Chapter3

I felt like I'd been struck by lightning. I sank down onto the sand.

The comments went wild.

[Congrats! You're gonna be a mom!]

[Royal blood plus half-blood mermaid... what's that baby even gonna look like?]

[Once the fiancée's back, it's caviar time!]

I stared at the open shell, my mind completely blank.

Pregnant.

I was really pregnant.

Me, a half-blood maid, carrying the prince's child.

The current swayed through the coral, impossibly beautiful.

But the whole world was spinning, and even my scales were shaking.

I remembered what Kaelan had said.

"Feed them to the sharks."

That was how much he hated whoever it was.

If he found out it wasn't just that I'd been in his bed.

I was carrying his child, too!

Would he still treat me the way he did now?

My thoughts were a tangled mess.

I found myself thinking about five years ago.

Back then, I was a half-blood mermaid drifting through the shallows. No home, no pod, scraping by on whatever shells I could find.

Then one day, a pack of deep-sea monsters started hunting me.

They said there was magic in my blood, and eating me would make them stronger.

I swam until I thought my tail would tear off, and they cornered me at the edge of an underwater cliff.

Right when I thought I was about to become their dinner.

A flash of blue light came down from above.

Kaelan rode in on the current and landed in front of me.

One strike of his trident ran the leader through. The rest scattered.

He glanced down at me.

I was covered in wounds, curled up in a crack in the rock, shaking.

He reached in, pulled me out, and looked me over.

His hand was warm. In my whole life, no one had ever reached for me like that.

"Interesting. A half-blood who doesn't break easily."

Then he brought me back to the palace and kept me on as a maid in his chambers.

I'd been by his side ever since. Five years.

He fed me the sweetest sea grapes.

In winter, he made sure I had a spot in the warmest current.

Everyone in the kingdom said the prince was cold and heartless.

But he'd always been gentle with me.

I knew he only kept me around because he found me amusing.

A little mermaid who dozed off at the edge of his desk.

For a prince who spent all day buried in affairs of state.

I was probably like a cat someone keeps to pass the time.

He was good to me the way an owner is good to a pet.

And still, every time he smiled at me, my foolish heart forgot that.

How could I ever dream that a prince so far above me.

Would fall for a half-blood maid like me?

News of Princess Nerissa's return.

Had spread through the whole kingdom three days earlier.

I was hiding in the anemones.

Listening to the guards gossip as they swam past.

"Princess Nerissa of the Northern Sea has been engaged to our prince since they were kids."

"About time she came back. The king arranged that match himself. Once she's home, the wedding can't be far off, right?"

"Exactly. Perfect match. If she hadn't gone back north for three years, they'd be married already."

I curled up deeper in the anemones.

I wrapped my tail around myself and buried myself in the sand.

The comments drifted past.

[Hear that? The real fiancée's coming back. Time for you to exit stage left.]

[A cleaning maid versus a princess? Please. She's Northern Sea royalty.]

[Your good days are over, sweetie. Get ready to become caviar.]

I didn't want to hear any more.

I covered my ears and swam back to his chambers.

I stopped in front of a mirror of polished shell.

The girl in it had long sea-blue hair, and the scales on her tail shimmered silver.

She was wearing a loose silk robe.

But if you looked closely, you could tell something had changed.

Almost two months along, and my belly was getting hard to hide.

I covered my stomach with my arms and swam inside with my head down.

And ran straight into Kaelan's chest.

"Coral?"

He steadied me by the shoulders and looked down at me.

"What's the rush?"

I jumped and backed away two strokes.

I quietly sucked in my stomach.

"N-nothing..."

Kaelan narrowed his eyes.

"Then why have you been avoiding me?"

"I haven't, Your Highness, I..."

I couldn't get the words out.

He moved closer, looming over me.

"You used to stick to me all day long. Now you can't even look at me. Did you do something you shouldn't have?"

My heart was pounding like a drum.

The comments were flying.

[She's guilty! Look at her!]

[She's about to crack!]

[Five bucks says she doesn't make it to the end of this chapter.]

I shook my head frantically.

"No, no! My magic's just been a little unstable lately."

Kaelan stared at me for a long time.

Then he raised his hand to check my magic.

I flinched back, out of his reach.

Kaelan paused.

He lowered his hand a little awkwardly and said, flatly:

"Then go rest in your room. Don't wander off. Nerissa's back tomorrow and there's a welcome banquet. You're coming too."

I froze.

"Me too?"

"You're my maid. Of course you're coming."

And with that, he swam off.

I stayed where I was, cold all over.

A welcome banquet.

Princess Nerissa.

The real fiancée was already on her way back?