Ariella (Princesses Uncovered #3)

Chapter 3

“Where were you?” Marckos hissed.

Ariella spun on him. “Marckos, that isn’t any of your business.”

He took her arm, his fingers biting into her arm. “You’re my fiancé. It’s my business. And you scared your maid half to death because you didn’t surface for air.

She gritted her teeth, prying his fingers off her arm. “Marckos, I don’t need to surface for air. I manipulate water and air. Remember? You’d know that if you bothered to pay attention!” She snapped.

He shook his head. “I don’t believe you! You do it on purpose, don’t you?”

“Do what on purpose?” She glared at him.

“You disappear into the ocean for hours at a time when you can. You’re probably the closest you can get to being a fish, you fool!” Marckos snapped.

“And here I was thinking that maybe you cared about me and that I could maybe learn to love you. What a fool I was.” Ariella turned away from him, shoulders rigid.

He sighed, resting a hand on her arm gently. “I’m sorry, Ariella. You’re right. I shouldn’t have yelled at you.” He whispered.

She nodded. “I shouldn’t have either, Marckos. I’m just… I got a little carried away. I’m sorry.”

He smiled at her. “So we’re all right, then?”

She nodded again. “Yes, of course.” No! We aren’t fine. We’ve never been fine. But you never see that, Marckos, and I get left to deal with it anyway. Her thoughts turned to Tobias then. Tobias, whose eyes were so sad but whose smile was still filled with hope and joy. I wonder what could cause him to look so serious and sad like that even when he’s smiling and happy. I wish I knew. Maybe I can help. Ariella shook the thoughts off as a dream.

Marckos looked at her, frowning. “Something happened while you were down there.”

Ariella looked up. “What?” She frowned too.

Had she just lost her focus thinking about Tobias? Tobias, of all people. He was half fish. What had he called himself? Nereid? Yes, that was it. What was she thinking?

“Something happened down at the bottom of the ocean!” Marckos insisted. “It must’ve. Why else would you have that dreamy look on your face? You look suspiciously happy and out there.”

Ariella schooled her face into submission, assuming a blank face. “Marckos, nothing happened down there. I swam around; I looked at the coral. Then I came back up. End of story. If I look happy or dreamy, it’s probably because I escaped reality for a little while. Quit being so pushy and suspicious!” She kept her voice level, but her jaw muscle twitched.

He knew she was angry. He looked away. “You’re lying. You’re putting walls up around your mind again, and you’re lying to me. Again. We’re not okay, are we?”

Irritated beyond her patience, she finally looked at him. “No, we are not, Marckos. I will not be your slave. When we get married – no, if we get married - it will be only a convenience. I’ll be marrying you because the treaty says that when I’m nineteen, I must do so. I don’t belong to you, and I never will. I don’t care what you say. I don’t love you, and I’ve thought about it long enough to know that I never will.” She yelled.

Marckos stepped back, hurt. His eyes glittered with disappointment and tears. “I thought maybe we had a chance.” Marckos said, his voice deadly quiet. “Apparently we don’t have one the way I thought we did. But like it or not, we will be getting married. Neither of us has a choice, so get over it and deal with me.” He turned and stalked off.

Ariella ran to her room. Collapsing onto her bed, she started crying. She didn’t know why. It wasn’t logical. Marckos’s rude behaviors were nothing new despite what he pretended. No. It wasn’t Marckos. It was her. She wanted to be free of it all. And she knew of only one way to do it. She wanted to be like Tobias. To be down in the ocean free from Marckos and the land. She wanted to be one of the Nereid.

Eventually, she cried herself to sleep in the darkness of her room and the canopied bed. And that night, her dreams were filled with water and glittering tails. And she swam with the Nereid. With Tobias. And she was happy.