Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Thalia walked down the aisle, head held high. The jacket she wore was a deep blue with the crest of Eventide on the small pocket that held a cornflower to match. As she approached the podium in the center of the room everyone around her stood. Thousands of people, friends, family, and even strangers to her, had been invited to the coronation. Her parents stood to one side of the podium, the crown sat on it, her sister on the other side. Lafaye gave Thalia a quick smile and wave before going back to attempting to stand still.

Thalia stepped up the few steps before the podium before leaning down, his father stepping forward.

“Friends, family, allies of Eventide, thank you all for coming today.” King Morgan’s voice was loud and filled the room. “Today, my eldest daughter Thalia will be taking over the throne, as the Queen of Eventide. Thalia, do you swear to protect everyone in Eventide to the best of your ability?”

“I swear.” Thalia said, arm across her chest, hand on the crest.

“Do you swear to not do anything that may end up harming the citizens?” King Morgan said, his face stern. However, his voice betrayed his attempt of seriousness, a smile breaking into it.

“I swear.”

“Do you swear to hold up the laws of Eventide, and not break them for any reason?” The king looked down at Thalia, a smile now beginning to spread across his face.

“I swear.”

“Then it is with my great honor to name you the Queen of Eventide.” Morgan took the crown from the pedestal and placed it onto Thalia’s head. His voice softened into a whisper as Thalia stood, “Good job kid, I’m proud of you.”

It was at that moment that Faye ran over and practically jumped onto Thalia giving her a hug.

~~~

It had been almost four months since Thalia got named queen, when she and Faye were sitting on Faye’s bed talking.

“Faye, would you be ok with it if I wasn’t a girl?” Thalia asked, fear twisted into her voice.

“Why would I see you any differently? No matter your gender you are my sibling who loves me and is way too overprotective.” Fay giggled out.

“Well, if I were a boy perhaps, then what do you think my name would be?”

“Um, what about, Brian! Or no, Charles! No, um, Leonardo!” Faye couldn’t contain her laughter.

“How about something more regal and serious?” Thalia laughed at her younger sister's antics.

“What about Theseus? Like the fabled son of Poseidon!” Faye looked at her sibling, a true care in her eyes.

“I like that, a lot actually.” Theseus said. “How about Theseus and then Theo for short?”

“Yea! That sounds amazing!” Lafaye shouted out, excitement showed on all parts of her face. “I have a brother! Yay!”

Theo’s face broke out into a smile, happy that his sister understood. Now his only worry was to tell his parents.

~~~

Around a week after the naming convention with Lafaye, Theo stepped into his parents room right around sundown. “Hey, um, Mom? Dad? Can we talk?”

“Absolutely darling, what do you need?” His mom’s voice was caring and gentle.

“Would… would you guys be ok with it if…” Theo’s voice trailed off, nervous of what may come of the conversation.

“If what Thalia? We are here for you no matter what the question may be,” Theo’s //DAD// replied, slowly soothing Theo’s nerves.

“I’m not a girl, I’m a boy, and my name is Theseus.” Theo blurted out before hiding his face with his hands.

His father got out of his bed and walked over to Theo, “I always wanted a son.”

“Really?” Theo’s face lit up as he moved his hands down from his face.

“Yeah, he really did,” Theo’s mom said, swimming up beside his dad. “So, Theseus? Was that all?”

“Yes, yes. Thank you!” Theo hugged his parents tightly, glad that they were ok with it. “And it’s Theo for short by the way!”

“Good to know, now go get some sleep darling, the true challenges of being a king start in a few days. You need to be ready. Your father and I will help the first few days, but after it’s all up to you.”

“Yeah, ok, thank you, Mom. Thank you, Dad. Goodnight!” Theo said, smiling from ear to ear.

“Goodnight sweetheart, we love you.” Ophelia said, as she shut the door to their room as Theo exited.

And he was happy. He could be the person he wanted, and not have people criticize him for it. His family didn’t care, but they still made him accepted.

So that same night he talked to his advisor and sort of secretary, Nel, his previous tutor. He had Nel set up a hair appointment for him the next day.

Very soon after, not even a month later, Theo was being seen as king to all and he got to be the person he wanted to be. He had top surgery, his hair was cut short how he wanted it and he felt correct in his body. And he was happy.

