Three Rings (The Fairytail Saga) (34 page)

‘Okay,’ he agreed quickly, his heart still racing. The water was making his legs tingle, and he realized that he was on the verge of transforming-right there in front of her. It was another hassle of learning how his new body worked-when he was naked, the water instigated his tail as easily as Ivyanne’s body gave him a hard-on. He had to move before he gave awa the game.

‘Believe me-I know how it feels. I’ve almost drowned twice myself. The first time, I was so embarrassed...only
I
got saved by a girl. How’s that for humiliating?’

Sherri chuckled, then leaned forward, resting her head against his knees, preventing him from moving. ‘God I’m so grateful to you right now….’

It wasn’t until her breath brushed across his groin that Lincoln suddenly became aware of how naked they both were. ‘I only did what anyone would...’ he said. ‘But we have to get you into a hot shower before your toes turn blue.’

‘I already can’t feel them,’ Sherri admitted. ‘My entire lower body feels-’ Sherri glanced down at herself and let out a blood-curling scream.

Lincoln flinched, wondering if she had some sort of shark bite she wasn’t aware of, but when he looked at the place her legs should have been, his heart seized and his blood turned to ice.

Sherri had a tail. It was the first time he’d been successfully screwed by a woman in under a minute.

20.

‘I just don’t understand….’ Ivyanne paced the floor of her parents’ living room the next morning, wishing that she had gone back to her own place the night before. If she had, she would have been with Lincoln when he’d found Sherri unconscious, and
she
would have been the one to resuscitate her.

Coming back to her parents had been an awful idea anyway. Ardhi had seen right though her-then made her to feel like hell about it. After that, she had tossed and turned all night, only to be woken at 5am with an equally tired and freaked out fiancé toting along a brand new recruit! An unwanted one, at that!

‘I’m going to admit that it occurred to me,’ her mother said softly, her golden skin had paled the second Lincoln had brought Sherri through the door. ‘Seeing how powerful Ardhi is, it’s no surprise that he passed on at least
one
characteristic to Lincoln.’

Eight faces turned to stare at Ardhi, who raised an eyebrow. ‘Oh so it’s
my
fault now?’ he rolled his eyes. ‘Come on guys, I’m doing enough penance as it is.’

Joakim looked at Sherri thoughtfully. ‘I fail to see why this is the end of the world. So we have one more full blood mermaid, and one more full blood merman with the ability to turn-shouldn’t we be breaking out the champagne?’

‘Good point,’ Ivyanne’s father said, resting one of his large weathered hands on Lincoln’s cowed shoulder. ‘The future king can turn-I find that fact delightful. And as soon as Sherri comes to terms with this, I’m certain that she’ll fit right in.’

Ivyanne pouted, looking down at her hands which she had folded in her lap. They were right, of course. But she would have been a lot happier if Lincoln had worked his new magic on someone else-
anyone
else.

Sherri cleared her throat. She’d been clinging to Lincoln’s arm for the full twenty minutes since they’d arrived, and the scared-rabbit look hadn’t left her face for a moment. The fact that Ivyanne knew how overwhelmed the new girl was, was the only thing that kept her from forcibly removing her hand from her fiancés arm.

‘I’m grateful that Link found me when he did-let’s face it-I’d be dead if he hadn’t. But all of this is pretty hard to deal with. I mean, that story, in the shell…..the tail….all of it is freaking me out.’

‘That’s understandable,’ Eka said softly. ‘We were all born this way, understanding. Only you and Lincoln know what the transition is like.’

‘I’m here for you,’ Lincoln said to her, patting her arm tenderly. ‘I’m so sorry I did this to you, but you’ve got to believe that it gets good-fast. I don’t regret being turned, not for a second.’

‘Thank you,’ Sherri said softly, leaning her head against his shoulder. ‘I think I’m going to need all the help I can get.’

Ivyanne almost threw up.

Saraya suddenly snorted, and everyone turned to look at her.

‘What’s so funny?’ Vana asked sharply.

‘Oh!’ Saraya had the grace to blush. ‘Sorry, just my mind ticking away…..seems ironic that our problems have turned into our solutions, only too late for them to solve the original problems…’

‘Huh?’ Ivyanne was lost.

