Chapter 6.5

The bruised ankle was a liability. I was gripping at his robes half to steady myself as I pressed the knife to his throat.

"How much did you see?" I asked, my heart beating wildly.

"More than it seems you would have liked." His smile did not drop for a second.

I wanted him to feel threatened. I wanted to look like I had been an untamed beast, instead I looked more like a woman gone half-mad. I hadn't thought that anyone could be watching me from the beach, it was a fatal mistake. These past two days felt like nothing but flaws and awkward encounters.

Prince Ryu still looked up at me with a half-grin.

"I suppose many would find it unseemly that I would see a princess in nothing but rags, swimming in the ocean, and cursing the heavens."

Naked.

I was naked.

That's what he had seen! Not the battle with the underwater witch. My body.

I instantly pushed him away from me, and into the rocks. Pacing myself with my limping leg trying my best to hide the injury.

Tugging the loose shirt on, I stared at him with indignation.

"So you confess to being a pervert, and resign the honor of acting as an innocent man?" I asked, retying the net of clams to my waist. I was peacocking as a woman who had been seen in her most docile appearance. Peeped on during a private moment. Anyone in Isla would take my side in that case.

Prince Ryu moved to me, and in only his under robes I could see that his body was strong. Not the body of a prince I would have assumed spent his entire life in a gilded cage.

His eyes were the biggest I'd seen, in wonder.

"What was that, in the water?" His voice sent a chill through my body.

I didn't want to answer. Speaking of the others was forbidden, especially to outsiders from Hon Lu.

The fact I had been seen with them, interacting.

I reached for his arms, gripping him pleadingly.

"Say nothing." I begged, "Say nothing to your emperor and people of what you've seen."

His mouth was at a gasp of shock.

The people of the water were Isla secrets to keep. Our connection to them was sacred, and people who meant harm could take advantage of that.

Many people knew stories and histories of men lost at sea from a siren call but only those who'd stayed in the Isla could keep their existence hidden. In my head I cursed my father for even letting this man onto our island in the first place. I cursed myself for being seen with the creature, and spoiling our long kept secret.

Most people couldn't even see them, but it seemed Prince Ryu had the sight. Making him a dangerous witness.

"Please," I bowed my head far below him, looking at my toes curled in the sand. "Say nothing of what you've seen today."

"And what will you give me in return, princess?" His fingers met my cheek, and brushed sand off gently.

I felt taken aback by the contact, and looked up defiantly. His hands gripped my cheeks, hold my gaze in solid focus.

Up close and in the sunlight, he was even more beautiful.

His hair shined a blue so dark it seemed black. His skin was like cold cream, piled high with freshly cut strawberries. His features were so well chilled. His nose was even, but somehow soft. Lips soft and pink. And his eyes sparkled like waves in a long forgotten sea below a new moon.

I felt again as I did below the sea watching the siren, held against my will and soon to be devoured.

"I will do as you wish," I answered, straightening myself up to a lazy fighting stance, "I will call you, Tae."

His laugh was that of a thundering afternoon. With a few wheezes and deep breaths.

"I will do as you ask sweet princess," he said, still catching his breath, "but with an additional favor. One I can choose before I return to Hon Lu."

I weighed the chance of taking his word and taking his life. War with the Hon Lu would be regrettable for my father, but a generational secret on the other hand. It was a tough decision.

My mother with the snakes in the garden came to mind. She had always known of others and spoke with them, it would be no real news that other races lived in the seas. Perhaps it was only with great disillusion that the Isla people kept this knowledge within its borders.

"I will make your deal, Tae." I said and stood back from him.

His smile grew into a thing of wild joy. As if it was the very first time someone had called his name.

"Then let me help you inside princess Lai, it seems your ankle has twisted." And he lowered himself down, as if I'd climb onto his back.

"Tae, I will not accept such frivolous affection between us." I snapped and turned away, limping my way home.

"As you wish." I heard him say from behind me.