But little did he know how much was going to be changing once someone not so unknown returned…

Chapter Text

Years had passed since then, Theo sat in the war room looking over a large table that detailed the surrounding land. A pastime of his was to study the map, out of a slight paranoia that something may happen.

“Your majesty?” A voice broke into Theo’s thoughts, causing the king to look towards the person in the room with him.

“Nel, you startled me,” Theo said, a small hint of laughter in his voice. When Theo’s father stepped down as king, his advisor stepped down with him. Therefore Theo had had to name a new royal advisor, which he found the jellyfish to be the perfect mer for the role. He quickly began looking back over the board, “What did you need?”

“I’m just here to go over your schedule for the day, and then help with anything you need.” Nel said, a slight worry on his face. “Nothing is going to happen, Theo. The last war was over a century ago.”

“I know, just better safe than sorry, I feel. So, what is the schedule for today?”

“You have a few meetings, a new kingdom wants to see about making a treaty, and an exchange route between the kingdoms. The kingdom of Serenity wants to talk about our current agreement of trade routes, something about them wanting to add more to the deal. The council wants to discuss some issues occurring in the city,” Nel took a deep breath. “And lastly you still have to help the planners with the planning for your parents' reminder ceremony..”

The small reminder of the upcoming ball held in his parents honor startled Theo. “I forgot that it was so soon… Is there anything else Nel? And what time is that first meeting?”

“Um, the head of the royal guard wants to meet with you to look over the training of the new guards. They’ve recently come together from their pods to start official training.”

“Ok, I’ll talk to him and set something up. Actually if you could see if we could set that up for next tuesday? I think that would work.” Theo said, focused on the map.

“You’re busy all of next week, sire, the next free time you would have to look over them would be in about a month. Would that work?” Nel said, flipping through the small notebook he kept with him.

“Yes, that works just fine. As for the meeting..?” Theo asked gently.

“In an hour.” Nel said, closing the book. “Faye also asked to join in the planning, and have dinner with you tonight. Does that work with you?”

“That would be amazing actually,” Theo said with a smile. “Let her know that it is no problem.”

“Will do, I’ll see you at the meeting. In this room like always,” Nel said, before turning away.

“Thank you, Nel.”

As the advisor walked out of the room Theo went back to inspecting the board. Eventide was a kingdom in the middle of practically everything, but one good thing about that was the allies that came with it. As well as the supplies. However, it always worried him that being in the middle of everything could mean the lack of an escape route, and a higher chance of getting hurt.

Around the large, round table sat 20 chairs. His chair, the one many kings sat in before him. Faye’s chair to his left, often dedicated to a secondary advisor, but he much preferred his sister to help decide what happened in their kingdom rather than a second advisor. A chair for the queen to his right, where no one sat due to Theo not having a partner. The one next to the queen’s chair being the first advisor’s chair, at the moment Nel’s chair. Next to that sat the chair for the head of the guard, Marius’s current seat. When he stepped down from being advisor he stepped up to be the head of the guard, train all the new recruits and follow Theo’s orders to give to the rest of the troops. The other fifteen chairs given to the council, those who lived and oversaw the city for Theo and would report back to him on what was needed. Reelected by the city every year.

Theo traced his hand over the map, the old paper rough to the touch. Years before he was even born, his father had a cartographer go out and map as much of the land as he could, including every kingdom. They made sure to use a special kind of paper that would fare fine against the water, but the oldness of it made it start to become rough and a brownish yellow. A soft color, though, that Theo liked the look of.

Two heavy knocks sounded at the door, before the doors opened. Faye came in first, taking her seat next to Theo, before Nel stepped in, followed by two mers dressed in deep purples and golds. “Your highness, may I present The King and Queen of Aquata.”

“King Theo, it is a pleasure to meet you,” the other king said, taking a seat directly across from him as Nel sat a few seats over from Theo. “You too, heiress. My name is Morrik and this is my wife, Olivia.”

“The pleasure is mine, Morrik. Now I believe this meeting was about a possible treaty and trade route?” Theo said, a stern look on his face.