‘I’m talking about Ardhi,’ Saraya nodded to the boy across from her. ‘He’s Marked. He’s a full-blood. He’s a mystic….if we’d known this six months ago,
none
of this drama would have happened. He’s technically the perfect king-even
Tristan
wouldn’t have been a serious contender by comparison. I mean, you were best friends. I thought for sure that you were going to pick him.’

Ivyanne was sorry she’d asked. Saraya was right. If she’d put her best friend and her duties first, everything would have been fine. But she’d followed her heart, and that had launched the tidal wave of drama she was now drowning in.

‘Saraya, hush now,’ Vana said softly. ‘Can’t you see that you’re upsetting her?’

‘I’m sorry,’ Saraya looked truly apologetic. ‘But it is my job to see matches and keep records on everyone...I can’t help but come to the conclusion I was trained for.’

‘Well there’s no point wasting time, thinking about what could have been,’ Ivyanne’s father suddenly said. ‘Saraya I think we all appreciate your honesty, but perhaps now is not the moment for it.’

‘Or maybe it is.’ Eka suddenly said.

Ivyanne turned to the older woman, a shiver running down her spine when she saw the way Ardhi’s mother was eyeing her, arms crossed stubbornly in front of her beige and gold paisley print dress.

‘Is it so crazy for me to suggest that what should have been, is what still
could
be?’

Ivyanne felt bile in her throat. ‘Yes,’ she said quickly, getting to her feet. ‘Eka please, don’t go there.’

‘Why not?’ Eka lifted her chin, her eyes following Ivyanne as she backed towards the counter, closer to where her parents stood. ‘Saraya is a royal official and she has a point-you and Ardhi are a more ideal match now than you ever were.’

‘Mum….’ Ardhi’s tone was low and warning, and Ivyanne glanced at him hopefully. She knew that Ardhi was the one person who could stop his mother from voicing her opinions. ‘
Don’t
.’

‘I’ll do and say as I please. And if she kicks me out like she kicked out poor Lux, so be it!’ Eka got to her feet, the beads on the hem of her floaty dress tinkling with her movements. ‘The fact is that Ardhi is alive. Ivyanne is engaged, yes, but she’s not married, and she’s not pregnant-My son made some mistakes, yes, but what he did for young Lincoln was more than compensation for them, no?’

Ivyanne crossed her arms across her chest. ‘That doesn’t change the fact that-’

‘You don’t love him,’ Joakim finished for her, standing up beside his wife, his ivory skin a contrast to Eka’s olive complexion. ‘You say that Ivyanne, but it’s clear that you don’t know your own heart. You loved Lincoln, you loved Tristan….and when Ardhi died, I heard you wept for him for days, wishing to have him back and make things right.’

‘Of course she did!’ Lincoln’s hand came down on the table with a large slap which rattled the cutlery rack in the centre. ‘But that’s because she has a good heart! I see where this is going, and I don’t appreciate it!’

‘Frankly, I don’t care
what
you appreciate,’ Eka snapped. ‘You’re new to our sect, Mr Grey, and you’ve coasted in on nothing but luck while my son has suffered. ’

‘Hold on!’ Sherri suddenly piped up, her voice a squeak. ‘Ivyanne was into Ardhi too?’

‘No!’ Ivyanne snapped, then her heart sank when she saw the look on Ardhi’s face. ‘Oh Ardhi...I’m sorry. I didn’t-’

‘Save it,’ Ardhi grunted, looking ill. ‘You think I’m surprised to hear that I was never even in the running? What if Tristan hadn’t been into you, huh? Would Bane have been the next choice?’ He dropped his head into folded arms. ‘I should have left with Lux. At least
she
cared.’

Ivyanne lifted her face to the ceiling. ‘Oh god will this nightmare never end?!’

‘Not until you do the right thing,’ Joakim said bitterly. ‘Two weeks ago I swallowed that crap about Ivyanne and Lincoln being meant to be-but the evidence pointing to that has become redundant now that Ardhi’s alive.’

Ivyanne looked up to see Mrs Kayu-Api walk to the back of Ardhi’s chair and rest her hands on her son’s shoulders.
Shut up!
She thought.
Just Shut Up!

