Under the Roses

69 - You Are Not Afraid of the Sea

HANS

"I'm hungry now," Coralie said suddenly, looking as sunny and amiable as ever as she bounced down the street. Hans had no idea where she'd gotten so much energy.

They'd been in the middle of discussing what to do with the sleeping people, specifically, the bodies, if they couldn't get them to wake with the sunbeam, which was a thought that Hans did not want to think about.

And it also made Coralie's comment sound extra random and creepy.

Hans gave her a weird look. "You want to eat them?"

"Huh?" Coralie blinked at him with wide eyes.

"Were you even listening?"

"Nope!" she said. She'd been cheery since they'd learned of the sunbeam. They were heading towards the palace now. Rika said she wanted to use the royal library because it was larger than her father's, but they all knew she just wanted to check for the people, though Min had been clear: no one was awake.

Hans sighed and shook his head.

"You should have eaten something at home," Min said, poking Coralie on the shoulder.

"Well, I was going to," she said, "but it's not my fault that everyone fell asleep."

"Do you think it's the whole kingdom?' said Rika. She was wringing her hands. The strands of hair that had escaped her scarf fluttered nervously as she looked around. "Or just the city?"

"The water runs through the entire kingdom," Min reminded her.

Rika just nodded. They'd arrived at the palace. It was eerily empty, and the gates were partly open. They glanced at each other, then slipped inside.

Hans had never been in a palace before; he'd never even seen in person the building that had used to be the Phirish palace. This was...just a very large building, really. So large that it felt almost terrifying. It was very echoey.

"Before we check the library for more information," Rika said, "can we go look at the Council room? Really quick?"

Min and Coralie shrugged. Hans really wanted to get the sunbeam as fast as possible and wake Kai—wake everyone—but he could tell how anxious Rika was. He nodded.

He let Rika lead the way since she seemed to know where to go. Her father was a Councillor, after all.

As they walked down the halls, they passed a maid slumped against the wall. She didn't look like she'd been drinking anything; her hands were empty. Hans wondered how she'd gotten there and just fallen asleep like that.

The Council room was at the end of the hall, guarded by a large set of double doors. The doors were closed.

Rika glanced at Min. "You're sure no one's awake?"

Min nodded. "I think some of them fell asleep before the others. Some of them were out of their seats." He paused. "You don't have to go in, you know."

"I just want to make sure," Rika said firmly. She pushed the door open.

They slipped into the room, the door closing with a loud bang. Hans had expected the Council room to look more...important. But no, it was just a very large room with a very large round table, around which sat the Councillors, all seven—actually, no. There were only five in the room. The queen and princess weren't there.

Hans couldn't remember all the Councillors, or what they represented. He was Phirish; it didn't matter to him. He could recognize one as Rika's father. It wasn't too hard since he was the one that Rika immediately made a beeline towards.