Swimming? No thanks

Chapter 40

Dalton's POV

I swam into Tony's cave after school and pulled myself out into the throne room, drying off.

"You ready for another day of training?" Tony stood above me as the steam rose from my tail.

"Yes, sir." I lied. Soon, my tail faded into legs and I stood to walk to my seat that was placed by my father's throne. "So what's the lesson today, Dad?"

The tiniest smile graced his face when I called him "Dad," which made me happy. "How to deal with the people in your kingdom."

"Okay."

Chandler, Trevor's dad, walked in. "Your Majesty, there is a merman who would like to speak to you."

"What about?"

"He didn't specify."

"Send him in."

Chandler bowed before going back up the stairs. Not long after, a young boy came down, bowing to both of us. "Thank you for agreeing to see me, Your Majesty."

"Anything for my people. What is your name?"

"Matthew. Matthew Hollingsworth."

"Nice to meet you, Matthew. This is my son, Dalton, who will be taking over after me. What do you need?" Tony smiled warmly.

"My adoptive mother is wanting to move my family away from the ocean. My dad is trying to convince her not to move, but she won't listen. She wants my adoptive little sister to be in a place that's less distracting. Apparently, the ocean is keeping her from her schoolwork. What do we do?"

"Does your father love your adoptive mother?"

He shrugged. "I guess. He really wants her to stay. He also loves my sister. I mean, she may not be his daughter by blood, but she's his daughter. I don't want to lose them either. They're our family and if they leave, my dad will break."

"Try to help your sister keep up on her schoolwork. If that's the reason your mom wants to leave, fixing the problem should convince her that there's no reason to leave. If that doesn't work, come back and we'll figure someting else out. Also, next time bring your dad. I would love to meet him."

"Yes, sir. Hopefully, when I return, it will be under better circumstances."

"I hope so, too. Please do come back, though. Thank you for coming to me with this."

"Thank you for helping me, Your Majesty." He bowed before walking up the stairs.

"What I try to do is calm the boys and men who come in panicked, and give them an easy solution to their problem. Most of the time it works and boosts their loyalty in me. It's a good way to stay in power. I also try to make a meaningful connection with every person who comes through those doors. I make them feel heard and cared about. Usually, they leave less tense than how they came in." He spaced out for a minute before smiling. I assumed my mom, Alyssa or both had mind messaged to tell him they were coming. "Guards, could you give us the room? I need some one on one training with my son." The guards headed upstairs and Tony stood.

"So, who's coming? Mom or Alyssa?"

"Both of them. They should be swimming in really soon." Sure enough, Mom and Alyssa swam into the pool, pulling themselves out of the pool, onto dry land. "Hi, how are you guys?"

"Good. How are you?" Mom responded.

"Good. Did you get your homework done, Alyssa?"

Alyssa sighed. "Yes, Dad."

"I was just making sure. Also, I love hearing you call me that."

She rolled her eyes. "Now, you two have a story to tell us." Alyssa finished drying off and stood, sitting down in our dad's throne.