‘If Ardhi is powerful enough to pass along one gift to a mer he turns, imagine how powerful a child
born
from him will be. I think it’s pretty obvious that he should be bred with Ivyanne-it may not be to her benefit in the immediate future-but the benefit of this kingdom should be
first
priority.’

Ivyanne’s heart sank. She looked at Lincoln, not shocked to find him openly seething. She wanted to put her arms around him but she was rooted to the spot.

‘You may not love him yet,’ Eka went on, fixing her steely gaze on Ivyanne. ‘But he is a worthy man, and I don’t doubt that you will come to.’

‘And I’m sure Lincoln will come to peace with it, especially now that he has young Sherri to guide.’ Joakim said, glaring at Lincoln, furrowing his white brows. ‘My daughter informed me the other night that she stumbled upon you two acting hot and heavy with damn Lux in the pool at your resort. If that isn’t a tick in Ardhi’s column, I don’t know
what
is.’

‘You
what
?’ Ivyanne’s father snapped, turning on Lincoln.

‘Daddy, don’t,’ Ivyanne said softly. ‘It was a mistake and nothing more. I’ll explain later. He feels nothing for her.’

Sherri caught her eye, her pretty mouth twisted in a sneer.

‘You don’t know what you’re talking about,’ Lincoln said, looking indignant, his gaze not flinching from Ardhi’s father. ‘I was fickle in my flirtations in a moment of weakness-but your son stabbed another full blood over the same thing. And
I’m
the one to watch?’ He turned to Vana. ‘Speaking of which, I’ve been meaning to ask...is there some sort of form of mer punishment for
attempted murder
? Or are we all just going to pretend that he’d okay because he has some fire power we could harness?’

‘Yes,’ Vana said with a sigh. ‘But the penalty is giving your last breath to a human to replace the mer lost. Only Ardhi kind of took care of that himself.’

Ardhi smirked. ‘I sent myself to the naughty corner.’

Ivyanne had to intervene. ‘Of course I could love Ardhi,’ she was quick to say, not wanting to stab her friend in the heart once again. ‘But the reality is that I already do love Link, and have agreed to marry him. I will not break that promise I made, one I made thinking that it was Ardhi’s dying wish.’

Eka pursed her lips. ‘I understand that,’ she said quickly. ‘So I’ll ask for a compromise. There was the chance, last week, that Lincoln would have been a step-father to Tristan’s unborn child, and we all saw the advantage of that. If you cannot bear to live without your Lincoln, then I think it’s fair to suggest that you and Ardhi come together to make a child before you are married.’

There were shocked gasps from around the room.

‘You have GOT to be kidding me!’ Lincoln thundered, knocking his chair over with how quickly he got to his feet. ‘You cannot breed my fiancé like a prize-winning mare!’

Eka whirled on him, a few glossy black and silvery strands unravelling from her chignon. ‘Actually, we can, and we should! It wouldn’t be the first time!’ She turned back to Ivyanne, but her eyes went over her shoulder, to her mother. ‘Were you not once in a similar situation?’

‘Only because I didn’t have any other options!’ Vana protested. ‘And it didn’t work anyway!’

Ivyanne felt her stomach roll-her mother had bred with another mer before her father and after her first marriage?! She looked up and saw that her dad’s face had grown red. He didn’t look surprised-merely irritated. So he’d known then.

‘Mum!’ Ardhi cried. ‘That’s ridiculous! Don’t you see that if I have a child with Ivyanne, our family is taken off the roster for good?’

‘So?’ Joakim responded. ‘We’d still have a child in line to be prince or princess. Maybe our family would finally find some peace after years of judgement.’

‘Your family is judged because you two broke the rules!’ Ash pointed out. ‘Ardhi’s power is the result of corruption! You two know how I cherish Ardhi, like one of my own, but if we set this example, Marked families will get it in their head that it pays off to defy the queen!’

‘But it
will
pay off!’ Eka pointed out. ‘The next heir could be more powerful than any before it!’

‘And what good will that do if fifty years from now, they have nobody to breed with, because the bloodlines were crossed over, leaving no pure candidate?’ Vana demanded. ‘We have these rules for reason!’