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I consider going after him but shove the thought aside. He’s a closed book, and I’m nothing more than an annoyance to him. I pick up my bag and head for the library.

Halen waves when she sees me. She turns to Lumen. “I told you she was coming.”

“Are you going to be ready for the test?” Lumen asks.

My brain starts tingling at the mention of the test. “I’ll be fine.”

She scrunches her face. “I’ve been at the books all day, and I’m pretty sure I’m going to fail.”

I sit down and pull out my books. “I’d have been studying, but I had to clean the gym, then some other stuff came up.”

“Other stuff?” Halen gives me a double-take. “Like what? Are you okay? You look stressed.”

“It’s nothing.” I give her a look to let her know I’ll fill in the details later. In our room, where we don’t have a hundred other people sitting around us. Not that I’m sure how much I can actually tell her. How much can I actually tell her about my parents’ problems?

Life on land would be so much easier. I haven’t forgotten it has its own issues, but they weren’t anything like this. I still had to study and worry about boys, but at least nobody cared what I did.

Now as I’m looking at my textbook, out of the corner of my eye, I can see at least five different people watching me. Am I really that interesting? I don’t think so.

I pull my thoughts from everything else and focus on the reading. It sounds vaguely familiar. Mrs. Middlebrooks talked about some of it in class, but the rest may as well be a foreign language. The government here is nothing like the democracy I’m used to. And it isn’t even like the sovereignly-ruled countries I’ve read about in my studies on land. Valora has a whole set of rules all its own.

My brain tingles more as I read about it, and everything makes sense. Not just what I’m to be tested on, but my dad’s worries. Even my mom’s fears. My dad could easily be overthrown at this point in the game. The people should be waiting for him to prove himself, but they’re not even giving him the chance. Most merpeople are upset he hasn't actually lived here recently. New kings have been overthrown for less. And as far as my mom’s worries, kings are allowed to take on as many wives as they want. They can only have one queen, but a plethora of wives. And according to the book, the more they take on, the stronger their reign.

My dad needs whatever he can take to secure his place in power.

I shudder at the thought. What if my dad takes on extra wives? Would it be a political move? Or could he actually be seeing someone else because he wants to?

“You okay?” Halen asks.

“Yeah. Just have some stuff on my mind.”

“Want to talk about it?”

“Not here.” I glance at the study guide and realize I’ve already read through everything in the book.

“Can you quiz me, then?”

“Me too.” Lumen looks up.

“Sure.” I ask questions based off the study guide, and find I know the answers before they reply. I’ll have to ask my mom what kind of a spell she cast on me. Maybe after finding out that it worked, she’ll tell me.

Lumen closes her book. “I’m done. My brain feels like it’s boiling from all the pressure. Anyone up for cake?”

“Cake?” I ask.

“It’s always time for dessert.” Lumen beams. “Come on.”

I glance at Halen. She nods and stuffs her books into her bag. I’m not about to argue about sweets.

Lumen leads us past the dining hall and through several corridors.

“Where are we going?”

“You’ll see.” Lumen’s eyes sparkle.

It seems odd that they won’t tell me, but again, I’m not going to question cake. We round several corners before coming to a set of nondescript doors.

“Almost there.” Lumen pushes one of the doors and motions for us to go in. The first thing I notice is the heat, then the loud machinery. Conversation sounds not far away. Huge ovens line the walls, all with food in them.