip and popped a ridiculous pose that made even Felipe snort.
“Oh, that’s quite the picture.” I pretended to be impressed, but mostly just tried not to ogle.Stare at the green streak in his hair,I commanded my wandering eyes.
“Oooh, look at mother glaring daggers at you. It’s a great look on her, don’t you think?” Keelan raised his brows before lowering them and then turning a bit more serious. “You’ll have to excuse her though. She didn’t want me competing. She’s protective. Even a queen isn’t a good enough match for me apparently.” He ran a hand through his hair and pretended to toss it like a prima donna. “Shewilltry to dissuade you with horrible stories about my childhood, but I have to let you know they’re utter lies. I was an absolute angelfish.” His wide-eyed, innocent expression reappeared.
I couldn’t help chuckling. “Were you now?” I arched a brow.
He planted a hand on that chest I was trying to avoid staring at, and I couldn’t keep my gaze from sliding downward just a bit. He definitely worked hard to get those muscles. They were definitely more defined than any man back home, any but Ryan or his men. Only they had abdominal muscles chiseled into stacked blocks like Keelan. Which made me wonder …
“So, Keelan, the angelfish, what do you do for work?” I queried.
“I’m a poet.”
My jaw dropped, startled. I definitely had not pegged him for a poet.
“Just kidding.” He waved his hand nonchalantly. “I was part of the royal guard, outer legions, assigned to Kremos, the cliff city. But I resigned.”
“Resigned?” I tried to keep my face neutral.
“Yes, well, members of the royal guard aren’t allowed to compete in the tournament, are they? If they lose, their loyalty falters.”
