Page 148 of Cruel Tides

That’s right—his father had forbidden it. I pressed a hand to my chest, where his palm had been, almost feeling the weight of his loneliness upon my heart.

“That day, Leander told me you were going to be a king,” I murmured, working through the memory. Why hadn’t I made the connection sooner? Queen Javalynn had even said Barren’s kingdom had passed over him in favor of her.

Ugh—that thought was infuriating. Barren would have made a great king. Better than his sister by far.

“I thought I’d never get to speak with you again,” I said as he walked back over. “They never let me speak with royalty. Well, except for Lee,” I added with a snort.

Saying nothing, Barren’s hand fell over the buckle of his brace, and I wasn’t sure what to think when he began undoing the strap. He peeled off the leather, revealing angry imprints on his skin from how tightly he’d had it fastened.

This wasn’t the first time I’d seen the scars underneath his brace. But it was the first time I felt Barren intentionally wanted me to look at the deep hollow where his arm had once been.

Pain registered in his eyes as he scrubbed his palm over the angry skin. Not the physical kind, no, but shame. “My father had raised me to replace him, yes. But that was before I became—” His mouth struggled to form the word, and he cast his eyes to the floor before saying, “—tainted.”

“You’re not tainted,” I said forcefully, my heart pounding as I lifted to my feet. The scars looked rough, sure, the skin shiny and thick, but those scars didn’t define him. Barren wasn’t tainted. “May I?” I whispered, my hand shaking with rage as it hovered over his chest.

I wasn’t sure if he wanted me to touch his scars, but I needed him to know that he was whole and perfect as he was.

Barren’s jaw clenched, and a flicker of doubt lanced through me, uncertain if I’d crossed an invisible line. But then, his chin dipped in a terse nod, and a quiet “mmh” vibrated his lips.

With a delicate touch, I traced over the ridge of a scar with the pad of my thumb, my voice softer when I repeated, “You’re not tainted.” The skin was slightly raised, but strength still surged underneath it. It was still Barren.

His chest rose and fell slowly as he watched me, his warm breath washing over my face with each exhale. “What did my sister tell you about my arm?”

I pressed closer to him, keeping my thumb on the scar I was following, and glanced up. “Nothing, really. She seemed surprised you hadn’t already told me.”

Though I understood why he hadn’t. He’d been treated so unfairly. It wasn’t right. “Losing an arm doesn’t make you any less of a merman, or a king.”

“My father took it,” Barren said suddenly, his voice low and heavy.

“Yourfather?” I whispered. I—I hadn’t expected that.

The lines of his throat tightened. “Once, I thought my sister cared for me. Lynn. She would come to me against my father’s orders. Speak to me.”

He slumped down to the bed with a deep sigh, and I followed, sitting down beside him. “She couldn’t read minds, and because of that, our father had no interest in her. But as I am sure you noticed, she does have a gift.”

I nodded, placing a hand over his. “She can put thoughts in people’s minds, can’t she?”

“Mmh. Even mine,” he murmured, his wide hand curling around mine. “In her mind, I saw everything she wanted me to see. Love for me. Caring. I heard her thoughts of swimming down to the Undersea, and of course, I wanted to stop her. To protect her.”

I could practically feel the weight bearing down on his words, aching with the scars of a past that refused to fade. “The only thing waiting there for me was dark spawn. One caught me by my right arm, wound around it. I cut myself free, but I’d already lost more in that moment than a young merfry could imagine.”

His voice faltered, his façade of composure cracking with a weak laugh. “Lynn had sent guards to follow me. Our father was dying, and at six years old, she’d made her move for his crown. In this ocean, mer and cecaelian magic doesn’t mix. It is believed that their dark magic can seep in, tainting us down to our bones.”

His face hardened as if he truly was carved from stone. “I don’t blame my father for taking it,” he said gruffly. “It was a dying king’s desperate attempt to fix his chosen heir. He gave me a choice—the arm or the crown. But the damage had been done. Lynn made sure of it. I knew before my wound had healed that I’d lost them both.”

I—I couldn’t even imagine the pain he’d gone through. I knew mermaids could be monstrous, but a six-year-old doing such things? And to her own brother?

“Does your kingdom really hate cecaelia that much?” I asked, my throat going painfully hoarse. “Even enough to…” I stared at the place where Barren’s arm had once been, unable to say it. The scars ran deep. So, so deep. And his own father had done it to him.

I swallowed, remembering how dark cecaelian magic had been all over me, too. Only days earlier, tentacles had wrapped over every one of my limbs, even around my waist. If Barren shared the same beliefs…

“They do,” he said solemnly. “For as long as my kingdom has lived in these waters.”

“That’s insane. Cecaelia are—are—” My tongue tied together, a gag working up my throat.They’re right here, hiding out on this island, I screamed in my head.

“Dangerous,” Barren completed the sentence for me, and I stared at him, confused. “While I don’t share their superstitions, I understand why my kingdom believes as they do.” He leaned forward, tucking a strand of hair back behind my ear. “Dark spawn don’t think twice about taking a life. Even their own kind.”

I clasped my hands together, trying to steady my shaking fingers as I thought about the abalone shell sitting in my bag across the bedroom. Sure, cecaelia seemed dangerous, but were merfolk any better?

---