Slave to Ice & Shadows: Royal Lies, #1

By Aleera Anaya Ceres

The only life Princess Odele Malabella knows is a lavish one. Years of tragedy killed off her family members one by one until she and her long-lost cousin, Maisie, uncovered a murderous fiend and set the kingdom of Thalassar to rights. With the weight of her ex-engagement off her shoulders, Odele has plans. Plans to travel the seven sea kingdoms and find adventures. Plans that don't include marriage, ruling, or responsibilities.

Only, royal life is not so simple, and the ultimatum the queen presents is a double-edged sword.

Marry, or die.

Being a slave—er, wife—to the bastard Prince of Iol was never part of her plan, and escaping from the clutches of him and his brooding guard is not easy to do as they journey towards the cold, northern waters of his kingdom. A kingdom that gives the Princess of Thalassar more than she bargained for when royal lies and deadly plots begin to unravel from the shadows.

Lies and plots that just might change the fate of her heart—and their kingdoms—forever.

This book is a Fantasy Reverse Harem read where the members of the harem are slowly introduced to the FMC, and may contain scenes not suitable for readers under the age of 18.

Slave to Ice & Shadows was previously published under the same title, however this is a second edition and contains a new blurb and a new cover.

Reading order:

Royal Secrets series:

Secrets Among the Tides
Whispers Beneath the Deep
Caresses Between the Sand
Death Beyond the Waves

Royal Lies series:

Slave to Ice & Shadows
Princess in Frost Castles
Queen of Frozen War

• Language: English
• Publisher: Aleera Anaya Ceres
• Release date: Jan 23, 2024
• ISBN: 9798224586912

Book preview

Contents

Dedication

Trigger & Content Warnings

Pronunciation Guide

Fullpage Image

Map of 7 Kingdoms

Odele

Ytgar

Valmundur

Odele

Valmundur

Ytgar

Odele

Ytgar

Odele

Valmundur

Odele

Ytgar

Odele

Valmundur

Odele

Ytgar

Maisie

Odele

Valmundur

Ytgar

Odele

Ytgar

Odele

Valmundur

Odele

Ytgar

Odele

Valmundur

Odele

Odele

Ytgar

Odele

Ytgar

Valmundur

Odele

Valmundur

Odele

Acknowledgements

About Aleera Anaya Ceres

Also by Aleera Anaya Ceres

Her Alien Merman FREE NOVELLA

The Hybrid Trilogy FREE NOVELLAS

Want a Fae romance series?

Mershifting Bikers in an MC

Monster why choose standalone

A mermaid princess switch

Mermaids fighting the patriarchy!

Cheesy romantic vampires

Dedication

I’d like to dedicate this book to myself, and to my inner Odele. Who no one really likes, but who is a wonderful snack, anyway.

Trigger & Content Warnings

This series contains content, themes, situations, and tropes that may not be suitable for all readers.

Some of the triggering concepts include:

-Ableism against disabled character

-Classism

-Violence

-Attempted murder

-War in a fantasy setting

-Mentions of death by poison

-Death of family and grief

-Dragons

-This book contains instances in which one merman pretends to be the prince for the prince's safety. This can be considered dubious to some. If that bothers you, please continue with caution.

This book also features themes, situations, and tropes such as:

-Virgin FMC

-A slow burn romance

-Bisexual mermen and MM relationships

-Cliffhanger ending (the series is complete, don't worry!)

-Group sex scenes

-Angry sex scenes

-Arranged marriage

THIS BOOK IS A SLOW burn why choose story where the harem is slowly, emphasis on slowly, introduced to the FMC. The main female character in this book is also very unlikeable, mean, classist, and rude due to her upbringing. She goes through a character arc.

Pronunciation Guide

Thalassar: Tal-uh-sahr

Kappur: Kay-purr

Draconi: Dray-cone-e

Iol: Yo-l

Ventlair: Vent-lair

Gvulis: Vool-liss

Brague: Bra-aag

Eramaea: Era-may-uh

Malabella: Mahl-ah-beh-yaw

Oriana: Or-ee-ah-nuh

Ytgar: Eet-gahrr

Valmundur: Val-mone-doorrr (heavy R roll)

Odalaea: O-dah-lay-uh

Anneli: A-nah-lee

Neves: Nev-ehs

Isolde: Ee-zohl-day

Ingen: In-ehn

Aelfrost: Ale-frost

Odele

"M y life is over. Positively , dreadfully, and irrevocably over. I sniffled, dabbing at my eyes before I continued. If you find this, remember me. Think of me. For I travel to waters unknown, where I am to be a slave, nothing more than a vessel between one kingdom and another. Though, I confess, I would rather throw myself into the mouth of Prince Kai’s dragon than set out on this current forced before me. What an appealing thought. Yes. I have decided. I cannot continue to live in this cruel, cruel world. So by the time you find this, know that I will be long gone—"

Odele!

