Page 71 of Cruel Tides

“I know it’s hard to believe, but it’s not always about you, Leander,” I teased, trying to lighten the mood. “If things go wrong, you don’t automatically take all the blame just because you happen to be a member of this group.”

Leander grumbled something and rolled over, turning his back to me and taking his blanket with him.

“It wasn’t your fault. None of it was,” I continued, even if he wanted to pretend that he was done listening. “Even the trident. What were you supposed to do when you got it? Hand it over to your father?” I snorted, thinking about what King Eamon might do as the sole ruler with access to a trident. It certainly wouldn’t have looked good for the other kingdoms. “I’m sure he’d have spun Claira around to make her pick up all the others for him, wouldn’t he? Sorry for saying this, but your father seems to have some crazy ideations and some pretty wild mood swings.”

When Leander didn’t respond, I wondered if the exhaustion had gotten to him, and he’d finally fallen asleep. Laverne’s steady snores rolled over me from the couch above, and I moved on to counting them, using anything I could as a distraction.

Even if my words hadn’t gotten through to him, it had been nice talking to Leander. My heart felt lighter. Like maybe this was the beginning spark of something between the two of us. Maybe one day, he and I could be friends.

The haunts curled into my vision as my eyes began to drift shut again. Only this time, it was Leander’s voice that chased the nightmares away.

“I thought you were an idiot.”

“Dude,ouch.” I had to hold back my laugh for fear of waking up Laverne. “My father thinks I’m an idiot. Oh, and my brothers.” I let out a yawn as I pictured their disinterested faces all in a row. “My mother probably does, too.”

“It’s better to be thought of as the kingdom idiot,” Leander mumbled. “Rather than everyone expecting you to have the answers to everything.” My smile faded as the sorrow in his voice became clear. “My entire kingdom is counting on me, and I can’t even control my own fucking emotions.”

I stared up at the ceiling, carefully choosing my response. This was the first time he’d confided in me, and I didn’t want to mess it up. “I could never understand what it is you’re going through, Leander. To hold the power of the Trident of Storms. Like,dude. What are you even supposed to do with that?”

Leander shot up again, his quilt sliding off him. “How did you?—?”

“I don’t read minds, if that’s what you’re thinking.” I shrugged. This wasn’t the first time I’d shocked someone with knowledge I shouldn’t have had. “But I do read. And there is only one trident with mastery over the weather. Conjuring up tempests of thunder and lightning. Unleashing bolts of electrifying fury that can rend the skies asunder.” I absently traced the shape of a lightning bolt glyph in the air with a finger. “Though I didn’t know for sure until I saw you attacking that seagull. Maybe it was the Trident of Vitality, you know? You do have moments where you’re livelier than usual.” I grimaced, remembering how the seagull had looked getting bashed by its own wing. After all Leander had put it through, I wouldn’t have been surprised if it had converted to a landgull. “But, no. It’s storms.”

Leander growled a warning under his breath.

“Look, I know the Atlantic doesn’t want the other kingdoms knowing what it can do. Better to have them fear they could doanything,” I said, absently plucking at a stray thread in the quilt. “I know how it is. My father keeps his trident’s powers a secret, too. He refused to even meet with Barren back when he was going to be crowned as king.”

Nobody, not even my oldest brother, was aware of the trident’s capabilities. Though, thanks to the clues written in the ruins, I’d deduced its power long ago.

What a bummer that a king without any imagination wielded the power to create.

I could never find the same warmth in my father’s creations as I did in natural life. Even the giant, fast-moving stingrays he would conjure up to win his tournaments for him seemed to lack the graceful, undulating movements of a natural-born ray.

“Allowing its wielder to control winds, summon torrential rains, and command thunderstorms to assail their foes,” I recited from my memory, recalling the shape of each glyph on the ruin’s walls pertaining to the Trident of Storms. “It can also manipulate the very fabric of weather, shaping clouds and currents to its wielder’s will. It’s crazy to think what that kind of raw energy could do to one merman,” I added.

Maybe this wasn’t helping.

Through the darkness, I could see Leander scrubbing a hand over his face. “Do you ever stop talking?” he asked, and a smile pulled at my lips.

“No,” I confessed. “Whenever I stop, that’s when I start thinking.” And once I started thinking, my mind quickly became overfull.

Leander must have reached his social limit, because he threw his quilt off his legs and stood up.

I raised my eyebrows as I tilted my head back to see him. “You’re not going to sneak into Claira’s room, are you?”

The floor underneath where Barren lay creaked, and I had a hunch Leander wouldn’t make it very far if he tried.

“Of course not. She told us not to,” Leander said, although he did cast a look toward her room like he might have been thinking about it. “Now move.”

“Move?” I blinked up at him, but when he leaned down to lift the edge of my quilt, my entire body froze up. Did he want me to move over? Like, make room for him?

“I’m f-flattered!” I yelped, fighting to take the corner of my quilt back from him. “But when I said I wanted foreplay… I, uh, I didn’t mean withyou.”

Leander’s growl was like a thunderclap. “Get the fuck up!”

At his cue, I scrambled to move. As soon as I was upright, Leander’s hand was between my shoulder blades, pushing me to the front door. “Wait—where are we going?”

He waited until we were outside in the night air, the door shut behind us, to answer. “Did your kingdom make you take lessons from a spearman?” he asked, directing all his focus on me.

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