The Ugly Duckling Of The Tiger Tribe-Chapter 303: It is uncomfortable

Finally, it was done, and they stepped back.

Thalor was now draped in a layered leather skirt that fell to his knees, held together with a wide belt that Noah must have pulled from his own collection. They’d draped a light fur wrap over one of his shoulders to cover his chest, though it did very little to hide the sheer scale of the man.

Thalor now looked like a handsome warrior-prince from a lost civilization, rather than a sea prince with gills and fins. It was, unfortunately, a very good look.

In their quest to hide as much skin as possible, they let the most important part on display. That chest was going nowhere.

"There," Noah sighed, wiping sweat from his brow. "He’s covered."

Thalor looked down at himself, poking at the leather with a confused finger. He walked a few steps, his gait awkward as he adjusted to the friction of fabric against skin. It felt too odd, and no matter how he looked at it, he couldn’t understand why the land folks needed to wear so many layers.

"It is uncomfortable," he said, and Fenric dropped a hand on his shoulder.

"You walking around with nothing on is more uncomfortable," Fenric said and Noah nodded.

"That’s right. Just stay clothed. You’ll get used to it."

But Thalor looked like he didn’t want to get used to it.

Poor him, he probably feels weighed down by the clothes.

Then, he looked over at me and discovered I was awake.

Shoot! I wanted to watch quietly for a moment longer.

"Arinya," he said, and the way my name sounded in his deep voice made Fenric drop the spare belt he was holding. "I have accepted the land-hides," he said, his tanned and smooth face glowing a faint flush of red. "Do I... please you now?"

Gosh, his choice of words makes me nervous.

Fenric let out a low growl, and even Damar’s eyes flared with a sudden, sharp light. Noah cleared his throat, holding back his comment even though it looked like he had a lot to say.

I sat up, rubbing the sleep from my face and trying to ignore the heat rising in my cheeks.

"You look great, Thalor. Much less... private and more public."

Whatever you believe that means, I will not correct you, ahem.

I looked at my three husbands—one fuming, one exhausted, and one silently judging from the shadows.

It was as if there was a war brewing in my tent. Gosh.

I cleared my throat, trying to shake off the awkward tension that had filled every corner of the tent. "Is there any fresh water left in the tank?" I asked, swinging my legs over the side of the furs. "I think the ’Royal Hydration Officer’ should show us exactly how he plans to earn his keep before we head back out to face Talia and her mob."

Noah nodded, looking relieved for the change of pace. He grabbed a clay tank, also known as a pitcher from the low wooden table and set it in the center of the tent.

It was as if he had been waiting for this moment the whole time.

Kinda makes me wonder what they had been up to for the last two hours since I was asleep. There was no way they had been playing dress up for all that time

"It’s slightly cloudy from the silt," Noah said as he uncovered it. "If you can fix this, Prince, then maybe Fenric will stop looking for a fillet knife on your behalf."

Thalor didn’t seem to notice the threat. He stepped toward the pitcher, his new leather skirt making a scrunching sound with every movement.

Then, he looked at the water for a moment, and then stretched his hands forward, turning his palm upward just like he did in the past, and then, a small, crystalline vial appeared on his palm.

Damar leaned forward from his corner, his eyes narrowing. He watched the vial as if it were a living thing... a threat he had to be cautious of.

Thalor tipped the vial over the pitcher. A single, heavy drop of deep blue liquid fell into the silted water.

For a second, nothing happened. Then, a ripple expanded from the center, turning the cloudy water into something so clear it looked like a liquid diamond.

The smell of the tent—usually a mix of woodsmoke and musk—was suddenly overwhelmed by the crisp, sharp scent of a mountain spring after a storm.

"It is done," Thalor said, the vial vanishing back into thin air as quickly as it had appeared. "The impurity is gone. It will not return."

Fenric reached out, dipped a finger into the pitcher, and tasted it. His eyes widened, his disgruntled expression softening just a bit.

"It’s... cold." He said. "And it tastes like nothing. Just... clean."

"If you can do that to the main well," Noah said, his mind clearly jumping back to the political benefits of having Thalor around, and forgetting for a second that he was a potential rival. "The elders won’t be able to say a word against you. Clean water is a blessing they can’t ignore."

Thalor looked at me, ignoring the praise from the others. It didn’t matter what they said, the only words he was willing and waiting to listen to were my words.

"I do this for the Land-Mother. The people are merely the recipients of my gratitude toward her." He said and I watched that soft glow in his eyes again.

Is it possible to suddenly fall in love with someone just because they saved your life once? I wonder, were the hearts of fishes so easy to win?

"Okay, okay, let’s keep the ’gratitude’ to a professional level for now," I said, standing up and smoothing out my top.

I could think of that later. Whether all he does now, and the warmth in his eyes, was all as a result of gratitude, of it he had sung himself into a love spell, let’s deal with all that later.

Right now, I have a campaign to run. Wait, is it really a campaign if I’m already the queen and will stay so as long as I have Noah’s mark on my wrist?

Well, whatever. 𝓯𝓻𝒆𝙚𝒘𝓮𝙗𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝒍.𝙘𝓸𝙢

Times to win the hearts of the people so I can have them crying over me when I decide to leave later on.

I looked at my three husbands and clasped my hands together.

"Noah, Fenric, get the equipment. We’re going to the well. Damar, you’re in charge of babysitting the cubs while we work. Is that fine by you?" I asked and he nodded, getting up to his feet.

As we walked out of the tent, Thalor adjusted the fur wrap on his shoulder, his bare chest still very much a distraction to the likes of me, yes, I said it.

I could feel the eyes of the beasts around fixed on us the moment we stepped into the light. Well, fixed on Thalor.

Word had spread and everyone wanted to see what a sea prince looked like on land.

Well, wait no more, folks.

The ’Hydration Officer’ was about to have his first public appearance, so get ready for a miracle that came with a side of sea-prince muscles.