“Indeed, it is. Aquata is a newer kingdom, but we still have much that we manufacture. I wish to keep my people safe, and would like your help in doing so. I believe that this could be very beneficial for both of us.” Morrik stated, a smirk on his face. “So what do you say to it?”

“I believe that-” Theo started before being cut off.

“We royals don’t believe in a one sided agreement, Morrik. Nor do we believe in trying to pull one over on eachother, and if we do we don’t show it off by smirking.” Faye said, her voice riddled with passive aggressiveness, clearly upset at the man.

Theo smacked Faye under the table, “As Faye said, we don’t believe in one sided agreements, so what would be in this for Eventide?”

Morrik’s face changed to one of shock before shaking it off, “Well, um, I, sorry, um, that’s why I think a trade route would be good. You send us some guards, experienced guards, as well as sending us materials and resources of yours and we will send back fully manufactured items. We can meet once a month to discuss what you would like.”

“We’ll see about it, I hope you understand that we would need some time to think on this offer.” Theo said, his voice riddled with annoyance.

“Theo if I may,” Nel said, trying to keep the conversation cool. “We do need another manufacturer, with the lack of resources in Selkin, and the mers that are being poached there right now, we are losing more materials than items we are gaining. It is a good deal for both Eventide and Aquata if we accept this.”

“Faye?” Theo asked, always trying to include his sister in the decisions of the kingdom.

“Alright. We can give it a test, six month treaty, and trade route, and if all goes well we can talk of more and renegotiate if needed after. Sound good?” Faye said, her eyes dark, never a fan of being made a fool.

“Sounds good to me.” Morrik said, looking at his queen, who only nodded.

“Then it’s a deal. Six months, we shall see how it goes.” Theo said, a smile on his face. “Nel will write up and send you the paperwork for it, and we can figure out another time to meet soon. I’ll have guards sent over at once.”

“Thank you, your majesty. Have a good day.” Morrik said, as he and Olivia left the room.

Theo slumped down in his chair, “God I hate these meetings.”

Chapter Text

Meetings always took up most of Theo’s day, oftentimes causing him to be worn out by the end. That normally caused him to go to sleep early, missing out on dinner with his sister. However on that day his sister had specifically asked to have dinner together, and so they did. The two walked together from the last meeting of the day towards the dining room.

“Do you enjoy taking part in meetings?” Theo asked, head held high as they passed between guards into the dining area.

“About as much as jellyfish like turtles, but I do like that you let me have a say in what happens in the kingdom. Thank you for that.” Faye said with a sigh, sitting down in a seat that had been pulled out for her.

“Of course, you are just as much a ruler to the kingdom as I am.” Theo laid his hands in his lap as he sat down, “Anything interesting happened recently? I know you just got back from traveling.”

A Mer brought their food to them, carefully setting it down on the table before them.

“I’ve been back in contact with Talia and Sophia’s pod, they said they have a meeting set up with you soon to discuss some things they’ve seen… oh apparently their son, you know the one you were forced to hang out with, is trying to join the royal guard. I stopped by Selkin by request of Nel, he said what I told him though, they’re starting to lack resources so on and so forth. Otherwise no, I was just around, you know?” Faye listed the things she had done with boredom in her tone, never quite being satisfied with her travels. At the mention of the jellyfish’s name he swam into the room.

“Ah, speak of the devil and he will appear,” Theo joked, gesturing to the seat next to him.

“The invites to the village have been sent out, your majesties,” Nel said simply, as he sat down next to Theo.

“Nelly, you know when it’s just us you’re allowed to just call us by our names…” Faye said with a sad tone, never a fan of the advisor calling them by their titles. “I know the whole you feel it’s right, but I think you are too close to being family for that.”

“Right, sorry Faye, I forgot,” Nel looked up, seeing Faye going back to eating her dinner, a well done steak and potatoes. “I’ve gone through everything a bit more thoroughly Theo, you have about two weeks shoved full of meetings, but after we will have you travel out to Aquata to meet with Morrik and discuss what need manufactured, I’m already working on a list for that, and then on the way back you’ll be stopping by the training area to see the new recruits.”

“Thank you, Nel. I really don’t appreciate you enough for how much work you do for me,” Theo said with a smile on his face as he looked at the jellyfish.

