She stared into the tank, watching fish dart amongst the rocks. “I still don’t see why you think I’m going to be able to persuade any sea dragon of anything. I might be the daughter of the Emperor, but it’s not like I have any power of my own.”
“Ascending the Pearl Throne is not some mere ritual, nor is Empress an empty title.” He turned his hand over, lacing his fingers through hers. “No one under the waves or above them will be able to deny your power, once you have taken your rightful place. The strength of all the sea runs in your blood. You have only to claim your inheritance.”
This is it. I have to tell him. I can’t let him go on thinking that everything’s going to be fine once I’m Empress. Not when I don’t even want to be Empress.
She felt sick to her stomach with nerves. Nonetheless, she took a deep breath, bracing herself. “John, I…that is, we have to talk.“
He surged to his feet, every muscle in his shoulders and arms abruptly tense. For a horrible moment, she thought he’d anticipated what she’d been about to confess, and was going to storm away from her there and then—but all his attention was focused on something in the tank.
“Get up.” His hand closed over her wrist, hard and urgent. “We must leave. Now.”
“Why?” she asked, as he pulled her to her feet. “What is it?”
The tendons stood out on the side of John’s neck. “Look at the sharks.”
Blinking, Neridia looked up, into the tank. Previously, the few sharks within it had kept to the perimeter, endlessly circling the boundaries of their world as if looking for a way out. Now, however, they’d converged. Half a dozen of them formed a sleek, predatory triangle, for all the world like fighter jets flying in formation. Perfectly aligned, they pointed directly at them.
“What are they doing?” she asked, staring up.
“Revealing our position to their master,” John said grimly, forcing a path through the still-oblivious visitors filling the tunnel. “He is here. The Master Shark is here.”
Chapter 20
John cursed himself for nine kinds of fool as he tried to politely shove past the oblivious humans thronging the narrow tunnel. He had allowed himself to be seduced by the innocent pleasures of the day, by the taste of ice cream and his mate’s smile. Now, unforgivably, he had permitted an enemy to come within striking distance of the Empress-in-Waiting.
Stupid, stupid, stupid! he raged at himself. He had never imagined that even the Master Shark would dare to attack Her Majesty so openly, in the sight of so many mundane witnesses. But he had underestimated the simple, direct brutality of a shark’s mind.
Neridia clutched his arm, shrinking against his side. “John!”
He’d already spotted what she’d seen. Walking at an unhurried pace, cold gray eyes fixed unerringly on them, the Master Shark was coming.
There was no mistaking him, although John had only ever seen him from a distance before. His broad, muscular form stood at least a head taller than any of the surrounding humans, putting him only a few inches short of John’s own height. Even dressed in a plain shirt and jeans rather than his usual utilitarian, iron-gray armor, he still exuded a sense of power.
Humans parted before him, their deepest monkey instincts making them recoil from the monster hidden under his white skin. He cut through them as easily as if swimming through still water. Sharks circled above their master’s head, a crown of teeth.
Their own path was still blocked by a tour guide and a dozen children. He did not dare tell Neridia to run, not when the Master Shark could have dozens of his kind stationed at the exits. All he could do was thrust her behind him, shielding her from the approaching peril with his own body.
The Master Shark stopped, just feet away. Despite the crowd all around, a small circle of isolation surrounded them. Humans hurried past with quick, nervous glances at the looming predator in their midst, giving him a wide berth without really understanding why.
“Peace, Knight-Poet of the First Water.” The shark lord’s voice was as flat and dead as his eyes. “I am not here to fight. I only wish to speak with the Emperor’s daughter.”
“Your mere presence is an outrage to Her Imperial Majesty, traitor,” John snarled. He had never wi
shed more to have his sword in his hand. “You will not insult her ears with your worthless words. Stand aside.”
The Master Shark stared through him, speaking to Neridia directly even though he couldn’t see her. “Despite what you have been told, I am not your enemy. In fact, your father was my greatest friend.”
“How dare you address-“ John began, his fists clenching—but Neridia pushed his arm back down.
“Don’t, John.” She stepped round to his side. He could feel her shaking with fear, but her gaze was steady on the Master Shark. “I want to hear what he has to say.”
*My mate, no,* John sent to her telepathically, unable to bring himself to break protocol by arguing with the Empress-in-Waiting out loud in front of others. *Whatever net he is weaving, do not swim into it. Remember who he is. Remember what he did.*
From the small shake of her head, he knew that she’d heard his mental plea. Nonetheless, she didn’t back down. “You claim you were friends with my father?” she asked the Master Shark.
“More than that.” The shark lord fixed her with his penetrating stare. “Do you know what it means to be someone’s oath-brother?”
Neridia glanced up at John, and he knew that she was thinking of him and Griff. “I know it’s a close bond. And that oath-brothers will do anything for each other.”