Black Pearl

Chapter 57

I didn't have the ability to lie nor a just reason to. Everyone around me knew the truth. And these men were no longer loyal to me. They were loyal to the husband that sent me here. Lying now would do no good. So I revealed everything. I told them about how I had swam to the human lands in the dead of night. I told them about the feeling of blood on my hands. Then, I told them every heartbreaking detail, from seeing that cursed portrait to coming home and revealing the truth to Oceana. That was when all eyes turned to her. Maybe a more compassionate person would have stopped there, but I pressed on, explaining how Banner rose up and accused me of the unthinkable, and how Oceana had exposed us all for exactly what we were.

It was silent for a while.

No one knew what to think. I could see my sisters desperately trying to understand what I had just told them. The men who had been sent to protect me didn't seem particularly inclined to believe any part of the story, other than what they had seen with their own two eyes. There was no way that the beloved Prince Atticus would behave in such a way. Just absolutely no way. We must have just been whores spewing untruths. 

My sisters thought the opposite. There was no way that timid Ember would do such a thing. I was quiet and powerless after all. I couldn't even stand up to the nasty redhead I had grown up beside. They all had the strength of the sea at their fingertips and even they were terrified of what was to be. How could I have done this all alone, no less.

And what of Oceana. She had always been the kindest one of us, so sweet. But how could she have blindly trusted what she assumed to be a human? It wasn't as if she had revealed something small about herself. She hadn't told an embarrassing story or giggled about a secret admirer. She had revealed to an unknown man what we had kept hidden for decades. Our secret society had developed a target seemingly overnight.

For a moment, there was so much anger and disbelief, it seemed that no one fully knew who to yell at.

Then, River lunged. And she went right for me.

With a blood thirsty scream, she flew at me, hands outstretched, searching for purchase. Searching for my neck.

I let out a cry of my own and stumbled backwards. Not that I needed to because Jacob was there in a heartbeat. The man who had dragged me out of the church was the same man who drew his sword with a threatening slice. He stood between me and my attacker, emotionless and steady. And for the first time in my life, I was grateful to have a man between me and my own family.

"I was finally going to get off this god forsaken island!" she screeched. Her eyes were wild and wide. And as thankful as I was to have Jacob between us, I knew if she made a move for the water, I would have to protect him. He didn't know what she was fully capable of. But she just wailed on. "I was going to have a life! I was going to do something other than eat and sleep! I could have had a family, a husband!"

Then she broke down into great, frustrated tears that jerked her shoulders and shook her body. Two girls came to her side, cradling her as if she hadn't been violent a second ago.

Finally, the queen spoke. "Ember, have you completed your martial duties with the prince?" her voice was cold and stern.

"I don't understand-"

"Yes or no, Ember."

It felt so wrong to talk about this now. It felt wrong to even think about the passionate way Leo glanced at me, his eyes ablaze. But there, in front of all of my sisters, I admitted, "Yes."

"Then no one is to touch her. Not a single person. She may be carrying the prince's baby and if that is the case, royal law will surely force them back together." Her eyes flashed to Jacob who stood perfectly still, sword still drawn. "You will protect her?"

"With child or not, she is my responsibility," he vowed.

River's eyes flashed, a sinister smirk on her lips. "You won't always have a great protector. You will have to face your consequences eventually. You weren't meant to be a siren. You aren't a human. And you cannot be queen. There is no purpose for you. Not here. Not there."

River was quickly taken away by the queen. An arm was tossed around her shoulder, forcibly dragging her away and when the queen departed, so did several of the others. I heard a few of them whisper, worried that a newer, more dangerous target had been placed on not only me, but the whole island. The group that stayed seemed too stricken for words, only watching on with open mouths. I felt the same way, reeling.

"Ember, Oceana." Jacob's voice was booming. All this time I had seen him as a flirt, a man with few responsibilities and fewer concerns. I had forgotten that he had been raised alongside Leo, a favorite. He could be every bit as commanding as my husband. I turned to him with unseeing eyes. "We are sleeping on the ship tonight. For everyone's sake."

Oceana followed his orders wordlessly. Her beautiful eyes were red, tears gushing down her cheeks like waterfalls. Every other breath was shaky and she often clamped a hand over her mouth to keep her sobs silent. Once the favorite, now the ruin.

I didn't even have it in me to feel bad. In fact, I almost enjoyed watching her cry. Wasn't she the one who told me to be silent and press on? And here she couldn't even hold onto a secret that wasn't hers beyond my coronation.

A gentle hand pressed against my back, guiding me to the ship when me feet seemed to have gotten stuck. "Come on, things will be better in the morning, with fresh eyes and clearer hearts."

I walked on. "But a restless sleep will surely not stop a war."

"What is done is done, Ember."

I climbed back on board, feeling just like the ship as it lurched against the tides, grinding against the rocky shoreline. Not made for land. Fighting against the sea.

"Can I ask you something?" I wondered, my voice ringing strangely in my own ears as if it weren't my own.

"Our relationship is beyond you asking me that question."

I took a deep breath then. I had already lost so much. Could I stand to lose more? Could I handle the truth now, after so much lose? In the same thought, could I afford to live another lie, even if it was just me lying to myself at this point?

"What did Leo say that convinced you to take this assignment?" I blurted. "I know you are not a guard. He couldn't have forced you..."

"Leo has very little to do with why I am here. Yes, there will be a war. Yes, the masses are upset. And yes, I believe that you have done so wrong. But I know you. And I rallied up any man that I believe can be trusted because, sometimes, doing what is right, can seem very wrong."

~~~Distraction Section~~~

I started my newest book yesterday and I am working on making it my steamiest novel yet. You guys keep asking for smut and I'm gonna give it to ya! It follows London Kingsley, so if you want a little peek at Jasper and Zara's life after the drama, take a look!

Question of the Day: Would you rather be rich and single or poor and in love?