Night was falling. It must have been nearing midnight. What were we supposed to do if we couldn’t see the queen tonight? Where would we sleep?
Something loomed ahead, huge enough to block the currents beyond. I first thought it was a natural ridge in the landscape—but it was a palace. Ancient and built from stone, it was blanketed in coral and starfish. Four towers framed either side of the entrance, which was a circle large enough to fit a blue whale. Where the towers broke the surface, blurry outlines told me they rose to magnificent peaks.
I felt nothing beyond it. The impenetrable wall stretched from floor to ceiling.
Meela and I slowed as we neared the door, which was blocked by several guards. Their broad chests were encased in stone armour that looked impractically heavy. I couldn’t see any weapons, but that didn’t put me at ease.
In Utopia, anyone who wanted to see the king had to report to Nemertes—not that anyone ever did. But we knew the procedure. What were we supposed to do here? Who did we talk to?
With no better plan, I approached one of the guards. “Excuse me, sir. We’d like to speak to the queen.”
Meela swam up beside me. The guard squinted at us.
“Do you have a summons?”
“No,” I said, at the same moment as Meela said, “Yes.”
The guard looked between us, saw Meela glare at me, and laughed. It wasn’t a malicious laugh, more like he thought we were being cute.
“I’ll check if she can squeeze you in tomorrow.”
“We’ve come with important information—” said Meela.
“Of course you have.”
“—from the Pacific.”
He stopped grinning. “You what?”
His tone should have given me pause. Maybe I was too tired from our trek, or maybe I was emboldened by Meela getting to the point, because I said, “We’re from Adaro’s kingdom and we want to talk—”
There was a flurry around us, and before I could turn, several large hands grabbed me.
“Wait!” said Meela.
The guards had closed on us. I tried to reach for Meela to pull her away from them, but it was too late. They hauled me back, gripping hard enough to make me cry out.
“We just want to talk to Medusa!” I said. “We have information on Adaro—”
Something bashed me on the head. The world became jagged. My longblade was torn from my grip.
“Take them to the cells.”
“No!” I said.
“We want to help Medusa!” said Meela.
I struggled, desperately trying to keep track of Meela. The shock of being seized so quickly settled over me. I should have seen this coming. If Adaro didn’t like anyone mentioning Medusa, then of course Medusa wouldn’t like anyone mentioning Adaro.
“Let us go, then,” I said, though I knew it was too late to backtrack. “We’ll get out of the city.”
The guards dragged us around the side of the palace. We entered an empty alley that was so removed from the rest of the city it felt as though we had entered a different part of the ocean. The floor angled downwards and into an underground cave.
“Listen to us,” said Meela. “This is important!”
They pushed us into a vertical passage. It spiralled straight down, too narrow to turn around in. All daylight vanished after the second turn. The tiny space pressed in on me. I had to force myself not to panic.
“Tell the queen we want to share Adaro’s plan,” I said. “Please tell her that.”
