Toraf glides in front of Galen. “That sounds a lot like a threat. To my knowledge, threatening a Royal is still illegal.”

Galen grabs his shoulder. “It’s fine, Toraf. Let this squid release his ink. Ink will only last so long before it fades away in the current. When his protective cloud is gone, everyone will see what’s really going on here.”

Jagen nods. “We shall see, young ones.” He rakes his eyes over Toraf. “Tell your mate that she stays with the rest of the Royals. If she tries to leave, I’ll have her thrown in the Ice Caverns. She can wait there until the rest of you join her.”

Toraf starts toward Jagen again, but Galen holds him back. “This is not the time,” Galen says. Jagen gives Toraf a smug smile. Galen adds, “Besides, you saw his face when Antonis had him by the throat. We don’t want him to faint before things get interesting, do we?”

To Galen’s dismay, Jagen laughs. “Things have already gotten interesting, Highness. See you soon.”

* * *

Galen waits with Toraf until Rayna arrives. She is accompanied by two Poseidon Trackers. When she sees Toraf, she throws herself into his arms. He hugs her, but then pushes her back. “You’re in so much trouble, princess,” he tells her. It’s the first time Galen has ever seen him be truly stern with his sister.

“It looks like you’re the one in trouble. What’s taking so long?”

“The Archives have convened a tribunal,” Toraf says. “For the last few days, they’ve been trying to verify whether or not Emma’s mother is really the Poseidon heir.”

That’s the nice version of the story, Galen thinks to himself. Wait until she hears everything.

“What? That’s dumb. Tribunals only last a few hours. You’ve been gone for days. And why did these idiots follow me?” She motions toward the Trackers. They grin as they swim away—to the Loyal section.

Toraf sighs. “Other tribunals are about simple things, like thievery. This one is … You shouldn’t have come here. I told you not to come, no matter what.”

“Emma said I should come,” she says.

“That’s a lie,” Galen says, recognizing the slight flinch in her eye when she’s not telling the truth. “And why was Emma in the water?”

Her eyes go round as oysters. “She was? I didn’t know. Rachel bought us some jet skeezers. She must have taken one out.”

Galen rolls his eyes. “What else? What else could go wrong?”

Toraf snorts. “Don’t invite trouble, Highness.”

“Don’t call me Highness.”

Just then, Tandel calls the tribunal to order and the Royals are ushered to their place in the Arena.

“Highness,” Toraf hisses with a smirk as he swims in the direction of the Triton section.

Galen is envious of his friend’s inconspicuous viewpoint in the Arena. All the Royals must stay in the center. Galen can’t decide if it’s for their protection or to assure that they don’t escape their own tribunal. Probably both. After all, there are those here still devoted to the Royals.

But Toraf is lucky. He’s not a true Royal; since he’s only mated to one, he does not have the same restrictions that Galen and his family have. Neither does Paca, who takes her place in the section of Loyals next to her conniving father.

Tandel begins. “My friends, thank you for your patience. Patience, because this is the longest tribunal in the known history of our kind.” He smiles. Galen has to admit that Tandel has done his duty, acting neutrally throughout the duration of the trial. If he is secretly a Loyal, Galen can’t tell.

“We are hoping that today will show us the end of the debate. To that end, King Antonis would like to address the audience. I turn the stone over to him.”

Antonis is met with a disgruntled roar from the Loyal section. He hovers over the stone, his profile casting a wave-distorted shadow in the sand in front of him. “My friends, I must first begin by apologizing. For my actions yesterday, yes. But for so much more. Jagen’s accusations upset me very much. They upset me because some of those accusations were true.”

This prompts a murmur from the crowd. Antonis continues. “Jagen said that I have neglected my duty as the leader of the Poseidon territory. This is true. Friends, you remember how distraught I was when my mate, Queen Aja, died. But I took comfort in my daughter, the way my Aja would have wanted me to. When I thought I’d lost Nalia, as well … It was more than I could bear. Life did not seem worth living, friends. I did not think you deserved a ruler who could not even protect his own family. If the law would have given me a way out of ruling, I would have taken it.”

The king pauses, pinching the bridge of his nose. Tandel reaches out to comfort him, but Antonis waves him off. “No. I want to finish. Please.” Galen wonders if Tandel and Antonis are old friends.

Antonis looks back up into the audience, searching, scrutinizing each expectant face. “You all know what happened after the explosion. That Nalia was presumed dead. And that I presumed Grom, now the Triton king, had killed her. I am ashamed of the things I accused him of. I was irrational, friends. Driven mad by grief. But that is no excuse for abandoning you, for abandoning my duty as king. I should have taken another mate, produced another heir.”

Antonis swims slightly away from the stone, toward the section of Loyals. “But friends, my daughter is not dead.” He turns to Nalia, gives her an adoring smile. “She is here, among the Royals, as is her place. She has returned to us. When she fled to land all those seasons ago, she was young and afraid. And she was grief-stricken, having thought she killed her future mate. Take the time, friends, to imagine what that feels like.”