h2 dir="ltr" style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 1.38; text-align: center; margin-top: 18pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 16pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"Ariel/span/h2
p dir="ltr" style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"Ariel didn't know how she'd never seen it before: how utterly useless the royal library was. What she used to see as a bastion of knowledge, a sanctuary, a place of discovery, she was finding a time-capsule dedicated to the patently overstated achievements of her own family. Gilded bindings graced more than a few of the tomes, and it was nearly guaranteed that the shinier the information, the more useless and garish it was bound to be./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.38; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"The empty room let in the distant sounds and lights of the festival through the expansive window. Row upon row of towering bookshelves lined the walls, each packed with books and an ecclection of gaudy or boastful trophies, or gaudy /spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-style: italic; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"and/spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; vertical-align: baseline;" boastful trophies. In the height of poor taste, these included everything from a sack stuffed fish heads to an old well bucket./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"The air in the library was dense with the scent polished driftwood, leather bindings, and despite the magically cleaned shelves, dust. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.38; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"She sighed, dejected, and then coughed. And coughed again. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"Carrying a fresh stack of scrolls and bound vellums, Ariel sank into one of the over-upholstered sea-sponge chairs. She opened the first of her stack of selected books and started to read. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.38; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: #374151; background-color: transparent; font-style: italic; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"Binding Beneath the Waves: By Professor Thalassa Abyssborne said:/span/p
p dir="ltr" style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.38; margin-left: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: #374151; background-color: transparent; font-style: italic; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; vertical-align: baseline;""Throughout history, seekers of arcane power have been drawn to the depths of the ocean, where enigmatic entities known as 'The Tidesworn' make pacts for abilities that border on the supernatural./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.38; margin-left: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: #374151; background-color: transparent; font-style: italic; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; vertical-align: baseline;""These bargains are not to be entered into lightly, for they come with a heavy cost, and the fine print of these pacts is inscribed in the very fabric of one's soul." Scholars caution that these dark compacts, or 'Devil's Deals,' are double-edged swords, capable of granting immense power but often leading to unintended consequences. Those who embark on this treacherous path must be prepared to navigate the murky waters of morality…/span/p
p dir="ltr" style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.38; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"It was closer than some, but ultimately only led to a long rant on why Devil's Deals should never be made, and then proceeded to tell long, morbid stories about the poor unfortunate souls who weren't aware of the fine print of deal's they'd made. A dead end—and for many of the contractees, quite literally. Adin had become the most efficient palace guard overnight. He had also become more violent and less like himself as she had ever seen. It was as though with that loss of something within him, her friend of so many years had died. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.38; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"She opened another, determined to get him back. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.38; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 15pt; margin-bottom: 15pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-style: italic; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"Tide to Tied: A Guide to Magical Bindings: By Professor Mendi Flipper/span/p
p dir="ltr" style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.38; margin-left: 36pt; margin-top: 15pt; margin-bottom: 15pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-style: italic; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; vertical-align: baseline;""As any accomplished underwater magician will tell you, there's no better way to keep your belongings secure in the briny deep than with a clever knot. In this chapter, we'll explore the world of aquatic bindings and discover how to make even the wiliest seaweed play along..."/span/p
p dir="ltr" style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 15pt; margin-bottom: 15pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"Useless. She tossed it on the growing pile of books, which from her reading that week, was starting to extend above the back of her chair. There was nothing in /spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-style: italic; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"Professor Bubbly's Guide to Subaquatic Enchantments/spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; vertical-align: baseline;", and /spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-style: italic; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"Doctor Leering's Bind and Gag: A Guide to Subaquatic Fastenings /spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"was a complete misnomer. Both of them joined the reject pile, and red-faced, Ariel briefly considered making a burn pile just for the second. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"Swimming in unhelpful information, her eyes closed, the weight of the past few weeks feeling as though they were turning her scales to lead. The very hour after reclaiming her father's trident—it was still so difficult to think of it as her own—Sebastian had insisted on retiring. She had then insisted that he stay. Emphatically. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.38; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"In fact, persuading him to stay had been the first of many impossible feats it seemed she was required to perform. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"First, there was getting the nobles (the reveling kind) out of the palace. Then, there was persuading the loiterers (the rioting kind) to leave along with them. After that, there had been an endless series of requests from the people, so many that she sat on the forum of Most Trivial Grievances personally. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; vertical-align: baseline;""The tilapia shoals I've been herding have all turned blue!" said one angry peasant as she'd sat on the throne of the forum./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; vertical-align: baseline;""Are they not…supposed to be blue?" she'd foolishly asked. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; vertical-align: baseline;""They're supposed to be a /spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-style: italic; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"distinct/spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; vertical-align: baseline;" shade of teal!" /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; vertical-align: baseline;""My kelp farms are all growing the wrong direction! They've all turned sideways!" /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; vertical-align: baseline;""All of my sardines have gone missing!" /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; vertical-align: baseline;""All of /spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-style: italic; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"my/spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; vertical-align: baseline;" sardines have doubled overnight!" /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"And on and on…./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"Some the complaints were more serious troubles, such as a widespread epidemic of gill-rot among citizens that had no business getting gill-rot this time of year, deteriorating current-control magics, and patches of deoxygenated water right over inhabited areas needed to be addressed immediately before people got hurt. Many of these things the trident should have been able to handle, especially in the hands of the blood of her family; however, something in Ursula's magic was /spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-style: italic; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"stickier/spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; vertical-align: baseline;" than it should be. What would have taken Ariel months to learn how to do, Joe could dismantle in minutes. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.38; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"Fortunately for the kingdom, and very unfortunately for Ariel's personal state of being, Joe was the best person for the job. Anything that she could not handle herself was immediately delegated to him, and when there was an explosion in the southern quadrant that cut off one of her largest trade roads, he was gone for days. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.38; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"But, she wasn't going to get anything done, or save anyone by daydreaming. Reaching for the next book in the stack, she opened /spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-style: italic; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"Submerged Sorcery for Utter Morons/spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; vertical-align: baseline;" to a random page and had started skimming, when the shadow beneath the desk made a hissing sort of laugh, sending shivers up her spine. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-style: italic; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; vertical-align: baseline;""It's not in there, either…" /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"She grit her teeth. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-style: italic; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; vertical-align: baseline;""You won't find it here. Poor, poor Princessss…" /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; vertical-align: baseline;""Shut up!" Ariel snapped back. "Shut up, shut up, /spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-style: italic; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"shut up!/spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"" /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; vertical-align: baseline;""Ariel?" /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"At the great risk of appearing out of her head to an empty room, Ariel strained over the her shoulder toward the expansive library doors, and at the sight of Joe gliding through them, was filled with a sense of relief she hadn't felt in far too long. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.38; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; vertical-align: baseline;""Ariel, what are you doing?" The look on Joe's face could only be described as 'concerned,' but there was none of the fatigue she was used to was an exhilarated purple flush just under his eyes, and where she carried the Trident with hesitation and a sense of unbelonging, Joe carried the Inkthral lance like he was born to do it, entering rooms in a way that even made her want to rise in respect. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"She swallowed, trying to collect herself. "Joe. You're back? You look…rested," she said, suddenly self-conscious. At least in the depths she'd had the excuse of being thoroughly current-swept, but now, having access to a full palace of stylists and maids and cosmetics most of the citizens could only dream of, she really had no excuse, except that she'd been spending every spare second searching, to look as scattered as she did. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; vertical-align: baseline;""I am," he said in response to both her comments. "You know, there's a party going on out there—one you've well earned." /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.38; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"Ariel shook her head. "We're not done, Joe. None of it is done. Adin's practically lost his soul./spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-style: italic; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; vertical-align: baseline;" Yes,/spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; vertical-align: baseline;" we had a victory, but the cost was too high, and there /spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-style: italic; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"should/spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; vertical-align: baseline;" be a way to fix it—there's /spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-style: italic; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"always /spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"a way to fix it, but/spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-style: italic; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; vertical-align: baseline;" I can't find it!"/span/p
p dir="ltr" style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.38; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"Ariel could feel her voice rising, but she didn't care. She yanked /spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-style: italic; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"Spell-Casting and Reeling by Henry Clammin/spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; vertical-align: baseline;" from one of the stacks that she had created throughout that week, sending several of the others toppling to the floor. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.38; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; vertical-align: baseline;""This one talks about how to make magical deals, but doesn't tell you anything about how to break them. And—" /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.38; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"She whisked up to the top of one of the library's mountainous shelves and pulled another from a worn shelf, throwing it down to the ground. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.38; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; vertical-align: baseline;""—/spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-style: italic; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"Simmering Sauces/spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; vertical-align: baseline;" has every potion under the sea, but it says nothing about breaking deals. Just stuff about breaking alliances, and hearts, and locking-mechanisms—really, how is anyone safe with or without mages?" /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"Moving back to the piles around her reading chair, she bumped into another stack, glaring at a book perched precariously on top as though it had single-pagedly caused her troubles. The book in question had the nerve to continue its inky silence. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.38; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; vertical-align: baseline;""/spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-style: italic; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"Swimming with Suitors/spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; vertical-align: baseline;" only talks about written contracts—mostly marital and tax ones—" she huffed at the traterous book. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.38; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"She gesticulated at /spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-style: italic; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"Bound and Gagged/spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; vertical-align: baseline;", tempted to throw it out a window, but with her luck, some child would likely find it and think it was a helpful guide to learning to tie carts to kelpies, or some other such unassuming, misinformed err. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.38; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; vertical-align: baseline;""And I'm pretty sure that one is banned in three kingdoms at/spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-style: italic; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; vertical-align: baseline;" least/spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"…although probably not the Depths. Anyway—" she cast for Abyssborne's work. "At least this one has some of the right wording, but it's the most hopeless—"/span/p
p dir="ltr" style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.38; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"Mid-stride toward her most recent pile of reading, one of Joe's tentacles caught her around the tail, and pulled her back to him. He caught her shoulders, and positioned her to fave him, his long fingers gripping firmly enough that she couldn't have moved if she had wanted to—and she found that she very much didn't. Ariel was tired. Tired of running, tired of hunting for impossible solutions, of attempting heretofore impossible feats, and she was beyond tired of these useless, dusty, pretentious books./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.38; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"Irrationally, Ariel felt tears creeping into her eyes, and blinked hard. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.38; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-style: italic; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"Queens don't cry, /spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"she told herself sternly. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.38; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"She felt a sudden urge to bury her head in Joe's neck and hide there until the storm of consequences of the last few weeks blew over. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-style: italic; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"Since when is that your first reaction? /spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"said a niggling voice from what seemed like the perpetually-shrinking rational section of her head. Since when is that a reaction at all? /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"This voice was met with another from the just as quickly-growing and much-larger irrational part of her that asked: /spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-style: italic; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"And since when have his eyes ever been so deeply violet…or so intense? /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"The rational part of her was sounding more and more distant, but eventually made itself heard loud enough to alert her to the fact that Joe was speaking. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; vertical-align: baseline;""/spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-style: italic; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"I am aware /spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"that we have a friend to help. We also—well, evidently /spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-style: italic; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"I/spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; vertical-align: baseline;" have a thousand year old prophecy to fulfill, and /spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-style: italic; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"we/spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; vertical-align: baseline;" have a country full of very angry eels to handle, and a coronation to get through. However, we're not going to sort out a kingdom—or six—of problems in one night," he was saying. "I swear to you that we will because we /spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-style: italic; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"must/spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"—"/span/p
p dir="ltr" style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.38; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"She swallowed in dread./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.38; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; vertical-align: baseline;""—but not today./spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-style: italic; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; vertical-align: baseline;" Today, /spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"the people are happy and together. Two war-torn kingdoms are reunited for the first time in almost a century. We've managed to stop a coup. Ezra is locked away in his own kingdom…although considering how angry your sister was with him when she got her memories back, I very much doubt /spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-style: italic; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"he's/spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; vertical-align: baseline;" happy." There was the ghost of a smile on his lips when he reported that tidbit to her. "We've even gotten the fruit cart unstuck from the /spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-style: italic; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"Bow and Brine/spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; vertical-align: baseline;" for better or worse…" /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; vertical-align: baseline;""Yes, though, Adin—" she started. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; vertical-align: baseline;""I doubt you'll find a way to help him here," Joe said gently, pulling the book from her hands and setting it on the scholar's desk in front of her. "I am the hero of the oceans' kingdom of magic; Apprentice to King Djeval of the Depths, Slayer of the Riddles' Guardian, and possibly the/spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-style: italic; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; vertical-align: baseline;" second/spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; vertical-align: baseline;" best potioneer in the kingdom. First thing in the morning, I'll go through every street, every library, every sea-witch's cave, and every old seer with enough teeth to talk for answers. The envoys, the conflict, and the devils themselves can wait. We're going to figure this out. /spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-style: italic; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"But/spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; vertical-align: baseline;" we're not going to figure it out tonight."/span/p
