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“No. I have a better idea. We’ll disappear under a coral patch and he’ll think we’re making out or something. Then we’ll sneak out of the back and make a getaway.”
We do as Pasha suggests, and the guard stays reading his paper but keeps glancing in our direction. At first, we stay just in sight so he can see we’re getting close to each other.
“I want to apologise for making you feel second class. It wasn’t my intention to make you feel like you weren’t good enough for me,” I say.
“If that’s not what you think, why did you tell Maris I don’t mean anything to you?”
“Because I wanted to be king. Now I can see that was stupid. Maris is nice, but she’s not for me.”
“If my dad stays in power, maybe one day you could still be king.”
“No. That’s not my future.” I’ve never been sure of much, but I know I’m too selfish to rule a whole city of people.
“What do you want?”
“All I can tell you is that I love you.”
She rolls her eyes. “I wish you’d stop saying stuff like that. It’s hollow if it isn’t going to lead to anything.”
“I haven’t got it all figured out yet, but when I do, I’m going to show you how wrong you are.” I didn’t expect the first time I told someone I loved them I’d get rejected. She isn’t saying she doesn’t feel the same way, but it feels like she is.
“The guard is distracted. We should make a run for it now,” Pasha says and swims behind the coral. She doesn’t wait for me as she speeds off, and I have to push hard to catch up with her. When we’re certain we’ve got away, I show her the way to Starlyn’s cave.
“Hello,” I shout as we swim inside. The amount of merfolk crammed into this small space gives me pause. “What’s going on?” I ask.
“That’s Neptune’s daughter,” someone says, and all eyes turn to us so they can glare.
Pasha holds her hands up. “I don’t mean you any harm. Tell them, Oracle.”
The mermaid in question steps forward from the shadows to study her. “I can see your mother in you, but there’s also a darkness from your father.”
“We came to talk to Starlyn about her job in the palace. Is she happy to clean for the king, or does she do it because she has to?” Pasha asks. She’s looking at the oracle, even though she’s really asking her question to Starlyn.
“Is that what you think, dear?” the mermaid I assume is Starlyn asks as she swims forward.
“I really want to do something more than work at the shell factory, but my mum has always said it wasn’t possible,” Pasha says.
“That’s because the king punished her for your dad rebelling the first time.”
“My mum didn’t do anything wrong.”
“How many times have I said that?” Fishkiss—another helper at the palace—says.
The crowd erupts into speaking their minds. “Silence,” the oracle says. “We will all find our true place in this world. You will too, Pasha.”
“I’m not unhappy working for the king. In fact, I’ve enjoyed watching the royals grow up as I don’t have any family of my own,” Starlyn says.
“Thank you for being honest with me,” Pasha says.
“Your mother’s a good woman, and the king should’ve seen that.”
“Thank you. It means a lot that you say that.”
“Seeing you here is significant, but you can’t know too much about our plans,” the oracle says.
“I trust you,” Pasha tells her.
“Is there anything we can do?” I ask.
“When we give the signal, be ready. For now, return to the palace and stay under the radar,” the oracle says.
“We will do,” I say, and we leave.
Pasha seems lost in thought as we return home.
