The Siren and the Deep Blue Sea - Kerrelyn Sparks Page 0,53
the princess looked in her breeches and floppy hat.
“Then what’s the bad news?” she asked.
“Cider is all we have. The cook has drunk all the wine.”
Elinor’s eyes widened. “There was a whole barrel.”
Nevis nodded. “He’s currently passed out on the floor of the galley.”
Elinor winced.
“He’s afraid we’re all going to die,” Lobby grumbled as he stood at the wheel.
“We’re not dying!” Nevis growled.
“Definitely not.” The princess sat on a trunk and calmly sipped her cider.
How could she be so incredibly brave? And so perfect? Nevis wondered, then slapped himself mentally. She was a princess, dammit. Far beyond his reach. And she was Brody’s sister. Brody would probably kill him if he even attempted to court her.
“Have a seat, Colonel.” Princess Elinor patted the spot next to her on the trunk. “I want to hear all about my brother. What has he been doing the past six years?”
Nevis perched on the edge of the trunk in order to leave some space between himself the princess. “Did Brody never visit you in all that time?”
She sighed. “Only a few times. Mostly, he just sent us notes that he was alive and well. How did ye meet him?”
Nevis told the story of how Brody had appeared in the army camp as a bedraggled dog and how Leo had hired him as a spy. “He would be gone for a month or so at a time, gathering information; then he’d return to camp. I kept his clothes in my tent, so he could go there to shift.”
“So ye were roommates?”
“I suppose you could say that. I made a pallet for him out of old blankets. The other soldiers thought he was my pet.”
Princess Elinor gave Nevis a beaming smile that nearly made him fall off the trunk. “Thank you for being his friend. I’m so glad he wasn’t alone.”
“I-I’m not sure if I was that good a friend. I used to get mad at him when he wolfed down all my food. Or when he infested my tent with fleas.”
The princess wrinkled her nose. “Fleas?”
Nevis nodded. “I hate fleas.”
She gave him a wry look. “I doubt Brody liked them much, either.”
“Well, I suppose that’s true.”
Her eyes twinkled with amusement. “Ye’re blushing.”
“I am not.” He stiffened. “Soldiers don’t blush.”
Her mouth twitched. “I see.”
He cleared his throat, searching his mind for a way to change the subject. “Is there a reason why your mother is reluctant to ally herself with the kings on the mainland?”
“Well, ye must know that we worship the moon goddesses.” When Nevis nodded, she continued. “For centuries, the kings on the mainland persecuted and killed anyone who worshipped Luna and Lessa. So we learned it was safer to have as little contact with the mainland as possible.”
“But it’s completely different now,” he insisted. “All four of the mainland queens grew up on the Isle of Moon. The worship of the twin moons is totally accepted.”
Princess Elinor nodded. “I am aware of that, but others on the isle are not. Old traditions can be slow to change.”
“Is Brody going to be king of the isle one day?” Nevis asked.
She frowned. “He should be, but he refuses to come home until he gets rid of the curse. He doesn’t think the islanders could accept a king who’s a dog most of the time.”
Nevis shrugged. “There could be some advantages to being a dog king. If someone made him angry, he could bite them.”
Her frown disappeared as a twinkle returned to her eyes. “There are a few courtiers who would deserve that.”
“And they couldn’t expect him to listen to their complaints for hours on end,” Nevis added. “Since Brody wouldn’t be able to talk very much.”
“That would be an advantage for someone who tends to put his foot in his mouth,” she said with a pointed look.
With a wince, he shifted his weight on the edge of the trunk. “I—I am really sorry for the way I addressed you and your mother.”
“‘Hey, you’? ‘Old biddy’?”
“It was a . . . a mistake.”
“Ye’re blushing again.”
“Am not.” He gulped down more cider.
“I told my mother what ye called her.”
He choked, then swallowed quickly, his eyes watering. “What? How could . . . ? Dammit! I mean, pardon my language, but the queen must really hate me now.”
“No.” Princess Elinor grinned at him. “It made her laugh. And I haven’t heard my mother laugh in ages. Thank you so much, Colonel.” She touched his arm.
He fell splat onto his rump on the deck. Dammit! He jumped to his