p dir="ltr" style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.38; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; vertical-align: baseline;""Hero of the Depths," she breathed, "I did hear…Doesn't that mean that somewhere in the trenches, you still have a mob to greet?" she asked, unable to keep her fins from twitching. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.38; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; vertical-align: baseline;""Tomorrow," he said firmly. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.38; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"She relaxed a bit, realizing that sometime in his assurances, Joe had gone back to holding her steady, and ventured the worser of her questions. "Why does that sound like you're leaving?" /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.38; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; vertical-align: baseline;""Not tonight," he said. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.38; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"She flushed under his gaze, wanting to look to the side, but found she simply…couldn't. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.38; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; vertical-align: baseline;""Are you going…to kiss me?" she blurted. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.38; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-style: italic; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"Poseidon's sandy scales, I said that out loud, /spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"she thought, horrified. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.38; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"He gave her an arch look, so familiar she would have laughed had she not been in the throes of Mortification. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.38; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; vertical-align: baseline;""That depends. Am I going to get slapped again? Called an eight-legged fice?" /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.38; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"She groaned, and that time, she did fall into his neck and hide. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.38; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; vertical-align: baseline;""Did I/spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-style: italic; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; vertical-align: baseline;" actually/spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; vertical-align: baseline;" do that?" /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.38; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; vertical-align: baseline;""My question stands, I have my life to preserve now that you have the weaponry to back some of the threats you've made." /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.38; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; vertical-align: baseline;""You realize I was potioned at the time," she protested, leaning back just enough to see—he was laughing at her./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.38; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; vertical-align: baseline;""Inebrieation or cursing of any kind doesn't absolve you from any serious crimes. It's in the Atlantean law," he said with a twinkle in his eye. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.38; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; vertical-align: baseline;""Remind me to revisit that law," she muttered. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.38; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; vertical-align: baseline;""Ah, not yet corronated and already ready to twist the law to your own benefit," Joe teased, evidently satisfied with her distraction. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.38; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"She did her best to ignore his alluring smirk. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.38; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; vertical-align: baseline;""Are you going to answer my question?" /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.38; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; vertical-align: baseline;""Am I granted a guarantee of diplomatic immunity over my personhood?" he pressed, feigning an expression of great concern. He tapped one fingertip to his chin, as though considering some great risk. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.38; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; vertical-align: baseline;""Not a chance. You'll have to find out on your own," she said pertly. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.38; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; vertical-align: baseline;""Terrifying," he said, extending his small finger from where his hand rested near his face, and slipping it along to her jawline. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.38; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"She hadn't realized just how close they already were, because all it took was the one finger, and a precise little pull, and his smirk met her surprised "oh," oh so easily. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.38; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"One arm pressed her forward as two of his tentacles twisted down her tail, pulling her into him. His mouth was soft and cool, and parted slightly like a lure. The moment her tongue followed his silent invitation; however, his breath gave a startling shudder and stopped altogether. Feeling she had overstepped some unspoken boundary, she started to lean back, when he closed the rest of the space between them, catching her with a far different sort of kiss. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"She couldn't remember how they'd ended up against the bookshelf, but the leather bindings were at her back. Joe made a sound between a growl and a purr of approval when she moved her hands into his hair and raked her fingers down his scalp. Both of them breathing heavily, she heard some unnamed object thud into the ground, and found she didn't care. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.38; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"Far too soon, Joe pulled back with a heated sigh. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.38; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; vertical-align: baseline;""Come back to the party. You need to take the time to /spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-style: italic; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"enjoy/spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; vertical-align: baseline;" your people if you're going to spend so much of your time saving them." /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.38; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; vertical-align: baseline;""I—what was it you said about deferring that sort of thing until timorrow?" she asked, as basic faculties bubbled one by one back into her head. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.38; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"Joe gave the books they'd knocked to the ground a sort of amused inspection, then pressed his forehead against her, holding his face far enough away that her attempts to nip at his lips were thwarted./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; vertical-align: baseline;""Come back with me. Tonight, let your people see their future monarch. Poseidon knows there won't be a better time for this sort of impression with them." /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; vertical-align: baseline;""You're…not wrong," Ariel acknowledged. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"He scoffed lightly, giving her nose a teasing flick with his own. "Of course I'm not. The sooner you realize I'm always right, the better for everyone involved."/span/p
