Out of Water

Chapter Two

Erica raced along the polished sandstone corridor, a wide grin on her face.

"Princess! Calm down, please!" a startled servant woman implored when Erica nearly sent her sprawling to the floor, the basket of clean laundry she'd been carrying along with her.

"I can't calm down, Carla! I'm going back to school today!" Erica called back over her shoulder as she dashed around the next corner, darting to the side to narrowly avoid colliding with a man carrying a marble statue in the opposite direction. "Sorry!" she called to him, stoping long enough to help him steady himself before resuming her sprint towards the grand sandstone staircase that led down to the castle's entrance way.

When she reached the top, she jumped onto the rail and lifted her feet, squealing with glee as she slid to the bottom, where she jumped off and landed on her feet.

"Princess Erica!" a weary voice said from the doorway. Erica straightened herself up, smoothing down her dress, before turning to the Lord Protector with an easy smile on her face.

"Morning, Uncle Lance. Are we ready to go?"

Lance shook his head fondly. "Not a moment too soon, by the sounds of things. Were you trying to take out half of the palace on your way down?" His green eyes sparkled brightly as he took in his niece's flushed cheeks and wayward hair. She looked more like she'd escaped from the kitchens than the royal suite.

"Sorry, Uncle Lance," Erica replied, looking anything but. "I'm just so excited!" While Merpolia was her home, school was where her heart lived, along with her best friends Charmaine and Snowdon. She couldn't wait to be back in its marble corridors, far away from the smell of seaweed and the quiet of the castle halls.

"Excited, but still running almost half an hour late. Your aunt went down to the docks quarter of an hour ago."

Erica had the sense to look sheepish. Her Uncle's face fell. "Don't tell me: you were caught up listening to music and you lost track of time."

"I'm sorry, Uncle Lance," Erica replied. And she was, somewhere deep down. She couldn't help but lose track of time when she was listening to music; it was as if the melody captured a part of her soul, caging it inside the world of the rhythm so she lost all sense of reality.

Her uncle shook his head, but he didn't look angry. "Come on, it's best you get a move on or the ship will miss the tide." He gave her a tight hug. "Have a wonderful time at school," he told the top of her head. "Learn all you can, have fun with your friends and we'll see you at Christmas for the sand festival."

She released him and stepped backwards, her face glowing with excitement. "I'll remember to bring you and Aunt Gina amazing gifts back from Scholars' Town."

"Your aunt and I will be happy if you remember to bring yourself back from Scholars' Town; try not to get too lost in your own dream world while you're at school. Leave a small portion of your brain for focusing on reality. Now go on, get down to the docks and find your aunt. Tell her I love her."

"And that you'll be pinning for her miserably while she's away!" Erica added with a giggle, bolting out the door before he could respond.

She raced down to the docks with the same speed she'd employed through the palace, darting past delivery men and shoppers, moving so fast that none of them realised it was their princess who had nearly sent them sprawling to the ground. Sandstone buildings, which looked as though they had been hewn straight from the rock beneath them, blurred past her eyes. The blues, greens and turquoise of the glass that hung in their windows rolled past her like waves in the sea. Sand kicked up under her feet as she raced.