Chapter 352

Elva wanted to collect some seashells to add the growing pile she was keeping in our bedroom, so together, Elva, Nicholas, and I went to the shoreline and began walking along with water’s edge. While I helped Elva pick out seashells, Nicholas kept a dutiful eye on the ocean.

Maybe he thought Ronan himself might jump out at any minute. The thought made me shiver.

Looking at the ocean, despite having nearly drowned, it wasn’t the waves or the water that I feared deep down inside of me. No. Instead I feared the merfolk prince who had wanted to pull me into the deeps.

I was grateful to Nicholas for keeping watch.

More grateful, when unnatural waves rippled the top of the water. Immediately I grabbed Elva, who in her surprise, dropped half of her shells.

“Mommy!” she said, pointing to where they had fallen.

I couldn’t worry about that now. My wolfy instincts were screaming at me to get my child away from whatever was happening in the water. I’d apologize to her later, if I was overreacting. I’d spend the rest of the day picking new shells with her if she wanted.

But I wasn’t taking any more chances.

Nicholas grabbed me and tugged Elva and me behind himself. His muscles were flexed. His gaze was on the water. To see him as tense as me helped tell me I was doing the right thing.

I hadn’t wanted to frighten Elva, but I would do whatever I needed to, to keep her safe.

Then, as we watched the waves, merfolk heads started cresting above the water. Some here and some there, in different spots all along the water’s edge.

Then, the merfolk walked forward, breaching the surface of the ocean. Their tails shifted to legs as they stepped out of the water and onto the sand. Many of them stayed in the knee-high water.

They wore skin-tight uniforms, matching black with shimmering blue stripes. The uniform stretched down to their wrists and ankles, almost fully covering them.

One merfolk stepped forward before all the rest. Ambassador Zale was dressed differently than the others. He wore a similar looking garment to what he had last night. A body suit covered in shells.

I relaxed somewhat when I saw him. I didn’t know these other soldiers, though with a quick glance, I confirmed that none of them were Prince Ronan. But Ambassador Zale was someone that I trusted. He always seemed to at least attempt to do the right thing.

I was still uneasy about Prince Ronan being able to escape his confinement so easily, however.

“Prince Nicholas,” Zale said as he came closer. He bowed respectfully.

Nicholas returned the gesture with a dip of his head. “Ambassador.”

Holding Elva, I inched somewhat to the side so I could greet Zale myself.

“Ambassador Zale,” I said. I almost said It’s a pleasure to see you, but that would have been a blatant lie. It was not a pleasure to see him under these circumstances. He was only here because my life was being threatened.

His features twisted into apologetic when he looked at me. “Piper… I don’t often find myself speechless, but knowing what has happened to you. I am so deeply sorry for all the suffering this incident has caused to you. I am so very pleased to see you are well.”

“You mentioned this wasn’t his first incident,” Nicholas said.

Ambassador Zale sighed. “Unfortunately, despite his careful upbringing, Prince Ronan has always been somewhat of a cad. He seemed to have a special penchant toward unattainable women. Perhaps he was bored at the palace and enjoyed the challenge, I don’t know.”

“I’m not some challenge,” I said.

“Of course not, Miss Piper,” Zale said. “Forgive my turn of phrase.” He looked back to Nicholas. “He’s been reprimanded in the past for turning to insults once he’s been rejected, rather than handling it with the grace his station should require of him. But never has anything happened like this.”

“He has a short temper,” Nicholas said. I knew what he was suggesting, that this was bound to have happened sooner or later with someone with that type of disposition.

Zale’s look of apology returned. “We have failed in the past. If we had been sterner with him, perhaps the now would be different. But we cannot change the past. We can only correct the present.” He waved to the lines of soldiers standing ready behind him. “We are at your disposal.”

“Ronan is after Piper. I don’t care about anything but keeping her and Elva safe,” Nicholas said.

My heart raced, hearing him say such things so casually, not just to me but to others.

“We will take every precaution to keep Miss Piper safe,” Zale said. “We can keep most of the security forces patrolling the water, though we can bring some onshore to guard the doors, if you would allow it.”

Nicholas considered it. “I’ll have to consult Nathan and my brother to fully decide our best course of action. Though if your forces are patrolling the water, surely Prince Ronan would be unable to reach the shore?” There was a question in his voice, and suddenly the air around us tensed. I held my breath.

Ambassador Zale lowered his head. “Unfortunately, Prince Ronan received some war training before he gave it up to live in the luxury of the palace.”

That didn’t sound good.

“What kind of training?” Nicholas asked.

Zale sighed. “Espionage. He’s quite good at stealth and deception, though his short temper kept him from truly being proficient. There are no need for actors in our kingdom like there are yours, else he would have surely exceled.”

“Stealth,” Nicholas said, saying the word flat, like he couldn’t believe it.

“Yes,” Zale replied.

Nicholas cursed under his breath.

“If fact, I might suggest that guards at the doors might not be enough,” Zale said. “If we were to be truly diligent, in terms of Piper’s safety, I recommend we post a guard inside of her room as well.”

“Inside my room?” I gasped. A stranger? Right there beside me? Watching me sleep?

Even for my own safety, I couldn’t wrap my mind around that. I would never feel safe with a stranger looming over Elva and I while we were most vulnerable.

“Absolutely not,” Nicholas said, stern, and I sighed a little in relief. We were on the same page about this.

Let him assign guards at my doors and windows, if he felt such a thing necessary. But I would not have a stranger with strange weapons standing over my bed.

“It’s only for her safety,” Zale said.

“I have my own guard on the door,” I said.

Zale shook his head lightly. “A merfolk trained in stealth could find his way through the window, or through the guard. It is too risky to leave her unprotected.”

I hated when people talked about me in the third person like I wasn’t standing right here. I understood to the ambassador, the prince was the one he needed to convince and I was just a bystander. But I held some responsibility in my own safety, thank you very much.

Nicholas looked at me sideways as if sensing my anger. His eyes held mine, but he was guarded now. I couldn’t tell what he was trying to convey, if he was trying to convey anything.

After a moment, his demeanor became more determined, and his attention returned to Zale once more.

“I will not allow anyone else to stay in Piper and Elva’s room,” he said.

Zale lifted a scaly brow. “Anyone else?”

“That’s correct,” Nicholas said, with conviction. “I will stay in their room and guard them myself.”