The days turned into weeks, and I learned everything I could from Royce about his boat, what he did, how he interacted with the sea and his love for it. 

I understood more now why he had refused my request. For him, it would have been worse than death to lose something so important to him. For me, it was a chance at a new life. I knew I had to make him understand, eventually. He still refused to believe that he had any kind of magic, but I could sense it every time I was near him. All land dwellers had it. I sensed it from all of them. I couldn’t figure out why they continued to deny it. 

Pete and Marcy were lovely, and once Marcy knew how much I loved the pastries she made, she sent extra with Pete. In return, Pete, Royce, and I spent a lot of time doing chores and bigger maintenance projects in Marcy’s shop. 

Royce and I spent more time reconfiguring the captain’s cabin to fit both of us. Regardless of whether I stayed with him, he’d have a space that suited his size. I was still surprised he managed to squeeze onto his berth and even more surprised there was enough room for me at times. 

“When will the parts for the fold-away arrive?” I asked.

“Next day or so. If we can remove the bed and shelves today, so the space is ready that would be good. Then, we can put it against the wall where the desk is now and move the desk and storage to the wall opposite the bathroom. We’ll have space when the bed is up, but not much when it’s extended.”

We got to work removing the shelving. When I pulled out a drawer, I saw a picture of a family. I recognized that the adults in the picture were wearing uniforms. The child looked proud of his parents. And then I realized I was looking at a young Royce.

“Royce, is this you? Are these your parents? What do the clothes mean?” I held up the picture for him to see.

“Fuck,” He said softly. “Yes. Those are my parents. Here.” He pulled the picture from my hand and put it back in the drawer. He took the whole drawer from me and walked out of the cabin. “We have a lot of work to do.”

I stared at his back as he walked out. “Royce,” I called after him. “Royce!” I wondered why he didn’t have the picture displayed somewhere. It was customary for land dwellers to display photos. I’d seen them often enough in the empty vessels in the depths of the sea. 

I found him in the captain’s nest and approached him. “What’s wrong?” I touched his back, and he tensed. I pulled away. I didn’t think it was my fault exactly, but I wasn’t sure why he was upset. “Are they no longer living?” It was the only thing I could think of that might upset him.

“No, they’re fine. My parents live in Florida and are retired.”

“Can we visit them?”

“If I try to visit them, then the world follows me. They know that, too.”

“What do you mean?”

“My parents,” he took out the picture, “Their clothes are military. My father, Leopold, but everyone calls him Leo; he’s a prince. My other father, Ben, was part of his guard until they fell in love. The whole thing caused a bit of a stir, but since Leo was the third son, he was able to cut ties, though the press followed us everywhere. So they sent me to boarding school when I was ten. I haven’t seen them since I graduated from college.”

“Why not?” For all of my family’s faults, they would never have abandoned me like that.

“Because. My parents wanted me to have a normal life, and they knew if they came anywhere near me, the press would follow.” He took a breath. “The only place I’ve managed to avoid the press is out on the water. The minute someone recognizes me, everyone swoops in like vultures, looking for the lost prince, wondering what he’s doing now. I still talk with them once or twice a week. We’ve stayed in touch.”

“Royce?” He looked up from the box to me. 

“Yeah?”

“Do they have a boat?”

“They live in Florida. Everyone that lives there has a boat.”

I looked around at what we were standing in, and I watched the idea form in his head. So I pushed a little more. “I want to meet them. First, we should finish fixing the cabin. After that, maybe you could suggest that they can meet us somewhere in the Gulf.”

“Yeah.” He smiled. “I think that would work. I mean, we can give it a try at least.”

I nodded and gave him a smile. 

He stood up and wrapped an arm around me. I got a kiss for my efforts. He seemed pretty excited about it when he left me and went to the deck with his phone. I continued cleaning out the cabin. 

I found fishing hooks, loose bits of metal or wire, charts that were out of date, and other items that I piled up for Royce so he could tell me what he wanted to keep or recycle. When he came back down to the cabin, he had a smile on his face.

“We’re meeting next week! I’ll see if we can borrow Pete’s cruiser. It’s small and more maneuverable.” The excitement Royce felt was infectious. 

It made me wonder how much Royce’s best friend knew if he had hesitated to tell me about his past. “Does Pete know about you and who you are?”

Royce shook his head. “I didn’t want to put that on him.”

“He’s your best friend Royce, you should tell him. He knows about me. What could it hurt if he knew about you as well?”

He walked toward me, and I straightened up as he wrapped his arms around me. “How did I get so lucky to have such a smart partner?”

“I’m not that smart. Just…” in love, I thought. “I want you to be happy. I don’t want to be in the way of that. Ever.”

He kissed me again, and we continued working. At some point, we stopped for food and sex against the wall where the bed would go. Later we piled up the bedding on the floor of Royce’s cabin to rest. With Royce curled at my back, sleeping, with his arm lightly draped over my waist. I tried to sleep, but my thoughts kept me restless. 

The port had been a safe haven for me. If we went into open water, it might be possible for the pod to find me. There weren’t that many pods in the Gulf, but we did communicate with others that inhabited the area, like dolphins. If my pod caught me, they would take me back to punish me. Halic would make sure of that.  

As if Royce instinctively knew what I was thinking, he pulled me toward him. The heat from his body was like a blanket I wanted to stay in for the rest of my life.