“That’s not who or what she is. Nor is it what the queen of the sea should ever be.”

Rayna made a noise of disagreement. “We voted for you to take a mate to help repopulate. We don’t need another ruler.”

“My mate is the queen, regardless of what you all voted. She will be more powerful than any of us, including me. Her role is about far more than breeding.”

Rayna scoffed. “None of us agreed to follow her.”

“No one has to agree. The bond makes us a pair regardless of what anyone else wants, and I will not treat my mate as an incubator.”

“Oh, great,” Rayna murmured.

“What?”

“Look who’s wandering toward your queen.” Rayna gestured to a woman walking on the beach.

My body tensed, but my sister put an arm in front of me before I could vault off the balcony and prevent the conversation.

“You said yourself that she’s the leader. She can handle a conversation on her own.”

“She shouldn’t have to. And the last thing any of us needs is for Joa to scare her away.”

“Your mate doesn’t seem to frighten that easily.”

“The woman screams every time I jump into the water with her.”

“I imagine dragging her into the water is the equivalent of a phoenix dragging you into the sky.”

“I suppose.”

Rayna smiled. “I still remember the way you screamed when that bastard hauled you off the beach during the war.”

I scowled, but it didn’t reach my eyes.

The only shred of good that had come from the Dragons’ War was our bond with the other kingdoms. We’d never had a reason to work together before that, and things had been better in the aftermath for everyone because of those friendships.

“I wonder what it would be like to claim her without having to worry about the throne,” I said, my attention back to the woman sitting on the beach.

My woman.

“There’s no point in wishing for a different place in this world. Particularly not in your position. You, my brother, are very, very trapped.”

“Thank you for telling me something I have never once in my life forgotten,” I drawled.

“Someone has to remind you.”

I leaned over the edge of the balcony as Aria’s head snapped toward Joa’s. Even with the distance between us, I could read shock in her body position.

“She’ll realize Joa is just bitter,” Rayna assured me. “Probably.”

“You expect me to be comfortable with probably?”

“No, but I expect you to deal with it, just like you deal with everything else. When you’re finished staring at your mate, come inside and solve another argument between Greta and Plett.”

“They can wait until I have my mate safely inside the castle, assuming she doesn’t make a run for it.”