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Queen Amaria smiled at them for the first time. “Wonderful. Herman will show you to your rooms. I hope you find your accommodations acceptable.”
“I’m sure we will,” said Hana, her voice sweet with a playful note in it. Herman swam up to them, commanding them to follow him. The family turned around, except for Kaga.
With a nod from Hana, he came closer to me. After a short bow, he straightened. “Would you show me around the city?”
Queen Amaria glanced at me. “Yes, she can. She’s free now.”
I dripped honey into my voice. “But Mother, I have lessons right now. You know how much I hate to miss them.”
She flashed me a withering look, and I sighed dramatically. “I can skip them, if it pleases you, my Queen.”
She gritted her teeth while my father covered his smile with his hand. “Today, it would. Show Kaga around our beautiful city.”
I bowed to her. “Your wish is my command.” I raised an eyebrow at Kaga, but didn’t say a word to him. Instead, I swam away from the throne. I didn’t even glance back to see if he followed.
Outside the room, I paused. A slow grin spread across my face. He swam next to me, not asking, just waiting. “Come,” I said. The sick ward would be good. He needed to see what his kind did to mine. “I have the perfect place to show you.”
Chapter 7
Kaga narrowed his eyes, not quite believing me. I smiled sweetly at him, then swam away. First, I stopped at my room, hauling the stone door open. “Stay here,” I said.
Kaga didn’t listen, and followed me into my room, carefully studying everything in it. I gritted my teeth and pointed to the doorway. “Please stay out of here.”
He raised his eyebrows but didn’t move. My eyes flashed with anger and I flicked my tail. “I need to get my octopus before we go. He’s afraid of humans. Leave.”
Kaga conceded, floating out of my doorway. I sighed in relief, not wanting a stranger in my room. Especially not him, for reasons I couldn’t understand. I bent down in front of the seaweed clump. “Squiggles, I’m going to the sick ward. You need to come with me.”
He poked his head out and looked at me mournfully. “Allura, but why? It’s so scary out there.”
I held out my hand and he reluctantly put a tentacle on it, slowly spilling into my hand. “I know. You’ll get used to it.”
Squiggles floated up to my hair, clamping onto the top of my head, inside the crown I’d been forced to wear for the occasion. I threw it onto my hammock before leaving.
Outside my room, Kaga’s mouth dropped open at the sight of Squiggles. “Those are poisonous!”
Squiggles squeaked. “I’d never hurt Allura!”
I shrugged nonchalantly. “Not for me.”
Kaga jumped in surprise. “Octopi can talk?”
I nodded toward his shell. “Magic. Let’s go.”
Being sweet hadn’t lasted too long, but in my defense, he didn’t leave my room when I asked. Typical human, thinking he could do whatever he wanted.
We swam toward the sick ward, and I tried once more to play good host and point out the different coral and fish. I quickly grew tired of it and stopped. If he really wanted to know, he could look it up on a tablet. Or a book in his own home. To my great relief, he didn’t ask too many questions or talk very much.
As we approached the sick ward, Kaga grew increasingly quiet. The water was still and somber surrounding the building, with the soft cries of injured merpeople floating out. I swam inside, Kaga following me.
Nixie wasn’t working today, but an older mermaid named Lana was. She turned toward us, her gloriously silver hair catching the light. “Princess Allura, what a pleasure seeing you.” Her tone was anything but pleased. She’d held a grudge against me ever since I accidentally tipped over a medicine cabinet. Now, whenever she was on duty, she watched me like a hawk.
“This is Kaga,” I said, gesturing to the human. “He’s here to explore our seas and learn more about our culture. I thought it would be a good idea to show him why we… disagree with humans.”
She narrowed her eyes at me, nodded once, and left us to it.
“She doesn’t seem like your biggest fan,” said Kaga, his eyes straying to the nearest bed.
I ignored him and swam up to the merman on the bed. It was the same merman from last time, and he flashed me a big grin. “Princess, what brings you back here?”