I was startled by the sound of my chamber door opening and closing loudly. I nearly dropped the recording conch I was holding up to my face to capture my disquisition. I gripped it tightly in my trembling fingers, taking a deep, settling breath. This was to be my last conch ever recorded, the final evidence of my unhappiness. It was supposed to be grand, and dramatic, but someone had interrupted.

Not just someone.

My cousin.

What are you doing? Odalaea asked with curious amusement, plopping herself on the bed next to me. In fact, her name was Maisie. Well, it wasn’t her given name. The name given to her at birth had been Odalaea Malabella Knoll, but then her mother, my aunt, had been murdered and she’d been given to an old mermaid with a horrible taste in names, if she’d baptized my cousin with the name ‘Maisie’. Alas, it was what she called herself, a name she had carried her entire life.

Recording my death conch, I replied absentmindedly. I wondered if I could crash this conch to the ground and record another. Conches were the equivalent to what two-legger called cameras. They were devices used by the mer to record their voices and even moving images inside. Once a conch was smashed, it eliminated the inside message entirely.

Perhaps I could write out my dialogue on a piece of kelp parchment and memorize it beforehand, I mused. It would need extra drama and flourish, of course. Something that would cause my barracuda of a stepmother to shed a tear or two. As the conch I held was still recording this unfortunate turn of events, all it would accomplish would be to provide my stepmother some amusement, perhaps a twitch of her lips, for I had never seen her laugh.

Odalaea—Maisie—reached over me and plucked the conch from my hands and looked straight into it. Why must you be so dramatic? she asked, sufferingly, sounding more like a sardonic sister rather than a cousin.

With annoyance, I reached over and yanked my conch back. "You wouldn’t be saying the same thing, cousin, if it was you being forced into marriage."

Ugh, just saying it aloud made me want to gag. Somehow, the thought of marrying was even more nauseating than the time my cousin’s husband had kissed me.

Not that he’d meant to kiss me. Really, I couldn’t very well fault him for that mistake. Not when Maisie and I were nearly identical. Our mothers had been twins, and we had inherited their innate beauty. There were few differences between my cousin and I. Our eyes, for one. Hers were as black as stones and mine, though dark, were not as dark. I was more rounded than she was, and my sense of style was infinitely better.

I mean, for a princess who had recently found herself bathing in riches, it was baffling why she dressed like a groomsmer when she could wear vivacious dresses in tulle and silk, or any other jeweled accoutrements, instead of that chunk of black obsidian against her collarbone.

"A few weeks ago, I recall you trying to force a marriage with Kai on me."

I rolled my eyes. Gods, my cousin could hold grudges. Yeah, but that was different.

Her own eyebrows rose mockingly. Okay, really, we had the same hair, a blue-purple, more purple than blue, and a matching tail with aquamarine fins, but how couldn’t the mer tell us apart?

Different how? she asked with amusement.

Well, you love Kai. Whereas I feel nothing but disdain for my betroth— I broke off on a gag.

Our contract had been signed, and the plans formally announced to the whole of Thalassar, my home kingdom. By this time tomorrow, I would be traveling with the Iolish, the Draconians, and the Kappurins across the seas where I’d be taken to Iol and forced to marry a prince I did not care for.

I’m sure if you get to know Ytgar, you’ll like him...

I pointed an accusing finger at her. See? Even you sound uncertain!

Maisie sighed and shrugged. Well, it’s different, because he propositioned me when I was pretending to be you, knowing that I—or you—was to marry Kai.

I groaned. And that’s the merman they want me to marry! He was arrogant and loud. And charming. Disgusting and smelly. Attractive. I shoved aside the complimentary thoughts and frowned. Really, what benefits could Iol bring Thalassar, anyway? They’re so closed off...

Maisie shrugged again. Ugh, she was no help. I’m not sure, but the queen is angry. You shouldn’t do anything to make it worse. Thalassar can’t afford another war. Not even with the mysterious Iolish.

There she went, proving to me once again that she was one hundred times a better ruler than I. It hadn’t really been a secret. Maisie cared about Thalassar. She cared about the mer. I cared about myself. And I’d rather kill myself than be that self-sacrificing. Nevermind the irony.