p dir="ltr" style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"She laughed. "I'm sure I'll have opportunities to contest that…I'll come. Just give me a moment to…set things here in order." /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; vertical-align: baseline;""I'll be waiting by the entry," Joe promised. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"With a glare at the shadow beneath her desk, Ariel had one last question to be answered. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"Ariel didn't know how she'd never seen it before: how utterly useless the royal library was. What she used to see as a bastion of knowledge, a sanctuary, a place of discovery, she was finding a time-capsule dedicated to the patently overstated achievements of her own family. Gilded bindings graced more than a few of the tomes, and it was nearly guaranteed that the shinier the information, the more useless and garish it was bound to be./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.38; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"The empty room let in the distant sounds and lights of the festival through the expansive window. Row upon row of towering bookshelves lined the walls, each packed with books and an ecclection of gaudy or boastful trophies, or gaudy /spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-style: italic; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"and/spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; vertical-align: baseline;" boastful trophies. In the height of poor taste, these included everything from a sack stuffed fish heads to an old well bucket./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"The air in the library was dense with the scent polished driftwood, leather bindings, and despite the magically cleaned shelves, dust. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.38; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"She sighed, dejected, and then coughed. And coughed again. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"Carrying a fresh stack of scrolls and bound vellums, Ariel sank into one of the over-upholstered sea-sponge chairs. She opened the first of her stack of selected books and started to read. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.38; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: #374151; background-color: transparent; font-style: italic; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"Binding Beneath the Waves: By Professor Thalassa Abyssborne said:/span/p
p dir="ltr" style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.38; margin-left: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: #374151; background-color: transparent; font-style: italic; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; vertical-align: baseline;""Throughout history, seekers of arcane power have been drawn to the depths of the ocean, where enigmatic entities known as 'The Tidesworn' make pacts for abilities that border on the supernatural./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.38; margin-left: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: #374151; background-color: transparent; font-style: italic; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; vertical-align: baseline;""These bargains are not to be entered into lightly, for they come with a heavy cost, and the fine print of these pacts is inscribed in the very fabric of one's soul." Scholars caution that these dark compacts, or 'Devil's Deals,' are double-edged swords, capable of granting immense power but often leading to unintended consequences. Those who embark on this treacherous path must be prepared to navigate the murky waters of morality…/span/p
p dir="ltr" style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.38; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"It was closer than some, but ultimately only led to a long rant on why Devil's Deals should never be made, and then proceeded to tell long, morbid stories about the poor unfortunate souls who weren't aware of the fine print of deal's they'd made. A dead end—and for many of the contractees, quite literally. Adin had become the most efficient palace guard overnight. He had also become more violent and less like himself as she had ever seen. It was as though with that loss of something within him, her friend of so many years had died. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.38; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"She opened another, determined to get him back. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.38; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 15pt; margin-bottom: 15pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-style: italic; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"Tide to Tied: A Guide to Magical Bindings: By Professor Mendi Flipper/span/p
p dir="ltr" style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.38; margin-left: 36pt; margin-top: 15pt; margin-bottom: 15pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-style: italic; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; vertical-align: baseline;""As any accomplished underwater magician will tell you, there's no better way to keep your belongings secure in the briny deep than with a clever knot. In this chapter, we'll explore the world of aquatic bindings and discover how to make even the wiliest seaweed play along..."/span/p
p dir="ltr" style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 15pt; margin-bottom: 15pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"Useless. She tossed it on the growing pile of books, which from her reading that week, was starting to extend above the back of her chair. There was nothing in /spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-style: italic; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"Professor Bubbly's Guide to Subaquatic Enchantments/spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; vertical-align: baseline;", and /spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-style: italic; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"Doctor Leering's Bind and Gag: A Guide to Subaquatic Fastenings /spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"was a complete misnomer. Both of them joined the reject pile, and red-faced, Ariel briefly considered making a burn pile just for the second. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"Swimming in unhelpful information, her eyes closed, the weight of the past few weeks feeling as though they were turning her scales to lead. The very hour after reclaiming her father's trident—it was still so difficult to think of it as her own—Sebastian had insisted on retiring. She had then insisted that he stay. Emphatically. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.38; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"In fact, persuading him to stay had been the first of many impossible feats it seemed she was required to perform. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"First, there was getting the nobles (the reveling kind) out of the palace. Then, there was persuading the loiterers (the rioting kind) to leave along with them. After that, there had been an endless series of requests from the people, so many that she sat on the forum of Most Trivial Grievances personally. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; vertical-align: baseline;""The tilapia shoals I've been herding have all turned blue!" said one angry peasant as she'd sat on the throne of the forum./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; vertical-align: baseline;""Are they not…supposed to be blue?" she'd foolishly asked. