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I spun through the tunnels, my head reeling with memories of my last meeting with Hazel. I recognized the melody of a tune from my youth. Once I realized I’d been singing the song aloud, I chuckled to myself. Newfound giddiness had prompted music from within me!
Lorcan swam toward me with a stack of tablets wedged in his arms, presumably on his way to the library. “You seem in good spirits, your majesty,” he said.
“Yes, I am. And it is because I am in love.”
He blinked. “You have chosen a mate—a queen—to share your kingdom and your life?”
“I have indeed.”
“This calls for celebration!” His lips opened in a wide smile, as if he’d been looking forward to something worth celebrating for so long. “I will prepare a special banquet for your announcement.”
“Much appreciated,” I said, moving past him. “I’ll let you handle the preparations—however soon you’d like them to be.”
He spun around. “Truly? I mean to say, you are certain of this mate?”
I glanced back. “Yes,” I said over my shoulder. “I need no counseling in the matter.”
He pressed his lips together and nodded, a gleam of doubt evident in his eyes.
I shrugged off Lorcan’s reactions and continued on my way. It was time to pay my brother a visit. I wanted him to hear my good news, as well.
As I tapped at the doorway, the music escaped me again.
“Ah,” I said. “Do you remember when Mother used to sing to us, Kai?”
He lifted his head and frowned.
“What now, Acai?”
“Hazel is not only a vision to behold, she’s a marvelous conversational companion.”
He squinted. “What did you talk about?”
I drew closer, wincing at how his ribs seemed to poke more sharply through the skin of his torso. Perhaps I’d withheld too much food from him. His weakness was physically starting to show.
“I shared some of our literature with her, a story we both know well. The Lake Maiden. From what I could tell, she enjoyed it immensely.”
Kai furrowed his brow at me and swallowed, but said nothing more.
“I thought the story would be a good introduction to our ancient lore, our history. Because I have chosen her has my queen.”
“You’ve what?” he growled.
I moved back slightly.
“Lorcan is preparing a banquet in our honor,” I said. “The whole kingdom will soon be talking about it.”
My brother’s teeth clamped shut. “You will not get away with this.”
“Oh, but I already have.”
***
I SWAM ALONG THE MAIN tunnel, the guests’ voices and the clatter of shells reaching my ears before I approached the dining hall.
Seeing as I hadn’t returned to the kingdom as myself, but as Kai, I’d never had a welcoming party. I looked forward to a celebration set in my honor, and also to the delicacies and music that were fit for a ruler’s return. I was in the mood for pomp and grandiloquence, and I longed to dance.
I rubbed my hands together. All day, I’d pictured myself feasting and twirling until, dizzy and stuffed to the gills, I fell over from blissful exhaustion.
I made the turn through the entrance way and threw up my arms to announce my arrival. I bowed to an unexpectedly meager round of applause. The hall had a stage, but there were no musicians, and therefore, no music. Where were the seashell horns and drums? Surely the kingdom still had them.
I frowned upon guests gathered around floating tables. They’d already turned their attention back to their shells, slurping down appetizers as if it were merely a royal’s fifth birthday party.
Poor, unreliable Lorcan. I knew he no longer had at his disposal the same resources available when my father reigned. But I’d expected more style and resplendence than this. Perhaps it was time to find a replacement for his position.
I glared at him as he scuttled toward me, his plump body jiggling at its sides.
“Well, where is she, your majesty?” he said.
“Who?”
“Your chosen one—the mate you have selected to share the kingdom with.”
“Oh, that... She is not here.”
Lorcan’s eyes bulged out of his head, which didn’t look much different from his normal appearance. He peered beyond my shoulder as if a mate would be standing there, and I’d told him a lie.
“What?” His cheeks puffed. “But I’ve gone through all this trouble. The members of your kingdom are looking forward to learning who the queen will be. They are waiting.”
“So then stall them—explain that she will be revealed at a later time.”
He shook his head. “If I had only known—”
“Then what?” I raised a brow at him. “Is not the fact of my choice having been made cause enough for celebration?”
He held his palms toward me. “I’m not minimizing the importance of this occasion, your majesty. I’m only—”
“Only what?”
“It doesn’t matter.” Lorcan sighed. “I will announce the news to the guests.”
When he’d finally gone away, I positioned myself behind a table that was raised and secluded from the others. No music? Waiting for the chosen mate? What was Lorcan thinking?
A pair of servers approached with trays of shells stuffed with food. I turned them away, having lost the greater part of my appetite.
I glared at the guests. Were they really reserving the rest of their applause for Hazel, without knowing who or what she was? I was now more relieved that I hadn’t revealed her as my choice. They were unworthy of her, undeserving of the L’even pearl power and energy she could provide.
I tutted to myself. They didn’t deserve any of it. Perhaps I had met Hazel under these rare circumstances so that she and I alone might share in the wealth of L’even pearls. If we were to choose to have Perlnaut descendants and recolonize on our own, then so be it.