“This is just like you, Conway! Needling and provoking Darin Aalto at every turn! It might do you good to remember that finding this treasure is all that stands between your kingdom and an attack!” Ginevra’s voice quivers.

I peer around and see Conway. He leans in a bored fashion against the rocks behind him while Ginevra swims agitatedly back and forth.

“Come on, Ginny.” Conway straightens slightly. “We both know what this is really about.”

She stops her restless swimming and glares at him. “What are you saying?”

“You don’t give two periwinkles about me provoking Aalto. Wave Master knows, you don’t mind arguing with him yourself.”

I shouldn’t be listening in on a private conversation, so I start back toward the campsite.

“You’re in a snit because of Locklyn.”

I freeze at Conway’s words, unable to resist listening further.

There is a pause. Ginevra’s voice when she next speaks is higher than usual. “What I don’t give two periwinkles about is your love life. But I do think it is in bad taste to lead that poor girl on like you’re doing.”

“Who said anything about leading her on?”

“You’re the crown prince of Undula! You can’t marry a dugong shepherdess!”

“Can’t I? One of the perks of being king, Ginny, is that you get to make the rules.”

Ginevra’s voice is shaking again. “You are the most disgustingly immature person I have ever met, Conway.” She turns to leave, and I shrink against my hiding spot.

Conway pushes off the rocks, reaching for her. “Ginny—”

“Stop calling me that!”

He sighs, hovering a few feet away, arms crossed over his chest. “Ginevra, then. We’ve been friends since we were kids. Why does it have to be this way?”

She remains turned away from him, shoulders stiff. “You know why it’s this way, Conway.”

He throws up his hands. “Just because I don’t want to marry you doesn’t make me your enemy, Ginny! I think you’re beautiful. And smart. And ridiculously good at fighting. And scary—in a good way. I miss you. Can’t we be friends again?” He holds out a hand.

Ginevra stays half turned and her voice catches when she speaks. “If you think I’m all those things, Conway, why don’t you want to marry me?”

His hand drops to his side and exasperation tinges his voice. “I don’t know, Ginny. I just don’t, alright?”

“Well, I do know,” Ginevra says, her voice rising again.

I duck down.

“You’re scared. You’re scared of being with a strong woman. Because you’re still a boy. A boy who refuses to grow up and be a Merman and take responsibility for his life!”

Conway’s voice doesn’t rise, but it is cold. “I’m surprised you want to be with someone so helpless and immature. But for your information, Locklyn isn’t what I’d call weak. Surviving being abandoned as an infant in a reef isn’t exactly easy.”

“You’re just using her to get to Aalto!” Ginevra’s voice has risen to a shout, and I feel prickles of anger as her words confirm my own suspicions.

“Oh, am I? Has it ever occurred to you that it might not be your strength that bugs me? Maybe I’m attracted to women who are strong without having the compassion and sweetness of a block of granite!”

I expect her to hit him. Everything I’ve ever heard about the warrior queen of the Nebulae makes me sure she will meet an attack with one of her own. But what happens next is so much worse.

A sudden outburst of sobs drifts over the rocks, and when I peer around them, I see Ginevra bent over, tears streaming down her face. Conway looks horror-struck, and if I were guessing, I would say he has never seen her cry before.

“Ginny—” he starts, reaching toward her, but she jerks away from his touch as though it burns.

“Stay away from me,” she chokes, then swirls around and shoots away into the dark water.

For a moment, Conway hovers there, gazing after her. Then with a muttered oath, he swims in the opposite direction, directly toward where I lurk. There is no time to get out of his way, but I don’t need to. He swims past without seeing me, his face set in rigid lines, and rejoins the group next to the magma pit.

I slump back against the rocks, my head falling forward so that my hair drifts over my face. I am so tired. Tired of conflict. Tired of not understanding what is going on. Tired of everything being complex and painful.

My heart aches as I think of Darin. Ever since Amaya got married and had other responsibilities, he was the one I turned to. For help. For advice. For comradeship. Now we can’t seem to speak to each other without fighting.

And Conway. My heart flutters and I feel the pressure of his hand in mine again. Did that mean anything? Or am I, like Ginevra suggested, just a way for him to get under Darin’s skin?

