Elyssa had done everything wrong.

She had promised to be a queen, and her fears had caused a fight with Soren. She had promised to try to help Kadir, and she slowed him down like pushing a wall through the water. She had promised to try her hardest to fit in, and the moment they offered to show her their world, she closed herself off in fear.

Right now was the moment. She gripped Kadir’s silver-streaked cheeks and held his matching silver-flecked eyes. There would not be a second chance. She had to prove her dedication to him and to herself.

“Take me to the sharks,” she repeated. The tremble in her tone was just the unfamiliar feeling of her chest vibrating. “Please.”

He studied her for a long, hard moment.

If he said no, then she would know it was already too late. She had failed to reach him. He would take her to the surface as soon as her presence caused the Life Tree to grow a new blossom.

She tightened. He had to give her this chance. She would make it matter. Please. I believe you. Please.

He nodded slowly and gestured to Lotar. “Go.”

Lotar cut sharply to their left.

Kadir followed. The others moved also.

Relief made her tremble. She had another chance. It wasn’t all over.

He pressed her head to his shoulder. “Increase your glow.”

She collapsed onto his hard, solid strength. He pushed her head deeper into the comfortable hollow by his neck and shifted her thighs so they straddled one leg. It was too intimate. Nerves fluttered and warmth glowed in the places he touched. His heartbeat seemed to sync with her chest. She was warm and safe, embraced and loved. The promises this intimacy whispered to her were dangerously appealing. She could love him. Trust him. Give him everything.

That was why she kept stiffening and reacting. It was all in her head. The promises were poisonous but seductive. Resisting them was like trying to resist sleep. They were so deliciously hypnotic.

Worse, when she gave in, Kadir seemed to move more easily. So she had no choice. She tried to force the tenseness to leave while still resisting the overwhelming desire to give in.

Kadir’s voice rumbled in his wide chest. “Relax.”

She tried. While still resisting. “I’m sorry.”

“That word.”

“Hm?”

He was silent for a moment. It felt as though he changed his mind about what he was going to say. “On the surface, you fear sharks because they are hidden beneath layers of water. But now, you can penetrate what was hidden. Look and listen.”

She opened her eyes. The sea stretched like a limitless sky and they flew across it, free and uninhibited. Fish sang all around them. In the distance, the mass of sharks formed a gray river. Their song was unique yet strangely familiar.

“It sounds like a fire truck,” she said, finally. “The second half of the siren. It goes down in pitch.”

“It is loud and easily avoided. Yes? If we persist, as now, the tone changes.”

The hammerhead siren grew louder and the pitch began rising. Several sharks darted out of the stream, feinting at Lotar.

She tensed.

“They are establishing borders and warning off interlopers.”

Lotar swam straight for them.

Elyssa’s heart thudded. “We’re not stopping?”

Kadir’s jaw clenched in iron determination. “These sharks are shy. They will move away.”

She was making it harder for him to swim. She knew that. But there were sharks, hundreds and hundreds of sharks, and Lotar was swimming right for them. “There’s so many!”

“Trust, Elyssa.”

She bit the inside of her lips. It was possible to trust and still be scared spitless, something none of these arrogant, overly-muscled males appeared to take any notice of.

Kadir gestured.

Even though Lotar faced away, he somehow sensed Kadir’s order. He canted up, swimming toward the glistening surface. Kadir and the other warriors followed. Beneath them, the hammerheads dove deeper, avoiding the mer.

And he was right. The sharks did not attack.

Their flat heads and long bodies undulated beneath her. They were migrating, traveling just like her, from an old home to a new one. Their gray fins fluttered and they were suddenly, strangely beautiful.

The two groups passed by each other cross-ways, the mer headed deeper into the Atlantic. The sharks journeyed north in search of cool.

She melted against Kadir once more. “They did move away.”

He seemed lighter and stroked her back gently. “Yes.”

“Are all sharks like that? Or all undersea creatures? Am I like a master of the sea?”

“No.” His chest moved. He was laughing at her. “We travel in groups this size because it discourages most predators.”

She let out…well, not a sigh because her lungs were full of water. A watery sigh. “I want to see more.”

“Predators?”

“Everything. I mean, if it’s safe, like the hammerheads.”

His hand paused. “You trust us?”

“I always did.”

Lotar looked back at them. Was she tensing again and slowing Kadir down? She tried to relax more. But it was hard like this, having an argument.

“You did not trust us,” Kadir said.

“I so did.”

His low rumble disagreed.

Maybe her problem wasn’t that she made mistakes.

“Fear and trust aren’t opposites,” she said. “If you pick up a hot coal, you’re going to get burned. There isn’t a way to talk yourself out of it. You told me to pick up the hot coal anyway. I trusted you.”

He grunted. “A shark is not a hot coal.”

“Sorry, I’m not explaining myself clearly.”

“That word is forbidden.”

Huh? Oh. Right.

“Sorry.”

“Elyssa.”

She tightened her diaphragm. “The point is, I’m scared of a lot of stuff. Like the speech. I’d never want my first meeting with someone to be a speech, and I’m terrified I’ll say something wrong and offend everyone. But I’m still going to try. Actions are more important than words, right? I’ll try not to complain.”

He was silent for a long time.

“How do you normally meet someone for the first time?” Kadir asked finally.

“A personal introduction. Like, you know. ‘Hello, my name is Elyssa, nice to meet you.’ One by one. That kind of thing.”

“For us, it is traditional to give a speech.” He ground his teeth. But he was thinking about her, which touched her. “It is normal to explain why we have been exiled and demonstrate what strengths we pledge.”

“Exiled?”

“No warrior willingly leaves his Life Tree.” His lips pulled back in what was almost a smile but didn’t quite reach beyond a grimace. “Except to come to Atlantis.”

If it was tradition, it was tradition. Heads of state always made speeches. “I’ll make the speech.”

“It causes you great fear.”

“Yeah.” Because, as Aya would say, it wasn’t in her skill set. “But if your warriors won’t toss me out when I put my foot in my mouth, I’ll do my best.”

Even if it killed her.