Smoke and Mirrors (4)

Four

The Girl Who Parted the Sea

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We reappeared in water that was up to my knees.

An endless stretch of sea lay before us, with nothing between us and the horizon. I looked at the queen in confusion. "Where are we?"

She turned her head and smiled at me. "We have arrived at your father's. Follow me closely, or you will slip."

"Slip?"

She walked ahead of me slowly, placing one foot in front of the other, as if there truly was something in the water to be wary of. I shivered. The water completely drenched the lower half of our dresses, making it harder to walk as the fabric tangled around my legs. The water was freezing, but I relished the chill. It seemed to seep into every fiber of my being, almost as if it were comforting me.

Like coming home, a thought whispered.

I trudged through the water after the queen, following her every step. Once, a wave came and shoved me back a step, and I truly did feel a deep slope that I nearly slipped down. I thought for a moment during that misstep that I felt something slick brush my ankle, like a snake or maybe an eel. I tensed and tried to hurry after the queen, careful not to let any more waves knock me around.

"What is this place?" I asked with a shudder, nervously raking my eyes over the water that no longer felt comforting, but ominous.

"You will see," she replied in her soft accent. "We are nearly there."

Suddenly, as she took another step, she disappeared--just completely vanished! I froze.

"Your Majesty?!" I called to the emptiness before me. "Your Majesty!"

I heard her voice from the empty space. "Keep walking. Trust me," she said.

I sucked in a breath and wrapped my arms around my torso as I forced myself forward. Three more steps and I would be where she'd disappeared at. Two more.

One more.

The world behind me vanished suddenly as a wave of cool mist met my skin. An entire castle surrounded me, and I stood in its court.

The queen was right before me, smiling almost knowingly. "I felt the same way when I was first brought here. It is a beautiful kingdom." She glanced around at the thick, misty wall we'd just come from. "The guards will be here soon to allow us in."

Sure enough, in less than a minute, a group of men came to interrogate us. Well, maybe 'interrogate' was too big of a word, but they sure did ask a lot of questions. When they were happy with our answers, they accompanied us to the actual palace.

The building was not actually a building, but giant waves that looked as if they were crashing against each other. They were tall and never stopped moving. Sunlight filtered through a giant mist ceiling that was over the court. "How is it not collapsing?!" I asked with wide eyes.

"Your father." Her voice held little of the wonder my own did, but then again, she'd likely seen the place a hundred times.

I shivered.

"How did we not see this?!" I asked. After all, it was massive!

She glanced upwards and gestured towards the mist ceiling and wall. "Your father controls water, right?"

I nodded slowly, even though I really had no idea if he could or could not.

"He takes each and every droplet of water and moves it to the perfect place, creating a shield. The sun reflects off of the water, making an image of nothing but ocean. Is it not the perfect camouflage?"

It really was. I would never have known that I wasn't actually looking at the sea.

The waves of the castle crashed and reformed, spraying mist and seafoam over the court. My hair had a slight dampness to it that made my curls seem more alive and bouncy than they had in years.

We approached the door of the castle and were greeted by a staff of guards who brought us straight to the king's throne room upon seeing the queen.

The inside of the castle was actually dry. The walls were made with what looked like glass blocks, and sometimes they didn't line up exactly with the others, causing them to jut out and give the appearance of small 'windows' into a giant aquarium.

Small fish ducked into nooks and cranies in the glass blocks and watched us as we walked. I couldn't help but stare in awe. Some thicker parts of the wall had bigger fish in them, and once or twice I even spotted a turtle, which made me wonder how they breathed, but then I saw it swim up to the top of the wall where the water ended, leaving only air. The turtle sucked in a few breaths before ducking back down and disappearing somewhere below the floor. I saw a squid dart up from beneath the floor and catch a smaller fish before disappearing again to his hideout.

If only that Silver-Tights dude hadn't destroyed my phone. I could have had so many pictures right then.

A thin glass wall--almost like a single window--stood in the walkway as water poured down from the ceiling and emptied into a shallow pool that somehow drained back out into the aquarium. Or maybe the whole aquarium was actually the sea. The thought sent a shiver down my spine, reminding me of how small and useless I truly was here.

"This way," she said, nodding her head to a set of window fountain thingamajigs like the one in the walkway. It took me a second to realise that they were doors, and that I could vaguely make out a blurred room through the streaming water that flowed over them.

A guard pushed open the door for us using a large, shell door-knob that the water didn't flow over.

The queen patted her hair, shook out her hanfu's dripping skirt, and raised her chin before walking through the doors. I tried to quickly mimic her, but it really did nothing other than free my legs for a moment before the sopping fabric clung to them again.

The inside of the throne-room was like a giant aquarium tunnel. Sharks and small fish swam above our heads, as well as an occasional jellyfish. Sunlight streamed through the waves above us and highlighted small sections of the floor, which was a giant mosaic of different sea creatures, all glossed over by a layer of. . . resin? Glass? I didn't know, but the effect was beautiful.

But my dad was the most breathtaking of all.

Actually, let me rephrase that. He kind of freaked me out a bit.