“It’s just what I’m meant to do, there’s no need to thank me,” Nel said flipping through his notebook, “speaking of-”

“Nelly… Can we please just eat dinner right now?” Faye asked, setting down her utensils.

“Right sorry, I guess I forget to chill out sometimes,” Nel giggled as he reached up to rub the back of his head.

“It’s ok, Nel, Faye just gets exhausted from meetings, you know that,” Theo poked fun at Faye, since despite being extroverted she couldn’t handle seriousness for the life of her.

“There’s a reason you're king and I’m not,” Faye said in a sing-song manner. “You know I prefer being free to do what I want.”

The three sat in a comfortable silence as Nel, despite Faye’s wishes, checked his communicator and wrote things down in his notebook. The other two casually finished their dinners, before stacking their plates together. As the mer who gave them their dinners before came over to collect their plates, the three stood from their seats.

“Goodnight Theo, I’ll see you in the morning with tomorrow's schedule,”Nel said, before turning to Faye. “Goodnight, princess. Sleep well.”

With that Nel left to go to his own room in the castle for the night, yet both of the seablings knew that Nel wouldn’t go to bed for another few hours yet. He preferred to spend his hours of the night reading so that he could spend the rest of the day doing his job.

“I don’t get why he’s so persistent on calling us by our titles.” Faye said, disappointment crossing her features. “He doesn’t have to.”

“Yeah, he doesn’t. Maybe he wants to though,” Theo said, laughing internally at Faye’s lack of awareness.

“Yeah… Maybe…” Faye’s voice fell, “Well, goodnight, Theo. I love you.”

Faye swam away, towards her own room. She sped up a bit, clearly trying to catch up to Nel, quite possibly to lecture him. Theo on the other hand did not follow to his own room. Instead he turned towards the map room, deciding to figure out some small things from the meetings he had earlier.

As Theo entered the room, he asked the guards who were in there to leave the room and not let anyone else in. He stood at his seat, inspecting the map.

The council meeting earlier had brought many things to his attention that he wasn’t aware of. There was a lack of food in the town, there had been some issues with resources, and lastly an issue of attacks that had been happening on the southeastern border of the kingdom. Luckily that wasn’t where anyone lived, it was just where a larger shopping district was in the area.

‘Marius.. I need you to do me a favor with the guards..’ Theo typed into his communicator, sending the message quickly.

‘Nel, schedule a time for us to have a private talk this week. If it interferes with any meetings from out of town, let them know we will pay for them to stay for an extra day.’ This message was also sent out quickly, as Theo knew he needed sleep but also wanted to figure out what to do as best he could.

A light buzzing came from his pocket as he took his comm back out. ‘Is there something I can come help you with now? I’m just in my room, I can come stop by…’

‘No, no, it’s ok, get some sleep. Just figure out a time for us to meet at some point soon.’ Theo sent back his reply , before sitting down in his seat with his hands tangled in his hair. This was about to be a very long week.

Chapter Text

It had been a few days since his sister had returned from her travels, and a few days since they had dinner together. Almost a week, actually. Theo had been bearing day in and day out meetings, as usual. Yet with the planning for his family's remembrance ceremony coming up he was more stressed than ever. He just wanted to leave for a while and completely forget about everything that was happening. However he couldn’t, he had much to do, be it constant meetings, talk to the new royal guard coming in in about a month, or talk business negotiations, he was busy. However today was filled with just one meeting, one with a certain orca pod which used to work with his parents. As with any meeting, Theo sat in the map room, waiting. Talia and Sophia had known Theo since he was a pup, though they never often talked to him. It was normally just them sending their son to play with Theo. He would sit in on those meetings sometimes as he was growing up, but even then, Talia didn’t talk to Theo, just straight to Morgan. Sophia would sometimes glance and smile his way though, she was much kinder to him.

Nel had sent a messenger out to them to ask for a meeting a while back. Their pod was almost constantly traveling, so his parents had an agreement with the pod. One that meant they would always have a place to stay in the kingdom or castle on the request that if they find anything new, find anything that may be worrisome, or just something interesting, they report it back to the royals. Theo had a hope that he could convince them to strike up the same deal once more.

Two knocks sounded at the door, before it opened to reveal the two orcas and Nel. With a bow of his head, Theo said, “Talia, Sophia, it’s a pleasure to have you here. I hope your travels have been well.”

