I don't bother to return to my room after Dilin dissapeared from the face of earth.

I do get inside the castle though only to be informed by another one of Layla's many possessed nymphs that 'Queen Layla' would be reducing an element from the glass tubes of the two captors as promised. The glass containers weren't displayed as showpeices in the Hall anymore so I could only assume Layla had them hidden somewhere.

The nymph also tells me Dilin would be staying in the castle and I'm free to meet him whenever I wish. Not that I would. Atleast not right now when my head seemed to hurt from way too many information already.

I'd wanted to ask the nymph where the supposed 'Queen Layla' was at but chose not to. She and Zander can be wherever they wish and do whatever they want.

I don't care.

Just as I don't care what Dilin said earlier bothers me more than I'd like to admit.

Huffing to myself, I stride past various nymphs and maids and straight towards the other end of the castle which led to the little makeshift lake-pool at the backyard. I suppose they'd constructed the pool in the form of a lake for the merfolks providing a place for them to swim at without the risks of drowning in the Black Sea.

I'd spotted the lake from my window and although I wasn't sure the place I was headed to was at the backyard, I let out a sigh when I walk out the backdoor connected to the kitchen and the cold air brushes my skin.

The familiar water body stretches around the ground surrounded by a trimmed grassland and few chairs and benches rowed up along the edges.

Stripping from the gown that snug to my body like a second skin and placing it on one of the many chair, I take a deep breath and dive into the water in my undergarments.

The water is chilly against my skin and somehow despite sirens and their weird cataclysm against cold things, it still made me feel fresh in a sense.

I shut my eyes imagining myself in my siren form and not seconds later, I feel my legs wound together transforming into an ocean-blue coloured tail. The rough shiny scales slither from my torso upto my bossom like a sleeveless bralette making it appear like a makeshift mermaid costume.

With my eyes still shut, I pull out the horde of pins twined into my hair and throw them ovwr the water enveloping me towards what I assume should be the ground. My hair comes loose within minutes and I shake my head and weave my hands through the tangles caused by the hairstyle the nymphs styled them into.

Releasing a relieved sigh, I brake through the water surface and push away the wet hair from my face letting my head tilt back a little as cold air greets me again. When my eyes flutter open though, they widen at the sight in front of me.

"The fuck-"

"Do you always throw pins around at people or is it a recently acquired skill?" Zander asks kneeling at the foot of the lake.

He held one of the sea-shell pins I'd thrown from my hair earlier in his hand while his eyes remained strained on my face.

He wasn't in the extravagant crimson velvet doublet anymore. He wore a thin white shirt and black jeans. His hair was a lot messier than it usually is as if someone had run their hands around them and his grey eyes held a hooded hazy look.

Oh right. He and his supposed fiancé-to-be had been having their sweet time earlier.

"Do you always invade people's privacy like a creep or is it a recently acquired skill?" I retort back with venom lacing my tongue.

I couldn't care less that he saw me stripping and shifting. He'd most definitely seen me nearly as naked when he shared his body heat so why be shy now?

A slow deliberate smile pulls at Zander's lips and I see him settle at the ground and dip his feet into the water, "I was here first. You didn't bother checking your surrounding and now you blame me? I was the one who's privacy was invaded here. You wound my fragile heart by claiming otherwise." He places a hand to his heart in mock hurt.

I roll my eyes at his antics, "Then maybe you should get your heart consulted. It seems to be weak."

Zander doesn't retort and instead lowers himself into the water—clothes and all.

I stare with a guarded look as he approaches me. When he's front of me and extends his hand towards my face, I shoot him a poisonous glare.

"You're tarty today." His smile is infectious before they turn sly, "It's quite a turn-on, you know?"

I just stare for a minute but then when the words actually seem to make sense, I cross my arms over my chest. His eyes follow the action before shifting back to my face, that hazy look in those orbs still present.

"Does Layla know her fiancé-to-be is here spewing sugary words at other woman?"

"I don't know about Layla." A strange look of confusion fills his expression, "I...kind of don't care even if I don't really understand the sudden change of feelings?"

"Although," Zander takes a step closer, "What I do know is the 'other woman' here is my mate."

My body goes still at the last word. It's the first time any of us had truly addressed the term and it felt so very strange and exhilarating at the same time, that it was confusing.

When I don't give a snarky reply, Zander's lips curl up into a half-smile. He takes another step closer. I feel the heat of his body against my cold one.

He raises his hand again to tuck a wet strand of my hair behind my ear and leans closer, "You look beautiful in your siren form, do you know that?" He whispers and I fight back a shudder as his breath fans my earlobes.

