“Absolutely not,” the Knight-Commander said flatly, his image ripping on the surface of the lake.

John struggled to maintain the scrying connection. It was hard to focus his mind’s eye on the mystic currents in the glare of daylight, and doubly hard to do so this close to human habitation. He had not dared to go too far from the hotel where Neridia was breakfasting. Even now, his heart cried out to be back by her side.

“Sir, there is no choice,” he said to the Knight-Commander’s reflection in the water. “The Empress is as safe as she can be on land at the moment, with the firefighters of Alpha Team guarding her back, but this is only an interim solution. My colleagues have other duties of their own. Much as they wish to help, they cannot protect her night and day forevermore. The only place she will be safe is in Atlantis.”

“No human has ever entered Atlantis!”

“But she is not human,” John said, a hint of growl creeping into his voice despite his best efforts to observe proper etiquette. “She is a sea dragon, and the Empress-in-Waiting. With respect, sir, not even you have the authority to forbid her from entering her own domain.”

“Until she formally ascends the Pearl Throne, I have every authority,” the Knight-Commander retorted, a warning snarl singing in his own tones. “You forget yourself, Knight-Poet. I am the head of the Sea Council, and the Voice of the Emperor-in-Absence. At the moment, your mate is nothing. Unless she can shift, she cannot lay claim to any sea dragon title, let alone that of Empress-in-Waiting.”

John held onto courtesy by his fingernails, though his blood burned at this slight to Neridia’s honor. “She will shift, sir.”

“Given that she did not last night, when both her own life and the life of her mate were in grave peril, I very much doubt that she ever will.” The Knight-Commander gave him a penetrating look, his voice lowering. “Wishful thinking is a human trait, Knight-Poet. It does not become you. I begin to wonder whether you have been away from the sea for too long.”

The accusation struck through his anger like a sword finding a crack in flawed armor. John dropped his gaze, unable to meet his commander’s green-gold eyes. He had succumbed to the whispers of his inner human last night, allowing it to persuade him to bond with his mate. At the time, it had seemed so natural…but had it been his human’s judgment rather than his own?

The Knight-Commander let out a long sigh, shaking his head. “Your duties have kept you away from Atlantis for too long, Knight-Poet. But regardless of my concerns for your honor, I fear I have no choice but to order you to remain on land. You said that the pearl she wears conceals her from my scrying?”

“Yes, sir. From all forms of locating magics, including a shark’s ability to track her Imperial blood-scent. It is how she remained undetected for so long. I assure you, she will not remove it again now that she understands its importance.”

“In that case, I command you to remain at her side. I do not wish to lose track of her again. You, at least, I can still scry. But you will not bring her to Atlantis without my express permission. Is that perfectly clear?”

“I hear and obey, sir.” John took a deep breath, steeling himself for further battle. “But sir, I must repeat that I cannot guarantee Her Maje-“

The Knight-Commander’s eyes narrowed.

“Ah, that is, Neridia’s safety while she remains on land.” It felt horribly wrong to say her name so baldly, without honorifics, but there was no sense in antagonizing the Knight-Commander further. “She will only be secure in Atlantis. I beg you to reconsider your position.“

“Even if she was the crowned Empress, her safety would come secondary to the safety of the entire Pearl Empire!” The Knight-Commander slammed a fist down, sending ripples across the water. “Damn it, Knight-Poet! Would you seek to undo everything I have worked for these last twenty-five years? Can you not see what a disaster it would be, should the rest of the Sea Council catch scent of her existence?”

John stared at him, taken aback. “You have not already told them, sir?”

“Of course I have not. The instant the other lords discover there may be a half-human heir to the Pearl Throne running around, it will tear the Council apart. Some would seek to destroy her, like the Master Shark. Worse still, others would seek to crown her immediately.”

“But surely that is what we seek, sir,” John said, utterly bewildered. “To put her in her rightful place on the Pearl Throne.”

The Knight-Commander’s chest rose and fell in a long sigh. Raising a hand, he pulled off his glittering helm. John froze. He had hardly ever seen his commander’s face before. It was a privileged usually reserved for his most trusted knights.

“You have a hatchling’s romantic view of royalty.” The Knight-Commander rubbed his lined forehead. He looked tired, as though he hadn’t slept for days. “An untutored, naive Empress on the Throne? A human Empress, ignorant of our ways, with all the power of the ocean at her command? Who could guess what catastrophic whim might take her fancy? She might demand that we allow more of her kind into Atlantis. She might overturn laws simply because her weak human mind cannot comprehend the demands of our honor. She could destroy the Pearl Empire itself! For sea’s sake, think, Knight-Poet.”

John did so. “I think,” he said, after a moment of reflection, “that you gravely underestimate her, sir.”

“And I think that you are blinded by your mate bond.” Dropping his hand, the Knight-Commander fixed John with a piercing stare. “Which is another matter of which we must speak. I have not forgotten that you broke your vow of chastity.”

John bowed his head. “I, I believe that I did so for honorable purposes, in the service of the Pearl Throne, but…I stand ready to receive whatever discipline you see fit, sir.”

The Knight-Commander let out a somewhat exasperated breath. “The usual fate of knights who break their oaths is execution, which is hardly practical at this point in time. As your circumstances were indeed…unusual, I will exercise my right as the Knight-Commander of the Order to waive the full consequences. Once.”

John’s heart had been lifting at this unexpected show of mercy, but at the last word it lurched sideways in his chest. “S-sir,” he stammered. “You cannot mean— sir, we are fully-bonded mates. To demand that we stay apart-”

“Is the only hope of salvaging your honor. And so the only hope I have of saving one of my most promising young knights from utterly destroying himself.” The Knight-Commander put his helmet back on again, his tone turning formal. “I will say this only once, Knight-Poet. There is no place on land or sea where I cannot find you. If I ever have reason to believe that you have dishonored the Order, I will personally hunt you down and execute you myself. Do not break your vows again.”