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Chapter Ten
AQUARIANS WANT A BETTER FUTURE, WHICH CAN MAKE THEM REBELLIOUS
Pasha
“Pasha, get out here,” my mum shouts.
I wipe the sleep from my eyes and secure my shells into place. “What is it?” I say as I leave the bedroom. As soon as I round the doorway, I stop dead in my tracks. “Your Majesty.” I dip my head, but my mouth stays open. The king has never been to my house, and maybe not even this side of town. Maris. She must not have come home yet.
“You’re my daughter’s friend,” he says with authority.
“Yes. Princess Maris is a dear friend,” I say, keeping my eyes to the ground. To lie to a king would be treason, but what choice do I have? I have to hold my nerve.
“She didn’t come home, and I need to know where she is.” It isn’t a question. He already thinks I know where she is.
I shake my head. “I’m sorry. I can’t help you.”
“You can and you will.”
“She means no disrespect, Your Majesty,” my mother says. “Pasha, tell the king what he wants to know and stop playing games.” Her tone is demanding.
I rub my forehead. “I don’t have any information on Maris.”
“Ryn!” the king shouts as Ryn enters my small home.
Fuck.
“Tell the king everything, Pasha. You owe it to the crown,” Ryn says.
What did I ever see in him? His pretty face doesn’t hide his ugly flaws. His words are a warning, and I have to take them seriously. Ryn wouldn’t do anything to jeopardise his own future, so I doubt he’s told the king everything he could have.
“I saw her early yesterday morning in the centre of the city,” I say.
“What did she say to you?” the king asks.
“We’d had a disagreement. I tried to get her to forgive me, but she was in too much of a hurry.”
Ryn gives me a pointed look and a sly smile ghosts his face.
“You brought me all this way to find out that?” the king says to Ryn.
“I’m sorry, Your Majesty. I thought she’d know more.” He bows to the king.
“The two of you upset my daughter. You will find her and bring her home.”
“We wouldn’t know where to start,” Ryn says.
“No more excuses. Neither of you will step foot inside Atlantis until she comes home.”
“But…” I start.
My mum hugs me tight. “You can’t banish them.”
“I can and I will.”
Like criminals, we’re escorted by the royal guides to the edge of Atlantis. I say goodbye to my mother and the king wards the land. His words are binding, and we can’t return home without Maris.
“I should’ve taken the job in the factory and stopped fooling around,” I say, using my fin to kick a rock.
