Heiress of the Sea

Chapter 9

I awoke the next morning feeling well-rested for the first time in a long while. The sun glowed through the open windows in my chambers, kissing my face as I awoke and congratulated myself for begin capable of sleeping past dawn for the first time since I had arrived on Land. After all, I still wasn't really used to the idea of day and night.

Stepping out of bed, I sauntered over to my closet to dress for the day—and nearly yelped when I looked in the mirror.

Turning to examine myself, I realized the place on my neck that Soren had kissed was still sparkling.

I rolled my eyes, gritting my teeth and cursing myself for letting him do that. I hadn't known that my skin was still going to continue to glimmer so showily all these hours later, or I would have stopped him.

I sneered. Soren had known that what he was doing would cause me to be on showcase in front of everyone.

I felt my fingertips tingling, and by blood simmering in my veins. 

That bastard.

I dressed in my usual leather pants, boots and tunic—even as Cleo and Nela attended to my hair and brushed makeup over my face, saying what a pity it was that I refused to wear the lovely dresses provided for me. I grumbled internally when I heard their coos. After all, my choice of wardrobe was much more practical.

However, there was something else about their tones; something hushed and secret, as if they knew something I didn't.

After several hissed and whispered comments, I couldn't contain myself.

"Okay, what's going on?" I asked both of them.

"Nothing, Ms. Ailith," Cleo murmured softly, her gentle fingers stroking my scalp as she pulled my hair away from my neck. I could tell they were trying not to look at the spot where it sparkled, but it was unfortunately quite flashy.

I felt a growl formulating in my throat, but I choked it down.

I didn't ask any more questions, even though I didn't believe Cleo and Nela for a second when they assured me that nothing was going on that I wasn't aware of.

Luckily, they didn't pull my hair up that day, so I didn't have to worry about the shiny patch on my skin being completely bare. As soon as they were finished curling my long locks, I pulled some of my hair to the side of my face in an attempt to hide the shimmer.

My maids seemed to know what I was doing, but neither of them said a word about it.

~

I ventured out of my chambers alone, intending to confront (and probably pummel) Soren about his shine-inducing mouth at some point. However, I had more important things to do first.

First, I wanted to meet with whomever was in charge of Soren's army that morning, and see if they would be willing to help me form a small army of warriors to assist in my reclaiming the Sea Kingdom. If I was going to defeat Goridian, it would be much easier with some backup.

I still needed both Lazarus and Soren to agree to help with my cause. However, I knew Lazarus would be quick to assist—Soren, however—he was a different story.

Truthfully, I was considering his proposal. I didn't like to admit it, but every day it seemed to make more and more sense on a logical level, yet I was quite adamant about refusing for the time being. Especially after he'd turned me into a shiny fish scale without the slightest of my knowing or consent.

After asking a few servants, I learned that the head of Soren's army was named Caspian, and that he was a demigod who dwelled in the east wing of the castle. I was given directions by a kitchen boy, and immediately took off in the direction of the east wing, winding my way through the palace.