Sophia smiled, taking a long look over the king, “Thank you, Theo. You’ve grown up into a king your parents would be very proud of.”

“I’m sorry, but I must ask that we focus,” Talia said sternly, always one to get straight to the point. “What is the reason you’ve asked to meet with us, Theo?”

“Well, I know the deal you had with my parents and I’d like to ask if you would be willing to have the same agreement with the kingdom now. Your pod has always been a friend of the kingdom, and I’d like to ask that we go back to the agreement of you bringing in information from the outside in exchange for you to have a home here. Food, shelter, resources, anything you need.” Theo stated, his voice hopeful but serious.

“We had that deal with your parents under the chance that Marius was the advisor. We were doing it to help him more than your parents. Is there a reason we should help you?” Talia asked her question in a manner that made it seem like she was looking down on Theo, something he didn’t much like.

“There is no trouble if you do not wish to help, however I am aware that you are still using the perks of free resources from Eventide, despite the fact that you have not helped us in years. Those perks will be removed immediately if you do not help us any longer. As well, you have been staying in a hotel in Eventide under the capital’s funding. You will be asked to leave as soon as possible and to pay back the money you have spent after my parents passed.” Theo said matter-of-factly, looking directly into Talia’s eyes, before a light smile crossed his face, “I hope you understand.”

“Is that a threat?” Talia glared at the king, face morphed into a scowl.

“No, it is only information of what will happen.” Theo’s voice was stern, not caring how the orca’s responded due to the guards stationed by the door.

“Talia, calm down. I think it’s perfectly fine that we inform him of what we find.” Sophia, being always reasonable, soothed her partner.

“Well,” Talia choked out, “We can give you the information, in exchange for the resources. However, there are a few more things I would like to discuss about this. How long do you have for this meeting, seeing as it has already been almost half an hour.”

“I have the whole day blocked out, I assumed that there would be much to catch up on.” Theo’s tone lightened with the mood in the room, “So then, how about I have the chef make us lunch?”

“That would be lovely, Theo. Thank you.” Sophia’s hand slipped into Talia’s, rubbing small circles into the back of her hand.

“Would salmon and calamari be ok?” Theo asked gently.

“Yes, that would be okay,” Talia was calmer then, her face cooling into a small smile.

“Nel, can you go ask the chef to prepare three dishes of Salmon and calamari, and whatever you would like to eat?” Theo asked, turning to his friend.

“Of course, I’ll be right back.” With that, Nel swam out of the room leaving the three others alone.

“I’m sorry for bursting like that,” Talia was taking deep breaths as she spoke.” I’m sure you remember from when you were younger my short temper. Not to mention that I don’t take kindly to what I feel may be threats.”

“I would like to apologize for that on my behalf, I in no way meant to threaten you, but I understand how it could have been seen that way.” Theo’s voice was calm as he adjusted in his seat.

“It’s ok, I just didn’t realize you could pack a punch like that kid. You really are all grown up. Your mom would be proud.” Talia smiled at Theo, those words bringing tears to his eyes.

“If you two would like, your pod is very much invited to my parents remembrance ceremony, I’m sure they would like you to be there.” Theo smiled back, remembering his parents respect and care for their pod.

“We will see if we can make it. We will really try.” Sophia said happily.

“If you guys would like, lunch is ready.” Nel poked his head into the room.

Theo, Talia, and Sophia swam through the door and followed Nel to the dining room, where plates were already set out. The four all sat down, Talia and Sophia together across from Theo and Nel.

“As I mentioned, there are a few other things I would like to discuss. For one, how often would we have to give you a report?” Talia started, remaining calm this time.

“I was thinking once every six months, however if you’d prefer more frequently that is ok. I would like to avoid it being less frequent though.” Theo said, starting to eat his lunch.

“That actually sounds great. WIll we be able to stay in Eventide more frequently than that and not give you a report everytime we come in?”

“Yes, that is perfectly fine.”

Nel and Sophia stayed quiet eating their meals, only planning to pipe in if necessary.

“Will we be in the same hotel as we used to?” Talia asked.

“If that is what you would like then absolutely. Anywhere you pick to stay will be covered though, as well as food and resources you may need.”

