The Siren and the Deep Blue Sea - Kerrelyn Sparks Page 0,3

he has a mother and a sister, but I don’t know where they live.”

“How did you meet him?”

“Hmm.” Nevis’s eyes narrowed as he thought back. “It was the summer of the year 691. Brody was sixteen. Leo and I, twenty-one. There was a severe drought that summer, and with no lightning storms, Leo’s power was completely depleted, leaving him vulnerable to attack. My father and I were extremely worried about him. Then, one day, this scraggly dog wandered into camp, looking half-starved. I gave him a bone from the commissary. Then he followed me into my tent and shifted. Scared the crap out of—oh, no offense, my lady.”

“Go on,” Maeve urged.

“He said his name was Brody, and that he’d just spent a month at Ebton Palace, listening in on King Frederic’s secret meetings. You know who that was?”

“Yes.” Maeve nodded. King Frederic had been Leo’s uncle, and he had feared Leo because of his Embraced powers. Feared him enough that he had tried his best to get his nephew killed. And when Luciana had been betrothed to Leo, she’d also become a target.

“So I gave Brody some clothes and took him to see Leo and my father, the general,” Nevis continued. “They hired him on the spot, and he’s been working hard ever since. Not just helping Leo, but the other kings on the mainland, too.”

“I knew about that last part.” As far as Maeve was concerned, Brody was the unsung hero of all the changes that had happened over the last few years. “It upsets me that no one seems to realize how valuable he is.”

Nevis scoffed. “If you value him so much, why do you keep calling him Julia whenever he’s a dog?”

She winced. “I-I had my reasons, but I’ll stop doing it.” At first, it had been an honest mistake. Brody made such a pretty dog with his long, silky fur and bright blue eyes, that she had assumed he was female. But later, after she knew the truth, she’d continued to call him Julia. For deep down inside, she’d wanted to annoy him.

The blasted man had a habit of ignoring her. Whenever there was a ball, he’d dance with her sisters but not her. He hardly even talked to her. She would have thought that he hated her, except for the fact that he always showed up on the night of the full moons as a seal or otter to play with her. That had to mean he liked her, didn’t it? So why did he avoid her when he was human?

“You seem to have lost most of your island accent,” Nevis observed.

She nodded. “While I was living at Ebton Palace, Luciana encouraged me to improve my diction.” No doubt so she could attract a noble suitor. “Where do you think Brody could be?”

Nevis shrugged. “My guess is he’s investigating the secret Embraced army that Lord Morris talked about before he died.”

She stiffened. “What? An Embraced army?”

Nevis’s mouth dropped open. “Oh. Oh, shit. I-I thought you knew. All your sisters know. I thought they . . .”

“No.” Maeve gripped the railing hard. “They didn’t tell me.”

Nevis winced. “Sorry.”

“What is this Embraced army?”

“I don’t think it’s my place to say anything.” He made a quick bow. “I should check on my soldiers. Good day, my lady.” He strode away, disappearing around the side of the cabin.

With a groan, Maeve propped her elbows on the railing. Of course her sisters hadn’t told her. She wasn’t a queen as they were. During the few days when all four kings and their queens had been in Wyndelas Palace, they had closeted themselves in the royal privy chamber for private discussions. Maeve hadn’t been invited. After all, she didn’t have a country to protect. She understood that, but even so, it was aggravating to feel left out.

It was a feeling she’d struggled with since childhood. Not that she was ignored. Her sisters had doted on her as the baby of the group. But it had always been clear that the eldest two, Luciana and Brigitta, were the best of friends. And the next two, Gwennore and Sorcha, were equally close to each other. Maeve was always the baby. The fifth wheel.

And now she felt even more left out. Her sisters and their husbands had become an exclusive group she could never join. There was only one kingdom left on Aerthlan, the island kingdom of Moon and Mist, and it already had a queen and an heir. So Maeve would never be