Free Everlost by Brenda Pandos Page B

returns, you’ll feel more confident.” The Queen smiled innocently and patted her arm. “Now, collect your things and come with me to the palace. There is a lot to do.”
    Tatiana clamped her mouth shut and tried to wash away the humiliation. The Queen might as well have stamped “frigid” on her forehead, and her cheeks caught flame under her skin. If it wasn’t so embarrassing, she would have confessed to the Queen her failure to please Prince Azor wasn’t because of her lack of trying.
    A male cleared his throat in the hall. “Princess?”
    Jacob. At his voice, she really wanted to die. She already knew his displeasure in her appeasing Azor, but did he know, too, that she hadn’t done it yet? Did the entire palace know? Was everyone talking about her supposed ick ?
    She buried her face in her hands.
    “Princess?” he asked again. “I’m ready to escort you.”
    Tatiana pressed her eyes shut, determined not to let Queen Desiree ruffle her, and reopened them with new resolve. Azor’s obsession with work clearly had prevented him from consummating their union, and the ick was a kinder excuse for why they weren’t pregnant yet—so much better than saying he was too busy. Could that be the real reason? The only reason? She groaned at the thought.
    But she knew, after their brief tryst yesterday, it wasn’t a matter of desire. Guilt from indulging in pleasure over his duties had prevented him from giving into it. And then snoopy Xirene didn’t help. If she didn’t get his mind off of work, her barren womb would raise suspicions. Most newly promised couples were pregnant within the first week, unless something was physically wrong, or one partner was a beta, which usually made pregnancy difficult to achieve. A week hadn’t passed, well, not yet. Was the entire kingdom counting? Oh, Poseidon. If she didn’t look pregnant soon, she’d be labeled defective.
    Her eyes rolled back into her head, her stomach churning. No. She’d help Azor get his focus off of work and onto her. Somehow. He’d chosen her after all and she’d make him proud—and soon—before she was doomed to be… replaced.
    At the thought of watching another mermaid cling to his arm and bear his shoal, she wanted to vomit.
    Sea stars, she moaned on the inside.
    “Princess?” Jacob asked again. “We shouldn’t keep the Queen waiting.”
    “Yes,” Tatiana said warily as she swam out of her room with a fake smile and her head held high.
    If Sandy was able to get the message to Dorian, Azor wouldn’t find her family and he’d come straight home to Natatoria. Then she’d make him want her—as soon as he returned. Once she became pregnant, she’d flaunt her full belly for the entire kingdom to see, the first being the Queen. Then everyone would be happy, too happy to punish the rebels, too happy for war.
     

9
    : : :
    Birds and the Bees
    The entourage of merfolk exited out the front doors of the compound in a massive school; the Queen and ten or so of the guards surrounding her in front, while Jacob and Tatiana hung in the back. Jacob’s straight face and alert eyes weren’t typical of his normal self at the compound. Being a secret rebel, she could see how he’d be uncomfortable, but his fearful reaction unnerved her.
    “Are you okay, Jacob?” Tatiana asked in a low tone.
    Jacob continued to survey the landscape, never once looking at her directly. “Yes, Princess. Just stay close to me. Never wander alone in the palace.”
    Her lips curled into a smirk.This is what bothered him?She wanted to snort at his over-protectiveness and constant attempts to poke his tail into her business. Instead, she saluted him to be funny. “Sure thing, Captain.”
    He squinted at her for a brief second as if to say, “Stop joking around and wise up.” The deep grooves in his scowl hit her like a smack to the cheek.
    Tatiana broke eye contact and glanced across the horizon at the palace. Desolate and quiet, not a single mer was in sight. An eerie