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; vertical-align: baseline;""They're supposed to be a /spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-style: italic; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"distinct/spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; vertical-align: baseline;" shade of teal!" /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; vertical-align: baseline;""My kelp farms are all growing the wrong direction! They've all turned sideways!" /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; vertical-align: baseline;""All of my sardines have gone missing!" /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; vertical-align: baseline;""All of /spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-style: italic; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"my/spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; vertical-align: baseline;" sardines have doubled overnight!" /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"And on and on…./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"Some the complaints were more serious troubles, such as a widespread epidemic of gill-rot among citizens that had no business getting gill-rot this time of year, deteriorating current-control magics, and patches of deoxygenated water right over inhabited areas needed to be addressed immediately before people got hurt. Many of these things the trident should have been able to handle, especially in the hands of the blood of her family; however, something in Ursula's magic was /spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-style: italic; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"stickier/spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; vertical-align: baseline;" than it should be. What would have taken Ariel months to learn how to do, Joe could dismantle in minutes. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.38; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"Fortunately for the kingdom, and very unfortunately for Ariel's personal state of being, Joe was the best person for the job. Anything that she could not handle herself was immediately delegated to him, and when there was an explosion in the southern quadrant that cut off one of her largest trade roads, he was gone for days. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.38; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"But, she wasn't going to get anything done, or save anyone by daydreaming. Reaching for the next book in the stack, she opened /spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-style: italic; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"Submerged Sorcery for Utter Morons/spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; vertical-align: baseline;" to a random page and had started skimming, when the shadow beneath the desk made a hissing sort of laugh, sending shivers up her spine. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-style: italic; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; vertical-align: baseline;""It's not in there, either…" /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"She grit her teeth. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-style: italic; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; vertical-align: baseline;""You won't find it here. Poor, poor Princessss…" /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; vertical-align: baseline;""Shut up!" Ariel snapped back. "Shut up, shut up, /spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-style: italic; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"shut up!/spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"" /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; vertical-align: baseline;""Ariel?" /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"At the great risk of appearing out of her head to an empty room, Ariel strained over the her shoulder toward the expansive library doors, and at the sight of Joe gliding through them, was filled with a sense of relief she hadn't felt in far too long. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.38; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; vertical-align: baseline;""Ariel, what are you doing?" The look on Joe's face could only be described as 'concerned,' but there was none of the fatigue she was used to was an exhilarated purple flush just under his eyes, and where she carried the Trident with hesitation and a sense of unbelonging, Joe carried the Inkthral lance like he was born to do it, entering rooms in a way that even made her want to rise in respect. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"She swallowed, trying to collect herself. "Joe. You're back? You look…rested," she said, suddenly self-conscious. At least in the depths she'd had the excuse of being thoroughly current-swept, but now, having access to a full palace of stylists and maids and cosmetics most of the citizens could only dream of, she really had no excuse, except that she'd been spending every spare second searching, to look as scattered as she did. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; vertical-align: baseline;""I am," he said in response to both her comments. "You know, there's a party going on out there—one you've well earned." /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.38; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"Ariel shook her head. "We're not done, Joe. None of it is done. Adin's practically lost his soul./spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-style: italic; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; vertical-align: baseline;" Yes,/spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; vertical-align: baseline;" we had a victory, but the cost was too high, and there /spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-style: italic; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"should/spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; vertical-align: baseline;" be a way to fix it—there's /spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-style: italic; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"always /spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"a way to fix it, but/spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-style: italic; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; vertical-align: baseline;" I can't find it!"/span/p
p dir="ltr" style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.38; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"Ariel could feel her voice rising, but she didn't care. She yanked /spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-style: italic; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"Spell-Casting and Reeling by Henry Clammin/spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; vertical-align: baseline;" from one of the stacks that she had created throughout that week, sending several of the others toppling to the floor. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.38; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; vertical-align: baseline;""This one talks about how to make magical deals, but doesn't tell you anything about how to break them. And—" /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.38; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"She whisked up to the top of one of the library's mountainous shelves and pulled another from a worn shelf, throwing it down to the ground. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.38; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; vertical-align: baseline;""—/spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-style: italic; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"Simmering Sauces/spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; vertical-align: baseline;" has every potion under the sea, but it says nothing about breaking deals. Just stuff about breaking alliances, and hearts, and locking-mechanisms—really, how is anyone safe with or without mages?" /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"Moving back to the piles around her reading chair, she bumped into another stack, glaring at a book perched precariously on top as though it had single-pagedly caused her troubles. The book in question had the nerve to continue its inky silence. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.38; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; vertical-align: baseline;""/spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-style: italic; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"Swimming with Suitors/spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; vertical-align: baseline;" only talks about written contracts—mostly marital and tax ones—" she huffed at the traterous book. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.38; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"She gesticulated at /spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-style: italic; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"Bound and Gagged/spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; vertical-align: baseline;", tempted to throw it out a window, but with her luck, some child would likely find it and think it was a helpful guide to learning to tie carts to kelpies, or some other such unassuming, misinformed err. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.38; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; vertical-align: baseline;""And I'm pretty sure that one is banned in three kingdoms at/spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-style: italic; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; vertical-align: baseline;" least/spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"…although probably not the Depths. Anyway—" she cast for Abyssborne's work. "At least this one has some of the right wording, but it's the most hopeless—"/span/p
p dir="ltr" style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.38; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"Mid-stride toward her most recent pile of reading, one of Joe's tentacles caught her around the tail, and pulled her back to him. He caught her shoulders, and positioned her to fave him, his long fingers gripping firmly enough that she couldn't have moved if she had wanted to—and she found that she very much didn't. Ariel was tired. Tired of running, tired of hunting for impossible solutions, of attempting heretofore impossible feats, and she was beyond tired of these useless, dusty, pretentious books./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.38; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"Irrationally, Ariel felt tears creeping into her eyes, and blinked hard. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.38; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-style: italic; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"Queens don't cry, /spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"she told herself sternly. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.38; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"She felt a sudden urge to bury her head in Joe's neck and hide there until the storm of consequences of the last few weeks blew over. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-style: italic; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"Since when is that your first reaction? /spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"said a niggling voice from what seemed like the perpetually-shrinking rational section of her head. Since when is that a reaction at all? /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"This voice was met with another from the just as quickly-growing and much-larger irrational part of her that asked: /spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-style: italic; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"And since when have his eyes ever been so deeply violet…or so intense? /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"The rational part of her was sounding more and more distant, but eventually made itself heard loud enough to alert her to the fact that Joe was speaking. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; vertical-align: baseline;""/spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-style: italic; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"I am aware /spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"that we have a friend to help. We also—well, evidently /spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-style: italic; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"I/spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; vertical-align: baseline;" have a thousand year old prophecy to fulfill, and /spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-style: italic; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"we/spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; vertical-align: baseline;" have a country full of very angry eels to handle, and a coronation to get through. However, we're not going to sort out a kingdom—or six—of problems in one night," he was saying. "I swear to you that we will because we /spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-style: italic; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"must/spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"—"/span/p
p dir="ltr" style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.38; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"She swallowed in dread./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.38; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; vertical-align: baseline;""—but not today./spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-style: italic; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; vertical-align: baseline;" Today, /spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"the people are happy and together. Two war-torn kingdoms are reunited for the first time in almost a century. We've managed to stop a coup. Ezra is locked away in his own kingdom…although considering how angry your sister was with him when she got her memories back, I very much doubt /spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-style: italic; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"he's/spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; vertical-align: baseline;" happy." There was the ghost of a smile on his lips when he reported that tidbit to her. "We've even gotten the fruit cart unstuck from the /spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-style: italic; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"Bow and Brine/spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; vertical-align: baseline;" for better or worse…" /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; vertical-align: baseline;""Yes, though, Adin—" she started. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; vertical-align: baseline;""I doubt you'll find a way to help him here," Joe said gently, pulling the book from her hands and setting it on the scholar's desk in front of her. "I am the hero of the oceans' kingdom of magic; Apprentice to King Djeval of the Depths, Slayer of the Riddles' Guardian, and possibly the/spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-style: italic; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; vertical-align: baseline;" second/spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; vertical-align: baseline;" best potioneer in the kingdom. First thing in the morning, I'll go through every street, every library, every sea-witch's cave, and every old seer with enough teeth to talk for answers. The envoys, the conflict, and the devils themselves can wait. We're going to figure this out. /spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-style: italic; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"But/spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; vertical-align: baseline;" we're not going to figure it out tonight."/span/p
