*They are right behind us!* Jane’s mental voice came in panting gasps, matching her labored breathing. *Neridia, it’s the Knight-Commander and my brother! They’ll be within sight of us any second now!*

“Just a little further!” Neridia shouted back. “Look! There’s land!”

The south coast of England was a dark smudge on the horizon. Despite Jane’s obvious exhaustion, the sight seemed to hearten the sea dragon. She redoubled her efforts, fairly flying over the sea.

Neridia could make out the lights of Brighton now, glittering through the twilight like stars that had fallen to earth. Neridia fixed her eyes on the rapidly-approaching city, her heart rising. They were so close now…they were going to make it…

Jane shrieked like a hundred off-key flutes, recoiling from the sea as if the water was suddenly burning hot. Or, as Neridia discovered as spray dashed against her legs, burning cold. Between one breath and the next, the sea had turned icy.

Literally icy.

Neridia swallowed freezing sea water as Jane frantically back-finned away from an iceberg that hadn’t been there a second ago. Spluttering and coughing, Neridia gaped as the sheet of ice grew thicker right before their eyes. It raced out to either side of them, forming a wide crescent blocking their path.

“How-?” Neridia began—but even as she spoke, she already knew the answer.

*There is ice in my brother’s heart.* Jane paddled back to the white wall, which loomed a good ten feet above sea level now. *Enough to freeze half the sea. It’s too thick to dive under, you’d drown before we got to the other side.*

“We’re trapped!” Neridia’s pulse raced. “You go, Jane, leave me here. You can still get to safety-”

*And abandon my Empress? Not likely!* Jane dug her claws into the ice. *Hold on!*

Neridia grabbed onto the sea dragon’s mane as she pulled herself up, seawater streaming from her scales. Breath hissing between her fangs with the effort, the sea dragon climbed the sheer wall of ice.

The iceberg’s surface was unnaturally flat, level as a table. Jane lay still for a moment, panting, then painfully hauled herself to her feet. She tested the ice gingerly with one webbed foot.

*It’ll be faster to cross this on two feet,* she said, ducking her head to allow Neridia to slide off her back. *Sea dragons aren’t built for walking.*

Neridia hastened to support Jane as the sea dragon resumed human form, glad to finally be able to do something to help her. “Just a little farther,” she said encouragingly. “Come on!”

She’d feared that the ice would be slick, but the flash-frozen sea water was gritty with trapped particulates. It crunched under Neridia’s shoes as she half-pulled, half-carried Jane across the iceberg.

Just a little farther…just a little farther…

Indigo scales erupted from the ocean ahead. The entire iceberg tilted as John’s enormous bulk landed on the far edge. Neridia was knocked off her feet, sharp ice crystals cutting into her palms as she fell.

The iceberg rocked again. Neridia clung onto the ice for dear life as it bobbed like a cork on the sea.

Slowly, the wild, bouncing movement lessened. The iceberg stilled again, floating calmly once more. Heart hammering, hair across her face, Neridia looked up.

John stood in her path, sword drawn.

He was fully armored, his dragon-faced helm hiding his face. She couldn’t make out his expression, couldn’t even see his eyes. The mate bond was as cold as the ice underneath her.

Jane’s sob of terror made Neridia glance back. The sea dragon wasn’t looking at her brother, but at another towering figure, standing behind them. Light blazed around his diamond-encrusted armor as he sauntered forward.

“Empress-in-Waiting.” The Knight-Commander sketched the briefest bow. “Going somewhere?”

Slowly, Neridia got to her feet. Backing away from the Knight-Commander, she turned instead to her mate.

“Please, John,” she whispered. “Please let us go.”

He didn’t move. He might have been a statue of a knight, carved from granite. He held his sword two-handed, like a cross, the point resting on the ground between his braced feet.

“Come now, Empress-in-Waiting.” The Knight-Commander stepped over the huddled Jane, not even sparing her a downward glance. “You have claimed the Pearl Throne! The Sea Council accepts you as the Heir! You cannot try to back-fin away now.”

Neridia put a hand on John’s bare arm, between the plates of his armor. His muscles were as hard as the metal.

“Please.” She tightened her grip. “I don’t want to go back.”

His helmet tilted, very slightly. The snarling dragon of his visor looked down at her.

“Why?” His voice was so quiet, she could barely hear him.

“I can’t explain.” She was acutely aware of the Knight-Commander’s stare boring into her back. “I’m sorry, John, I just can’t. Please, trust me. Let me go.”

“Your Imperial Majesty, I beg you, master your human fears. Consider what you have to lose, should you continue to pursue this action,” the Knight-Commander said. “Would you break your mate’s heart? I fear he would not have long to live, if you abandon him like this.”

The Knight-Commander’s tone dripped with honeyed concern. Only she could hear the sting in his words.

Even if I somehow got past them both, even if he couldn’t catch me…he’d take his revenge on John.

Neridia took a deep breath. Squaring her shoulders, she reached up to hold her pearl pendant tight in her hand.

I’m sorry, Dad. You sacrificed so much to try to prevent this. I’m sorry.

But I can’t abandon my mate.

She met the Knight-Commander’s triumphant eyes. “All right,” she said, dully. “You win. I’ll come back. I’ll be your Empress.”

The Knight-Commander let out a long-suffering sigh. “Well, finally.” Striding forward, he reached for her arm. “Come, Empress-in-Waiting. I will take you back where you-“

He stopped dead.

“With the greatest respect, sir.” John’s outstretched sword barred the Knight-Commander’s way. “I cannot allow you to do that.”