We all moved toward him, my heart doing happy little twirls in my chest as we swam further into the well-lit world. Being back in the water was the best feeling ever. As we got deeper, the light did not wane. It was almost like the water itself was filled with light.
“This is incredible,” Callie said, her voice bursting with emotion. “I’m actually swimming.”
She sounded like she was going to cry, which made me want to cry. What an incredible experience for her, especially since the molecular structure of the water here appeared to make swimming easier than normal. When I stopped moving, for example, I didn’t sink. I could stay in the same spot with little to no effort. These were the best waters for inexperienced swimmers.
“There are multiple pods and villages under here,” Xander said as we continued deeper into his world. “The first one we will cross through is Spectra. This is our gateway sector, where the strongest reside. The first barrier to outsiders.”
My swimming picked up pace. I was desperate to see the first village in Royale. Xander reached out and captured my hand just as I was about to dash past him. “Slow,” he said. “You’re not going to miss anything.”
I expected him to let me go then, but he didn’t. We just swam together, hand in hand.
And it was really freaking nice.
“You kept your legs,” I noted, very aware that everyone could hear us.
A moment later his chuckle echoed through my bubble. “Yeah, I don’t really need the speed or strength of the tail at the moment.”
My next words died on my tongue as the outer boundary of Spectra came into view.
14
The first barrier was literally a barrier. The iron-looking fence with spikes across the top extended out on either side. It went deeper than I could see and ran right up to the top of the water. I was pretty sure this was the break in the smooth water line that I’d seen from above.
“No one enters our villages without permission,” Xander explained as he turned to lead us along the bars. “This barrier extends far into the sky, even though you can’t see it.”
Ah, it must be invisible above or something. Very clever.
I found myself examining it closer as we moved along it. It should have been ugly, such a dark, modern piece clashing with the beautiful fantasy setting. But it wasn’t—the iron was mostly covered in what looked like coral and seaweed, creating colorful art. No two panels looked the same.
I was so enthralled by what I was seeing, I missed the gate until we were pretty much right at it. When Xander touched his hands to the center of the panels, they slid back along the lines of the barrier and allowed us entry.
“Overlords get all the special powers,” he joked.
It was in that very moment, as he drew me along with him, my hand still firmly encased by his much larger one, that the scope of who he truly was hit me. Sure, the concept of him being a prince and ruling a land was not lost on me. I’d understood it from the first moment I heard of his lineage. And as a human living not-under-a-rock, I’d seen the royal couples on television multiple times. They were important people, I got that, even though they were mostly just figureheads.
But here, Xander had literal power. He could control water. Command metal to open. He had warriors at his disposal, if previous conversations were anything to go on.
No wonder he wasn’t interested in anything long-term, despite the fact we might be fated to be together. He was probably looking for his equal … another Daelighter who would match him. I might be more skilled than a human, but I had nothing close to Xander.
The maudlin turn my thoughts had taken was pushed aside when we entered the village. It was structured much the same way all towns were, except for a few differences. Here, the houses were long and cylindrical, all different sizes. A lot of them were connected, spanning out in street-like formations.
“Think of them like telephone lines,” Xander explained, noticing my curiosity. “The lines of communication extend between all the chambers, and if you want to contact anyone, you can.”
“There’s no water inside the pods?” Emma asked as she swam a little closer to peer inside one of the round, opaque sections. Lexen stopped her before she pressed her face to it.
“You have the choice to drain or fill your pod,” Lexen explained, drawing Emma back into the group. “You’ll find that some here identify closer with the caramina side, and others with the land dwellers.”
I turned to find Emma nodding, her expression contemplative. “That makes sense. Genetics are interesting, the way they can vary so greatly.”
I could sleep in one of those.The thought hit me so hard that I actually jolted, knocking my hand out of Xander’s. He was right at my side in an instant. “What?” he demanded, his arms wrapping around me, pulling me closer. “What happened?”
I swallowed roughly. “These pods … I could sleep under the water.”
He relaxed, tucking away the fierce warrior that was hidden under the surface of his devil-may-care attitude. “Yes,” he said simply. He held me for a beat longer than I expected him to before he let go ... of everything except my hand.
We didn’t see our first inhabitant until we were deep into Spectra. A line of warriors swam past us at rapid speed, stopping only to salute and bow to their overlord minor. They bore a multitude of weapons, including razor-sharp spears.
There were a lot of sea creatures dashing about as well.
