Page 70 of The Forgotten Queen
What was wrong with her? Why wasn’t she stronger than this? Why couldn’t her mind drive through whatever blocked it and get to the other side?
Marx looked at her and raised his eyebrows, code forare you all right? Sydria pushed a smile onto her lips and nodded back at him.
“Marx,” Queen Malory said, scraping the dice off the table and into her hands. “I’ve been meaning to talk to you about something.”
“Okay.” Marx leaned into the table, resting his cheek against his fist.
“What’s wrong with the aquarium?” his mother asked. “Is it broken?”
Sydria eyed him. They hadn’t had a chance to talk about it yet, and she’d forgotten to bring it up the night before when he had been in her room.
“Uh…” He straightened, releasing his arm out in front of him. “No. I had it emptied.”
“Emptied?” King McKane scoffed. “Why on earth did you do that? Where did you put all the fish?”
“The ocean,” Marx said. “Where they belong.”
His mother dropped the dice onto the table, and every face went to his as they clanged around.
“You put them back in the ocean?” His father’s voice rose. This was the exact reaction Sydria had been afraid of the day they’d met. “Why do you always do things like this? Do you have any idea what it took to gather and hold all of those fish?”
“I have a pretty good idea,” Marx answered, avoiding Sydria’s panicked eyes.
“I loved those fish,” the queen mother said.
Dannyn picked up the dice and shook them in her hand. “Mother, you don’t even pay attention to them.”
Queen Malory frowned. “Yes, but I know they’re there, all colorful and bright.”
“I’m sure you’ll get over the fact that they’re gone,” Marx muttered.
“What am I going to do with that space? It’s the central focal point of the windows in the foyer.”
“I’m sure you’ll think of something,” Marx said as he watched Dannyn take her turn.
“I don’t understand why you would do something like that,” King McKane huffed.
Marx glanced at Sydria. Was he going to tell his father that it had all been her idea?“I just wanted to do it.”
“That’s it?” King McKane snapped.
“Yeah, that’s it.” Marx looked at his father. “Someone told me that it’s cruel to keep wild sea animals in a box, and so I set them free.”
King McKane glanced quickly at Sydria. He was on to them. He had to be guessing thatsomeonewas her. She braced herself, trying to come up with a rebuttal.
“I suppose that’s your choice, then,” his father said, dropping the subject.
It seemed odd that the second the king found out that it was Sydria’s idea, he was no longer angry. But Queen Malory wasn’t over it quite yet.
“Why is it cruel?” his mother asked. “We were enjoying them.”
“Yeah, but do the fish enjoy it?” Dannyn asked.
The queen mother sighed. “I hate to have an empty aquarium sitting there. It’s such an eyesore.”
“Make it a solarium,” Dannyn suggested.
Marx took his turn with the dice. “Better yet, a planetarium.”
