Save the Sea (Saved by Pirates #3)(25)

“Before my mother died, she told me everything. Things I had no idea about, and really didn’t want to know,” she says and clears her throat. So, she didn't know from the beginning about all of this. It hasn't been that long since she learned of her own past. When we grew up, I would never have guessed the girl I played board games and climbed trees with would be the future queen. Or that she was an heir to the crown. I guess that’s why Onaya was the perfect place to hide her. Onaya is quiet, dead almost, and no one in the world would look for royalty there.

“My mother was the bastard child of a maid and the old king. The current queen is her half-sister, my aunt, and that makes Ryland and Hunter my cousins in a way,” she says, and I squeeze her hand. When I marry Ryland and Hunter, we will be related in a way. I can’t believe this whole time she was their cousin, and they never knew it. They think all their family is dead, or soon to be. I believe learning about Everly would help them. I think back to the ship, and the book I read that mentioned something about a fair-haired bastard child being born.

“I read a book that was on my pirates’ ship, where it talked of there being a child born of a maid and the king . . .,” I explain to her, and she hastily nods her head. When her fear-filled eyes look back at me, I know there is something more that she is scared to tell me.

“There’s more,” she says, holding back a sob. I can see she is scared I will reject her. Or that I will be frightened of her.

“Go on, I won’t care what you are. You never cared that I’m a changed one, or that I could be dangerous. You protected me, just as I will protect you. What is in our blood, what we are born with, doesn’t make the choices in our life for us. We get to choose, and you will choose your own path,” I tell her firmly, and she sobs, wiping her eyes with the tissue.

“My mother said that one day, a mermaid man washed up on the shores of Onaya. She said she hid him in her home, that she looked after him as he suffered from poisoning of some sort,” she smiles a little, “she said they fell in love with each other.”

“Are you saying what I think you are?” I ask in disbelief.

“Yes, I’m half mermaid. But I don’t have any powers or a tail,” she points at her legs, making me laugh.

“No, but mermaids are said to be able to sing men to their deaths, and no man could resist their deadly beauty. Have you tried singing?” I ask, and she shakes her head.

“I haven’t sung since I was a child. My mother always told me not to. Maybe there was a reason for it,” she says quietly. It must be hard for her to know her mother kept so many secrets from her, even if it was for her own good. The sea god had to know who she was, and made sure that we grew up close together.

“So many secrets, so much hidden from us and planned out for our lives . . . are you going to be able to take the throne if I get it for you?” I ask the most important question. Now that I think about it, there isn’t anyone else I could imagine giving the throne to. It has to be Everly, it always has been.

“I don’t want it. I don’t want the responsibility that will come with it, but I don’t have a choice. I’ve accepted that,” she says sadly.

“Sometimes in life, the things we don’t want are the best things for us,” I tell her, and she rests her head on my shoulder. “I never wanted my mark, and I never wanted to go to the sea, but they were exactly what I needed.”

“I would make a bad queen, and I have no idea what I’m doing. I may have the right blood, but that doesn’t make a queen. It doesn’t make a ruler,” she replies, and hearing her say that, just makes me more certain that she is the right person for the job. A queen that wanted the throne, would kill for it, is not the right kind of queen that Calais needs to heal. Everly is thinking of the people, not the fame and riches. She may be young like I am, but she won’t ever be alone when she takes the throne.

“I think you will make a brilliant queen, if that’s anything. If I could give the throne to a person of my choosing, it would be you. You know why?” I ask, and she shakes her head.

“You are kind, yet firm when you need to be. You have suffered, but you have risen above the evil you have faced, and you are so strong. You can do this. You were born for this,” I say, knowing every word is true.

“Cass, I’m no queen. I don’t know a thing about ruling,” she mutters as she lifts her head and pushes her hair behind her ear.

“Neither do I, but the master will help you. You can’t do worse than the king has done, but promise me something?” I ask, and she gives me a questioning look. “Promise me your first law will be that changed ones are free. That anyone that hunts, kills, or sells them, will be hung for it,” I ask.

“It will be my first law, and there will be many others. Changed ones, the world needs them, and we should protect them,” she says.

“What do you mean?” I ask, curious.

“While I’ve been here, I’ve watched how the changed ones help Calais. They make the plants healthy, they make rain clouds, they give their magic to Calais. We need them. The world is dying because we keep killing them. Changed ones are a gift from the gods for the world, and we keep throwing the gift away rather than using it. We need a balance, or we will never know peace,” she tells me, and I smile.

“Makes sense, there always has to be a balance, and our powers could help. Imagine if I used my water powers to water the trees and other plants in Onaya,” I muse.