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The halls of the palace had always seemed too gaudy and bright for Soulara. But today the gloom of her mood followed her like a cloud and infiltrated everywhere.

She had been up all night, tossing and turning on her moss bed. But no solid answers came to her. No other steps but this one. She drew closer to her father’s office, dragging her end fins along the pristine floor. Two flukes from his office, Soulara stopped and sucked in the water once. Twice.

“Stop being a clownfish,” she muttered and pushed forward with one decisive slap of her tail.

“Father,” Soulara said as she reached the office door. She stood in the archway, waiting for his acknowledgement before braving entry. Pregtox’s face had aged in the past few seasons. She had noted it as they ate breakfast together every morning. The idea sent shivers up the back of her fluke right to the base of her skull. Her family was far from perfect, but the King of Reine had always been Soulara’s father first. No matter the flaws or fights they found themselves in.

“Soulara.” He looked up, furrowed brow and scrunched features smoothing. “Did we have a meeting?”

“No.” Soulara smiled and slowly swam into his space.

He gave her that ever prying look, the one that spoke more than words, the one that told her to spill every secret she had. Yet he still carried the air of king, and for the first time, Soulara was grateful that he rarely shrugged off the title to reveal the man beneath. She needed both her father and his position for this conversation.

“I know what’s been happening to the water,” Soulara spoke confidently. She channeled all her years of training, pushing her authority into the words.

“This again?” Pregtox rubbed circles into his temples.

“Yes.” She wouldn’t back down. Not this time. She would be a leader, despite how much she hated the idea. “The attack in the deep soundings was because of aliens that have come to our planet. They’re known as humans. They use mechanical beasts called water collectors to steal the water.”

“Soulara.” His tone of forced patience told her everything she feared his reaction would be. It foretold an explanation about how their kingdom ran, and that she needed to learn the finer details of how it worked. More had to be considered.

“No.” The word came out sharp, and for a moment, a tense silence hummed between them. Soulara grasped onto it. The tension meant he was listening, that she had his attention. “You don’t understand, and you never listen long enough.”

“Soulara, there are many things that need to be considered when ruling our kingdom.”

“I know.” Soulara shook her head, trying to rein in her own frustration. “I need you to pay attention to me this time. Not the lessons you want me to learn, but to me. Your daughter. Future Queen of Reine.” Those last words nearly lodged in her throat on their way out.

Her father jerked back as though Soulara’s words had physically hit him. Someone else might not have even noticed the reactionary movement. A nauseating slither of discomfort settled in Soulara’s stomach.

“I’m listening.”

“I’ve spoken to one of their human soldiers.”

“What?” He glared, nostrils flaring.

Soulara swallowed the lump in her throat and kept eye contact. “She’s confirmed the suspicions and provided many details.”

Pregtox held his hands up. “What is a human?”

“Oh.” Soulara pursed her lips. Was he really this ill-informed? He didn’t have spies around telling him what was happening? “They’re not from here. They live above the water. They have legs instead of a tail. They breathe air, not water.”

“And how have you spoken to this alien?” Pregtox spat the word like rotten seaweed on his tongue. But Soulara could see something working in his brain. This wasn’t all new information to him. And she wanted to know what he knew.

Soulara faltered and broke the eye contact. She looked down at the space between her and the shelf where piles of seaweed scrolls lay in various stages of being written on or unrolled. He was ever tied to the past, never wanting to move into the future.

“Soulara?”

The water rippled around her, but she refused to look up and see what her father was doing to cause the movement.

“Soulara.” His voice was soft and close.

Soulara jerked her head up as Pregtox’s gentle fingers brushed her upper arm.

“Please believe me, Father. I know what I’ve learned, and it’s the truth. The water is being stolen, and the humans are responsible. We have to stop ignoring the problem.”

“Things often seem one way, but they are rarely as they appear on the surface.”