Page 21 of Secrets Among the Tides
I hated feeling like I was being stared at. I hated the thanks they called out to me and the other selects. And what were they thanking us for? For being forced from our homes to come here, train and fight in a war? For dying? My rage boiled hotly at their ignorance, at their lack of knowledge and compassion.
It was obvious from the streets, and homes of Eramaea, that the people here lived lavishly. Meanwhile those in Lagoona were starving. They had to work their fins off to scrape up the next meal and lived in fear of the Selection. I was willing to bet none of these mer had ever been selected or even knew anyone who had been selected.
By the time we made it to the palace, I was trembling with anger. I barely noticed when we’d parted from the other selects to travel to a stable. Hippocampus’ were behind stalls, their hooves pounding against the doors of their confinements. I trembled as Captain Saber hopped from Geronimo’s back.
I didn’t wait for him to offer his hand to me. Instead, I positioned myself and hopped down. My fins fanned out at my sides, cramping from all the time I’d spent on top of the beast. I took a moment to stretch my limbs as Captain Saber handed the reins over to a groomsmer and gave him instructions. When he finished, he turned to me, looked me up and down.
I glared at him.
“It’s time,” he said.
My insides became leaden and as heavy as an anchor inside me. It was time.
Time to meet the Queen and King of Thalassar.
~~
“YOUR ROYAL MAJESTIES, IT IS AN HONORto be in your presence once again.” Captain Saber’s voice was booming, his bow elegant as he swept low towards the polished quartz floor.
The inside of the palace was as lavish as the outside of it. Paintings, decorative swords and so many valuable objects adorned the halls. Objects that could have kept Lagoona fed and well for years. Swarms of guards were posted at nearly every door and I was floating next to one at the very back of the throne room.
Captain Saber had insisted upon meeting with the Queen and King first. He’d left me there, without having briefed me on anything, as he swam out to greet his rulers. I watched from my spot, nervously twisting the hem of the black jacket in my fingers, feeling entirely too exposed.
I wore no hat. Captain Saber had pulled it from my head and straightened my floating tendrils of hair with adept, elegant fingers before we swam through the entrance. They were going to look at me in all my limping glory. Would they see their daughter, the way Captain Saber had seen the Princess? Or would they debunk his idea, claiming him a mad merman and lock the both of us up for knowing too much?
So many scenarios passed through my mind, each crazier than the last. In that moment, I longed for the comfort of my bag at my back. The comfort of the blade I’d hidden there. In my nerves, I’d forgotten to ask for it. Though no one was allowed into the throne room with weapons. That much had been made perfectly clear.
Besides, the Captain promised he’d give me my bag later. If I was to parade around as the Princess, I probably wouldn’t need it, but I still wanted the comfort.
I strained my ears to listen to Captain Saber’s conversation. Sound traveled through the salt water and I cringed at the words of King Oriana.
“Have you found my daughter, Captain?”
From here, I could see the tightness bunched in his shoulders. “I have not, your Majesty.”
The King tightened his hand against the arm of his golden throne. Golden, with a long arched back carved to look like an ivory scallop shell. The Queen’s throne matched, or was even grander somehow. A crown of carved coral and sea glass adorned both their heads, seeming to loom high above them.
“I recall,” the King began tightly, “that I told you not to come back unless you found her.”
“Yes, your Majesty.”
“Then why are you here?” the King shouted.
Even I flinched. But Captain Saber kept his composure. His hands were fisted tightly behind his back, closing tighter and tighter with each word that was spoken. “We travelled throughout the entire kingdom of Thalassar, your Majesty, and there was no trace of her anywhere. Although my hope remains that she is out there somewhere, I soon discovered a temporary solution to our problem.”
I gulped. Me. I was a temporary solution. And the Queen and King didn’t even know it yet.
“What if we cannot find the Princess for many more months?” Captain Saber asked, his voice firm. “What if the kingdom starts to question? And Prince Kai will notice. He is living here at the palace, and we cannot keep avoiding him and—”
“Get to the point, Captain,” the King interrupted impatiently.
“My point is, your Majesty, that we need to trick the people, thePrince. And I know just the way to do so.” He turned then, eyes locking onto mine.
This was it. This was the moment I made myself known. Taking in a deep breath of salt water, I swam forward slowly into the illumination of their throne room.
Don’t limp. Don’t limp. Don’t limp.
I kept my head held high, my hands clasped together near my stomach, just as Captain Saber had taught me. I resisted the urge to look at him as I swam towards the throne, and towards the Queen and King. I moved slowly, deliberately. My nerves wouldn’t let me go faster; I was afraid of falling onto the shining floor and breaking my nose.