But she was right. Thalassar had just gotten out of war with Kappur. To plunge us into another one with Iol? A kingdom who had orcas? Did I really want to risk it?

What if I accepted my fate and traveled with the Iolish to marry Prince Ytgar? A part of me would get the wish I’d always wanted; to travel beyond the waters of Thalassar. But wouldn’t I just be trading in one prison for another? The Iolish were secretive mer who kept their borders closed off to other kingdoms, even allies. Was that to be my fate as well? Even if Ytgar was charmingly handsome, made me smile, and kissed like a...

I halted my thoughts, refusing to think about the kiss he’d given me weeks ago in the halls of the palace. It had been him trying to prove a point, and I’d nearly succumbed to his charm.

No, I decided vehemently. I would not marry Prince Ytgar Neves Isolde. Ever.

Thalassar be damned.

Maisie reached across the space that separated us to grip my hand fiercely in her own. I stared down, startled at the sudden gesture, and oddly touched. Maisie did not trust easily, and she had made no secret of how much she despised me. Not only because of the differences in our personalities, an awning chasm between us, but also because of what she saw as a difference in station as well. I had been raised a proper princess, and she’d been raised a waitress. Touching someone who, until recently, she thought of as so far above her could not have been easy. But she was my cousin, and she was finally starting to accept that.

I don’t think I’m the right person to be givin’ you any advice, she said, her Lagoona accent slipping into her words, mingling with her newly acquired Eramaean one. The result was a slew of funny sounding words. The last thing I want to tell you is that you have to marry someone you don’t know or love... She gave me a bashful smile. But perhaps you can give Ytgar a chance? Don’t do it for your stepmother, do it for Thalassar. You owe your kingdom that much, at least.

A sense of dread ventured through my stomach, piercing my gut uncomfortably. I wanted to lash out with familiar frivolity, to yell and make Maisie feel inferior in every sense of the word. It was how I coped, after all. For as long as I could remember, those reactions had been a part of me, of my very self. I wasn’t self sacrificing like my cousin. I’d not do for Thalassar what she had. I’d not save criminals or help mer escape from the gallows. I’d gladly watch the axe come down on the backs of treacherous necks because I didn’t care. I didn’t owe anyone a damn thing. I was the princess. I was their ruler. They had to bow down to me.

And I’d not give my freedom up for them.

Or for anyone else.

Not for Thalassar. Not for Maisie. And most certainly not for my stepmother, the shark.

I couldn’t very well say this, however. If I knew Maisie, which I did, the moment I gave away the sudden plan forming in my mind, she would alert someone to stop me. She’d chain me to the frozen altar in Iol if it meant benefitting her precious Thalassar.

So I smiled and gave the top of her hand a small pat. Alright, I agreed, leaving no room for her to doubt me. I suppose I can try.

Maisie looked me over and smiled before pulling away. I’m glad. She got up and looked around the room, eyebrows furrowing. You should pack, she suggested. We leave tomorrow. You’ll need to take warm clothes. Kai tells me Iol is very, very cold.

I bet it was.

I smiled and nodded.

When Maisie finally left my room, I let my facade fall and frowned. Yeah, right. She was insane if she thought I’d listen to her. I had no intention of packing for Iol, nor to travel to any northern waters. Because tonight, I would escape.

I’d escape this kingdom...

... and the Prince of Iol.

Thalassar was a mighty kingdom of old, a traditional place snuggled safely on the edge of two-legger lands. It was composed mostly of small pond villages, with the once-enemy now-ally kingdom of Kappur to the south of it and the dragon infested waters of Draconi to the west.

To me, both kingdoms were nothing but gilded prisons, but I’d still need the help of one to safely escape Iol. That meant I’d travel south through Kappur until I could make it to Ventlair. I had a handful of coins and rubies to hire a hippocampus and shell carriage, and enough to buy a home if I needed so I could continue the life of lavish I desired.

Without a husband.

The coins in my pack weighed my shoulders down, but I’d had to fill it to the rim until the whole thing bulged. I threw another bag over my shoulder containing simple traveling clothes. I wished I could have packed the remaining of my favorite dresses, but there was only so much I could carry. With the riches tucked into my black bag, I would be able to buy new clothes by the dozens, so it didn’t matter.

All that mattered was that I leave. Immediately.

So I recorded a quick goodbye to my cousin, for she’d likely be the only one to miss me, and slipped through a secret passageway in the hallway near my room.

