Page 19 of Coral Prince Conundrum (Runaway Prince Hotel #1)

Wow . Her story hits way too close to home. She levels her gaze at me. “And nothing is more important to the royal family than finding a soulmate.”

“I heard,” I reply. The queen studies me again, and I’m so afraid she can tell my relationship is a farce.

“You know, I thought my son was lying about your connection. But I can see it when he looks at you. And the way you look at him. He has never made all of this effort for a person, not for the many young ladies, and later, young men, that we tried to set him up with.”

Butterflies spin around my stomach. He treats me extra special ? I thought this was all for show. Speaking of shows…

I clear my throat and look out at the crowd. “He’s going to miss the performance.”

She snickers. “No, he won’t. My husband, the king, however…” She glances behind us, and King Ero is still talking on the phone. When Queen Marites looks back at me, she continues, “You know, to make sure you were the right person for my son, I did the funniest thing. I went to a seer.”

My eyebrows rise—psychics are real? “Oh?”

“Yes. Someone with a crystal ball and everything.” She laughs, but I freeze up. “I gave her photos of the two of you. She confirmed that you are indeed soulmates.”

My heart is jolted by that simple statement. “Really?” I ask, my voice nearly a whisper.

“Yes. But she said something like…you will only find your forever happiness after a short but harrowing period apart. And that you, Daryl, specifically, should stay away from whirlpools.” My throat goes dry, but she simply chuckles.

“But seers are only correct half the time. That last part is probably wrong. As if my son would ever let that happen to you. All three of my children are adept at bending water; they’ll protect you. ”

I nod, trying to interpret this puzzling information. Are clairvoyants real? I’m destined to be with Seero, but I might get sucked into a whirlpool?

Before I can ask for more, the lights go dark. The crowd roars, I scoot forward, and the king returns to sit next to us. We three watch as spotlights shine on the small pools in the center.

A moment later, several performers in tight, green clothing rise from the depths of the darkness. They each stand on giant clamshells, and geysers of water pressure push them into the air. I gasp, and everyone claps. An announcer says several words in Corali, and the crowd goes wild.

What follows is thirty minutes of acrobatics in the air coupled with percussion-heavy music.

Instead of a tightrope, the dancers use geysers to fly forward, each time landing on a floating clamshell.

They move their arms as if to summon midair streams of water, and I’m sure other water mystics behind the scenes are around to support them.

With the multicolored lights illuminating the vertical streams of water, it’s truly a spectacle.

There’s nothing back home like this dazzling display of a rainbow of water and humans backflipping around the geysers.

When the water goes down, the announcer appears again. “We have a very special guest tonight,” he says in English with his thick Corali accent. “Please welcome, His Majesty, Searoyal, the Coral Prince!”

The crowd roars, and my friend walks up the stairs into view.

I sit up straighter, and I begin to smile so hard it hurts.

He shines so brightly, and it has nothing to do with the spotlight on him.

He waves at the audience, and it’s so clear that everyone loves him.

When he gazes up, I know he’s looking directly at me.

Shit . I think I love him too.

Before I can freak out at that idea, the music starts up again. Seero closes his eyes in deep concentration, then moves his arms about in slow, controlled movements. A moment later, the water in the center pool begins to ripple. I blink, and several orbs begin to float into the air.

When the half dozen orbs spin around like their own solar system, everyone applauds. I look at his parents, and they nod and clap knowingly. Seero is so talented, so amazing.

But that’s nothing compared to what he does next. His arms move around in different positions, and, in response, the orbs combine and change shape. The water floats higher up, closer to us in the balcony box seats. I no longer see swirling orbs of ocean blue. Instead, Seero has created…

“No way,” I whisper to myself.

The water is shaped like a carafe and a giant cup. Like something out of a cartoon, the carafe tips over and pours liquid into the cup made of, well, liquid. And the cup floats to me. I stand up and reach over the balcony, enthralled at the sight.

It’s coffee. Seero has made a floating image of a coffee cup.

The crowd applauds, percussion thrums in conjunction with the show, but I don’t notice any of it.

My heart is so full from this display. I know he made that water sculpture just for me.

When I look down at him, he gives a pained smile; it’s obvious he’s concentrating very hard to keep the liquid shapes intact.

When I reach out and touch the massive coffee cup, the water disperses.

Like hundreds of raindrops flying horizontally, the ocean water spins and floats back down into the center pool.

The structures are gone, and Seero shakes his hands out.

The crowd roars, and my man bows. He looks up at me one last time before the lights come back up, and I presume intermission begins.

Fifteen minutes later, Seero appears at the elevator. I can’t wait; I rush up to him past the guards and hug him, twirling him around. “Woah!” he says.

“That was incredible!” I pull back and gaze at his face. “You didn’t tell me you were a professional water…bender artist guy.”

He laughs. “I am not. I simply wanted to do something special…for you, Daryl. And I wanted to be a part of it. To give you all the beauty you deserve.” He shrugs shyly. “I mean, I am very glad you enjoyed it.”

We’re soon joined by his parents. “What a dramatic display, son,” Queen Marites says.

“Just like his dad,” King Ero adds. He puts his arm around the queen and continues, “Doing whatever it takes to impress his betrothed. It keeps the relationship interesting.”

We all laugh and take our seats again, a fourth one appearing on my left for my fiancé.

I’m starting to give up the fake part, because I have yet to find a piece of Seero I’m willing to lose.

There’s so much I want to tell him, to ask him, and to beg from this beautiful prince of the sea.

But the lights are low again, and the water mystics reappear in the center of the theater.

With the announcer speaking Corali, I can barely understand the theatrical plot line, some fairytale about a shark man falling in love with a human.

Even if I spoke the language, I wouldn’t be able to pay attention.

Because when the man to my left takes my hand, pieces of my soul that I thought were barren begin to blossom.

No one can see us in the dark as he plays with my fingers.

This isn’t for show, it’s just Seero wanting to connect to me.

His hand was made to hold mine.

Logically, I know I should pull away and keep things professional; we’re two friends bluffing. But tell that to my heart. Minute after minute, I fall deeper and deeper in love with the Coral Prince.