“Why on Atlantis would it be glued?” Frank interjects, halting in front of a door, his tail curling around him like a cute question mark.
“So it doesn’t float away, of course,” I retort, as if a runaway plate might inspire a full-blown sea chase, complete with a dramatic score and an octopus orchestra. Now I have musical sea creatures on my mind.
“The king’s power holds everything in place.”
Another king? Haven’t we had enough of royalty? Couldn’t the ocean be free of them?
I put the plate down, step farther into the room, and eyeball a large shelf full of books. “Does he also keep the pages dry?”
“Of course. How would you read the stories? The ink would slip off.”
Silly me. Soggy stories, floating plates, and squashy sofas were not on the menu for this maiden. Wait, I’m now a Lady. That sounds much more impressive. If only anyone I knew was here to be impressed.
I follow Frank down a short hallway filled with a row of paintings, each of a Lady wearing the same dress as I am now. They should update their fashion, or at least have color options. White is such a poor choice for me, as it doesn’t hide my mishaps.
“The previous Ladies,” Frank confirms. “Such an honorable line you are joining.”
I pause at the wicked Lady that duped me. Maria. So innocent in name, but not in nature. “Honorable? The only way this ends is my death. How is that honorable?”
He grumbles something under his breath that I don’t bother asking him to repeat. I am fairly certain it wasn’t complimentary.
He throws open a door, and we enter a domed chamber. In the center sits a floating bed with a stunning rainbow comforter. Seaweed and coral hang from the ceiling to the four corners, and gauzy material floats around it. I hope it’s an equivalent cloud bed. My precious ass can’t fathom sleeping on anything less now. I’m a spoiled Lady who can hardly remember the lumpy bunk bed in a mud hut.
I spin with my sword, making Frank yelp and jerk back against the wall. Best he learns to give me a wide berth now; he’s far more likely to survive if he’s cautious.
“Where’s the bathing chamber?”
Faint amusement echoes from the sword. What’s so freaking funny?
“You are in the realm’s biggest bath,” Frank points out.
Huh. Yeah, I guess I am. But… “Where do we do our business?” I whisper so the judgy sword doesn’t hear me.
“Business?”
Oh, my Idols. “Where do I poop?”
Frank blinks and scratches the back of his head. If the sword could howl with laughter, it would. He points to a silver stand. I stare at it and tilt my head. Umm, how? I have zero clue. Perhaps he can demonstrate?
“That’s for poop?” I check.
Frank shakes his head. “No, that’s for your sword. I’ll, uh, let you get it settled. Then we need to take you to see the king.”
He disappears, and my mouth flops open. I drop the heavy blade onto the stand and huff. “I don’t have the best history with kings,” I tell the sword. “Which you know, given you witnessed and were actually complicit in my accidental stabbing. Actually, now I think about it… how much of that was me, and how much of that was you?”
The ruby eye of the dragon winks at me.I knew it.
I step back and park my hands on my hips with a scowl. “Just for that, you are staying here while I go meet the king. You think about your actions while I’m gone, and I’ll determine if accidental stabbings are in our future.”
Nothing.
Now to get through the next turn without accidentally murdering anyone.
Chapter
Two
There are a few more rooms to explore in the home, but I decide to prioritize the royal visit. Maybe he’ll realize I’m not meant to be here and has a way to return me to my knights. I find Frank floating outside my new house, waiting to present me to the king of the ocean.
