Neridia had a moment of doubt as they approached the aquarium, worrying that perhaps John might not approve of keeping fish in captivity. But her fears turned out to be groundless. John’s stern face broke into a rare, breathtaking grin the instant he saw the sign over the entrance to the Sea Life Centre.

“Your mother worked here?” he said, laughter rolling under his words. “She was a scholar of the sea?”

“A marine biologist, yes,” she said, relieved by his reaction. “She spent most of her career working on research ships.” She paused as something occurred to her for the first time. “You know, my dad always said that they first met at sea. I always thought he just meant that he’d been crew on one of the research vessels, but now I wonder…”

John’s eyes gleamed with amusement. “I suspect she found herself studying more than she had expected. I would very much like to know how their first meeting went.”

Neridia shook her head wryly. “I bet she didn’t run screaming from her mate in terror. Anyway, in between research tours she worked here as a marine conservationist. After she and my dad moved to Scotland, she changed focus to studying freshwater species.”

John looked sidelong at her as they lined up for tickets, his expression turning thoughtful. “Was that why you too became a defender of the wild?”

Neridia rather liked his term for her job. “Yes. Even when I was tiny, she used to take me out on hikes around Loch Ness, teaching me the names of all the species. She was so proud when I went into the same line of work. Right up until she died, we worked together in local Highland conservation initiatives.”

John abruptly looked grim. “Forgive me for dredging up old pains, but my duty means I must ask…was her passing suspicious in any way?”

“No, it wasn’t like my dad. She passed away a few months before he did. She had a congenital heart condition. There was always the possibility that it could fail her, and, well, eventually it did.” Neridia was silent for a moment, her throat tightening. “She always said that she had to make sure she packed in as much as possible into every day, because she never knew if it might be her last.”

“A noble philosophy,” John rumbled. “It sounds like your mother was a woman of great honor.”

“Well, she would have to be, right?” Neridia forced a lighter tone. “I mean, she was the Emperor’s mate.”

He inclined his head, smiling a little. “There is that. I am pleased that they were well-matched indeed. And that they were able to find happiness together.”

“Oh, you never saw two people so in love.” Neridia sighed wistfully. “I wanted to be just like her, in every way. I even wanted to be a marine biologist too, originally.”

“I imagine that the Emperor was somewhat alarmed when you first proposed that. I take it he managed to dissuade you?”

“Yes, my parents talked me out of it. Now, of course, I know why. But even though I ended up studying Highland ecology, I still love sea creatures.”

“I am very glad to hear it,” John said with utter solemnity.

She was starting to recognize the sly, subtle sense of humor hidden deep under his stern armor. The unexpected flash of it now lifted her spirits for real. She wished he would relax enough to joke more often.

Brighton Sea Life Centre was built underground, hidden beneath the streets and buildings. As they stepped inside, Neridia’s initial impression was that it looked more like a cathedral than an aquarium. Subdued, shifting green and blue lights cast an eerie glow over the vaulted ceiling. Tanks and displays were tucked into dim alcoves like shrines. Wide-eyed kids drifted around, staring in hushed amazement at the jewel-like alien worlds revealed behind the glass portals.

“Oh, wow,” she breathed, delighted by the unexpectedness of the architecture. “I had no idea it would be like this. No wonder my mom loved working here.”

With the artfully designed exhibits occupying people’s attention, for once neither she nor John were attracting too many stares. She glanced at him, and noticed that he was scanning the room, alert as ever for any threat to her safety. After a second, his shoulders relaxed.

“Come,” he said, touching her elbow. “Let me show you my favorite display here.”

“You’ve been here before, then?” she asked as they started across the hall.

“Several times, with Griff and his son Danny. It delights me to be able to share something of my home with them, even if it can only be a poor imitation of the sea’s true wonders.”

“I was worried you might be offended,” Neridia confessed. “It really doesn’t bother you, humans keeping sea creatures in captivity?”

“The great voices, the whales and dolphins, and the greater hunters…yes, it would distress me to see those caged. But here there are only small lives, small songs.” John tilted his head a little, as if listening. “The water hums with their contentment. They do not care that they cannot roam freely, when they have food, companionship, mates. And they do a great and honorable duty by being here, where humans may see them. How can your young learn to treasure the sea, if they know nothing of the treasures within it?”

Neridia smiled up at him. “You’ve just summed up why education is part of conservation. And I’m glad you can tell the fish are happy. Part of my mother’s work was designing exhibits like these so that the creatures would be comfortable enough to display their natural behavior.”

“Mommy, Mommy, look at the fish!” A little girl who couldn’t have been older than five pointed into a tank, her face shining with excitement. “Look, they’ve all come to say hello!”

Neridia glanced at the tank herself—and did a double-take.

About fifty black-and-white striped fish were pressed to the glass as closely as the kids on the other side. They were all in perfect alignment with each other, in ranks like a marching band.

And every single one was looking at her.

Neridia stepped sideways, instinctively moving closer to John. In perfect unison, every fish turned to keep pointing straight at her.

“Why are they doing that, Daddy?” A little boy waved his hand in front of the fish, without getting a response. Next to him, a couple of teenagers had whipped out their phones to capture the odd behavior. “What are they looking at?”

Neridia quickly sidled out of the fishes’ view—only to jump as a stingray in the neighboring tank plastered itself to the glass wall with a sound like a wet kiss. Within seconds, it had been joined by a dozen more, all shuffling and jostling to be the one closest to her.

