In Deeper Waters by F.T. Lukens (most motivational books txt) 📕

Garrett grinned, and there was no doubt he had a pun about marriage and swords on his tongue before their mother cut him off with a sharp glance. She couldn’t hide her smile. “It is decided. Isa, ensure Emerick writes to his brother and reminds him of the seriousness of the transgressions against our family. Vanessa will be returned to them if they relinquish their hold on the mines along their border. The handmaiden will die for her role in kidnapping my son, but not before she is questioned. I will send my regards to the royal family of Mysten, offer my apologies, and propose an alliance through marriage if needed.” She folded her hands. “You are dismissed. Except you, Taliesin.”

Tal plopped back into his seat. His mother remained silent while his siblings shuffled out. Kest moved slowly, and Isa stayed by his side, and it felt like an eternity until the doors closed. Once they were alone, his mother stood from her chair and settled in the one Garrett had occupied. She took Tal’s hands in hers, the many jeweled rings on her fingers flashing in the light from the high windows, her skin warm on his.

“Do you love him?”

Tal bit his lip. “Yes.”

“He’s a merman. You are a human.”

“Yes.”

“Does he love you?”

Tal shrugged. “I don’t know.”

“Is he truly the last?”

“Yes.”

She regarded Tal for a few long moments. Her expression revealed nothing, and Tal stilled under her assessing gaze, waiting for her judgment.

“My darling son,” she said, voice soft and kind. She brushed a lock of hair from his forehead. “You will ask him to stay. Provide him with what he needs to live in the castle, and if he decides to do so, then we will discuss this issue again after a further courtship. If he cannot stay, then end it. Do you understand?”

“Yes, Mother.”

Seeing his troubled expression, she cupped his cheek. “I hope he stays, darling.”

Tal’s stomach ached. Since that moment in the cave, when his heart thumped, and his middle dropped, and his skin burned with the fiercest desire to be touched by Athlen’s fingers, he’d wished for a way for himself, a magic prince, and Athlen, an orphaned merman, to live together in the castle by the sea. Now his mother was providing him with one.

If only Athlen would choose it.

15

When Tal emerged from his meeting with his mother, Garrett was waiting for him, leaning against the castle wall, ankles crossed.

“Are you all right?” he asked, stroking his beard. “You look like you could fall over if I poked you with a feather.”

“I’m fine,” Tal said. He rubbed a hand over his eyes. “Just tired and hungry again.”

Garrett pushed away from the wall. “You don’t have to come with me to question the prisoner if you don’t want. I can do it on my own.”

Tal shook his head. “No. No, I want to come. I want to hear what she has to say.”

Garrett nodded. “Let me know if it becomes too much.”

“Thank you.”

Tal followed Garrett down the winding hallways and staircases into the deepest part of the castle. It was dark and damp and cold below the ground, the carefully carved stone giving way to roughhewn rock. Guards stood outside the main entrance to the dungeons, sitting in chairs around a fledgling fire in a grate, tossing dice on the floor in a game.

They jumped to their feet at the sight of Garrett.

“Commander,” the first one said, breathless.

Garrett ignored the dice rolling across the dips and divots of the floor. He jerked his chin toward the large wooden door. “Open it.”

A jangle of keys later, the door swung inward, and Tal followed Garrett inside.

Harth rarely used its dungeons. There was a prison near the outer wall for holding those awaiting trial, but otherwise, justice was swift and there was no need for the dank chambers.

Tal had never been down there before, and he trembled as he crossed the threshold. The ceiling was low, the walls were carved of rock, and a row of iron bars lined a dark walkway on either side. At the end of the corridor was a gentle curve.

Garrett grabbed a torch from the wall and passed it to Tal.

“Light it.”

Tal tentatively held the shaft of wood and iron. “Really?”

“You’re not hiding any longer. That’s what you said, right? Light it.”

Tal blinked, and the torch roared to life, a burst of flames illuminating the closed-in space. Shadows flickered on the wall, casting eerie shapes that made the atmosphere substantially creepier.

Garrett didn’t flinch and grabbed the torch from Tal’s hand without pause. “Handy.” He turned his back and raised the torch high. “This way.”

Acceptance was a strange thing, and Tal’s knees went weak with it as he staggered after his brother. Garrett wasn’t afraid of him. Even after his display in the throne room on the night of his return, Garrett trusted him.

Tal smiled at the realization he’d be unfettered now, in the castle, in the village. He could be his true self for the first time since he was a boy.

Overjoyed, Tal ducked his head and thought of all the things he could do with his magic, all the people he could help. He could integrate into his family again, not be hidden away when important guests arrived or during council meetings. No longer would he have to disappear to the walled gardens to practice, or study the few remaining texts of magic in secret. Lost in thought, his steps slowing, he drifted too close to the cells.

A hand shot out from between the bars and grabbed his arm in a vise grip. He jerked away, heart in his throat, but another hand reached out, grasping his vest and yanking him close.

His chest slammed into the bars, punching the air from his lungs. He craned his neck, searching for Garrett in the dark, but he’d turned a corner and disappeared, taking the warm, flickering light with him.

“Garrett,” Tal said on