Heiress of the Sea

Chapter 5

After flying through the palace at lightning-speed, Lazarus plopped me down onto the sofa in a dark room, lit only by the flames of a gargantuan stone fireplace nearby. I moved toward the fire, immediately fascinated by its heat and colors. I'd never seen a fire before in my life, since, obviously, we didn't have fire in the Sea Kingdom.

I reached out to touch it, but suddenly felt Lazarus's hand grabbing mine.

"Don't touch that." His voice was low and warning.

I quirked a brow. "Why not?"

"You'll burn yourself," he responded. "Especially that paper-thin, alabaster skin you've got covering your frail sea bones."

I rolled my eyes. "I'm simply paler than you Land people, not frailer!"

"You look fairly frail to me," he teased. "What did they do back in the Sea Kingdom, starve you?"

I licked my lips, staring into the fire. "Something like that."

Lazarus's face fell from across the room, realized he'd reached a sensitive subject. "I...I didn't realize"—

"It's fine," I snapped, turning toward him, keeping my face blank. I sat down, letting the fire warm my back, resting my face on my palms. We sat in silence for a few moments, before I felt the overwhelming urge to ask him about this bride business.

Sighing, I asked, "Why did Zeus say I was destined to be Soren's wife?"

Lazarus shook his head. "I'm not going to be the one to answer that. You're going to have to let Soren explain that one. It's his fault, after all."

I groaned sarcastically. "Of course it is."

"Yes, it's so unfortunate. You were destined to fall in love with Soren, when you were so close to getting with me, the better-looking brother," he joked, a cheeky grin appearing on his face. I couldn't help but laugh under my breath.

"You don't think he'll want to...to actually marry me, right?" I asked Lazarus after a few moments of silence.

Slowly, he stood, sauntering over and nestling his large, Godly frame in front of the fire next to me.

"I don't know, Ailith. Soren can be stubborn. However, he is sensible. And he isn't malicious. He's not going to force you into marriage, if that's what you're asking," he said, following his answer with a nervous sigh.

I stood, the hair on my body standing straight up.

From the look on Lazarus's face I could tell that he barely knew more than I did. And if he did know more than he was letting on, he was doing a damn good job of hiding that, even in his facial expression.

It only took a few minutes before Lazarus was slumped over on the floor in a fetal position, fast asleep, and I decided that this would be my best chance of escape. I could find Triton's trident and seek help of another God; I didn't necessarily need Gaea's Heir. Right?

The idea of being possibly forced into a marriage again twisted my insides into knots as I opened one of the huge glass windows in that dark room.

Triton had trained me for years in combat and escape, and I knew exactly what to do.

Slipping out of the window, I was careful to close it behind me as I lowered myself onto the edge of another window, cautious not to peer down, for I could feel the great height I was at. I carefully slinked my way down the row of windows, climbing carefully down floor after floor of the castle. Luckily, the walls were made of stone, and easy to cling to, rather than being completely smooth and unclimbable.