“John!” she hissed, cheeks flaming with embarrassment. “Make them stop!”

“I am not certain that I can.” Despite John’s straight face, his shoulders shook with suppressed laughter. “They are simple creatures. They recognize you as their Empress-in-Waiting, and so they love you. They cannot help but seek to be close to you.”

“Well, they can’t!” Neridia tried to hide behind John, out of view of any of the tanks. “Tell them that if they don’t stop it, we’re leaving right now!”

“I speak to the sea, not to those that dwell within it.” Nonetheless, John put his hand to the nearest tank. “But I shall convey your command to the water.”

He hummed a low, resonant phrase under his breath, so deep that Neridia felt the vibrations of it in her bones. A moment later, a sudden current knocked all of the fish in the tank sideways, shattering the shoal. The fish swirled for a moment, trying to fight the water and regroup, but whenever one got lined up again on Neridia, the water tumbled it back.

“There,” John said, as the fish grudgingly retreated into nooks and crannies amongst the rocks, looking for all the world as if they were sulking. “The water will force them to contain their enthusiasm. Shall we go on?”

To Neridia’s relief, they were able to continue through the aquarium without attracting too much undue marine attention. Although creatures still hurried up to the glass as she came in sight, every time they were quickly forced to retreat again by sudden strange currents.

It’s a pity the water can’t do the same to the people…

Still, after the shock of the fishes’ unexpected adoration of her, the more mundane stares of the other visitors in the aquarium didn’t seem so bad. She was able to ignore the inevitable gawpers, her own attention happily distracted by the wonderful exhibits on display.

The jewel of the aquarium was an enormous tank with a glass tunnel running through it, so that visitors could walk along as if on the bottom of the sea. Of course, it hadn’t been built with people of sea dragon height in mind, but Neridia quickly forgot the discomfort of her stooped back and tilted head, gazing up in awestruck delight.

Sea turtles flew over her head like birds, their grace belying their bulk. Some fish bumbled contentedly amongst the seaweed and rocks, nosing for morsels of food, while others shot through the water in shimmering schools, light flashing from their jeweled scales. Neridia noticed that each shoal tended to circle over her own head in a momentary living crown, but at least they were being relatively subtle about it.

John’s favorite place in the aquarium turned out to be a small alcove set halfway along the tunnel, with a bench where visitors could relax and watch the fish. They found an unoccupied spot and sat down, their height allowing them a clear view despite the excited groups of children between them and the glass walls.

Neridia was so entranced by the fish, it took her a while before she realized that John’s own attention was directed elsewhere. Alone in the crowd, he wasn’t gazing upward at the sea creatures sweeping past. Instead, he was watching the children watching the marine life. Though his expression was as controlled as ever, there was a certain softness about his eyes that she’d never seen before, a sort of wistfulness.

“You’d like kids?” she said in surprise.

“I am a Knight of the First Water. It was never an option for me.” He didn’t look at her, his face in profile. “But yes, I would have liked to have had young of my own.”

His hand rested alongside hers on the bench. Greatly daring, Neridia shifted her own hand, covering his. He didn’t move away.

“I always wanted to have kids too,” she said softly. “So maybe you do have the option after all.”

She felt his breath catch. His longing echoed down the mate bond, sweet and sharp at the same time.

“One of the greatest responsibilities of the Emperor or Empress is ensuring the continuation of the bloodline.” He glanced sidelong at her, hope rising in the indigo depths of his eyes. “I believe you have hit upon a compelling argument for persuading the Knight-Commander to release me from my vow of chastity, my heart.”

She stared into the tank, watching fish dart amongst the rocks. “I still don’t see why you think I’m going to be able to persuade any sea dragon of anything. I might be the daughter of the Emperor, but it’s not like I have any power of my own.”

“Ascending the Pearl Throne is not some mere ritual, nor is Empress an empty title.” He turned his hand over, lacing his fingers through hers. “No one under the waves or above them will be able to deny your power, once you have taken your rightful place. The strength of all the sea runs in your blood. You have only to claim your inheritance.”

This is it. I have to tell him. I can’t let him go on thinking that everything’s going to be fine once I’m Empress. Not when I don’t even want to be Empress.

She felt sick to her stomach with nerves. Nonetheless, she took a deep breath, bracing herself. “John, I…that is, we have to talk.“

He surged to his feet, every muscle in his shoulders and arms abruptly tense. For a horrible moment, she thought he’d anticipated what she’d been about to confess, and was going to storm away from her there and then—but all his attention was focused on something in the tank.

“Get up.” His hand closed over her wrist, hard and urgent. “We must leave. Now.”

“Why?” she asked, as he pulled her to her feet. “What is it?”

The tendons stood out on the side of John’s neck. “Look at the sharks.”

Blinking, Neridia looked up, into the tank. Previously, the few sharks within it had kept to the perimeter, endlessly circling the boundaries of their world as if looking for a way out. Now, however, they’d converged. Half a dozen of them formed a sleek, predatory triangle, for all the world like fighter jets flying in formation. Perfectly aligned, they pointed directly at them.

“What are they doing?” she asked, staring up.

“Revealing our position to their master,” John said grimly, forcing a path through the still-oblivious visitors filling the tunnel. “He is here. The Master Shark is here.”