"Yep. I capture them on canvas."

He had paintings of me? Now I was intrigued. "You paint?"

"Beautifully."

"Yeah. Right."

"I have it from a reliable source that I'm a brilliant artist." He grinned as though enjoying a private joke. "So, you'll come?"

"No. I have guards with me all the time, you know." That sounded like I wanted to meet him. "And I can't meet with someone whose name I don't know."

He shrugged. "You do a good job of ditching your guards all the time, and Green Eyes is a perfect name for me."

How did he know? "You listened to my thoughts?"

He rocked on his heels and made the bubble wiggle. "Nope. I've heard you use it."

"I've never mentioned that name to anyone." I wanted to cross my arms and lean against the bubble, but I was sure I'd fall into the water. I didn't believe I was controlling the water. He was. He had to be. If I got inside his head and listened to his thoughts, I could get my answers.

"You don't want to do that, Lil," he warned.

I pointed at him. "Ha. Gotcha. You just read my thoughts."

"No, I didn't. The gleam in your eyes said you were thinking naughty thoughts and I was the subject."

"You wish."

Grinning, he closed the gap between us. I didn't feel threatened or scared, but for some reason I stopped breathing, which was really stupid. I could feel his warmth. It was strangely comforting, yet exciting. He reached up and twirled a lock of my wet hair.

"Dreams aside, do you think about me at all, Lil?"

"All the time," I said.

He chuckled and lowered his head. I knew he was going to kiss me. I wanted him to. I'd thought of us making out and always dismissed my thoughts and feelings accompanying them as impractical. I was the princess and he was a minion.

"Not the way you're thinking," I lied. "You knew me before the battle with the Archangels and I don't remember anything. Will you tell me about how we met?" And why I keep dreaming about you, I wanted to add. Every time I looked into his eyes, heard his voice, even thought about him, I heard echoes of my lost memories. Like all I had to do was focus hard and I'd remember. Except I never did. Some days the feelings were strong, but other times, they were hardly there.

"I can't." He stepped away from me. "You should head back to the sh.o.r.e."

I didn't want to leave yet. "Why can't you tell me?"

"Because you are on a journey, and anything I say will interfere with it."

"What journey?"

He shook his head.

Getting frustrated, I asked, "Did we meet when I was on the road with the old man?"

He frowned. "Old man?"

"Master Kenta told me I was raised by an old man, a Cardinal Psi Guardian. Is that how we met?"

His eyes narrowed. "When did he tell you this?"

"Does it matter?"

"What else did he tell you?"

I gave him an overview of what I'd learned about my life with the Guardians. He didn't interrupt, but his eyes flashed. I didn't have to be an empath to know he was furious. For the first time since we had sunk to the bottom of the sea, I was scared. Not of him, but of what he might do.

"I, uh, think you're right. I should teleport back to the beach," I said.

"Don't believe everything that b.a.s.t.a.r.d tells you," he ground out.

"Then tell me the truth. Why don't you like him?"

He opened his mouth as though to speak, then clammed up and glared into s.p.a.ce.

"I don't get it," I said. "You know about my past but you won't tell me. You warn me about people but don't explain why. You encourage me to do things, then you disappear. You talk about my journey, and then you won't explain. What's going on?"

He glowered without responding.

"Seraph's mother said you always bring them supplies and then disappear. She said you did the same thing on Coronis Isle. Where do you go? Where do you live?"

"The lowest sublevel, where little princesses are too scared to visit. Have you ever visited the sublevels below the warehouses?"

His att.i.tude was p.i.s.sing me off. "Don't make this about me just because you don't want me to know your secrets."

He angled his head and smiled as though my anger amused him. "They're doing a psi sweep. Go. Teleport to the beach before they find you down here."

"No. Let them find us."

He wiggled his fingers in a goodbye. "See you at the library tonight. I'll bring the paintings."

I thought he was going to teleport. Instead, the bubble rose, leaving him behind. The water swirled around him. He still stood on the ocean floor, confirming what I'd suspected all along. He was the one manipulating the water.

I teleported to the sh.o.r.e and appeared beside the minion elders, startling them. Guards and minions appeared around me, their concerns impossible to escape.

"I'm okay," I rea.s.sured them. "Sorry for scaring everyone."

"Scare? Let's talk about full-blown panic," Katia scolded. "I was about to telepath Lady Nemea. I don't care if you can control water, air, land, and everything in between. You don't just disappear like that. We thought the Guardians-"

I hugged her. "I'm here and I'm fine." I stepped back, my eyes volleying between Katia and Lottius. "I got carried away. It was so beautiful down there." Except for the last few moments.

"We both tried to contact you, but it was as though you were gone," Katia said.

