Page 50 of Coral Prince Conundrum
“She…she…” I run my hands through my hair. “I thought you were my sister, my family, but you made a cave collapse in order to kill us both.”
They turn to Priya, and she still does not emote.
“This is… a serious accusation,” Mother says.
“Is this true?” Father asks.
“I’m afraid you’re hallucinating, brother,” she says calmly. “I went with you to search for him, then you told me to return. In fact, I rode the sea dragon back into town, so everyone saw me.”
“What…how…how could you lie?” I shout. I turn to my brother to see him playing with his phone. Then, I look back at my parents. “You have to believe me.”
They hesitate, and panic rises in my throat. “We cannot take this on accusation alone,” Father says.
“Maybe you hit your head looking for Daryl,” Priya says with that infuriatingly calm tone. “And now you’re hallucinating. I am happy you found him.”
I turn back to Daryl, who’s gazing at us expectantly. He’s probably confused since we’re speaking a combination of Corali and English. Hopefully, the blood loss has abated.
“Perhaps we should all have a meal together and calm ourselves,” Father says. He tries to touch me, but I shrug off his hold.
“No!” I bark again. “I’m not going anywhere until you lock her up. She tried to kill us!”
Mother and Father once again share a look. “We have no cause to lock up a member of the royal family,” Mother says calmly.
“This is all make-believe, brother,” Priya says.
“But…but…” I sputter. Hopelessness threatens to drown me. If my sister isn’t detained, I don’t know what I’ll do. “You have to believe me.”
“I believe you, brother. Take a look,” Oroy says. He swiftly swims to the corner of the room and pushes his giant screen toward us. Next, he turns it on and clicks on his phone.
In the next second, we’re watching a blurry video of…me. I’m in the cave, and the camera pans to my sister. It’s obviously her, and her voice is as clear as the water in the tidal pool.
And she’s confessing to all her crimes. She’s trying to kill me, a harrowing event that I’m shocked to witness all over again. Hope beams in my chest, and I turn back to Daryl. He grins and waves his phone. He seems to have sent the video to Oroy, and I’ll never regret him befriending my brother.
With the video over, the room falls silent. The guards don’t know what to do, so we all defer to Father. He takes a long moment, pondering what just occurred, until he looks up.
He points to the guards, then to my sister. “Seize her,” he says, quietly, but firmly. I smile, and the guards move forward.
“NO!” she shrieks. She swims upward, and in a blur, she waves her hands, sending a miniature whirlpool forward. Before anyone can react, the spinning blade of water hits Daryl.
No. I dash forward, but it’s too late; Jojo has been pulled off of Daryl. In an instant, he’s drowning. Shouting and screaming occur around me, but I block them out.
Everything fades away when I see Daryl’s limp body as he’s immediately choked by kilometers of underwater pressure. Time slows down—I’m going to witness Daryl Tishman, the love of my life, die.
“No!” I bellow. With every fiber of my being, I spread my arms and pull the water apart. It’s unthinkable what I’m doing, but I need to create an oxygen bubble. I can hardly combat the deep undersea pressure, but I conjure a small pocket of air around my love. It might be too late. Daryl lies limp, water and blood oozing from his mouth, and all seems lost. I continue to pry the water away from him.I will move the ocean for you, Daryl, I must.
Then it gets easier. To my right, Oroy has his hands outstretched. Next, Mother and Father join him. Together, the four of us make a larger oxygen bubble, and I pray we did so in time. Behind me, I spot the guards restraining my sister. So, I climb into the bubble and take hold of the man I love.
Finally, with Daryl’s limp body in my arms, I rise upward, allowing my family to bend the water and gradually take me to the surface.
The moment the doctor walks out of the operating room, I briskly approach her. “How is he?” I put my hands on the doctor, the most advanced Corali practitioner, and she looks between me and my brother. Father and Mother decided it was best to stay back and ensure the incarceration of my sister. I don’t care, as long as she stays away from us, forever.
“I…don’t know how to tell you this, Your Highness,” the doctor says.
I gasp and exchange a sorrowful look with my brother. Then, I turn to the operating room window to see several tubes snaking in and out of Daryl. I can hardly see his face beneath the medical devices. “What…happened?” Oroy whispers.
“He’s alive.” Her words make my chest sag with relief. “But barely,” the doctor continues.
My mouth goes dry. This building is supposed to be the number one above-ground hospital in the kingdom. However, to be fair, most of our resources have gone to underwater medical facilities. It’s nearly unheard of for a Corali to not have gills.