The palace had been reconstructed, or at least a part of it, anyway. I’d found the old blueprints to it and had discovered amazing—yet dark and moldy—hiding places and means of escape. I would have preferred to leave through the secret passageway behind the tapestry in my old rooms, but that place had been taken over by Maisie and her harem of filthy lovers. So that was out of the question.

I was stuck swimming through this unfamiliar path, with nothing but the simple glow of a lava globe as my only illumination. The small orb was bigger than my closed fist and rested coldly in my palm. The glass was thick and protective, used to store lava inside.

Sometimes the lava could be transferred out safely from one place to another, if one had the right tools, but they made this one for petty illumination. It barely lit up the path in front of me. In fact, all it did was give off a light around my hand and my face. But it was better than nothing, and I couldn’t afford to carry anything else with me.

So I was stuck in the darkness. It wasn’t so bad. Not at first. Not until I didn’t notice the staunching figure floating at the end of the secret hallway until he was right in front of me.

I yelped embarrassingly and jumped back. My heart pounded, breaths coming out in short pants. And when I held the globe up to spotlight the figure before me, I cursed aloud, for I knew my plans had been thwarted.

The merman was encased in darkness, wisps of shadows slanted across his light brown skin. The only thing about him that glowed were the twin orbs of silver eyes glaring at me beneath an expression that was somehow both furious and bland at once.

The merman was a conundrum.

He was a hulking figure, built like a boulder, or more accurately, like a block of ice. He was as frigid and as cold, chiseled like a sculpture of dark glass in his perfection. Silver-white wisps of hair were loose around his cheeks, some of it he kept tied at the back of his neck. He had the muscles of an orca, hidden only behind the thick polar bear pelt he wore around his shoulders, the length of it more astonishing than any of my dresses, hiding his tail entirely. It made me wonder if, like Maisie, he had some strange deformity marring his scales. The merman had the prominent cheekbones of a royal, sharp at the edges, like the steel of a blade.

But I knew better.

This merman wasn’t a royal at all, even if he was as beautiful as one. He was nothing more than a filthy whale trainer, and Prince Ytgar’s lackey.

You’re blocking my exit, you big brute, I snapped impatiently. What was he doing down here? No one but me knew the location to the secret passageways.

His thin lips pursed tightly before twitching. If I didn’t know better, I’d say he was smiling, but a moment later he wore the same stoic expression he always sported.

Move! I ordered. It was rare that I had to repeat myself. I was the Princess of Thalassar, future queen of the realm. Whatever I desired, the mer scrambled over each other to make me happy, to impress. If not, then they’d face the entirety of my wrath and cruelty. This whale trainer scum was beneath me and should have hurried to move his bulky body aside to let me through.

But he didn’t.

I wondered if it would hurt him if I threw the lava globe at his face. I supposed there were a few disadvantages to that. One, it’d likely just bounce off his massive muscled body like a pebble against a wall, and two, I’d lose my only source of illumination. Not exactly a well thought-out plan.

I was so distracted with my contemplations on how to get this rock aside that when he finally deigned to speak, the deep rumble of his voice made my entire body vibrate.

Where are you going, Princess?

I fought off the effect the tone of his voice had on me. Gods, no. What was it with these Iolish bastards? Did they drink magic tea? Suck on magical ice cubes? Why was it they seemed so enchanting? It was infuriating.

None of your business, I snapped impatiently, gesturing with the hand holding the lava globe. Get out of my way, brute.

An eyebrow rose in what was clearly amusement. The bastard was making fun of me! Mermen had been whipped for less. He could have lost his head for that slight once upon a time. Before my own fate had escaped from my fingers. Before my plan crumbled into silt. Before I was sold to the Iolish Prince.

Why? he rumbled.

My palms suddenly heated, and the globe almost slipped from my fingers at his questioning. It was just one word, and yet the weight of it was like a thousand pounds.

Shouldn’t you be somewhere polishing Ytgar’s belt buckles?

Both of his beautifully trimmed eyebrows rose. I am right where I’m supposed to be, Princess.

In... my way?

You don’t actually think I will move aside and let you flee from your responsibilities. It wasn’t phrased like a question. Something in my gut curdled.

Who said anything about fleeing?

He gave me a pointed look that almost made me shiver. Almost. "You cannot think me to be that daft, Princess."

"Well, I mean, I could and I do. Orca inbreeding makes the mer as stupid as dragon inbreeding, I hear."

