The Prince Who Wasn't Supposed To Love Me

Meredith saw the man fall from the sea. One moment, the water beyond the rocks was empty. The next, a dark figure broke through the waves and disappeared beneath them. She froze as the sea quickly settled again, leaving only a trail of disturbed water moving toward the shore. She stared at it, wondering whether the fading light had deceived her, until she noticed something caught between two rocks. A hand. She ran toward it. A young man lay half-submerged in the shallows, one arm trapped beneath him. His clothes were soaked and torn at the shoulder, and blood had mixed with the seawater around him. Meredith dropped beside him. "Can you hear me?" He didn't answer. She checked that he was breathing before reaching for his shoulder. His eyes opened. Meredith jerked back. They were the clearest blue eyes she had ever seen, but it wasn't their color that unsettled her. There was something else about him that didn't seem quite human. As she leaned closer, she noticed two small pores along his ribs, just beneath the torn edge of his shirt. They looked almost like tiny openings in his skin. She had never seen anything like them. His gaze fixed on her, as though he had expected to wake somewhere else entirely. "Where am I?" "On the shore." His eyes moved past her toward the cliffs. "Are you alone?" "Yes." His attention returned to her. "Then you need to leave." Meredith frowned. "You're injured." "I'll manage." "You can barely move." "I said I'll manage." He tried to push himself upright and immediately winced. Meredith caught him before he slipped back against the rocks. "You're doing a terrible job of managing." For the first time, something almost amused crossed his face before he noticed the blood on his shoulder. "How bad?" "I don't know. Let me see." He caught her wrist. The strength in his grip surprised her. A moment earlier, he had looked barely capable of standing, yet now his fingers were firm enough to stop her completely. "Don't touch the wound." "Why?" He released her. "I don't have time to explain." "That's unfortunate, because you have nowhere to go." His attention shifted toward the water. Meredith followed his gaze. Nothing moved and then a distant cry carried across the sea. The man's expression changed. "They found me." "Who?" He looked toward the horizon. "Ayethrs." The word meant nothing to her. He pushed himself upright again. This time, Meredith saw the strain in his face but also the urgency behind it. "You need to get away from here." "Not without you." He gave her a sharp look, and before he could answer, three figures appeared in the water. At first, Meredith thought they were swimmers. Then one rose above the surface, too high. Its upper body was visible from the waist up, but the movement beneath the water was unlike anything Meredith had seen. It crossed the distance with frightening speed, barely creating a ripple. Another figure appeared beside it. Then another, and the man's hand closed around Meredith's arm. "Get behind the rocks." She followed his direction. The three figures stopped several yards from the shore. One of them raised an arm and a pale blade flew through the air. The man caught it before it struck the rocks. Meredith watched him turn the weapon over in his hand. It was curved along one edge and covered with strange markings. His jaw tightened. "They won't stop until they kill me" "They've been trying for generations." Meredith looked toward the figures in the water. The hatred in their voices was unmistakable even though she couldn't understand their words. The man lowered the blade. "I need to get away before they reach the shore." "Then we need another way." He stared at her. "You said we." "I did." For a moment, he seemed almost surprised by her decision. Then another sound reached them from farther out at sea. This one was different. A horn. The figures in the water turned toward the sound and the man's expression changed again. "That is my guard." Meredith looked toward the horizon. Several figures were approaching from the opposite direction, moving quickly through the water. The Ayethrs saw them too. One of the three raised his weapon and shouted something toward the shore before turning away. "They're retreating," Meredith said. "For now." The approaching figures drew closer. They were dressed differently from the Ayethrs, wearing dark armor that reflected the fading light. Several carried long spears. One of them called out. "My prince!" Meredith looked at the injured man. He closed his eyes briefly, as though there was no point hiding it anymore. "My name is Caspian." She glanced at him. "Caspian?" He nodded. The guards reached the shallows and immediately surrounded him. One dropped to a knee. "Your Highness, we thought we'd lost you." Caspian looked toward the water. "The Ayethrs found me first." The guard's expression hardened. "They won't get another chance." Meredith watched the guards carefully. So these were the people Caspian had been waiting for. Not the men who had attacked him. The men in the water were his enemies, and they had wanted him dead. One of the guards looked at Meredith. "Who is she?" Caspian answered before anyone else could. "She saved my life." The guard's attention moved over her. "She's human." Caspian said nothing. The guard looked troubled but did not argue. Meredith turned toward Caspian. Now that the immediate danger had passed, she noticed the strange details she had missed earlier. His skin looked almost normal beneath the seawater, but the two tiny pores along his ribs were still visible through the torn fabric. He noticed her looking. "What?" "Nothing." She wasn't ready to tell him what she had seen. Caspian reached into his torn coat. Meredith expected another weapon but instead, he pulled out a small pearl. It was larger than a coin and faintly blue beneath its surface. A symbol had been carved into it: two curved lines surrounding a small circle. The moment Meredith saw it, something inside her tightened. She knew that symbol but she didn't know where it was from. Caspian noticed her reaction. "You've seen this before." Meredith shook her head. "No." "You're sure?" "Yes." He studied her face. "Then why do you recognize it?" "I don't know." His expression changed from curiosity to shock as he looked from the pearl to Meredith. "What's your name?" She frowned. "You already know I haven't told you." "Your name." "Meredith." The pearl began to glow. Caspian went completely still. Meredith looked down as the light beneath its surface grew brighter. His attention remained fixed on the pearl. "Where were you born?" "Here." "My father was a fisherman." His eyes sharpened. "And your mother?" The question struck harder than it should have. Meredith's fingers tightened around the pearl. "My mother died when I was young." Caspian's face lost what little color remained in it. "What's her name?" Meredith hesitated. She had spent years asking her father about her mother and getting the same answer: there were things about the past better left alone. She had never understood why until now. "Elara." Caspian took a slow step backward. The pearl's light suddenly went out. For several seconds, he said nothing. His eyes remained fixed on Meredith, as though her mother's name had confirmed a suspicion he wasn't prepared to explain. "What?" Meredith asked. Caspian looked toward the sea. "We have to leave." "You're not leaving me with that." "I know." "Then tell me what you know about my mother." He hesitated. "I don't know enough yet." Meredith frowned. "Then why did you react like that when I said her name?" "Because I've heard it before." "Where?" He looked toward the approaching guards. "I'll explain when we're somewhere safe." A sharp horn sounded from the sea. The guards turned toward the water to see the Ayethrs returning with a larger number Caspian closed his hand around the pearl. "Come with me." "Where?" He looked toward the dark water. "Atlantis." Meredith stared at him. Caspian stepped into the waves, and she followed. Beneath the surface, something enormous moved toward them.