The Pull of the Tide by unknow

Author:unknow
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9798224285808
Publisher: Erin Branch

The king paused in his story, and I couldn’t hold myself back from interrupting again any longer.

“Is she why you never took a wife?”

The king smiled at me, and reached for a box on his bedside table. “Yes. And she’s also why it’s so important I tell you this story now.”

The box was a clamshell, like the one he’d described receiving his miracle sunburn ointment in.

“Dawn is swift approaching, and I must finish the tale soon. You see, what’s in this box will turn to seafoam if it ever sees the light of day, and I must eat it before the sun rises.”

I eyed the box with concern, but jumped when a song floated through the open balcony window. “Who’s out there? There’s nothing but ocean below that balcony.”

The king chuckled. “I told Chantara I would join her when I was sure I could leave the kingdom in capable hands. What she saw as a curse, I saw as a way to be with the one I love. She gave me this box to hold the mermaid flesh until I could relinquish dry land and help her protect the sea.” He lifted a piece of flakey white fish to his mouth and swallowed. He shuddered as though in pain, and looked at me with his clear blue eyes. “I know you’ll make a fine ruler, Ariel. Do your best. Do what’s right. Never do anything to hurt our people. And if you need help, turn to the sea.”

With that, he threw off his blankets and ran to the balcony with strength I hadn’t seen in him since he’d fallen ill. I leapt up and sprinted after him, but he leapt over the edge before I could reach him. When I got to the banister and looked over, all I saw was a gigantic set of purple-black tentacles with gold patterns wrapped around a humongous turquoise fishtail—a fishtail the same color as the king’s eyes.

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