I know I should push him away before Layla spots us and causes a scene. He might be my mate and despite the fact that Layla and him aren't really married or bound in any way, I know they had some sort of feelings for each other, if not deeper than any mate bond.

Layla loves Zander. Zander loves Layla.

'...just as she doesn't know the love potion she used to trap that mate of yours stopped working months ago.'

Dilin's words were like a splash of cold water on my face and it was rather ironic I was actually in a lake filled with cold water right now. Although I was left behind with a reeling sensation whether I really should push him away.

I wanted to. But forsaken mate bond made it feel all the forms of wrong.

When Zander inches back, all I do is stare, my body frozen as his hand moves from my face down to cupping the side of my neck. With his thumb under my chin, he tilts my head up so that I'm looking straight at him, right into his eyes.

"There are five of them I've noticed so far." He mumbles almost absent-mindedly, his thumb doing lazy caresses along my jawline.

My body was abuzz with current and somehow I'd forgotten how to speak in the span of a few seconds but even then, through the seeping hot lava running in my veins, I mutter a feeble, "Huh?"

"Your eye colour shades." Zander smiles and its one of those small sweet smiles I'd rarely seen on him, "They're not actually based on ocean weathers like people think. Your hair is though. But your eyes, they change shades of blue according to your emotions."

I blink. Confused and a little surprised he'd counted the specific number of shades my irises switched to and paid enough notice to see them switching according to my mood.

It was true but mother had told me to never reveal the true nature of their switching shades since that could be a threat and people could figure out my emotions through my eye shade when I didn't want them to. Even Valerian being my closest friend didn't know about it.

To think Zander had paid such attention to them all these days. . . .

"What are they?" I manage to ask suddenly feeling a bit overwhelmed.

Zander brings his face closer to mine and my heart seems to pick up a slight pace, "When you're happy, they turn to a cerulean blue—a shade between the darkest blue sky and the brightest ocean."

I just stare wordlessly.

"When you're angry," His hand slides from my cheek to behind my ears while his thumb does a slow seductive swipe over my bottom lip, "It's an electric blue so bright it's almost translucent."

A shiver runs down my body and it has nothing to do with the cold breeze.

"When you're sad," His faces inches closer until we share the same breath and he rests his forehead against mine, "They're a dull shade of turquoise. Like a river of sorrow. And....it bothers me more than I'd want it to when I see that shade in your eyes."

Something about that has me taking a precautionary inhale making Zander's scent of cologne and wildflowers waft into my nostrils in full force. It makes me feel heady until I decide to rather focus on his next words,

"They turn the shade of fluctuating Ultramarine or Cyan when you're scared, although you act stubborn enough to conceal it and although I don't understand why you'd consider it a weakness when it just makes you human in a sense," His hands lowers from my face to gently wound around my waist pulling me into a careful embrace.

The gentleness of the action causes me such a shock that I'm rendered speechless. He rests his chin on my shoulder holding me there and I had no idea why suddenly every nerve in my body felt high on alert.

At first the embrace is warm and fuzzy and so very comfy that I almost feel uncomfortable from the foreign feeling of it all. But then he idly runs his fingers down my bare spine where my scales don't stretch. I suck in a breath against the sudden spike of electric tingles shooting where his fingers touched my skin.

The action seems to catch Zander's attention as he steps back from the embrace. His arms are still around me although he glances down at me through those irritating bedroom eyes, his infuriating height making me feel like a dwarf again.

"And lastly. . ." Zander's voice is laden with a sensual haze so strong, it makes something in me feel all forms of hot.

He pulls me ahead with a tug drawing our bodies so close, I could feel every inch of him against me.

"Your eyes turn a deep midnight blue when. . ." He lowers his head to the crook of my neck and his lips moves against my skin as he says, "You feel desire."

A soft moan escapes my lips involuntary at the strange sensation of his hands on my body and lips moving against my skin.

Before I can brisk in the annoyance of letting the sound slip past my lips, Zander moves back and stares down at me, grey orbs thick with desire.

"For Hell's sake, Fish," He holds my face in both his hands with a newfound of urgency, "Can I kiss you already?"

I should've said no. I should've pushed him away and left the lake all at once. Then maybe the ever growing confusing hell of feelings would've stopped.

But that's not what I did.

I rolled up onto my toes and gently brushed his hair from front of his eyes, "You have my consent, Your Highness."

I thought I should give Zander and Marilla a few moments for themselves before I dive into the load of dramatics and revelation so here it is💃

I kind of like this chapter for whatever reason I have no idea🚶‍♀️

Anyways, I hope you liked the chapter and I'll try my best to update the soonest! ^.^