Ursula slowly swam to the adjoining hall. Queen Galataye, Psamanthe, Halimede, Ganeon, and Triton were floating around the king, talking quietly. They stopped when they saw her. "How is he doing?" Ursula whispered.
"There's been no change," Galataye said softly. "Anymore, I don't know whether to be gladdened or upset by that."
"I understand, Your Majesty," Ursula replied. "I believe I've mastered this vitality spell, but the longer we can observe its effects on the volunteers, the more comfortable I'll be in carrying it out on your husband. The good news is that there have been no side effects or reversals or anything bad at all happening to a single subject so far."
"That's excellent, Ursula. We do appreciate your efforts today. We all looked in on you this afternoon at times and saw you so hard at work." The queen offered a small, tired smile.
"Yes, and some of us watched you this morning as well," murmured Halimede. Psamanthe jabbed her in the ribs with an elbow and they dissolved into giggles.
Galataye shot her daughters a warning look. Ursula dared not look at Triton, so she glanced at Ganeon instead. He was squirming and pretending to study the floor.
The queen cleared her throat. "How soon can you administer the treatment?" she asked Ursula, businesslike.
"If we have a quiet night...meaning, if none of the volunteers report problems by morning, I think Ephram will give me permission to do it tomorrow."
"Wonderful," said the queen.
Ursula tried to stifle a yawn and failed. She shook her head quickly and smiled weakly. "I apologize, Your Highness. I'm going to send for some refreshments before the night shift begins. Can I offer you anything? Any of you?" She looked around at all of them.
"Goodness, no!" exclaimed Queen Galataye. "When was the last time you were home? The last time you really slept?"
"It's been a couple days since either," Ursula admitted, fighting another yawn. "But I promised you I would—"
"I know, I know," interrupted the queen, exasperated. "But I command you to go home and get some proper rest before working on the king. For your sake and his. The princesses and I will stay here tonight."
"Yes, Your Excellency." Ursula understood her concern and didn't feel like arguing.
"You look very weary, Ursula," said Triton. One of us should see you home..." he looked around at his family. "Perhaps I..." he ventured.
"I agree," said Galataye quickly. "But I need to discuss something with you and the princesses. Ganeon, please see Ursula to her door."
Ganeon had been lost in some reverie, but now snapped to attention. He looked at his mother, petrified. She raised her lovely dark brows at him, her mouth in a stern line.
He threw his shoulders back. "Of course." He offered Ursula his arm and a polite little smile. "Shall we?"
"Thank you." She linked her arm in his. "Goodnight, Your Majesties."
"Goodnight," responded three female voices in unison. As Ursula and Ganeon swam away, she looked back over her shoulder at Triton. He raised one hand in a silent parting wave, his face crestfallen.
********************
Ursula didn't know whether to rejoice or give in to mutual disappointment. It seemed unbelievable that this extraordinary individual—kind, noble, staggeringly gorgeous, and royalty—would seek to spend more time with her. And so openly! She marveled at this, all but forgetting her escort until he spoke.
"Funny how we live so close to one another and have never crossed paths," he said quietly.
"True," said Ursula. "I suppose I don't go much further than the temple on most days, and I've only just come of age to attend palace events. That's probably why."
"And we don't really come to the temple unless one of us is sick. We've been very lucky until recently, on that account."
"I see," said Ursula. She fell silent, thinking. "Why doesn't the royal family come for more of the ceremonies we hold there throughout the year? I've never given it much thought until now."
"It's always been that way. It's for separation of power, more than anything else," Ganeon replied.
Ursula felt a flash of irritation, and didn't understand exactly why these words pricked her as they did. "Separation of power? The High Priest lives in the palace and talks with the king almost daily, does he not?"
"They do speak every day, normally. That's just the point." Ganeon's patient voice annoyed her even more. "They need to have some idea of what's going on in each other's sphere of influence in order to guide their own people correctly. But neither one wants the royal family and you magical tentacled folk mixing too much. Think of the possibilities for corruption. The way each side might exploit their own power in dealing with the other...the way they might seek to exploit the other side's power. The deals that some parties might be tempted to strike..." Ganeon trailed off, shaking his head.
Ursula chafed at the fact that he was still holding her arm. "Is this established fact or one of your fantastical theories?" she asked sharply.
"My fantastical theories?" Now he sounded annoyed.
"Yes. Is there straightforward written or other reliable proof of this 'separation of power' system, or is this a theory you've generated in your so-called studies?" Ursula wasn't too tired to sneer.
"I wish I could show you how I arrived at this conclusion...which texts I'm drawing from. Only...we can't spend extensive time together because I'm royalty and you're of the healing class. So I'm afraid it won't be possible. That's the irony of this situation."
Ursula snorted. "Of course." She tried to withdraw her arm pointedly, and he tightened his grip on it. This surprised her.
"How do you know about my studies anyway?" he pressed.
"Triton mentioned them."
"Perhaps ask the High Priest or one of your elders about this subject sometime," he said quietly.
"Perhaps I will," Ursula replied curtly. "Though I probably won't have time to muse over such things for awhile. It's a very busy time for me."
"For me too." Ganeon looked hurt, but risked a smile at her.
Ursula turned her head away from her companion and rolled her eyes. It stopped her from screaming. "Is it?" she volleyed.
"Yes. I'm carrying out some very urgent historical research right now." He sounded wounded again.
"Urgent historical research? Those words hardly make sense together," she retorted.
"On the contrary, they make perfect sense!"
Ursula was relieved to see her small home. "We're here!" she sang, wriggling her arm free. "Thank you, Prince Ganeon." She pitched her head sloppily forward in a half-hearted effort at courtesy and reached for the door with her newly emancipated arm.
"You're welcome!" He brightened. "So, do you live here alone, or...?"
Ursula removed her hand from the doorknob and massaged her temple with two fingertips. Her eyes closed a long moment. "Yes, Prince Ganeon," she answered dully. I was raised in the household of a kindly couple and when I came of age I was given my own place. May I bid you goodnight? I really must rest." This was said in one breath.
"Of course, of course. Goodnight."
She didn't look at him, but slipped behind the door before he could say or do anything else. When she sensed he had left, she let out a long sigh. "Praise the waves above," she muttered, making her way over to a bench and mirror in the corner. She took stock of herself. She looked tired and her hair was beyond wild; she'd have to deal with it later.
Ursula removed several pieces of jewelry and laid them on her vanity table. Then she pushed off in the direction of her bed, peeling her shirt away and sighing in relief. It drifted to the floor. Her tentacles drifted to the bed's surface. Her hair drifted down and arranged itself around her head prettily. It was the quietest moment of her day. A warm current of water, which continuously flowed through this part of her house, relaxed her instantly.
She had one final thought before drifting off to sleep. I sure have a hard time remembering my place around the royal family. Or the princes, at least. She was too exhausted to question why, or to feel embarrassed about the mistakes she had made that day, or to resolve to do better tomorrow.
Her dreams started almost at once: they were populated with eels, as they so often were, and with the many creatures she had worked on that day. She saw Ganeon reading a book besides his father's corpse, unconcerned. In this dream world, she stood by as Alphon took the book from Ganeon's hands and beat him about the head with it until his face was destroyed. Her mind rejected this horror and generated dreams of Triton—dreams of gold and cyan, of his turquoise tail shot through with purple and the underside of her midnight tentacles beaming with a thousand gilded sucker-suns.