The Lost Prince (15 page)

“I believe so, my lord.” Verrick stepped aside to reveal Dean. “Lord Regent Kray, it is my honor to present Dean Seaborne. The lost prince of Zenhala and heir to the golden throne.”

Dean took a deep breath as Kray looked him up and down. It was quite a moment for Dean. His royal debut. The regent didn’t seem convinced. Perhaps his advisor, Lord Ralian, had already succeeded in planting a seed of doubt in his mind. Or perhaps it was something more. Namely, a desire for Dean not to be the rightful heir to the throne he had just been sitting on so comfortably.

Ronan nudged Dean from behind, silently imploring him to say something. Dean realized he was falling down on the job of “doing all the talking” and bowed his head. “It’s an honor to meet you, Lord Regent. Captain Verrick tells me that in my absence, you have ruled my kingdom with honor. I’m in your debt.”

Kray rubbed his beard. “Your kingdom, is it? This is the house of Aquos, Dean Seaborne. How did you come by that name, if you don’t mind my asking?”

“How does anyone come by a name, sir? It was given to me. Where I come from, Seaborne is the surname that all children of unknown origins get saddled with.”

“Where you come from,” Lord Kray repeated suspiciously.

“He never knew his family,” Verrick said. “He is the correct age.”

“And the mark?” Ralian asked. “Does he bear the mark?”

Dean rolled up his sleeve to reveal the brand on his left arm. Three wave crests rising in a circle. It was the same sigil that adorned countless banners hanging throughout the room. Kray took Dean by the hand and looked over the mark.

“So it would appear,” Kray said. He dropped Dean’s hand. It was not exactly a ringing endorsement of his claim to the throne. The regent turned his attention to Ronan, Rook, and Sisto. “Who’s this you have with you?”

“These are my friends,” Dean lied. “I wouldn’t go anywhere without them.”

“I see. Did you convince them that you’re a prince too, or only Captain Verrick?”

“Actually, Captain Verrick convinced me. I never believed in this place until I met him. If you asked me a week ago, I would have told you Zenhala was a myth.”

“And now here you are. An uncanny turn of events, wouldn’t you say?”

“Almost impossible to believe,” Ralian agreed.

“Is there a problem?” Dean asked.

“That depends,” Kray replied. He looked as if he could hardly believe it himself. “I’m curious. What did you think was going to
happen here today? Did you think that I would just step aside? Offer you my place on the throne? Place the crown upon your head as you came in the door?”

Dean straightened his back and looked the regent square in the eye. “If you want the truth, I didn’t know what was going to happen today, Lord Kray. I didn’t come here with any expectations. The only thing I knew for sure was that it couldn’t be worse than staying where I was.”

The regent returned Dean’s steely gaze. “Is that so?”

“It is, indeed.”

Kray lifted Dean’s arm by the wrist and examined his brand once again. “Time will tell.” He let go of Dean’s wrist and opened his arms. “Welcome to Zenhala, Dean Seaborne, for I shall call you by that name until your royal lineage is proven. You and your friends will stay here as my guests until that is done. I hope you do not find my manner inhospitable, but my minister of defense is correct. We cannot rush to judgment in a matter such as this. In one week’s time, the great storm will return and seal us all on this island for another year. Once that happens, we will test the veracity of your claim to the throne, and prove it beyond any shadow of a doubt. Until then, the lost prince remains lost in my eyes. Unless you think you can convince me otherwise.”

“No, sir. Your words are the soul of wisdom.” Dean smiled broadly. He tried to take the regent’s wariness about him in stride, but it was just for show. Underneath it all, his mind was spinning
like a whirlpool. “Forgive me, Lord Kray, but I do have one question. Why wait until we’re all trapped here on the island? Not that one could ever feel
trapped
in such a place as this, of course …” He chuckled with nervous laughter. “I’m just curious.… Why wait for the storm?”

“Tradition,” said Kray with a smile. “I expect you saw the castle’s many fountains and fish tanks on your way in?”