"I told you she blocked us," Lottius said. "I'm going home to change out of this. Telepath me with the plans." Then she was gone.

Callum handed me a dry towel just as my swimsuit transformed back to the sundress. A wet sundress. I wished it dry, but nothing happened. I definitely had no water powers.

In the next week, Father held a meeting with the minion elders. He visited them in the fields, their homes, and even went back to the beach. I wasn't included in the visits and felt a little left out. After all, if it hadn't been for me, he wouldn't have known about how the minions were being treated.

I tried to bring them up during dinner, but he wouldn't discuss what he was doing. I had a feeling he had put Sir Malax in charge of domestic affairs and was equally appalled by the minions' situations. Or maybe I just hated the idea that he might have known and not cared.

Bilal and the kitchen staff made special treats for me, more so than usual. Whenever I stopped by, Ka.s.set was chattier than usual. Solange, on the other hand, became cattier. Most of the time, I ignored her. Other times, I gave as good as I got.

Then Father dropped the bomb. "The minions need a representative to the High Council."

We having dinner and at first, I thought he was talking to Solange, until I caught her staring at me. "What?"

"Your precious minions need an advocate," she said.

I glanced at Father, then at Solange, my heart pounding. "Are you saying...?"

Father nodded. "Do you want to be their representative?"

Did I? "What do I do?"

"Listen to their whining and placate them," Solange said, grinning.

Father shot her a warning glance. "You attend meetings and represent their interests."

I grinned. "Then, yes. I will be their representative."

He nodded. "Good. The High Council will hold a meeting next week. Be ready."

I didn't start to panic until I left my father's dining room. I was a member of the High Council, a representative of the minions. What if I couldn't do it? What if I failed them?

Suddenly, I felt the familiar gentle brush of energy against mine. I welcomed the effect. I needed to be calm, confident, like there was nothing I couldn't conquer, and it did the trick.

Ruby and Callum were waiting upstairs. "Telepath Lottie and Katia and tell them to come here, Ruby."

She nodded. "Yes, Princess."

"Callum, find Jazreel, Ka.s.set's daughter, and bring her here, too."

I was in and out of the shower in ten minutes. Jazreel and Katia were in the entertainment room when I stepped out of my bedroom.

"What's going on?" Katia asked. "We were getting ready to go clubbing."

"Where's Lottius?"

"She'll be here. I left her a message. So"-she glanced at Jazreel, then me-"What's up?"

"I have to attend High Council next week to represent the minions. Argh, I hate that name as much as I hate P-zero. Anyway, I must have something to tell the council."

Katia squealed and hugged me. "That's huge. We're going to make sure they get everything they need. Salary, better homes, education..."

Lottius joined us while Katia was still listing possible reforms, and she wasn't alone. Skylar, Ravan, and Gus teleported behind her.

"Did you say the High Council?" Lottius asked. I quickly explained my new duties.

"I can't believe we missed the excitement at Rocky Beach and almost missed this," Skylar griped.

"We were just discussing the minions a few weeks ago and now this," Ravan piped in.

"Imagine what will be happening six months from now," Gus added.

"Something great, I hope," Katia said.

"Okay, guys," I said, drawing their attention. "I want to know everything about the minions if I must be ready for next week's meeting. I also plan to pay them a visit and talk to their elders."

Jazreel looked unsure of her place.

I indicated a chair. "Sit. I need to hear what you know, too. In fact, all of you"-I gave them a sweeping glance-"are officially members of my little initiative council."

"Can we get something to eat as we talk?" Ravan asked, and Skylar laughed. "I'm starving."

"You're always starving," Skylar teased him.

"Shall I tell the kitchen you need food and drinks, Princess?" Ruby asked from somewhere behind me.

I gave her the go-ahead and she disappeared. I faced my friends, who were all seated now. "First, we need a name for the minions."

The kitchen workers streamed in and out with drinks and food as we brainstormed. Finally, Jazreel said, "Most of them live on sublevel six. Can we call them Level-sixers?"

"Or Sublevel-sixers," Ravan suggested.

"Too mouthy," Skylar said.

"Subsixers," I said, and the name got everyone's approval.

The more I heard about the way the minions were being treated, the more I knew I was in way over my head and the more worried I became. I had to be prepared. The stakes were too high.

-13-.

The day of the Council meeting arrived too soon. It didn't matter that I'd conferenced with my friends nearly every day, visited the Subsixer elders and listened to everything they had to say, hung out with them at the beach, and talked to some at their places of work. I was a nervous wreck.

Lady Nemea waited for me in the closet with three different outfits. She'd finally listened to me and gone for darker colors. The problem was that I wanted to go for a different look. I'd learned a lot of things about my people in the last several weeks. One of them was, when you acted contrary to what everyone expected, people paid attention.