“Thank you, I think it will all work perfectly then.”

“Of course, now, is there anything you believe I should be informed of that has happened since, let’s say up to a year ago?”

“Actually there may be a few things you should know.”

Chapter Text

“Are you aware of the kingdom of Aquata? A new kingdom that has been on the rise recently…” Talia asked, pointing to a place on the map towards the northern area.

“Yes, we had a meeting with King Morrik the other day, actually.” Theo replied, his voice questioning.

“The pod and I are worried about what is going on around there. At the most northern place you can get to there is an armada of ships, well armored ships. There are people wearing immense amounts of armor, cages, many humans with weapons, and more. We fear that they may be trying to wage war on the other kingdoms.” Talia pointed to the northernmost spot on the map, explaining what she found. “It seems as though the humans have a bit of a deal with Morrik. They are in almost constant conversation. Furthermore, they aren’t small ships, there’s hundreds of Nagato class ships, each with their own armed men. We fear that with the furthering of potions up on land that they may have found a way to get under the water for longer than a few minutes.”

“Thank you, Talia. This is very important for me to know.” Theo’s face looked normal, but inside his guts were twisting with fear. “Nel, it seems I may need to make a stop at a few kingdoms. Please schedule those meetings as soon as possible.”

“That is not all your majesty.” Sophia’s voice cut into Theo’s words, causing him to listen further.

“There were mers in the cages.” Talia said, her voice dropping. “Anything from crustacean mers, to selkies. There were sirens, sharks, regular fish, anything you can think of. We don’t know why they had them, but they were all locked up. Most of them had injuries covering their bodies. Especially their tails. Fuck, some had literal chunks torn out of their skin. The pod fears that the locked up mers may be getting experimented on, or worse.”

Fear radiated through Theo’s eyes, “Nel, call an emergency meeting to the kingdoms, get all of the royals here as soon as possible. Tell them that each royale should have at least three guards each. Do not, and I repeat do not, let Morrik hear of the meeting. Tell the royals to use the tunnels to get here, not the open water. As well, get me to go to Aquata sooner, that way I can see the trainees sooner. We need to double our guards, at least. Thank you both for the information, if you need I can have a safehouse map sent to you. Eventide has safehouses throughout the world, if you need somewhere to go fast you can always use one.”

“That would be amazing if you could,” Sophia said, eyes softening.

“Thank you for your time, you may go.” Theo said sternly, immediately swimming to Faye’s room.

“Faye!” Theo shouted looking for her.

“Hey, what’s up?” Faye asked, slowly getting up from her bed.

“I’m not going to stop you from traveling because I know you enjoy it, but for the time being, avoid open water. Use the tunnels. There is a possible danger at hand, and I need you to stay safe.” Theo was stern, not letting her eyes drop from his for a second.

“Ok, I wasn’t planning on traveling more for a while anyway. Do you mind if I take part in any upcoming meeting to deal with this issue?”

“No. Not these ones. It’s too risky and I don’t want you to get hurt.” Theo was still stern but his voice softened as he grabbed his sister's hand. “These are issues that the royals need to be made aware of, and then we need to figure out what we will do. This could be a large problem and I can’t lose you. So please, try your hardest to just stay safe?”

“I will, if you need my help, you know where I am.” Faye nodded at his brother, squeezing his hand slightly to calm him down.

“Thank you, now, I have to go talk with Nel.” Theo sighed, heading out of the room to go find the advisor.

“Theo, I just talked to Marius, he says the troops should be ready soon, they just need your approval still. So once you go up there you should be good, we’ll have new troops immediately after.” Nel spoke softly, knowing the king was stressed enough.

“Ok, thank you Nel. I’m not sure what is going on but we are getting to the bottom of it. I just hope we are able to do it without anyone getting hurt…”

Chapter Text

After about a week, it was finally time for Theo to take his journey to Aquata in order to meet with Morrik. He knew that going up there with what he had heard from Talia was dangerous, but he felt a need to see it for himself.

“Can I come with you? I’ll stay close to you, I just feel like I should see this too.” Faye’s voice was quiet, knowing her brother’s paranoia would make it so her going was unlikely.

“I would really rather you didn’t, Faye. I don’t know what all might happen while I’m there and I don’t want you to be at risk…” Theo slowly continued packing his bag.