Dean nodded. “I did. They seemed to be lacking water.”

“Quite lacking, but only for now. The great storm drives seawater through the tunnels below this castle, filling the aquariums and powering our fountains in a grand display. When the water flows, we will cut into the mark on your arm and let a single drop of your blood fall into the palace fountainhead. If you’re truly born of the Royal House of Aquos, the ink that stains your skin will have been taken from the flowers of our golden trees. It will also be potent enough to turn all the waters of the Aqualine Palace a rich, brilliant blue.”

Dean’s eyebrows went up as high as they could go. “To prove my blue blood … Won’t that be a sight?” He turned back to look at Ronan and Rook. They seemed to be masking the same worried thoughts beneath their smiles.

“That ceremony has preceded every coronation on this island for hundreds of years. It’s a sight that everyone here, including my daughter, has longed to see for quite some time,” Kray said. A side door opened and an entourage of young maidens filed in. “Aha.
Here she comes now. I trust that Verrick has already told you that when the prince comes into his crown, my daughter, Waverly, has been promised as his queen?”

Dean started to sweat as the girls entered the room. “He did, Lord Kray. And I’m eager to meet her, but—”

“Lord Kray,” Ralian interrupted. “Again, I must advise you to follow a conservative path in this matter.”

Verrick cleared his throat. “I wasn’t aware your duties as minister of defense extended to matrimonial affairs, Lord Ralian.”

Ralian scowled at Verrick. “They do when the groom has his eyes on the golden throne.”

“Believe it or not, I’m inclined to agree with Lord Ralian,” Dean interjected.

“What?” Verrick asked.

Dean put up his hands. “I just want to put my best foot forward. Don’t you all think it would be better to introduce us after I’ve had a chance to prove that I’m the prince? It’s not that I don’t want to meet your daughter, Lord Kray. I do. I just don’t want to meet her if I can’t tell her who I really … am.…”

Dean’s words trailed off as Waverly made her entrance. It was no use trying to avoid the encounter now that she was in the room, and the point was moot anyway, as Dean realized he had already met the regent’s daughter. In a manner of speaking. Waverly Kray was the surf-riding girl that Dean had locked eyes with on his way into port. The same one who had nearly crashed into a fishing boat.

CHAPTER
14

Y
ou!” Dean said as Waverly stepped to her father’s side.

The regent’s eyebrows knotted up with confusion. His daughter’s eyes widened in alarm. “I’m sorry, do you two know each other?” asked Lord Ralian.

Waverly Kray gasped. “Lord Ralian! Of course not. How could we?”

“We don’t,” Dean blurted, anxious to avoid the appearance of impropriety. “I don’t
know
her. I simply noticed her surfing when I arrived this morning. That’s all.”

“Waverly,” scolded Lord Kray. “Is this true?”

Waverly flushed. “Certainly not, Father! I’ve been in the palace all morning.”

“But—” Dean began. He halted his speech when he saw the look in Waverly’s eyes. There was a message there. It was subtle, but she was shaking him off. Asking him to drop it. “Forgive me,” Dean said, trying to recover. “The fault is mine, I … was mistaken. But I’m not mistaken when I say that you, my lady, are clearly Zenhala’s greatest treasure.”

The regent’s expression relaxed, and Waverly looked away, smiling. Her cheeks took on a rosy tint. “Thank you, Your Grace. I am honored to meet you.”

Dean bowed. “The honor is mine.” And so it was, for Dean knew he was no prince. Waverly Kray, on the other hand, was a true lady. She carried herself with dignity, poise, and effortless beauty. Her hair was brown like her father’s, but it was longer and had been turned a shade lighter by the sun. Her skin had been touched by those same rays and turned a rich, golden bronze. Waverly’s perfect tan enhanced all her lovely features, her green eyes most of all. They sparkled like emerald starbursts washed up on the shore. Dean was caught off guard by the way they hypnotized him, but there was more to Waverly than just her pretty face. No one would have ever guessed, seeing her standing in the throne room, dressed in an elegant gown, that she had been cutting across the waves on a surfboard less than an hour ago. Apparently, no one knew about it except the two of them.