Besides the fact there is clearly something between him and Ginevra. Obviously, she is deeply in love with the prince, and my heart twists at the thought that I am contributing to the rift between them.

But he rejected her before you ever came along.

I shake my head at the little voice in my mind. He cares about her too. I can see that. I just don’t know whether he’s deluding himself about only wanting friendship. Part of me thinks Ginevra might have had a point about him being scared of her strength.

I lower my head into my hands.

I don’t know.

I don’t know.

I don’t know.

Is friendship between a man and a woman completely separate from romantic love? Or is there always a hope for something more? Is it possible to love someone deeply as a friend and be incapable of being in love with them?

You and Darin have always just been friends, the tiny voice in my head says. But, unbidden, the memory of him bending over me in the palace comes to me. Tendrils of his long blond hair skimming my face. The smell of him, cold and clear like the open ocean—the smell of adventure—enveloping me as his lips pressed against my forehead, firm and steady. He awakened feelings I didn’t dare to examine.

Don’t, I tell myself sharply, thrusting the memory away as the thought of the scene that followed twists painfully. Just don’t. Stop it.

Suddenly, my head snaps up. Was that a scream? A woman’s scream, echoing faint and shrill through the water? Silence wraps around me, and I strain against it, listening for another sound.

Nothing comes. But instead of alleviating my fear, dread piles up, pressing heavier and heavier on my insides. Ginevra hasn’t come back. And when she left, she was an emotional wreck, easy prey for whatever or whoever might attack her.

I push hard off the rocks and shoot toward the group huddled around the magma pit. Conway hovers on its outskirts, the expression on his face forbidding enough to dissuade anyone from trying to engage him in conversation. But I grab his arm and his expression lightens.

“Locklyn—”

“We have to go find Ginevra,” I say urgently.

His brow darkens again, and he turns back toward the red magma glow. “Unless you fancy getting your head bitten off, I’d advise against it.”

“Conway, she shouldn’t be out there on her own.”

“Trust me, Ginevra can take care of herself.”

“I thought I heard someone scream.” I give his arm an impatient shake.

His head swivels. “What?”

“It was so faint I can’t be sure, but it’s dangerous to be wandering around on her own. Especially in the state she was in.” His eyes widen, and I feel shame prickle along my spine. “I heard you two arguing,” I mutter.

He gives a rueful laugh. “That isn’t exactly the way I’d have chosen for you to hear how I feel about you.”

Warmth spreads up my face and neck. Now is definitely not the time for this conversation. “Are you listening? Ginevra could be in real trouble! Come on!” I turn to look for Darin and spot him on the other side of the pit, talking to one of Ginevra’s Nebulae guards—Baia, I think her name is—whom I have never seen smile before. She smiles now, so widely I can almost count every one of her bright white teeth. The warmth Conway’s words generated fades away into cold ash. “Darin!”

He looks over. “What?”

A coldness I’ve never heard before tinges his voice. “Conway and I are going to look for Ginevra. She went for a swim and hasn’t returned.”

Darin’s face changes, and he swiftly swims through the group toward us. Unexpected resentment flares inside me at the difference in his manner now that I’ve brought up Ginevra. “When did she leave?”

“About ten minutes ago,” I say stiffly.

“What made her go off on her own?”

I bite my lip, glancing at Conway.

He reddens, but only says brusquely, “She and I had an argument. Not that it’s any of your concern, Aalto.”

Darin raises his eyebrows. “Well, if you two just had an argument, it might be better for me to go with Locklyn to find her. She’s probably not dying to see you right now.”

The thought of how Ginevra will react if Darin—whom she clearly respects—finds her unharmed but extremely upset makes me say quickly, “I think Conway and I should go. Give him a chance to apologize.”

Darin’s face hardens, but his voice remains indifferent as he turns away. “Fair enough. Take a conch so you can call for backup if you run into trouble.”

I look after him, my heart sinking as he swims toward the Nebulae warrior. Does he think I just rejected his help so I could be alone with Conway?

“Hey.” I turn to see Conway hanging a conch shell on a leather thong around his neck. “We going?”

Pushing away all thoughts of Darin, I feel in the back of my pants for my coral knife. “Yes,” I say. “Let’s go.”