He frowned and, suddenly, the waters became heavy, hot with the intensity of the murderous gleam in those silver eyes that shone in the surrounding darkness. I felt as though my body had been dipped into molten lava and I was suffocating, the gleam in his eyes pervasive. I felt something akin to death balancing on the precipice of these next few moments.

I regretted my words immediately.

Val pried the globe from my tightened fingers and chucked it over my head until we were shrouded in darkness, with nothing but the glow of his abnormal eyes in our company. They gleamed closer and closer still, until I felt the weight of his heavy hands encircle my upper arms and squeeze.

I was suddenly all too aware of the closeness of his body, of the way the ice hard ridges of his front pressed up against me. The thick pelt of fur contrasted his body. Soft on hard. It sent a shiver slicing down my body, made my fins curl. There was imminent danger here, creeping up on me, on us.

Then he was closer, his lips warm near the lobe of my ear. I tried not to flinch. I tried not to move or breathe or remember the sharp lines and angles of his beautiful face.

You mistake me for Ytgar, Princess. His words were a dangerous warning. You mistake me for the weak, broken mer at your beck and call. His lips moved up the side of my ear, to my cheek. The graze of them finally made me shiver, despite my resolve to be strong, to not be intimidated. I despised him for what he was doing to my body. You cannot break me, Princess. Then those silver eyes were right in front of mine, and even in the darkness I saw the promise of danger in those depths. No one can.

Before I knew what was happening, his strong arms encircled me, causing the breath to whoosh out of me in surprise, and he lifted me up as though I weighed nothing more than a knapsack of crumbled conches. I still had the bag of jewels strapped to my back, and when he flicked me over his shoulder, the straps came undone and gold and rubies drifted along the floor of the little cave.

A groan pushed past my lips, followed by a cry of indignation when I felt his hand settle warmly over the backside of my tail. My ass, as two-leggers were prone to call that part of their anatomy. His hand was on mine, firm and strong as he held me in place and began swimming. Rubies and coins fell and floated behind him as he carried me back towards the palace. All of my hard work undone within a matter of moments thanks to a disgusting whale trainer.

You Iolish bastard! I shrieked, pounding on his backside. He didn’t even grunt, and all I managed to do was hurt my own fists against his muscled body. The jerking movements of my arms only jostled the bag on my back. "How dare you? I raged. Put me down this instant!"

I think not.

He navigated his way through the secret passageway in the dark, ignoring my shrieks of indignation and anger until we were slipping past the opening. It scraped away, the harsh sound echoing along the halls of the palace. When he stepped fin in the hallway, it was empty, save for the occasional servant hiding behind vases, watching us with wary eyes.

Find the Captain of my Royal Guard and bring him here at once! I shrieked to the servant.

A deep rumble resonated down my chest. I realized it was a laugh. This filthy whale trainer was laughing at me. Then he did something that froze me cold.

He patted my rear.

No one is going to save you, Princess, he promised darkly. They know you have a penchant for disobeying and have been commanded by your queen and king to give you no aid.

I scoffed. The treachery! The audacity! How dare they treat me like some common criminal filth in my own home?! There was a real criminal lurking through the palace and it wasn’t I, but one by the name of the Black Blade. How demeaning that I was now being hauled around like a sack of vegetables? Where was the respect? I was royalty. I was his superior!

Put. Me. Down. I punched my fist straight into his spine. Gods, was the merman made of ice and steel? He hadn’t even flinched. Now!

I gasped as he jostled me above his shoulder and I bobbed up and down. The sharp jab of his shoulder in my stomach brought little bubbles of tears to my eyes.

On two-legger lands, it was said they cried tears as salty as the waters I lived in. Yet here, mer cried tears of air, the evidence lifting from my eyes in an annoying swarm that frustrated me. It was a weakness, and I prayed he’d not turn around and see.

His grip was adamant, and I knew he wouldn’t put me down like I commanded, so I dangled at his back, letting my hands press down the length of him for support. His muscles seemed to tense under me the more my hands explored. And, because I wanted to catch him off guard, perhaps enough so he’d drop me despite the indignity it would cause, I let my hands clamp over his own rear end.

He stopped mid-stroke. Careful. It came out as both a growl and a warning.

It’s only fair you suffer the same embarrassing indignities, whale trainer. I groped him. By gods, he was hard and firm all over. It was hard not to notice such a thing. Alas, my hands noticed and explored by their on volition. Blast my curious body and untameable fingers. They traced over the material of his thick fur pelt. Curiosity had my fingers bunching up into it and as slowly as I possibly could, I began to hike it up.

The slap on my rear came so suddenly, I dropped