A happy couple was a happy kingdom.
Right.
I reminded myself not to get attached to anyone in this kingdom. I was here for one thing and one thing only. To fix it for the good of the mer. My life and Lagoona’s future were at stake. I couldn’t afford to be distracted by pretty, dark eyes. Or warm lips that had hovered a bit too long over my knuckles when he’d escorted me to the doors of the Princess’s room the night before.
My face flushed at the memory. At the way his eyes had glowed with newfound mischief as he looked up at me through dark lashes. The captain had been off to the side, glaring daggers my way the entire time. When the Prince had left, I hurried into the room and closed the doors before the captain could utter a word.
I didn’t need them. I knew what I was doing. Didn’t I? No. I pushed doubt away. I had to stick with the plan. I wouldn’t make it if I couldn’t fake it, and Ihadto fake being the Princess. That meant inheriting her entire attitude. But, what was she like, really? From what I’d gathered studying telly casts about her and from studying the personalities of those around her, she seemed to be no different.
She probably didn’t hold doors open for people. She didn’t dress herself and Prince Kai had obviously no affection for her. Maybe she was just as bad as my mind had conjured up. But could I really dive into that personality and come out with my soul still intact?
I had no other choice.
Sighing, I began getting ready for the day.
~~
AN ANNIVERSARY DINNER AT THE ROYAL COURTwas more than what I imagined. It was extravagant. Overwhelming. Too much. I don’t know why I’d expected it to be a small affair with only close family and friends. I was so wrong.
Diplomats from all around had shown up. Lords and Ladies, Princes and Princesses. There were distant cousins, so far removed that they were no longer even on the royal coral branch. Friends and their families, guests of all shapes, sizes and extravagance. And reporters recording every single moment on their enormous conches.
I swallowed the sudden lump in my throat and clasped my hands together to keep them from trembling. It looked like everyone in the kingdom was here. Everyone they deemed important enough to attend, anyway. My fins quaked and I fought to keep them steady under this heavy weight of reality.
I was terrified.
The captain was behind me, keeping a close eye on every flickering movement near and far. He was decked out in a dark blue military jacket with red coral trimming on the lapels. The color really offset the bright blue of his eyes. He wore a military hat, in black as well, and a scabbard at his waist with a long, needle thin blade. The sight of it only made me miss mine, so I tried not to look.
I was floating next to the Queen and King. They were both very beautiful. The Queen made it a point to ignore me unless a conch recorder was pointed our way. She was in an extravagant dress made in a deep shade of purple that matched her tail. Her crown was silver and studded with blue sapphires that were so dark they looked violet. Heavy jewelry adorned her long neck and thin wrists.
The King didn’t speak a word to me, but he did look at me from over his wife’s crown, eyes narrowing. He was wearing royal blue robes with thin silver threading and a tall silver crown. Silver clips were threaded through his hair and his beard. The massive expanse of his shoulders was intimidating.
I had dressed, not in colors as bright as theirs, but in a more modest attire. A dress in beige-pink embroidered with silver flowers. The dress had a heart shaped neckline and sleeves that reached to my elbows. It hugged me tight enough against my upper body, but was loose and in gossamer layers down at the waist.
The crown on my head weighed heavily, even though it was thin and wiry, glittering with colorful gems. It felt like a mockery. I was just an imposter, masked in jewels and finery to look like the Princess. But I wasn’t her. I wasn’t!
The soft touch of fingers tugging at the back layers of my dress brought me away from that panic. I glanced back, but the fingers were gone and Captain Saber’s bright eyes held mine a brief moment before he resumed his duties of monitoring the royal dining hall.
That small touch of faith gave me the confidence to hold my head high and smile. In my mind I repeated the names that got me through it.Josiah. Christof. Lagoona. The Black Blade.Repeating it in my mind reminded me who I was floating next to. The tyrants who were destroying my people and the poor. I had to pretend to love them, and I had to make a change. There were diplomats, leaders and others at this anniversary dinner, if I could get involved in conversation, I could make something happen, like a wave crashing against the shore.
Our arrival was announced and the blaring of horns silenced the entire hall. I held my breath as the conch recorders found us and halted there. They’d record our every move and I had to be flawless. I smiled as we descended the stairs in slow, even strokes. I concentrated hard on not tripping, willing my fins to go on despite the strain I had them under. It was a difficult task, to hide my limp, and I nearly sighed with relief when we reached the bottom of the steps.
As we passed, the mer bowed to us and I noticed the females look at me before whispering behind their fans. I tried not to let that trip me up. They were probably just surprised that I—rather, the Princess—was up and about after being hidden away for so long.
We made it to our seats at the end of the table, the Queen taking the seat at the very head while the King took the place to her right and I the one on her left. More arrivals were announced, among them Prince Kai—and his advisors—and he looked rather dashing in his long black robes. When he took the seat next to mine, I noticed up close the silver and red embroidered dragon at his back.
He smiled softly at me as he took the place next to me and, once everyone had been announced and taken their respected places, we finally sat down and dinner was served. The conversation around me picked up and I tried grasping bits and pieces of it, pulling the words to me and tucking them into my pockets for examination.
My eyes and ears were everywhere at once, staring at the diplomat from Iol across from me, and the Prince of Ventlaer next tohim.
“Are you well, Princess?” Prince Kai’s voice cut through my examination around the room. My gaze jerked over to him. He was staring at me with—worry?—I couldn’t be sure what was in his dark gaze. “You haven’t touched your food.”
I looked down at the plate before me. Food sat in the finest china I’d ever seen. It was a light and frothy green soup that looked more like sea foam, the surface sprinkled with little brown unrecognizable specks. Though Captain Saber had given me lessons on dining etiquette, he’d never given methis.
Ugh.
“I’m fine.” I smiled at him and picked up my spoon. When I tasted the soup, I wanted to cringe. This is what they ate at palace parties? It had somehow tasted worse than the food I’d been given during my lessons. Or maybe I was just sick of the awful taste and texture. Either way, I wasn’t sure I could down this whole thing.
When I looked over to Prince Kai, he seemed to be playing with his soup as well.
