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I accepted a half shell stuffed with a salad made of fish and roots.
The server smiled at me. She watched as I chewed, lingering more than was necessary. I knew this had more to do with my diadem than it did with me.
“Would you like to try it on?” I said.
Her eyes popped open. She bent forward into a bow. “I wouldn’t dare, your majesty.”
Before she righted herself, I slid the diadem from my brow. When she raised her head, I set the diadem on her crown of pale golden hair.
The L’even pearls glowed blue.
“You are weaker than you appear,” I said.
A tear fell from her eye. Before I could wipe the droplet away, it disappeared into the water that surrounded us.
“A grand party, Prince Kai!” Lorcan’s greeting reached us before he turned the corner into my throne room. “All are enjoying themselves.”
He dropped his beverage.
His eyes darted back and forth between the diadem’s new location and the empty space on my head.
“I should return to my post,” the server said.
Her hands trembled. She lifted the diadem from her head and pressed it toward me.
I nodded, allowing the piece to fall into my hands. She glided away before I slipped the diadem in place.
With a sigh, I sank into the seat of my throne.
Lorcan approached. He glanced in the direction where the server had gone.
“Have you chosen a mate?” he said, his voice low.
I rubbed my eyes. “No.”
He raised a bushy brow.
“I didn’t want her weakness to interfere with her duties,” I said.
“Perhaps you should return to your guests.”
“I no longer feel like celebrating.”
His eyes hardened. He backed away from me, and then turned and swam back to the festivities.
Finding my father’s diadem was the entire cause for the celebration. Lorcan had encouraged its organization on short notice—to provide hope.
But after seeing the L’even pearls’ reaction to the server’s weakness, I knew I had to do more.
I had to recover the rest of the collection, which required another encounter with the human.
***
I RETURNED TO THE SHALLOW end of the lake, hoping to feel energy from the L’even pearls reaching out to me. Both the water and the air remained empty.
As I waited, the Perlnauts of my kingdom weakened.
It became increasingly clear that I would need to seek out the human. Assuming I found her and more of the pearls, then what? I was profoundly aware of my limitations on land, where I was both legless and voiceless. Humans had their limitations, of course. But in this situation, they seemed to have advantages beyond my own.
I thought of ways to lure the human to the lake. I had no intentions of parting with the diadem. But what else did I have to offer in exchange? Nothing I had any interest in giving up.
Fortunately, she lured me to her instead.