Chapter 327

I ignored Bridget as best as I could. This wasn’t my fault, after all, and I wasn’t about to take responsibility for it, just because Bridget seemed set on blaming me.

But I didn’t say anything, so she didn’t either. The conversation between Nicholas and Queen Sonal continued on without notice of us. Though Julian did look between us with curiosity.

“We thank you and your guests for joining us for this celebration,” Queen Sonal said, a clear acceptance of Nicholas’s offer to leave. “We hope you will think back on this event fondly.”

Nicholas placed a hand to his chest. “I assure you that we shall.”

Though he said that, and he was likely telling the truth, tension had seemed to settled over our group and the proceedings themselves. Else we might not have chosen to leave so early.

“I better go get Elva,” I whispered to Julian.

Julian nodded. “Go now. These goodbyes and platitudes will likely go on for a while.”

“Okay.” I slowly backed away as to not draw attention to myself, then turned to go down to where the children had been playing. Most were napping now, all except the little princess who had promised to watch over Elva. She was continuing to honor her duty.

I thanked her as I swam to Elva’s shelf.

The little princess waved at me.

I found Elva fast asleep. I hated to wake her, but I feared Nicholas was right. If we stayed much longer, we likely would be overstaying our welcome.

Gently, I shook Elva’s shoulder until she blinked awake.

“Mom…my?” She rubbed her eyes and then yawned. When her eyes were clear, they went wide and looked around at all the sleeping merfolk children around her. “I wasn’t dreaming?”

“No, sweetheart,” I said, smiling. I held out my hand.

Elva giggled as she swam closer to me. We took hands.

“Unfortunately, we have to leave now…” I hated to tell her the truth.

“Can we come back?” Elva asked.

“I don’t know,” I said. Truthfully, it seemed unlikely, but I didn’t want to rob a little girl of her dreams. Who knew what the future held for her? Perhaps someday she would come back.

Despite my hope to spare her feelings, Elva still seemed disappointed by my response.

I tugged her closer and held her in my arms. “Take a look around,” I told her. “Remember everything you see here, because even us being here this one time is special. Very few of our kind will ever know what it is like to breathe water, let alone to rub elbows with the merfolk royalty in their grand banquet hall.”

Elva did as I asked, looking around slowly as if to remember as much as she could. I did the same. Someday we’d go back to our small apartment and tell Anna all that we had experienced and seen. She’d likely never believe it. I wasn’t even sure Susie would, and she was much more likely to.

When we swam toward where the others were, I was somewhat relieved to find that the niceties were winding down. Much of the merfolk royalty had joined the scene, and even Ambassador Zale was giving Nicholas a hardy handshake.

“Mommy, I want to say goodbye to Zale!” Elva tugged on my hand. She twisted in my grasp.

“Honey, it’s really not a good time to –!”

She broke free, despite my words, and swam straight up to Ambassador Zale. Without warning, she rushed toward his chest and threw her arms around his chest for a hug.

I held my breath. Several people gasped. Even Nicholas and Julian’s eyes went wide.

When my initial surprise passed, I hurried forward, ready to apologize and rectify the situation however I could.

However, before I could reach Elva and pull her away, Ambassador Zale began to laugh. As to, did Queen Sonal. After those started it, the laughter spread out among all the merfolk, and then finally, uneasily, to the werewolf group too.

I froze, unsure what to do.

“Goodbye Mister Zale,” Elva said.

Zale gently patted Elva’s back. “Goodbye, little Elva.” As she began to pull away, he smiled at her.

“Such innocence,” Queen Sonal said, her smile soft as well. “The purity and kindness of a child knows no bounds. We could learn much from her sincerity.”

“We could,” Nicholas agreed. He returned her smile, and just like that, the tension between the two groups began to lift. Nicholas dipped his head, as I know he’d done many times before. This time seemed different than the past – more earnest, somehow. “By your grace.”

Queen Sonal dipped her head in a mirror movement. “Please return again.”

Elva swam back to me. Then, after one last look at the underwater banquet and the people within it, we turned and made our exit.

Once we were safely on the boat again, with the boat on route to return us to our more familiar island, Nicholas scooped up Elva into his arms and kissed her cheek.

“A brilliant little girl you are,” he said. Elva giggled. To me, he praised, “She saved that disaster of an event.”

Julian, within earshot, laughed. “Usually I’m the one with the flair for dramatic, Nicholas. Not you.”

Nicholas shook his head. “I’m serious. If we had ended the event on such a tense note, the alliance may not have initially suffered but relations would have been strained over time. But Elva saved the day.”

Nicholas kissed her cheek again and then set her down. Elva continued to giggle. She rushed over to me.

“Did you hear what he said, Mommy?”

“I did,” I told her, and praised her too. “You did such a good job. I’m so very proud of you, following your heart.”

As with the trip to the merfolk palace, during the return trip, the camera crew remained on the deck below, while the candidates and princes and Elva were on the highest floor of the ship.

Nathan, having likely finished whatever meeting was going on down below, chose this moment to come upstairs and join us. He appeared deeply unhappy, with the line between his brow prominent and his frown deeply-set.

“Lighten up, Nathan,” Julian said, “Or your face might stay that way.”

Nathan shot him a withering look. Julian shrugged.

“Everything went well,” Nicholas said. “Queen Sonal seemed pleased as we left.”

“Yes,” Nathan agreed. “As we left.” He looked at Bridget. “Most everyone did a good job today.”

Bridget seemed appropriately cowed for a moment, tilting her shoulders downward, but she bounced back almost instantly and stood. “I know you aren’t trying to insinuate anything about me, Nathan.”

Nathan sighed. “You were out of character today, Bridget. You did not act with the poise that you usually do.”

Bridget stood her ground, chin lifted. Her eyes slid toward Nicholas. He looked back at her but didn’t say a single word. Her lip twitched like she might frown but didn’t quite manage.

“I defended myself and my honor, even if no one else would,” Bridget said. “I have nothing to be ashamed of, and I will not let anyone tell me otherwise.” Yet even as she said the words, a bit of red rose in her cheeks. She really did look like she was ashamed.

Her gaze on Nicholas was fierce for one more moment, like she expected him to defend her. When he didn’t, she crossed her arms and turned around. She walked toward the edge of the boat and held onto the railing.

Nathan turned to glare at me. I startled, unsure why I was the subject of his ire.

“She’s lashing out because of your argument, Piper. You need to resolve this.”

Then he walked away.

He was blaming me for Bridget’s actions? How was any of this my fault?