Of Poseidon

Rayna.
    Paca bows low, a sign of deep respect for Galen. It takes all he has not to roll his eyes. “Of course, young prince. Please follow me.” She leads them a considerable distance from the minefield, which surprises Galen.
    They pass all sorts of fish she could have demonstrated the Gift on. After each one they pass, Rayna’s expression gets smugger and smugger, if that’s even possible.
    “What’s gotten into you?” Galen whispers for her ears only.
    She winks at him, of all things. “You’ll see,” she mouths back.
    They swim far enough to reach the shelf that leads to shallow water. This all seems like a lot of trouble for just a tiny demonstration, but Galen goes along with it because it doesn’t seem fair that Grom should frown on the day of his mating ceremony.
    “Paca, maybe we could stop here for the demonstration. We’ll need to get back soon; you don’t want to keep everyone waiting for the ceremony,” Galen says.
    “We’re almost there,” she calls over her shoulder. Galen looks at Rayna, but she’s not saying anything. She’s just smiling like she really has misplaced her sanity.
    When they pass the shelf into shallow water, she stops. Finally. “Just a moment,” she says. “I’m going to call them.”
    She shoots up to the surface.
    Galen looks at Jagen. “Call who?”
    Jagen smiles. “The dolphins, young prince.”
    Rayna still won’t make eye contact with Galen, so he’s forced to wait—impatiently—for Paca to return with her pod. After a few minutes, she comes back, three dolphins flanking her.
    “I can make them jump out of the water, swim in circles, or swim at each other,” she says to Galen. “Take your pick.”
    What? He throws an incredulous glare at Rayna, who returns a rare, humongous smile full of teeth.
    “Grom likes to see them swim in circles, my dear,” Jagen says. “Why don’t you make them do that? Our young prince obviously can’t make up his mind.”
    Paca turns to her dolphin friends and says, “Circles!” Then she draws a huge circle with her hands, over and over. The dolphins comply.
    Galen gasps. Oh, no. Hand signals. She’s using hand signals like the trainers at the Gulfarium. Rayna must have recognized it.
    Jagen apparently mistakes Galen’s gasp for awe. “It’s quite astonishing, isn’t it, my prince?” he says with a knowing smile.
    “Very,” he chokes out. He clears his throat. “Paca, what about these flounder here on the bottom? What can you make them do?”
    Paca sulks. “I thought you wanted to see the dolphins.”
    “You’ve done well with them. Very well. But I’d like to see the flounders do something funny. Can you make them swim in circles, too?”
    “My prince, that’s not how the Gift of Poseidon works,” Jagen cuts in. “It’s limited to certain—”
    “Liar!” Rayna yells, startling everyone. The dolphins get skittish and dart.
    “Rayna,” Grom says.
    “Ow,” she wails. “You’re hurting me.”
    Galen sighs, his heart sinking. “Let her go, Grom. She’s telling the truth. Paca doesn’t have the Gift of Poseidon.” Grom releases her and scowls at his brother. Rayna swims to the sanctity of Galen’s back.
    “Don’t tell me she’s talked you into her little game,” Grom tells him.
    “This is outrageous!” Jagen bellows. “Grom, you need to get your siblings under control before I do it myself.”
    Galen rolls his eyes. Jagen is over 150 years old. If he wants to tussle with Galen, he’s more than welcome to come closer. “Grom, the Gift of Poseidon isn’t limited to a few species of fish. The Gift was meant to feed all of us. What about the Cave of Memories? There are no dolphins that deep. How would she feed the Archives if she needed to?”
    Grom crosses his arms, his face like stone. “I think you need to stick to what you know best, little brother. The humans. And take your sister with you. I can’t look at her.”
    “What?” Galen says, swimming closer to his brother. “You’re telling me to leave?”
    “You’ve both caused enough hard feelings today. We’ll have a long talk about it after the ceremony.”
    “That’s what we’re trying to tell you!” Rayna says. “There shouldn’t be a mating ceremony.”
    “Rayna,” Galen says gently. “I’ll handle this. Please.”
    “No, you won’t, Galen,” Grom says. “You’ve insulted my future queen— your future queen—all over your own narrow-minded opinion.”
    “My opinion?” Galen says,