Page 32 of Deep Sea Kiss
Now he led Lottie past rows of lichen-covered gravestones bearing the names of his distant relatives and ancestors. The dates carved in the stone went back centuries, and he saw Lottie’s lips move as she tried to pronounce the various clan names under her breath.
Then they arrived at a grave where the grass hadn’t fully settled yet. Mikkel’s gravestone was still sharp-edged and clear of moss and lichen, not weathered like the rest. Only his name and the years of his birth and death were carved on the gray slab. Eiric stood very still, staring at it in silence. He wanted to give Lottie a moment to process this without bothering her.
“I’m so sorry for your loss,” she murmured.
He turned to look at her. “I’m sorry, too.”
She tipped her face up to him, her expression determined. “You’ll have to find some of his old photos. And tell Aksel and Elise all the stories from your childhood together, okay?”
Eiric huffed out a quiet laugh. “Deal. My mother will help.”
“Good.” She squeezed Aksel closer to her chest. “They deserve to know who their father was.”
They stood there a moment longer, and Eiric silently promised his brother that he would take care of these three people, the best he’d ever met. Then Lottie took his hand, and they descended the slope again, returning to town.
They were on their way to the harbor when someone called Eiric’s name. He turned around to see Magnus standing at the end of the street, the one leading to the main town square. With a glance to Lottie, he started toward his brother, tension threatening to ruin his morning.
Magnus waited with his arms crossed over his chest, silent as a rock. He didn’t greet Lottie or the babies. Instead, he faced the other way and marched into the great hall, clearly expecting them to follow.
Lottie nudged her shoulder against Eiric’s. “Well, we might as well get it over with.”
They entered the great hall through the front door and closed it behind them. The twins, familiar with the setting now, crawled over the steps leading up to the throne and played on the sheepskin rug that covered the stone floor. Magnus barely glanced at them, focusing on Eiric instead.
“What part of our conversation did you not understand?” he asked, his voice low.
Eiric’s face heated with embarrassment—for himself, for Lottie, he didn’t even know. Maybe Magnus thought that Lottie didn’t speak Norwegian? In any case, the great king was behaving like an ass, and it was time to clear things up.
“Lottie was invited here by me and our mother,” he replied as calmly as he could. He refused to let his brother rile him up. “And most of the clan met her already. They didn’t complain about her being here.”
Magnus scoffed. “Do they even know she’s human?”
Lottie stepped up to them. “I’m pretty sure they do, yeah. Eiric said your sense of smell is quite good, so I’m guessing they smelled me the moment I stepped on the island.”
Eiric smiled down at her. She had Elise propped up on her hip, and she looked so fresh and beautiful, his heart swelled with pride that she’d pickedhim.
“Oh, you’ve got to be fucking kidding me,” Magnus scoffed. “It wasn’t enough that Mikkel knocked her up, now you’re after her as well?”
A cold rage swept over Eiric, and he stepped forward before he knew what he was doing. Lottie’s outraged gasp told him the moment when she deciphered the Norwegian sentence.
“Don’t be a bastard,” Eiric growled. “There’s no need for that.”
The side door of the hall burst open. Their mother appeared there, her gaze going from him to Magnus. She narrowed her eyes, clearly sensing the hostility in the room.
“I came as soon as I could,” she said.
“There was no need for that,” Magnus replied. “We’ve got things covered.”
“Actually, we don’t.” Eiric forced his temper down, though he still couldn’t unclench his fists. Lottie’s presence calmed him, and he glanced to where Aksel was trying to stand, holding on to the throne. The image was so powerful—the little dragonling, the future of this clan, right on the king’s dais.
He turned back to his brother and added, “Until you father children, Elise is your heiress. And Charlotte is her mother. Even if you don’t like her, you can’t deny the succession. The twins must be educated here, they have to learn about the clan.”
“Our laws exist for a reason,” Magnus growled. “And humans aren’t allowed—”
“That’s an old law,” Eiric countered, interrupting him. “It’s time you start acting as king and bring us into the twenty-first century, Magnus.”
He’d never seen his brother so angry. Maybe it would have been better to have this conversation in private, where it wouldn’t have seemed like he was trying to undermine Magnus’ authority, but the king had forced the issue himself. Now here they were, facing off like a pair of younglings.
“Our father,” Magnus began, trembling with fury, “would be turning in his grave if he heard of this.”
