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“There,” I said, satisfied. Maybe my tutoring wasn’t completely useless after all. “Leave the bubbles. The acid should melt those in a few hours. Then we can push our way out.”
I handed the vials back to Squiggles, telling him to put them back exactly where he took them. He moved fast in the water, and I put a hand over my mouth to cover a smile. My poor, fearful little octopus. I returned to the bench, sitting on the stone and leaning against the wall. Despite sleeping earlier, I was still tired.
“What is it like living under the sea?” Kaga asked. He’d just been on the opposite side of the bench, but now he was right next to me. If either of us moved our hands a little, they would be touching. Briefly, I considered reaching out and threading my fingers through his, just like he did when the witch had been in here. That had been for safety reasons. This wouldn’t be.
I turned to him and raised an eyebrow. “Are you asking me to compare it to life on land?”
He shook his head. “No, I’m just wondering what it’s like. What do you do for fun?”
“Fun?” I thought for a moment. “I like reading my stone tablets. Then the merpeople my age throw parties all the time, like the one you went to.”
I sighed. “I can’t always attend, but it’s nice when I escape my ever-growing list of duties and dance.” I eyed him thoughtfully. “Why? What was it like growing up on land?”
His lips curved into a smile. “The same. Only I’d rather read my paper books.”
I laughed. “The ones that were in the city when it sunk stayed intact, but any new paper books we bring down turn to mush.”
He made a disgusted face, and I laughed again. “What’s it like being the son of ambassadors?”
I actually wanted to know, too. I had ranted about my duties to him, but I wanted to know if it was the same for him, or different. He sighed, running a finger along the edges of one of his scales. “Boring. I’m expected to attend events with them and act like the perfect son. Not to mention, work with my tutors.” He opened his hand, forming a small bubble of water. “I’d much rather explore the world. See wonders no one else has before, like I am now. Find dragons.”
“Dragons are real?” I asked. I’d read about them in our books, but the information was minuscule, only mentioning that they had their own society and rules. The book was also written centuries ago. I had no idea what was in the present.
“I saw one once,” he said, a note of enthusiasm slipping into his voice. He raised his arms outward. “Their wingspan was enormous.”
He let his arms fall, his eyes downcast. “My parents think I’m ridiculous for wanting to travel and see the whole realm. They want me to stay home, with them, and take over as ambassador in a few years.”
Automatically, I reached my hand across the small space between us, threading my fingers with his. “I’m sorry.”
He smiled at me, his eyes lighting up. Clearing my throat, uneasy with the way I was feeling right now, I let go of his hand and examined the door hinges. They were dissolving nicely, but slowly. “Progress,” I said, pointing it out to Kaga.
He clapped for me. “Genius.”
Ignoring his compliment, I swam back to the bench, far away from him this time. The way my pulse raced when he touched me was concerning. I didn’t need to become attached to a human, and a human water mage at that.
No matter how handsome he was.
Chapter 13
Unfortunately, I was the one who couldn’t maintain the silence. It only took me an hour before I had to fill it. Kaga answered my random questions easily and without getting upset.
He told me what it was like growing up without siblings, something I related to. My parents tried having more merbabies, but it seemed fate had other plans for them. And for me. I guaranteed that if I had another sibling to pass the crown to, I’d do it in an instant.
Kaga loved water, and it was the best day for him when he found out he was a water mage. “I ran to the beach one day, and the waves responded to me in a way they never had before,” he said. “My parents weren’t happy. They wanted me to train me to be an ambassador only.”
“Can’t you be both?”
He leaned closer to me and grinned, my heart pounding as his green eyes stared into me. “If I wanted to.”
“What do you want to do, then?”
Desire flashed across his face before disappearing, and I sucked in a breath. He shook his head and sat back. “I’m not sure yet. I’ve been to the capital with them several times, since we were liaisons between the island and the mainland. This is the first time we’ve done something different.”
“And?”
Kaga sighed. “And I don’t know. We’ll see.”
I swam up to the gate and shook the hinge a little. It scraped against the stone and my lips curled in delight. It wouldn’t be long now.
