Heiress of the Sea

Chapter 41

The palace had, thankfully, remained somewhat intact.

We found Caspian and the majority of his men gathered around the stables. Since the castle was barricaded from most of the entrances, they had lived there for the past weeks, fighting the war and waiting for us to return.

Or not return.

As soon as he saw us enter the stables, Caspian entrapped me in the biggest hug I'd ever received in my life and murmured, "We all thought you were dead. Both of you. And I'm so glad you're not."

"Ailith saved us," Soren said, his voice purposefully loud enough that all of the soldiers overheard him.

I wanted to roll my eyes, but simply couldn't muster the irritation, as I wasn't actually that irritated with him. How could I be?

"By doing what? A grand gesture of love?" one of the soldiers snorted.

I glanced over at Soren. And he glanced back.

"No, actually," he responded matter-of-factly. "She kicked Hades's and Poseidon's asses. And I helped." He shot me a wink, and I mouthed thank you to him.

"Nice going, sea girl," Caspian remarked, clapping me on the shoulder in a congratulatory fashion.

"It was a joint effort," I responded.

"No, it really wasn't," Soren countered. "She saved this kingdom. And that's why she's going to become Queen in the grandest ceremony the world has ever seen."

"If you don't speak Soren, he's saying we're getting hitched. And you're all invited," I said, adding, "and before you ask, yes—of course you can all be my bridesmaids. Or...brides-men, I guess. And...," I said, smirking at Soren, and then turning to the wide-eyed soldiers. "There will be an open bar."

A communal roar of approval erupted from the group of soldiers, and they all came over to rub my head or smack Soren on the shoulder. We endured their congratulations for a mere thirty minutes before we managed to make up an excuse about helping clean up the palace and ducked out.

"Your friends are really loud," Soren remarked as we walked away from the stables, in no particular direction.

I couldn't help but snort and say, "At least I have friends."

He looked at me with both amusement and wryness before saying, "You do realize you're talking to the most powerful being in the universe?"

"And you do realize you're talking to the person that made it possible for you to become the most powerful being in the universe?"

Soren sighed. "Well, I suppose you're right. But there is one thing you can't get around."

I fake-glared. "And what is that?"

"The fact that I can fly and you can't."

And with that, he reached forward and grabbed me, before shooting into the sky, above the familiar meadow that was now covered in a frosty layer of ice. Winter was beginning to take over autumn, but we didn't seem to notice as we swooped through the swirls of clouds and soared over the calm, blue-green seashore.

"What are you doing?" I asked Soren as he flew us past the meadows, and towards the miles of forest in the distance.

"I'm showing you the Land," he responded. "After all, you are going to be its Queen."

I sighed. "I can't even comprehend the idea."

"Well, think of it this way," he told me, his hand trickling across the length of my collarbone. "You won't ever need to second-guess yourself. Because I am forever in your debt, and your mistakes—no matter how many there are—will always be excused."