“Please?” Faye asked, standing by the doorway to her brother’s room.

“I won’t stop you, but I really don’t think it is a good idea.” Theo said, his voice low.

“Then I’m going with you, I need to see what Talia was talking about.” Faye sounded determined as she turned to go pack in her room.

“Faye,” Theo’s voice was flat and almost threatening, but not towards her. “Pack your cloak, I think it will be beneficial to be a bit more undercover.”

“Ok,” Faye’s voice trailed off as she walked away talking to the ghostfish that were always circling around her.

Theo was packing everything he needed for the week into a backpack, including what he would need for the couple of days they would be at the training camp. At the very bottom of his bag were gifts from his father he never thought he would need.

The memory of his dad giving him the black woolen cloak tore through his mind. The day he turned sixteen, his father gave him it as a birthday present. As he carefully unwrapped the cloak a spyglass and pocket knife were safely tucked inside.

“You may need these one day when you’re the ruler,” His father’s voice was soft. “Hopefully you never will.”

Theo’s vision cleared back to reality as he checked inside his backpack to make sure no one could see the items from a glance. Once he made sure he had everything safely tucked away in his bag he headed to Faye’s room.

“Be careful please…” A voice came from inside Faye’s room. “I don’t want you to get hurt while you are out there.”

Theo listened closely, not knowing why someone would be in Faye’s room.

“Don’t worry, love,” Faye’s voice was soft as it moved across the room. “I’ll be okay, I promise.”

“Okay, don’t break that promise.” The other voice was gentle, before both voices got cut off.

Theo opened Faye’s door to see his sister and his advisor locked in a gentle kiss.

“Nel Stillwater! What the fuck!” Theo screamed. “I don’t need to see that shit!”

Nel staggered back, “Uh- um- uh- I’m gonna go now, ok bye, be safe.” With that Nel darted out of the room, a blushing mess

“Not my fault you barged into my room,” Faye said, all the while laughing her ass off.

Theo groaned, “Are you ready to go?”

“Not yet, I just have a few more things to pack,” Faye said, going back over to her backpack that was sitting next to her chest of drawers.

“Well maybe you would’ve been done sooner if you weren’t eating my advisor's face.” Theo glared at his sister in a taunting way.

“It was literally one kiss Theo,” Faye replied, still laughing.

“Yeah yeah whatever. Can you hurry up?” Theo said, impatience getting the better of him.

“I just need my cloak then I am all ready,” Faye walked over to her closet to grab the wool cloak similar to her brothers. Also a birthday gift from her parents. “There, all ready.”

“Finally. Ok let’s go.” Theo left Faye’s room and headed towards the main hall of the castle.

The duo held their bags tight to their backs as they moved through the castle and through the town. As they always had to, they tried to keep their heads low and stick to back streets and alleys so as to not get stopped by people who wanted to meet them.

The town always seemed so small from a distance, but while they were in it they were always reminded of how large their kingdom truly was. The swim out of the kingdom itself took nearly an hour going straight, but due to the need to take a more secluded way their trip out of the kingdom took much longer.

Once they were finally out it was mostly a straight shot there. Swimming for a few hours not including the breaks they took to eat or rest. As well as the breaks they took to give Faye something to do, whether that be skipping rocks or running in an open field, they had to get her energy out somehow rather than just swimming the whole time. It was similar to taking a child out of the car on a long ride to get energy out, except Faye was using energy anyway. The thought made Theo laugh a little bit.

Around halfway through their trip Theo decided to bring up the accidental happening of earlier, “So… how long have you and Nel been… a thing? Friends with benefits? Something like that?”

“Oh um, Nel and I have been dating for about a month now,” Faye said, doing small twirls in the water while swimming. “We were going to tell you soon but Nel was scared. He went on a whole rant about how you would probably kill him. I had to assure him so many times that you wouldn’t.”

“How do you know I won’t? I still have the ability to.” A smirk decorated Theo’s face as he looked at his sister.

“Who else would you have as your advisor if not Nel? Let’s see who else do you get along with… there is me, and Nel, and… oh wait… that’s it.” Faye gave her brother a look that caused them both to break out into a fit of laughter.

“Touché… Touché.”