p dir="ltr" style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.38; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; vertical-align: baseline;""Hero of the Depths," she breathed, "I did hear…Doesn't that mean that somewhere in the trenches, you still have a mob to greet?" she asked, unable to keep her fins from twitching. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.38; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; vertical-align: baseline;""Tomorrow," he said firmly. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.38; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"She relaxed a bit, realizing that sometime in his assurances, Joe had gone back to holding her steady, and ventured the worser of her questions. "Why does that sound like you're leaving?" /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.38; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; vertical-align: baseline;""Not tonight," he said. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.38; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"She flushed under his gaze, wanting to look to the side, but found she simply…couldn't. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.38; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; vertical-align: baseline;""Are you going…to kiss me?" she blurted. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.38; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-style: italic; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"Poseidon's sandy scales, I said that out loud, /spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"she thought, horrified. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.38; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"He gave her an arch look, so familiar she would have laughed had she not been in the throes of Mortification. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.38; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; vertical-align: baseline;""That depends. Am I going to get slapped again? Called an eight-legged fice?" /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.38; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"She groaned, and that time, she did fall into his neck and hide. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.38; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; vertical-align: baseline;""Did I/spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-style: italic; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; vertical-align: baseline;" actually/spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; vertical-align: baseline;" do that?" /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.38; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; vertical-align: baseline;""My question stands, I have my life to preserve now that you have the weaponry to back some of the threats you've made." /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.38; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; vertical-align: baseline;""You realize I was potioned at the time," she protested, leaning back just enough to see—he was laughing at her./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.38; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; vertical-align: baseline;""Inebrieation or cursing of any kind doesn't absolve you from any serious crimes. It's in the Atlantean law," he said with a twinkle in his eye. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.38; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; vertical-align: baseline;""Remind me to revisit that law," she muttered. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.38; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; vertical-align: baseline;""Ah, not yet corronated and already ready to twist the law to your own benefit," Joe teased, evidently satisfied with her distraction. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.38; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"She did her best to ignore his alluring smirk. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.38; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; vertical-align: baseline;""Are you going to answer my question?" /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.38; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; vertical-align: baseline;""Am I granted a guarantee of diplomatic immunity over my personhood?" he pressed, feigning an expression of great concern. He tapped one fingertip to his chin, as though considering some great risk. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.38; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; vertical-align: baseline;""Not a chance. You'll have to find out on your own," she said pertly. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.38; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; vertical-align: baseline;""Terrifying," he said, extending his small finger from where his hand rested near his face, and slipping it along to her jawline. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.38; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"She hadn't realized just how close they already were, because all it took was the one finger, and a precise little pull, and his smirk met her surprised "oh," oh so easily. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.38; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"One arm pressed her forward as two of his tentacles twisted down her tail, pulling her into him. His mouth was soft and cool, and parted slightly like a lure. The moment her tongue followed his silent invitation; however, his breath gave a startling shudder and stopped altogether. Feeling she had overstepped some unspoken boundary, she started to lean back, when he closed the rest of the space between them, catching her with a far different sort of kiss. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"She couldn't remember how they'd ended up against the bookshelf, but the leather bindings were at her back. Joe made a sound between a growl and a purr of approval when she moved her hands into his hair and raked her fingers down his scalp. Both of them breathing heavily, she heard some unnamed object thud into the ground, and found she didn't care. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.38; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"Far too soon, Joe pulled back with a heated sigh. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.38; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; vertical-align: baseline;""Come back to the party. You need to take the time to /spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-style: italic; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"enjoy/spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; vertical-align: baseline;" your people if you're going to spend so much of your time saving them." /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.38; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; vertical-align: baseline;""I—what was it you said about deferring that sort of thing until timorrow?" she asked, as basic faculties bubbled one by one back into her head. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.38; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"Joe gave the books they'd knocked to the ground a sort of amused inspection, then pressed his forehead against her, holding his face far enough away that her attempts to nip at his lips were thwarted./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; vertical-align: baseline;""Come back with me. Tonight, let your people see their future monarch. Poseidon knows there won't be a better time for this sort of impression with them." /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; vertical-align: baseline;""You're…not wrong," Ariel acknowledged. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"He scoffed lightly, giving her nose a teasing flick with his own. "Of course I'm not. The sooner you realize I'm always right, the better for everyone involved."/span/p
p dir="ltr" style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"She laughed. "I'm sure I'll have opportunities to contest that…I'll come. Just give me a moment to…set things here in order." /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; vertical-align: baseline;""I'll be waiting by the entry," Joe promised. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"With a glare at the shadow beneath her desk, Ariel had one last question to be answered. /span/p