The regent kissed his daughter on the cheek and sat back down on the throne. “I’m pleased you could find the time to join us, my dear.”

“I’m sorry, Father. I had to make myself presentable for the prince.” Waverly curtsied before Dean. “My apologies for making you wait.”

Lord Ralian flapped his cape loudly. “We actually don’t know if he’s the prince yet, Lady Kray. You don’t have to curtsy before him, nor should you address him as Your Grace.”

“Oh? What shall I call him, then?”

“Dean Seaborne. That’s all we know for sure. Captain Verrick’s the one who believes him to be the prince.”

“Before the week is out, you’ll believe it too,” said Verrick.

“We live in hope,” said the regent. “Dean Seaborne, I present to you my daughter, the lady Kray. If you truly are who you claim to be, then the two of you were betrothed long ago in an agreement between myself and your late father. Every prince must one day grow to be a king, and every king must have his queen.”

Ralian sidled up to Kray’s ear. “I beg your pardon, my lord, but the matter is not so simple as that.”

“What is it
now
?” Verrick asked.

Ralian sighed impatiently. “Have you been at sea so long, Captain Verrick, that you’ve forgotten about the trials?”

A sudden realization took the wind out of Verrick’s sails. Dean worried what that meant for him. “What trials?” he asked.

Ralian put on a condescending grin. “Ah, yes. You know nothing about our customs. And yet you’ve come here to rule us. What a wonderful contradiction you are.” Ralian shook his head. “Fear not, I shall educate you. Here in Zenhala, we have three rites of passage—shall we say trials of manhood?—that are something of a tradition. Every highborn son who thinks himself worthy must pass at least one trial to inherit his father’s titles. Had you grown up on the island, you would have gone through them all by now, but your situation being what it is, they still need to be completed.”

“All three?” Waverly asked.

“That is the custom for the prince,” Ralian insisted.

Verrick made his case to the regent. “Lord Kray, no. You must intervene. It would be grossly irresponsible to risk harming the prince now that he has finally been returned to us.”

“Harming the prince?” Dean cut in. “What do you mean? Harming me how? What are these trials?”

Ralian eyed Dean with contempt. “Your courage must be tested by the snapdragon. Your seamanship must be proven in a race down the Bad Falls. The strength of your mind must be measured in the labyrinth below this castle.” He huffed and turned to the regent. “If he is the prince, it would be grossly irresponsible for us not to preserve the honored traditions of this island. He’s not prepared to take the throne as he is. He doesn’t even know his own culture. Lord Kray, your daughter deserves to be courted by a
true lord of Zenhala. The people of this kingdom deserve a prince who is worthy of the throne, do they not?”

“But the danger involved …” Verrick said. “Lives are spent in preparation of each trial. He’s had no training. None!”

Ralian folded his arms. “I’m sorry. On this point, there can be no argument.”

Dean didn’t like what he was hearing. Nothing about these trials sounded good. The one with the snapdragon was particularly worrisome. Dean didn’t know what that was, and he had no interest in finding out. All eyes turned to the regent as they waited for him to decide the matter. Lord Kray stroked his beard, deep in thought. After a few moments, he gave a heavy sigh and looked at Verrick with apologetic eyes. “I’m afraid Lord Ralian is correct. I am no happier about this than you are, Captain. It’s not a circumstance any one of us would wish for, but that’s been true of this affair since it first began thirteen years ago. I swore to protect this throne, and that includes making certain that only those who are worthy sit upon it. The trials must go forward.”

Verrick looked at the floor and gave a resigned nod.

“However, given Dean’s lack of readiness—a situation he finds himself in through no fault of his own—we will take measures to safeguard his life. Lord Ralian. Your sons have proven themselves champions in each trial, have they not?”

Ralian puffed up his chest. “All three boys, my lord. We accept nothing less in my family.”

“Good. We will proceed with your sons serving as Seaborne’s seconds to help him complete each test.”