her and deftly loosened her braids to take down the ornaments from her hair. It was their nighttime ritual, one they’d had since they were both small girls and Amerin was newly a member of their household, given to the royal family to be the princess’s personal servant. Soon, that would end.
If Kai had anything to say about it, Amerin and all others gifted into service would gain their freedom. Slavery under a classy name was still slavery, and the practice had no place in a civilized society. From what she’d learned about Pacifica, they’d long ago outlawed anything similar.
“What did they send you?” Amerin asked, peering over her shoulder as Kai removed the waterproofed contents lovingly secured in a zipped, airtight bag.
“It’s…” Her eyes burned and misted over with tears as she punctured the plastic and tore it open. The scent of home enveloped her all at once, lavender and sage and Sunshine’s homemade fabric softener. Kai unfolded a blanket patched together from at least three dozen T-shirts, each of them bearing a different design or image on the front. “It’s a quilt with all of my favorite shirts.” A few had been purchased during road trips together as a family. Some referenced her favorite television shows, and others displayed characters from movies. Not all of them belonged to her.
Kai noticed Sadie’s favorite Lord of the Rings shirt and her mother’s Better Than Hex tee featuring bats, skulls, and flying witches. She hugged it tight and buried her face in the soft cotton.
Amerin took the quilt’s edge and studied a tee featuring the white tree of Gondor. “What does this mean?”
“It’s one of the best things,” Kai replied. “Have you never watched Lord of the Rings?”
“Um…I can say that I recall the name but…”
“You haven’t watched it. We’ll have to fix that.” Kai draped the blanket over her lap and removed the next gift, taking out a leather-bound photo album. She opened it to the first page and saw twenty-year-old pictures of herself and Sunshine. Eventually, Sadie joined the photographs, and the scrawny little brown-skinned child began to fill out and blossom with confidence.
“These are pictures from our visit to Disney World,” Kai said.
“Now, Disney is something I know,” Amerin replied, grinning. “I have watched a few of those.”
“Sunshine made it a point to take us before I enlisted in the Navy. It was our last trip together as a family.”
“Tell me about it.”
When Kai came upon an image of her, Sadie, and Sunshine screaming as they descended Splash Mountain, she grinned. “Sure. Maybe one day when the Gloom isn’t a threat anymore, we can all visit the surface together. I think my family will like you—no, I know they’ll love you.”
An eager smile brightened Amerin’s face. “I’d love that.”
If only she could restore peace to Atlantis and make that a possibility instead of a dream. In just twelve hours, Kai would meet with the kingdom’s high priest and acting regent to discuss the steps to take next. To say she was nervous would be an understatement.
Everything hinged on those two mers vetoing the Council of Lords and placing her on the throne as queen.
2
Blessings from High
Kai hurried across the polished floor of the temple’s reception hall, steps echoing across vaulted ceilings decorated with luminescent blue-green stalactites. She slowed to admire them, taking in the beauty of Atlantian architecture. Of all the temples in their city, the one dedicated to Thalassa struck her as the most beautiful of all.
It had been carved from a cave in the sea floor, built after the goddess sunk the city to the bottom of the ocean to defend her beloved children from the Roman invasion. Old memories of the place lingered in her mind, of visits alongside her mother and father, of speaking with the priests and praying at the statue of Thalassa. Unlike a traditional temple of Ancient Greece, it spanned several stories, the many floors carved into the walls accessed by a curving stairwell. This allowed hundreds of people to attend a ceremonial service, though most seats went to the nobility, and anyone else waited their turn outside.
“Ah, there you are, Your Highness!” An elderly priest with a familiar face emerged from the central chamber and crossed to Kai, teal robes swishing around him. “Good day! We’ve been waiting for you.”
“Good day,” Kai replied. Her gaze snapped from the stranger to the corridor beyond him. “Is my uncle already here?”
“Only a few minutes ago, earlier than expected.” The old fellow reminded