He Took the Heirs' Emblems, Then Became Their King novel · Chapter 26 of 32

Chapter 26: Cold Water

Harry woke in the gatehouse bed at midnight with his hip aching and James's side of the sheet empty.

Grant slept on his back with one arm flung over his face.

Felix slept in a knot with his cheek on a half-eaten pear.

Harry got up without a sound.

He found James in the lower courtyard, standing barefoot at the edge of the great fountain, with a blanket over his shoulders and his bandaged hand held against his chest.

All around them, three thousand people slept in rows on the cobbles.

The Mermaid tide-singers lay nearest, a long line of blue cloaks, a few steps away.

"You should be asleep," Harry said.

"You should be in bed."

"My bed is an uneven garrison cot with two other men in it."

"Mine too."

James turned his head.

His amber eyes were very tired, and very awake.

"The herald," Harry said. "The Seat."

"I told him I would answer at noon."

"And?"

"And I will be king by the end of the week, because there is no one else, and I am so tired of being chosen."

Harry waited.

"But tonight nobody is calling me anything," James said. "So I've been thinking about your rule."

Harry's stomach turned over.

"Which one?"

"Never in the water. Never in public."

"I remember it."

"I know you do. You said it twice the first night."

Harry looked at the fountain.

The water lay flat and black under the stars, and he could taste salt in it that was not there.

"You want me to break it," he said.

"I want you to tell me why you made it."

Harry said nothing for a long moment.

Then he said it, flat and quick.

"When I was nine, my brother saw me in the sea at night. He ran screaming to the elders and said I was going to drown him."

"Your brother."

"He is not a kind man. He told the elders I was a danger. They watched me for years, and I learned not to give them anything to see."

He unbuttoned his collar, because he had to do something with his hands.

"Everyone in my clan has silver on the skin when the water takes them. Mine spreads further than most. It looks wrong. It makes people think I belong to the sea and not to them."

"I like it," James said.

"You have seen it once."

"I have seen it twice, and I'd like to see it again."

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