Hart of the Sea

Chapter 5

The sky had brightened to a light blue as the harsh oranges slowly melted away by the time I made it back to Chiton Village. I had never been so happy to see my small, humble driftwood house before in my life. I burst through the door with a flourish, breathing in the comforting silty, sandy smell of home.

"Oh, Hart," my mother appeared in the front area of the house, a tight smile stretched across her face. I noticed that her hair was coiled atop her head again, secured with her turritella shell clip. "We didn't expect you home so soon." I was confused; her demeanor was rigid; calculated. Something was wrong. My father swam slowly into the front room, stopping when he'd reached her side. His face was downcast, his forehead creased. His eyes never left his hands, which were clasped tightly together in front of him. Oh no. Could they have found out about my shore excursions somehow? I felt my heart begin to pound in my chest.

"Look, I -," I began, my words catching in my throat at the sight of a merman with an authoritative aura swimming up behind my father. He was dressed in the customary blue and black garb of Murelnian Royal Guards, a sharpened narwhal's tusk sheathed on his hip. Then it hit me. The annual inspection! It was on a different day every year, so those harboring anything condemning wouldn't know when to hide such things. Of course, some people found ways around that. But the King and Queen were quite strict when it came to following kingdom laws, and the inspections were held to ensure that these laws were followed. At least, that's the reasoning they used to justify letting guards break into our houses and invade our privacy every single year. But I wouldn't want to find out what would happen if someone tried contradicting them, either.

The guard scribbled something down with a pufferfish's quill on a small pad of kelp parchment he held in the palm of his hand, then looked up at us all in turn. "Well, everything seems to be in order. See you next year." He tipped his sealskin hat towards my parents as he passed them, his dark gray tail propelling him towards the front door. Before he left, he turned back to look at us once more. "Coral, Tide, Caspian, you all have a lovely day now." He smiled, if you could even call it that - it was more along the lines of an oily, shark-like grimace - before he finally left. As soon as the scraping sound of the scrap metal door shutting could be heard, my parents simultaneously exhaled heavily.

"Did he find it?" My mother whispered, obviously trying to be too quiet for me to hear but failing.

"No, but he got very close this time," my dad responded in that same barely-loud-enough whisper. "There aren't any better places to hide it, you know. Not in a house this size."

"What are you guys talking about?" I asked, not wanting to believe that they were hiding something that could put us in jeopardy. But if they were, that would explain their mood swings on Inspection Day every year.

Both of their faces blanched, eyes widening. "Nothing, dear," my mom said, not doing well at hiding the tremble in her voice. She paused, then turned to my dad as she wrung her hands together. "Oh Tide, can't we just show it to him? Or tell him about it, at least? He's old enough and mature enough to handle it-,"

"No!" Dad barked, uncharacteristically aggressive. "No. We agreed we would when the time is right, remember? Does this seem like that time, Coral?" He huffed, his fluke flaring. Without waiting for her response, he retreated back into their bedroom and slammed the door shut with his tail.

"Mom, what's going on?" I asked. "You know you can tell me. Whatever it is, let me help!"

She stared at me, her dark green eyes reddening with sadness. "Hart, you heard your father. No matter how much I want to tell you, I know he's right. Now is not the time." She gently placed her hand on the side of my face, her eyes boring into mine. "Please try to understand. Be patient. We'll tell you all you need to know when the time comes. I love you, my son." She pulled me into a hug, then slowly turned away to meet my father in their room.