“Do you have any better ideas?” Araxie asked.
For a long moment he didn’t say anything.
“Load up!” Proteus commanded the team. Much more softly he told Araxie, “You’ll ride with me.”
With two knights on each shark, and enough supplies to last three weeks, they set out with Proteus leading their way. Araxie sat just in front of the shark's dorsal fin with Proteus in front of her. He held the reins firmly as he guided the megalodon up over the city, and towards the magical shield that had been in place since her mother had placed it with her rare golden runes. They passed through it and Araxie's vision filled with yellow and orange sparks for a moment, before they faded.
“That never gets old.” One of the knights shouted.
“Keel, focus.” Proteus shouted back. He asked Araxie much softer, “Which way?”
Araxie smiled, and shifted to pull out the paper. She quickly read the first clue. “How do you feel about shipwrecks?”
“South it is.”
Hope, that was the feeling bubbling up inside her as the distance between her and Atlantis grew.
Chapter 7
They'd left in the afternoon, and the water had turned to a dark blue around them before they found the first spot to make camp. The valley they'd stopped at was filled with a dark red seaweed for miles in each direction.
The four knights looked to Proteus when the last pack was off the sharks.
“Let them hunt,” Proteus said.
With a pat to each shark's tail, they took off into the darkening water.
“Will they come back?” Araxie asked.
An older knight, with dark green scales greying at the edges came closer to her. “Of course Princess. They'll feed and be back before you're tucked into your bed.”
Shock left Araxie at a loss for words, and she looked at the other knights.
The same silver scaled knight that had scared her class at the prison was smirking at Proteus. “Want to tell us why the princess is with us when you told the King she wasn't?”
Araxie found her tongue. “It's my life, I won't ask you to endanger yourselves when I'm not willing to do the same.”
Proteus smiled. “No secrets then. Araxie meet Leena, Tertis, Nami, and Keel.”
Leena was the knight from the prison, Tertis had answered her questions about the sharks. Nami looked too young to be on such an important mission and Araxie wondered why Proteus would choose the violet mermaid to be on the team. Keel was handsome enough with his simple brown hair and orange scales.
Araxie listened to the banter between Leena and Tertis while the three of them set up the bubble tents in a circle. The openings faced towards the center of the circle. It was only after they were all set up that Araxie realized there were only five tents not six.
“You can share with me Princess,” Leena said. “I'm sure you've had enough of being so close to our team leader all day.”
Leena was old enough to be Araxie's grandmother, and Araxie willed herself not to blush at the idea of sharing a tent with Proteus. After all, Araxie had no romantic interest in him. It didn't matter that she'd noticed the strength of his arms as he'd handled the shark, or the smooth way he led them as they traveled. She had no interest in someone who would order her about like her Father. But the more she thought about it, a little bit of doubt crept in. Yes, Proteus gave orders, but his team here or at the palace felt comfortable enough to joke with him. They knew when to follow without question, and they knew when it didn't need to be so serious. Everyone was always serious around her father. Perhaps she'd misjudged Proteus somewhere along the way. He had lied to the King for her.
A cracking sound rippled through the water, and Araxie turned to see Nami stabbing a glowing crystal as long as Araxie's forearm into the earth. Nami did it three more times with three more Crystals creating a box border of light around the camp. Proteus came up next to her and held out a seaweed wrapped square.
“Dinner is served.” Proteus tapped his square to hers and then took a big bite.
Araxie lifted her own food to her lips for a bite. The salty seaweed gave way to a brown crunchy bar underneath. Whatever this meal was, it had as much flavor as the sand beneath her fin. It was about the same for trying to swallow it. She coughed when her body refused to swallow the tasteless mush.
Keel let out a loud laugh and Tertis tossed him a silver coin.
The older merman shook his head. “I thought you were tougher.”
“Welcome to knighthood.” Proteus smiled then moved away to give the rest of the team their own seaweed wrapped food.
Leena came up to Araxie and offered her a blue sea-berry. “It's a rite of passage to eat the sand cracker.”
Araxie relished the tangy juice of the berry. “Does everyone choke on it?”
“No.” Leena laughed. “My first time I threw up on my commander. Raen says that's how he knew I was the one for him.”
Smiling Araxie said, “That must be true love then.”
“It was, and it was his favorite story to tell my boys until he passed away last year.” Leena patted Araxie's arm. “You'll be fine girl, just keep moving with the tide.”
That night, they all took turns on watch. Araxie had first watch with Tertis. She learned the knight wasn't nearly as old as she'd thought. He'd been a protector knight for only five years now. His wife at home was also ready to pull her scales out over their twin girls, Briny and Brook, who were determined to open every cupboard and door in sight. The last time he'd been home they'd pulled out every dish and were tossing them to each.
“How old are they?” Araxie asked.
“Five.” Tertis smiled.
“My sisters were much the same at that age. My nursemaid was horrified the time she found the triplets playing in her hair gel. It took hours to scrub all of the snail gel off.”
“I'll have to tell my wife to make sure she keeps it locked up.”
When it was time for the second watch the megalodons returned to the camp. They circled above the crystal box Nami had set up earlier.
“Don't they need sleep?” Araxie asked.
Nami shook her head. “They sleep while they swim. They'll be ready for the journey tomorrow.”
“Goodnight Nami, Keel.” Araxie excused herself, and saw that Tertis was doing the same.
“Night!” Nami said cheerfully before glancing at Keel.
Even in the darkness Araxie could see the pink blush sweeping over Nami's violet scales. She wondered what Proteus had been thinking, putting those two on watch together as she entered her tent. Nami's open nature was nothing like Calista, and that made Araxie wonder if she could someday have another friend.
Sharing a tent with Leena was tight, but Araxie was glad to rest her eyes after such a long day. She tapped her braces together and her armor shrunk down. The water was much colder against her skin without the armor as a buffer. Exhausted, she only pulled the combs out of her hair before falling asleep to Nami's giggles.
Day four is when Araxie discovered why Nami was specially selected for the team. Sickly green seaweed fifty fins high surrounded them. The kelp forest hides them from the creatures swimming above. Araxie had one gauntlet hooked into the strap on one side of the shark's dorsal fin while Proteus was hooked on the other side. She peeked her head around to look at him, and he held a finger to his lips before pointing up.