Hart of the Sea

Chapter 11

"Caspian, you're here. I didn't expect you to show up so soon," Peitha remarked with surprise. "I only just sent that letter out yesterday."

I nodded, then shrugged. "Yeah, well, I got here as soon as I could. There's something-,"

"Come, follow me," she ordered, cutting me off as she got up from her throne. "Let's talk somewhere more private." Her gaze lingered for a split second on the empty throne draped in a swath of black seasilk to her left. Growing up, I'd always heard stories and murmurings about the kingdom's runaway princess, Remora Muriel. Although, whether she ran away or was kidnapped by a neighboring kingdom always seemed to be up for debate.

Peitha cast sideways glances at her parents as she swam past them, both sitting in their own thrones. They eyed me with scrutiny, as if I, some lowly villager, was not worthy of so much as breathing the same water as them. The queen signaled for a guard to follow us with a quick flick of her fingers, at which Peitha rolled her eyes.

Once we left the throne room, Peitha turned around to look at the guard. "Look, I'm not a little merling anymore. I don't know why they still have you follow me around. Go swim around in the courtyard or something. It's your break time now." She raised an eyebrow when the guard didn't budge. "Do as I say, or I will have you thrown into the palace dungeons!" She thundered, her golden tail fin flaring out to its full size as her hands balled into fists. The guard cleared his throat and started to say something, but thought better of it and swam off at full speed down the long, extravagant hallway.

Peitha glanced apologetically at me. "Sorry about that. I'm usually not that bossy, I promise. I just feel so smothered by my parents. They never let me go anywhere by myself. Anyways," she shook her head, causing her coppery locks of hair to swirl around in front of her face. "Come on, I know just the place we can talk." She gestured for me to follow her as she swam around the nearest corner into another long hallway, but this one was decorated with portraits of members of the royal family throughout the years. Peitha kept swimming and I followed close behind, wondering where she could possibly be leading me. She didn't stop until we reached the portrait of her grandmother, Queen Lileah Muriel, which hung just before the only door in the whole hall.

"Queen Lileah, I remember my parents talking about her a lot when I was younger," I whispered, lightly tracing the portrait's polished stone frame. The old queen's stern face stared down at me, frozen like that for the rest of time. 

One side of Peitha's mouth lifted slightly in a bittersweet smile. "I miss her. I was young when she passed, but I still remember all the stories she used to tell me." She paused, her smile stretching wider across her face. "Including the ones about secret passages in the castle." She looked up and down the hallway, making sure no one was around, before she pushed her grandmother's heavy portrait to the side with much effort, revealing a small keyhole right in the center of where it had rested.

My mouth fell open in surprise. "What...why is that there? What is it for?"

Peitha smirked, reaching into her small purse recycled from a shark egg sac and pulling out the smallest skeleton key I'd ever seen. It glinted silver in the light of the bioluminescent jellyfish swimming around us as she lifted it to the keyhole. "Only I know about this, so you can't tell anyone, alright?" She stared at me expectantly. I nodded.

"Oh, yeah, of course. I won't say anything," I stammered, wondering where in the ocean that key led. There was no outline of a door behind Queen Lileah's portrait; not that I could see anyway.

Peitha inserted the key into the keyhole and turned it. There was a faint click, and then...nothing. I looked at her, furrowing my brows in confusion. She smirked again. "Just wait," she whispered, moving her gaze to the tall, arched ceiling as she slowly removed the key and slipped it back in her purse. I craned my neck and squinted my eyes to see what she was looking at, but I couldn't see anything out of the ordinary.