He sat in a throne that was covered with a shining, pearly sheen, and studded with bits of blue diamond. His eyes were deep-set and hard, and the bluest eyes I'd ever seen. Ever. They almost looked like they were glowing. It was actually kind of scary. A crown sat on a mop of his blond hair, made of brass and decorated with brass spiral shells with a pearl the size of my thumbnail that sat in the center, between the brass shells. It looked old, like it had been passed down to quite a few people before he wore it. He had a short, blond beard, touched with streaks of white and deep brown. His eyebrows raised when we entered, and his hard eyes glanced at Yīn Yuè before lingering on me.

I swallowed and tried to avoid looking him in the eyes. In fact, my eyes found my chipped, half-chewed nails, and then I grew even more embarrassed.

"Your Majesty," called the queen, and she gave a small, half curtsy. He stood and returned her curtsy with a half bow of his own before taking his seat again.

"Yīn Yuè," he said. His voice was gruff and loud. If I heard his voice in a crowd of other voices, I would have had to stop and listen. His voice made a person pay attention.

"I have brought you someone whom I believe to be your daughter, your Majesty," she said softly.

And then he froze.

And I forced my arms to stay by my sides instead of wrapped tightly around myself. Inhale. Exhale.

"Come here, girl," he ordered.

Oh, how my heart raced.

My entire life, I had been fatherless. My dad was a tramp who ran off when my mom found out she was pregnant, and then died in a backstreet gambling fight. And now here he was. Looking at me. Asking me to come to him. A king. My dad was a king; I was a princess--and not just any princess, either! I was the princess of every drop of moisture in the air, of every ripple in the sea. The human body was made up of 70% water, and I was the princess of every bit of it. The thought was terrifying. I wasn't sure if I wanted to hold such a title. Even after seeing all that I had, my mind still debated whether such a title even existed.

Every step matched, like, probably six of my heartbeats. But I kept my chin up and forced my eyes to his. Or was that bad manners? I didn't knoooowww.

Calm down, Tessa, I told myself. His water powers probably let him sense fear.

I forced a smile, but it felt tight and fearful.

His vibrantly-colored eyes narrowed at me. "What is your name?" he asked.

I inhaled and tried to gather every stray ounce of confidence in my stomach before declaring, "Tessa Michelle Yincovich."

He narrowed his eyes and his shoulders seemed to deflate.

"I don't know you." His words were dark and fierce. Just like that, every piece of confidence scattered like a thousand pieces of shattered glass. He turned his hard gaze to Yīn Yuè and shouted, "Get this imposter out of my court! Get out, and never come back!"

I couldn't breathe. I couldn't breathe. I opened my mouth and tried to gasp for air, but it wouldn't come. My face burned scarlet and I turned away.

Before I even knew what I was doing, I ran.

I ran from the man I'd been told was my father. I ran from the woman who said she'd saved my life, only to turn me into a fool for--for what?! For her amusement?!

The water ran over me as I crashed through the fountain-covered-doors and made a break for the front door.

If I had ever been grateful for one thing about myself, it was my ability to run. I was good at that. It was something I knew how to do well. In school, I was always the fastest on the track. I could run.

So I ran.

I heard the sound of people shouting behind me, and their angry words made my feet move faster, even in my heavy, sopping dress. I heard doors slamming and water crashing, but I didn't stop out of fear of what would happen to me if I did stop.

I kicked my shoes off and picked up the skirt of my dress as I sprinted out the door of the palace and into the courtyards. Guards were beginning to rush after me from the left, but I bolted past them, too. Tears were threatening to fall. I didn't let them out of fear that they'd blur my vision.

The misty courtyard walls seemed angry as they rippled, but they didn't have time to do anything before I was running past them, too.

I hesitated just past them as I balanced on the edge of the slippery slope pathway that led to the invisible kingdom I'd just fled, then hurriedly pushed myself down that as well. I heard voices yelling behind me, but by the time the guards appeared through the wall, I was already making it off the slick path and onto a beach of some sort.

I had no idea of where I was going, no place to stay, and nowhere to hide, so I didn't stop running until I physically could not keep going any longer. And even then, I walked.

My blood pounded in my ears, sweat dripped from my face, my dress was hot and heavy, and it seemed as if it were growing in size the longer I wore it.

I yanked at the top layer of lace on my dress, half-angrily and half brokenly. The lace tore, and as I walked, I worked on tearing it off as much as I could until there was nothing left. It did little to help me walk, but it did make the whole thing slightly shorter, which was nice since I was now bare-foot. Sharp bits of chipped shells and gravel made me wince.

My hair clung to my face as I ripped at my long sleeves--sleeves that were too tight to just roll up. I ripped the sleeves off and threw everything into the first trash can I saw, which happened to be a dumpster right outside an old gas-station.

Where was I? I certainly wasn't in that same enchanting world I'd just been in.

This gas station, located only a ways from the beach, was faded and falling apart. In fact, it kind of looked abandoned. In a way, I found myself relating to the stupid building. I, too, felt faded and abandoned. But how else was I supposed to feel? I had been offered the world--a whole magical universe. I had no family, no friends, and now no place to stay until I found my apartment. But even then, was it safe to go back?

I let the tears fall that I'd been holding in for the last hour.