“Lucy.” Torun held his soft, curvy queen. Her body felt whole in his arms. “You are unharmed.”

“But you aren’t.” She stroked his bruised cheek. Her dark eyes shone with concern.

He bore many nicks from the short fight with Ailan’s warriors. The salt water tingled as he healed.

Torun moved his hand under her waving clothes and squeezed her bare skin. “I will soon be well. And did you hear? The Life Tree is reborn. Our house seed responded to your power and has put down a root. Sireno will re-form.”

She swallowed hard and withdrew. “I heard that makes you a king.”

He needed her close. Torun drew her to his side again. “You are unhappy.”

“I still can’t have kids.”

“The new Life Tree will heal you.”

“But what if it doesn’t?”

Her question contained all the sadness, all the longing, all of the tears she had shed. The evil Blake made her feel less than a female because of her problem. The new Life Tree would certainly heal her in future. But right now, she was the one who had been captured by her people and sterilized.

She would have stayed with him after he endured that punishment. In the reverse, he would stay with her. She needed to hear him say it.

“If the new Life Tree does not heal you, and you are never able to bear our son, I do not care.”

“But Torun, your species is endangered. You have to—”

“Another will take my responsibility.”

She shook her head on those doubts.

He held her gently. “Lucy, you are my queen. From the moment your soul shone onto mine, you earned my devotion. Every action since has only strengthened our bond. I love, honor, and desire only you.”

“You love me?”

His heart swelled with the truth. Speaking aloud made it more right. “I love only you.”

She covered his mouth with hers. Her sweet promise shimmered in the water. He held her close.

The army of warriors murmured.

Curse their interruption.

He calmed his excitement and drew back. She licked her lips, sharing his promise. He would claim her, and she would welcome his claim.

Torun faced the superior force. Jolan had been captured and was surrounded by warriors, and Malem was on the deck, guarding Blake. No other help would come from any quarter. He and Lucy were on their own.

She was all Torun needed.

The sooner they ended this, the sooner he could be alone with Lucy. “Disperse now before you are needlessly hurt.”

The warlord leading the army, Sulan, faced him soberly. “Exile Torun. The Council demands you return to face final justice.”

Lucy turned in Torun’s arms to face Sulan. “Torun’s your King.”

“He has broken our traditions.”

“So you’ll break them back?” She snorted. “You’re hypocrites. All of you. It’s disgusting, and you should be ashamed.”

Sulan shifted uneasily. He was an honorable, duty-bound warlord who had trained in the same age group as Torun. Back in their youth, multiple sacred islands sent brides to Sireno, and more than one young fry was born in a year. But where Torun had chafed by the increasingly strict bride restrictions, Sulan had hardened himself to endure, serving year after year faithfully, knowing he would never receive the bride he deserved.

Now, he quoted the law. “It is for the Council to decide.”

“Grow some balls. You’re going to need them if you expect to be a father.”

Sulan’s brows rose.

Ailan clenched the bag of stolen Sea Opals. “Address Warlord Sulan with respect!”

“Ailan,” Sulan growled.

“But she is a would-be bride who is already married, and she dishonors you and Warlord Tor—”

“I am a queen!”

Her proclamation rang through the ocean. A shing sound, like a chime striking a blade, flowed outward and surrounded her trio in a protective sphere.

Ailan’s eyes widened. His unit darted behind him, tridents out. They hadn’t witnessed her powers before. Sulan’s units moved back smartly, in formation, with a much better understanding of what they risked.

Torun stroked his beautiful queen’s soft bicep. Her hair floated like kelp, tickling his face. She had never glowed so strongly. Truly, she was his queen.

She looked up at him, resting on his support. “They’re all going to challenge you like this, aren’t they?”

“You will win them over. It will take time.”

“I’m not really interested.” She tightened her hands around the arm holding her to him. “You need to solve your women trouble. Of course, the males of Sireno have to stop being such pig-headed jerks first.”

“It is possible to change. Falling in love clears a clouded mind.”

“Great. So, let’s gather some willing brides and organize a big speed-date.”

“You do not wish to meet the new Life Tree first?”

“When your Council can promise I’ll never, ever have to see you tied up with a knife in the town square, I’ll visit.”

“You would abandon this ruling position?” He tilted his head. “An air-breathing queen who controls the Sea Opals would amass a great fortune among her people.”

Especially since “her own people” were willing to kill to possess the Sea Opals. Torun knew his queen’s answer. He wanted to be sure that the rest of the listening warriors did also.

“I never wanted the money. I only wanted to find another Sea Opal to prove that I was right. And when the rest of you admit that Torun and I belong together,” she pointed at the warriors, “then I’ll have all the treasure I need.”

He chuckled. The day was coming. Even now, the warriors could see what their old traditions cost them, and what new traditions could lift them with hope.

Torun swelled with pride. “Then, if you will not be the queen of Sireno, I do not wish to be king.”

“Oh.” She bit her lip. “Are you upset?”

“No. I am a warlord, not a liege.”

“Let’s form a club. Right now.” She tugged him toward the surface, seeming to forget the fact that they were still surrounded by a hostile army. “Mel and Elyssa will be our first members. We’ll start organizing.”

He resisted. “And Sireno?”

“Can’t someone else rule? One who’s not your grandfather and also not you?”

“Yes.” Torun turned to his city’s rightful ruler. “I give my castle to Jolan, son of the former king. If he will accept it.”

Jolan pushed through the lax tridents of his stunned guards. “You would do this?”

“You are a loyal and careful prince,” Torun said. “Excuse my words. King.”

Jolan swelled.

“Rule well,” Lucy said. “Good luck.”

King Jolan nodded to her and faced his new subjects. The lower ranks shifted.

Sulan swam forward. “My orders came from the Council. Exile Torun’s words have no power.”

“Think again,” Lucy called. “If you let Torun’s grandfather rule both positions without any balance, you’re breaking traditions way worse than Torun ever did.”

Sulan considered this.

“Jolan was supposed to be king,” Torun added. “Surely it is more stabilizing to leave the Council in its position, advising the new king, than to destroy both positions to make one.”

Sulan straightened and pointed at Jolan. “Rally to your new king!”

The mer all bowed. They awaited their first orders from King Jolan.

King Jolan stiffened and puffed his chest. His turquoise tattoos, which Torun himself had helped to ink, changed to a regal iridescence. “We return to Sireno.”

“What of the stones, my king?” Ailan held up the bags of Sea Opals. “Should we return them to the sacred cave?”

“No. These jewels belong to brides long departed. We will not bury them in a dusty place to be desecrated or hidden away. We will return them to the budding Life Tree for rejuvenation, so they will be ready to select new brides who are filled with our resonance.”

The warriors straightened with the rightness of his words. Even Torun’s spine lengthened and head rose. A ringing speech uplifted all who heard it, the pride and rightness traveled faster and stronger under the ocean. Yes. They had chosen wisely.

Sulan bowed to his new king, nodded to Torun and Lucy, and ordered his army to depart.