“A vacation,” the Master Shark said, flatly.

“Yes, a vacation.” Neridia, the Pearl Empress, Queen of Atlantis, Commander of Waves and Tides, and Ruler of all the Shifters of the Sea, jabbed one imperial finger in his direction. “I want you to take some time off.”

The Master Shark furrowed his brow. For the life of him, he couldn’t think what he could possibly have done to have caused such offense. “Your Imperial Majesty, if I have failed you in your absence-“

“Actually, I do need to talk to you about how you’ve been running things while I was attending to matters on land.” The Empress sat up straighter on the Pearl Throne, fixing him with a stern look. “Just today, I’ve received no fewer than eighteen petitions from the other underwater lords to have you permanently removed from your duties as Voice of the Empress. And from the Sea Council, and in fact from Atlantis itself. A few have even suggested that you should be banished from the ocean entirely. You have ruffled their gills, haven’t you?”

Long decades of discipline kept his face as impassive as stone, but unease twisted his stomach. The Pearl Empress had spent the better part of her life on land, and had only recently reclaimed her rightful place in the underwater realm of Atlantis. He had played his own part in helping her take the Pearl Throne, and had thought he’d won her trust.

But sharks were misunderstood and feared by every other type of sea shifter — and he was the Master Shark, the most powerful of his kind. The other lords of the Sea Council had to heed him, out of fear of his wrath, but they also hated him. If the Empress had been listening to them…

If she dismisses me, who will keep the peace under the sea? Who will protect the weak and voiceless from the greedy and powerful?

“I’m teasing you.” The Empress’s stern manner fell away, her full lips curving in a warm smile. “You’ve been doing marvelously, Master Shark, hunting out the corruption in the Sea Council. I couldn’t ask for a better second-in-command, my Voice.”

“Then why am I being punished?” he asked, bewildered.

Beside the Pearl Throne, the Empress’s Champion and Royal Consort cleared his throat. “I believe Her Imperial Majesty considers this a reward, Master Shark.”

The Master Shark exchanged a glance with the Royal Consort. The towering, indigo-haired sea dragon shifter raised one armored shoulder slightly, in a damned if I know either gesture of silent sympathy.

The Master Shark turned back to his Empress. “I do not need any rewards. Being able to serve the Pearl Throne is honor enough.”

“Master Shark, you’ve been serving the Empire with unswerving dedication for over thirty years,” the Empress said. “Have you ever taken a vacation in your entire life? Do you even know what one is?”

“I am fully aware of the concept of vacations,” he said, a little stiffly. “I enjoyed many of them with your father, the late Pearl Emperor.”

The Empress sighed. “I mean a real vacation. Something relaxing. Not battling sea monsters in the depths of the abyss.”

Battling sea monsters in the depths of the abyss sounded perfectly relaxing to him. Lost for words, he fell back on his usual tactic of staring in silent menace. It worked in most situations.

Not, unfortunately, in this one.

“You are going to take a vacation, Master Shark,” the Empress said firmly. “A real vacation. On a beach. Drinking silly cocktails with little paper umbrellas.”

He was definitely being punished.

“In fact, I’ve already booked one for you.” The Empress sat back in the gleaming white curves of her throne, looking very pleased with herself. “Don’t worry, it’s a shifter-only resort. You’ll blend right in.”

Considering that he was either seven feet tall or eighty feet long depending what form he was in, he could not help but feel that this was wildly optimistic. Even in the underwater city of Atlantis, surrounded by sea dragon shifters, he didn’t blend in. The only place he might possibly pass unnoticed was the Jurassic era.

“You are going to spend a nice relaxing week sitting on a beach, and doubtless hate every moment of it.” The Empress cast him a not unsympathetic look. “But I’m afraid I really do need you to be away from the ocean for a bit. The Sea Council isn’t used to me yet. I need to have space to assert my authority, without them constantly looking at you for confirmation.”

“Ah.” His taut shoulders eased down a little as he finally understood the political undercurrents. “I see.”

“I thought you would. You’ve done a little too good a job terrorizing the Sea Council into obedience, my Voice. I need them to get used to listening to me directly now.” Neridia lifted her chin, looking uncannily like her late father for a moment, and the Master Shark felt an unaccustomed pang somewhere in the vicinity of his heart. “So. You are going on vacation to Shifting Sands Resort. Just for one week. That’s an Imperial order.”

The Master Shark could only go to one knee, bowing to her will. “As you command, my Empress.”

In his long service to the Pearl Throne, he’d fought krakens, dragons, and even human submarines. He’d united his people and brought them into the Pearl Empire, ending millennia of war between sharks and dragons. With muscle and teeth, cunning and guile, he’d wrestled victory out of the steepest odds.

One week in a land-shifter resort. I can do this. For my Empress.

The Empress fixed him with her penetrating, sea-deep eyes. “And Master Shark? Relax. On your honor, promise me that you’ll at least try to have fun.”

There was no doubt about it. Out of all the services he’d performed for the Pearl Throne over the decades…this was going to be the worst.