Save the Sea (Saved by Pirates #3)(34)
“Yes,” I reply as Everly seems to have suddenly gone silent.
“I do not want the crystal,” the king says, and all my hope disappears in a single moment.
“Then what do you want in exchange for the crown?” Everly demands, her hands going to her hips. The king steps closer to her, lifting a stray piece of her hair in his fingers. “King or not, I will cut your fingers off if you don’t let go of my hair.” she threatens him so smoothly that it catches him off guard for a second. I watch how his eyes slightly glow as she threatens him, and he takes a step back, placing his hands behind his back. Everly walks to my side, keeping her eyes locked on the king the whole time, and her hand on the sword at her hip.
“I will give you the crown, for a promise,” the king finally says.
“What kind of promise?” I inquire, and the king laughs.
“Not a promise from you, changed one. No, a promise from the future queen,” he says, and Everly crosses her arms.
“What do you want?” she asks in a not so nice manner. There goes being respectful.
“Your hand in marriage. Three months after you are crowned, you will come here and marry me. You will go through the ceremony of Merida and receive your bond to your race. We will rule both land and sea as one,” he says, the somber look on his face lets me know he is deadly serious about marrying her. I glance at Everly, who meets my eyes and finally drops her eyes to my stomach, and I know her decision is made. She blurts out her answer before I can stop or reason with her.
“I accept your proposal, in exchange for the crown,” as she says the words, his eyes light up bright blue, glowing like the star on his forehead does.
“Then, my future wife, I shall return,” he says, smiling like the cat that finally got the bird he had always been hunting. I watch as he walks to the left, and a small door opens as he walks out. I wait for the door to close before attempting to say anything, but Everly immediately cuts me off.
“Don’t, don’t say it,” she warns.
“We could have figured something else out, Ev,” I whisper harshly, but she shakes her head.
“I knew what he wanted from the moment I walked into this room. I don’t know how to explain it, but I knew,” she says, confusing me.
“What are we going to do?” I ask, knowing I won’t let my friend marry a stranger. A king who killed his own family for a throne.
“We are going to win the war. I am going to take my throne, my birthright and anything else, I will deal with. This isn’t your promise, it is mine, and I will pay the price,” she says and turns away from me before I can reply. We wait in silence until the king returns, walking in the room with an old, rusty box.
“The land king kept this with my mother to safeguard. He stole something of hers to force her to keep it safe,” the king tells us, his eyes drifting back to the crystal stick. “The crystal is part of our power, and the mermaids believe it is sacred.”
“You do not?” I ask, because I’m not sure I understand why he didn’t wish to trade the crown for the crystal.
“I do, but there are better prizes to trade for,” his eyes drift to Everly as he speaks, and she all but growls at him.
“Time to trade.”
“Not yet. The box is enchanted. It needs royal blood from both land and sea in order to open it,” he explains. He hands the box to me, which is heavier than I thought it would be, and pulls a blue dagger out of his cloak. King Damien cuts his hand quickly and holds the dagger out to Everly. She snatches it from him, slicing her own palm and placing it on the box. The second King Damien places his hand over Everly’s, there is a clicking noise as the box unlocks. They both pull their hands away, and Everly opens the box, reaching in and pulling out the crown. I feel its power almost instantly, it rolls over me, and the urge to touch the crown is indescribable. Everly closes the box as she holds the crown, and I place the box on the floor.
“It belongs to a changed one,” Everly says, offering me the crown when I look at her. The crown has a big white crystal in the middle, so clear that I can see my reflection in it.
“No, it belongs to the sea god, but we will borrow it for now,” I say and place my hands on the crown, feeling its power rush through me. My bond with my pirates bursts to life, and it’s like I can feel them right next to me. Their worry, their love, all of their emotions, and it soothes me.
“You should only touch it when you truly need to. Believe me, I know the power of a god’s gifts,” King Damien suggests, and I open my eyes to see him offering me a small woven bag. Despite feeling that I don’t want to let go of the crown, I force myself to put the crown in the bag, and then I tie the bag on my back.
“We must leave now,” I say, and pull the crystal stick out of my pocket, handing it to the king. “Think of it as a goodwill gift from the land.” The king nods, accepting the crystal stick, and he turns to Everly, offering her it.
“It will protect you, you should take it,” he suggests, and she smiles in an overly sweet way, before picking the stick up and throwing it across the room where it bounces off the wall.
“You may have my promise to marry you, but no gifts or tricks will ever get you my heart or my affection,” she spits out, before storming around the king as he laughs.
“We shall see, my queen.”
“Your queen is all I will ever be,” she says and opens the door, waiting for me to follow her. We walk out, the sound of the king’s deep laugh follows us, even through the closed door.