House of Royale (Secret Keepers #4)(41)

“Yes,” I said with urgency. “I’ve been ready for this since I was born.”

He nodded. “Yes, you have.”

He stepped back, his hands cupping my face briefly, before he pulled them back to allow the cool water to wash over my cheeks. There was a decent gap between the bubble and my head, and I immediately understood what he meant about limited vision and hearing. When fully covered, I could only make out some shadows and muffled sounds.

I was just wondering how we knew to go in the water, when my feet were swept out from under me and I found myself being tossed into the air. I would have screamed, but it was over too quickly, water closing over my feet as I sank below.

The moment my head went under, the bubble turned translucent. “I’ve linked the bubbles,” Xander said, his voice echoing, “so we can chat to each other. The water takes your message, so it’s a little slower than normal speech. Be patient.”

“Best freaking day ever,” Callie exclaimed a beat later. “This is a dream come true.”

Daniel’s low chuckle reached us all, and I realized that we would all have far less privacy than normal. We were going to hear everything everyone said, even if it was whispered. I’d have to remember that.

“Is everyone a strong swimmer?” Xander asked abruptly. “I should have asked that earlier. I tend to forget that not everyone is born swimming.”

“I’m not,” Callie replied.

“I have her,” Daniel said a moment later. “I’ll keep her safe.”

“Everyone else okay?” I asked, prepared to help if needed.

There was a bunch of yeses, and it was hard to differentiate them, but no one had said no, so it didn’t really matter.

“Stay close to me,” Xander said as he turned in the water, facing away from the platform and the wall that descended into the depths below. “There are predators in these legretos, and while we have an accord with them, they’re still hunters.”

He’d mentioned the meglam being like a shark, and while I’d love to see one, I also really hoped we didn’t. They sounded scarier than the sharks I was used to.

We all moved toward him, my heart doing happy little twirls in my chest as we swam further into the well-lit world. Being back in the water was the best feeling ever. As we got deeper, the light did not wane. It was almost like the water itself was filled with light.

“This is incredible,” Callie said, her voice bursting with emotion. “I’m actually swimming.”

She sounded like she was going to cry, which made me want to cry. What an incredible experience for her, especially since the molecular structure of the water here appeared to make swimming easier than normal. When I stopped moving, for example, I didn’t sink. I could stay in the same spot with little to no effort. These were the best waters for inexperienced swimmers.

“There are multiple pods and villages under here,” Xander said as we continued deeper into his world. “The first one we will cross through is Spectra. This is our gateway sector, where the strongest reside. The first barrier to outsiders.”

My swimming picked up pace. I was desperate to see the first village in Royale. Xander reached out and captured my hand just as I was about to dash past him. “Slow,” he said. “You’re not going to miss anything.”

I expected him to let me go then, but he didn’t. We just swam together, hand in hand.

And it was really freaking nice.

“You kept your legs,” I noted, very aware that everyone could hear us.

A moment later his chuckle echoed through my bubble. “Yeah, I don’t really need the speed or strength of the tail at the moment.”

My next words died on my tongue as the outer boundary of Spectra came into view.





14





The first barrier was literally a barrier. The iron-looking fence with spikes across the top extended out on either side. It went deeper than I could see and ran right up to the top of the water. I was pretty sure this was the break in the smooth water line that I’d seen from above.

“No one enters our villages without permission,” Xander explained as he turned to lead us along the bars. “This barrier extends far into the sky, even though you can’t see it.”

Ah, it must be invisible above or something. Very clever.

I found myself examining it closer as we moved along it. It should have been ugly, such a dark, modern piece clashing with the beautiful fantasy setting. But it wasn’t—the iron was mostly covered in what looked like coral and seaweed, creating colorful art. No two panels looked the same.

I was so enthralled by what I was seeing, I missed the gate until we were pretty much right at it. When Xander touched his hands to the center of the panels, they slid back along the lines of the barrier and allowed us entry.

“Overlords get all the special powers,” he joked.

It was in that very moment, as he drew me along with him, my hand still firmly encased by his much larger one, that the scope of who he truly was hit me. Sure, the concept of him being a prince and ruling a land was not lost on me. I’d understood it from the first moment I heard of his lineage. And as a human living not-under-a-rock, I’d seen the royal couples on television multiple times. They were important people, I got that, even though they were mostly just figureheads.