Page 6 of Surfaces
“Should I make a formal announcement that I’ll allow any man to withdraw?” I chewed my lip uncertainly. What if there were more than four who wanted to leave? Could I really host three more rounds of the tournament with only twelve men? Or ten? What if only five stayed? Faith in the crown would plummet.
A desperate desire to speak to Bloss or have Queen Gela alive and well rose up inside of me. I wanted someone to hug me and tell me how to fix this.
Declan had been right. I should have called off this foolish tournament from the start. I was arrogant denying my brother-in-law and flippantly thinking that I was ready to handle a crown.
“They must feel unsafe if they’re leaving,” I said aloud, mostly thinking to myself as I dug out the last of the snarls.
Lizzatskedbefore saying, “I don’t know about that. If you want to know how men feel, ask a man. No magic in the world can make me understand those idiots.”
I barked out a laugh before I could fully suppress it, but then I pressed my lips together while I plaited my hair, running through options, each one seeming more foolish than the last.
Lizza stood to leave. I quickly fluttered over to my dressing room, snagging a furry sapphire cloak from the rack and tossing it over myself. Felipe and Ugo had been traumatized enough by the sight of me and there was no reason for them to continue to suffer. “Thank you, Lizza. You’re a treasure.” I told her as I pulled the cloak carefully down over my forehead so that my face was thrown into shadow. Hopefully, that would conceal the worst of it.
She gave a grin. “Yes, well, I wish I could say the same about your own castle mages. I’m off to talk the bumpkins through some basic healing spells.”
“I appreciate that. And then, maybe soon, we can test out your theories about using my power and retaining my humanity at the same time.” I retained hope, perhaps a bit more hope than was reasonable, that the undead witch could prevent me from turning into a cold-hearted beast the first time I activated my sea sprite magic.
“What’s the rush on that?” Lizza looked genuinely confused as though my request had taken her off-guard.
What’s the rush?
Fury lanced me and part of me wanted to drag her back out to the arena and show her the chaos because to me the need to use magic burnt like a wildfire—it was urgent and obvious. I was going to have to use power soon to stop this rebellion. But Lizza was old and had seen hundreds of battlefields. Today probably only registered as a blip on her scale while it weighed my soul down heavily. I licked my lips and smiled carefully before saying, “I want to be the queen the people of Okeanos deserve. And they deserve to be safe and well-treated.”
Lizza didn’t argue, though she did sigh. “Always more work to do. I’ll look over my notes on the matter.”
She pulled open the door and I was going to pace my room a bit, draw out the time before the impending conversation with the four men abandoning ship, but I saw Felipe lean in to check on me. Impulsively, I beckoned him in.
“Felipe, can I speak with you for a moment?” I asked.
The burly merman swam aside to let Lizza out first before he came into my room. I nodded toward the door, and he closed it with a gentle thump.
My hands fingered the hem of my cloak nervously, plucking at the threads. “Lizza says this spell she did to check on me should wear off shortly. But … there’s so much to do. I didn’t want to delay. Is the horror sufficiently hidden?”
His mouth quirked up in a half-smile and said, “Never a horror, Majesty.”
“Liar,” I retorted.
“Careful. Those who insult my honor have to face a duel.”
“You’d point your sword at me?”
“I’d do more than point.”
Ugo’s head popped in through the door. “I couldn’t help overhearing. Do I need to swim off a bit and give you two some privacy so you can stick her with your sword?”
“UGO!” Felipe bellowed.
“We were just teasing,” I chastised, the heat of embarrassment rising on my cheeks.
“Just checking. I do not want to be on duty for any…sultry business.”
I rolled my eyes.
“Get out.” Felipe ordered his fellow guard around as though he was a captain.
Ugo shut the door with a click and Felipe turned hesitantly back to me. “Sorry. We seem to have gotten off track.”
I cleared my throat. “Yes. Um. The men who want to withdraw… Are they still just outside?” I couldn’t hide my hesitance, not only about meeting them while I looked like this but about meeting these men at all.
