In Deeper Waters F.T. Lukens (acx book reading txt) 📖

Either way, his mother thought him dead. Tal hugged his stomach.

“That’s not all.” She tugged on her braid. “The proclamation says that the perpetrators have been captured or killed, but there is a bounty for information about anyone who may have helped them.” She shifted her gaze to Athlen and gestured to him. “The townsfolk have implicated you.”

Athlen pushed his head through the fabric of his shirt, then pointed to his chest. “Me? I didn’t help them. I saved him.”

“I know that. Tal knows that. But you were seen with Tal at the tavern before he disappeared. You’ve been gone since that night and then show back up and spend large sums of gold around town. You must know how bad it all looks.”

Athlen’s mouth fell open. He looked to Tal, then back to Dara. “But I didn’t… I am not… oh no.”

“Yes, oh no. The village people are stricken over the loss of the kind young prince who handed out supplies during the sickness. Everyone is tense and looking for vengeance. You’ll be the first target. You better stay out of sight until the both of you are ready to travel back to the castle.”

“I’m sorry,” Tal said. He studied the grooves in the floor of the cavern, where the tide had seeped in for centuries and worn a pattern into the rock. He traced one with the edge of a fingernail.

“It’s not your fault,” Athlen said, padding over. He crossed his arms over his chest, and the sleeves of his shirt billowed out, wrapping his slim torso in an excess of fabric.

Tal didn’t believe that, but there was nothing he could do to change the situation. “So,” he said, “what’s your bad news?”

Athlen grimaced. He pointed at the water. “I was at the docks. Well, under them, listening to the sailors and… well… they talked about your family.”

Athlen hesitated. Tal took another long drink of the broth. “I’m dead. I can handle it.”

“Your sister… is married.”

Tal went cold. “What?”

“Why is that bad?” Dara asked. “That was part of the proclamation too. The wedding was held early so it wouldn’t conflict with the funeral rites. I didn’t think that was as bad as Tal being dead.”

Tal set the canteen aside and drew his legs to his chest, the blankets sliding off. He ran a hand through his hair, then gripped his knees with white knuckles.

“We have reason to think that Prince Emerick was behind Tal’s kidnapping. And our plan was to stop the wedding.”

“Oh,” Dara said. “That is bad.”

Tal shuddered. He closed his eyes and drew on his lessons. Composure. Regain composure. Don’t let them see the cracks. “My plan hasn’t changed. I need to get home. I need to expose Emerick. But I will go alone. Athlen, you should hide until this storm blows over.”

“No.”

“Athlen.”

“No.” He put his hands on his hips in an eerie mirror of Isa. “I didn’t save you from those”—he waved his hand—“pirates to have you turn around and be hurt by someone else. You’re not going alone and you’re not going to brush me aside.”

Tal scrambled to standing, careful of his tender leg. “I’m not brushing you aside. But I don’t want to be responsible for you being jailed for a bounty. Or worse. You never told my brother why you were on that ship and how you came to possess that chest of gold. And if he gets to you without me there, he’ll hang you.”

“I’m aware of all the risks. I make my own decisions, and I’m choosing to take you across the land and get you back home.”

“No. I will not allow it.”

“You can’t stop me.”

“Yes, I can. I am a prince of Harth.”

“Technically, you’re dead,” Dara said, nose wrinkled.

“I’m not going to fight about this. As soon as I’m well, I will find a horse and ride home.”

Athlen’s face went pale save for a splash of red on his cheeks. “You’ll abandon me, then?”

That brought Tal up short. He floundered. “What?”

“Why am I always the one left behind?”

“I’m not… I’m not… I wouldn’t do that.”

In the short time Tal had known him, he’d seen Athlen happy and sad and drunk and brave, but not livid. With his brow furrowed, he stood with clenched fists, and his nostrils flared and his body shook. He pointed at Tal and opened his mouth but stopped. He snapped it shut, and in one fluid movement he stripped off his shirt and dove into the water.

Tal hobbled to the side and peered into the half-moon basin of crystal water that plunged deceptively deep. He caught a glimpse of red-and-gold fins, then they disappeared. The abandoned trousers floated to the surface.

“Wow,” Dara said.

Tal jumped. He’d forgotten she was there.

“I’ve never seen him like that.” She shuffled over to Tal’s side and peered into the depths. “You must have touched a nerve.”

“I’m not abandoning him.”

She huffed. “You’re protecting him. But he doesn’t see it that way. He’s been lonely for a long time, and your dismissal hurt him.”

“I didn’t mean to.”

“I know. And he knows that too. It’s easy for him when he is the one doing the leaving. I think that’s why he comes and goes as he pleases. He’ll visit and help when he’s needed, but he doesn’t stay around. It’s why I’ve never been here before, despite knowing him for years.”

“He doesn’t let anyone get close.” In that they were surprisingly similar. “He can’t afford to be hurt again.”

“No. He can’t.” She rested her hand on his shoulder. “It’s why I tried to warn him away from you. He likes you, but we both know that once you are home, there isn’t going to be room for a wayward merman in the life of a prince.”

“You don’t know that,” Tal snapped. He shrugged off her touch and fiercely met her gaze. “You don’t know what my life is like, or what I do or do not have room for. You don’t get to make that decision.”

She