Neridia stared down at John’s bowed head. “What?”

“You are the one I have been seeking, Your Majesty,” he said to her shoes. “You are the Heir to the Pearl Throne. Your father, may he rest in the ocean’s heart, was the Pearl Emperor, King of Atlantis, Ruler of all the Shifters of the Sea, Commander of Wave and-“

Neridia had a suspicion the list of titles might go on for some time. “My father? That’s ridiculous. My father was no sea dragon!”

“Look, Your Majesty.” John unfastened one of the charms from his braided hair, holding it out to her without lifting his head. “Look at this, and then at the painting.”

Neridia took the small golden disc, squinting at it. A minute sea dragon’s head was engraved on one side in exquisite detail. Something about it struck her as terribly familiar.

It was exactly the same profile her father had painted in the picture. Exactly the same as the way he’d always drawn the "Loch Ness Monster."

“Coincidence,” she said, trying to convince herself. “He was an artist, he had a good imagination. Or, or maybe he just saw a sea dragon some time.”

John shook his head, gaze still fixed on the ground. “Your Majesty-“

“Don’t call me that!”

He ignored her interruption. “I saw him in human form once, Your Majesty. I was no more than a mere child at the time, but I could never forget his imperial face. I should have recognized you at once. I would have done, had I not been blinded by…what else you are to me.”

“This, this is…” Neridia clenched her fist around the charm, her hand shaking. “This is nonsense. You’re wrong. My father couldn’t even swim! He was terrified of water!”

That jerked his head up at last. “What?”

“He wouldn’t even go outside if it was raining. My mom always said it was just a phobia, something he couldn’t help, and that I mustn’t upset him by asking questions about it.”

“And the lake told me that no sea dragon had visited its depths,” John murmured, his eyebrows drawing down. “I do not understand. How could he bear to never take his true form?”

“Because being human was his true form! He never went near the lake. He liked to look at it from a distance, but he was paranoid about getting too close.”

John’s blue eyes widened in sudden realization. “Because if his reflection crossed water, he could have been seen.”

“What?”

“It is one of the sea dragon arts. Scrying, seeing what is reflected in the surface of distant bodies of water.” John’s brow was furrowed in thought. “It is not my chosen art form, so I do not comprehend more than the very basic principles of it. But I know that our most talented Seers have been searching for him ever since he vanished. If he did not wish to be found, he could not risk going near open water.”

“Then why would he choose to live near a lake, for pity’s sake?”

“Because he was still a sea dragon,” John said softly. “And no sea dragon could bear to live without at least the sight of water. What it must have cost him, to gaze upon it every day, yet still keep his exile…”

“But why?” Neridia realized she was yelling, and tried to get herself back under control. “If, if what you’re saying is true, and he really was…why?”

“Why did he leave the sea? Why did he abandon the Pearl Throne, his duties and responsibilities, without a word of warning, not even to the Order of the First Water, his sworn guardians? I have long pondered that mystery, without a glimmer of insight.” John rubbed his hand across his face, mouth tightening into a grim, heartsick line. “But now…now, I think I am beginning to understand his mind.”

“My mom,” Neridia whispered, as the answer struck her too. “He loved her so, so much. When she passed away, a few months before he did, it was like part of him had died too. I think she must have been his mate.”

John nodded, slowly. “And he could not both rule the sea and serve his mate. No human may enter sunken Atlantis, and the Emperor can only rarely leave our city.”

“So he gave up his title, and the sea. He picked her.” John stiffened, and Neridia belatedly realized how he must have taken her words as an accusation. “No, I didn’t mean—I was just wondering how he could do that. I thought honor was everything to a sea dragon.”

“It is.” John’s tight shoulders eased down a little. “But the Emperor was not a Knight, bound by vows of chastity as I am. What would be dishonorable for me would not have been for him. I have no doubt that your father kept his honor, even though he gave up his Throne.”

Neridia found that she was holding her pearl, as she so often did for comfort. For most of her life, it had rested in the hollow of her father’s throat, gleaming against his slate-dark skin. He’d given it to her a few days before he’d died, and until yesterday it had never left her throat in all the four years since. Yet now, its familiar smooth surface seemed suddenly new and foreign.

Did he bring this with him? Is it a sea dragon treasure, a royal treasure? Did it have some special meaning?

When she’d first put it on, he’d looked at her so strangely. As though underneath his shining pride had been a deep, fathomless sadness…

“What I do not yet understand,” John said, frowning, “is why he never told you of your heritage. You are the Heir to the Pearl Throne. Even if he never intended to return, he should have been preparing you to take your rightful place. Why did he not?”

He sounded genuinely baffled. Neridia stared at him, unable to believe that he’d failed to see the blindingly obvious.

“John, I’m human.” She held out her arms, displaying her ordinary, utterly un-dragonlike self. “Even if I am half-sea dragon, I’m no shifter. My father must have been able to tell that.”

He looked at her as if she’d just announced she was a small purple rabbit. “Of course you are a sea dragon, Your Majesty.”

“No, I’m not! I think I should know! And for pity’s sake, stop calling me that!”

He shook his head stubbornly, charms chiming together in his long hair. “When we first met, when I first knew you to be my mate, I was absolutely convinced that you were of my kind. It was not until you fled that I began to doubt. Now, it is obvious that my first impression was indeed correct. I was merely fooled for a time by the misleading reflections on the surface, and did not see through to the true currents beneath.”

Neridia pressed her fists to her forehead. It was all too much. “I didn’t even know sea dragons existed until yesterday.”

“You have been kept in a dark vault, like a hidden treasure.” John rose to his feet at last, holding out his hand to her. His fingers trembled, ever so slightly. “But no longer. Come, Your Majesty. It is time to take your true form.”