“Oh my, look at you!” Eloise squealed.

My attention jerked back to her, and I watched her waddle-run across the hall to a merrae woman with brown skin and bright red hair who was holding a redheaded baby boy in a silky crimson diaper. His skin was a similar shade to hers, and he was making little noises that even I had to admit were adorable.

Apparently, sea-silk diapers were a thing.

That shouldn’t have been cute, but it was.

The redhead handed her baby over without hesitation, and Eloise snuggled him close. When he babbled at her and pulled her hair, she beamed at him.

I had all of five seconds to consider sneaking away before Eloise waved me over, “Heidi, this is Aria, she’s Triton’s mate. Aria, this is Heidi. She got here a few months after I did, and this is her third little one.”

Heidi gave me a quick smile. “Nice to meet you. For your sake, I hope your cycle starts soon. Everyone is dying for the king to have a baby. It’s all people can talk about.”

My stomach tightened.

My throat did too.

“Here, want to hold him?” Eloise held the baby out toward me.

“Oh, I’ve never really held a baby before,” I said, staring down at his little face instead of reaching for him.

He was adorable.

Those clear, hazel eyes and cute little gummy grin made my heart melt about the breeding thing, just a little bit.

“You don’t come from a big family?” Heidi asked.

“No, it was just me. He’s cute, though,” I said.

“Just think how cute a mini Triton will be.” Heidi nudged Eloise.

Eloise snorted. “Shush. We all know you and every other turned human in this castle is attracted to him. The last thing we need is for one of our mates to threaten the king. Especially yours. He’s the scariest one.”

My eyebrows lifted.

All of the turned human women were attracted to Triton?

I mean, yeah, he was gorgeous.

But that thought still wasn’t comfortable to me. Was he attracted to them too?

“My mate may be scary to some of you, but he is well aware that Triton is the prettiest of all of us. Except maybe our new queen.” She winked at me, and my face heated.

I wasn’t sure whether I was jealous that everyone found Triton so hot, or embarrassed that they were talking about me behind my back.

Thankfully, my stomach chose that moment to rumble loudly, declaring to everyone that I was hungry.