Shoal paced along the beach.
The queen had requested her. Why? It seemed odd that she would. Neither of her parents had any important jobs. Shoal hadn't even thought the queen knew she existed.
The sun beat down on her scales uncomfortably and she wished she could leave then. But if it was actually the queen, and not some of her school friends playing a prank on her, Shoal thought she should stay put.
There were a few splashes behind her and she whirled around. A few other SeaWing dragonets were pulling themselves out of the water, age ranging from two to five.
A green SeaWing dragonet walked over to her. Shoal recognized him as Algae from her class.
"Shoal, right?" he said.
"You know perfectly well what my name is," she replied back tersely. She was fairly sure that he had a crush on her. But it seemed a rather mean comment for an assumption. Shoal felt consented to apologize. "Sorry," she said, blowing deeply out her snout. "I'm just a little nervous, that's all."
Algae nodded."I am too," he said. "Were you summoned here as well?"
Shoal nodded, glancing around at all the dragonets. Now she recognized a few more from her class. But there were steadily more gathering on the beach. Dragonets that she didn't know.
There were more larger splashes and Shoal turned and saw Queen Coral, and Princess Anemone, flanked by servants who were holding, strangely enough, coconuts. The dragonets closest to the water yelped in fear and scrambled away down the beach.
Queen Coral seemed as majestic as always, though Shoal wasn't a very good judge. She had only seen her once or twice.
Queen Coral's tail swept through the sand, leaving deep furrows.
"Everyone get in a line," Anemone ordered uninterestedly.
Shoal ran and joined the line that had been made, accidentally stepping on Algae's talon.
"Sorry!" she whispered hurriedly.
Then she sat down and curled her tail around her talons, struggling not to look at everyone else to see what they were doing.
"Good," Anemone said. She turned to the servants. "Give them each a coconut."
After a few murmured "Yes, Your Majesty,"s, they went out and handed a coconut to each dragonet, much to each dragonets' curiosity.
"Pick up your coconut," Anemone said lazily.
Shoal hesitated, staring at it quizzically. What was this for?
"For those of you who haven't guessed by now," Anemone said. "We are going to be conducting the Talons of Power test."
Shoal gasped and was glad to hear that she was not the only one.
Anemone smirked slightly. "Yes. And if any of you do turn out to be an animus," she gave a resigned sigh and sent a slight glare to Queen Coral, "I will be your mentor." She turned her attention back to the dragonets. "Now, enchant your coconut to float into the air and then land back in your talons."
There was a silence.
Finally someone spoke. It was Algae.
Of course it was Algae, Shoal thought bitterly. He was always the first to say anything. He Had hardly any manners. But then she realized that he wasn't talking to anyone. He was talking to his coconut.
"Coconut," he said boldly. "I enchant you to fly up into the air and then land back in my talons."
Nothing happened. When Shoal glanced around, she saw that everyone else was watching intently.
Turning her attention back to Algae, she saw that he looked slightly put out. Shoal didn't know why. She didn't want a power that took a bit of your soul whenever you used it. It even sounded creepy; animus.
Anemone smirked and sent a look to Queen Coral that looked an awful lot like an "I told you so."
Queen Coral sent a look back that Shoal couldn't quite decipher, and made a gesture with her wing that she thought portrayed "Wait."
Shoal sighed, turning back to her coconut and deciding to get it over with. Most of the other dragonets had already gone, and still nothing had happened.
"Coconut," she said. "I enchant you to fly up into the air and then land back in my talons."
To her horror, her coconut slowly lifted out of her talons. It hovered in the air for a moment, then slowly landed back in her talons.
It seemed as though everything had frozen. Nobody on the beach moved. The only sound Shoal could hear was the pounding of her heart and the small waves lapping at the sandy shore.
Finally everyone rushed over and Shoal flinched away. Although, it wasn't actually everyone. Only all the dragonets from her class, which was only about half a dozen dragonets.
"Why didn't you tell me?" she heard Algae exclaimed, though she didn't see him in the crowd of blue and green dragonets.
Shoal opened her mouth to reply, blinking furiously. But she couldn't make herself say anything. She was just staring at her coconut in horror.
"Give the dragonet some space, sheesh."
Shoal looked up to see Anemone working her way through the crowd of dragonets.
If Shoal looked past Anemone, she could see Queen Coral surveying everything calmly.
Anemone lowered herself to be eye level with Shoal. "You okay?" she asked softly.
Shoal went to answer but she didn't trust herself to speak. Instead she just shook her head.
Anemone turned to Queen Coral. "Mother, could I talk to the dragonet?" she asked. "Alone," she added, giving the dragons around them furious stares.
Queen Coral nodded and swept off the beach, beckoning with her wings to the servants.
Shoal watched everyone leave and she noticed Algae did so rather reluctantly. He gave her one last glance before he dove into the water.
Shoal looked up at Anemone, but she was still staring firmly at the water.
"Um, Princess Anemone?" she said quietly, touching her talon lightly.
But Anemone stubbornly kept her eyes on the water.
Shoal turned her eyes to her coconut, staring at it. She didn't think she'd ever be able to eat coconut again. Shoal threw it away from her, where it rolled to a slow stop on the sand a bit away.
"Do they still teach about the massacre?" Anemone asked suddenly, making Shoal jump.
She blinked at Anemone, trying to interpret what she had said. "Yes," she said slowly.
Anemone gave a nod of approval. "I hadn't heard the story when I got my magic and I was terrified when I heard for the first time. It's probably better that you heard it in advance."
Shoal almost wanted to disagree. "Why me?" she asked softly instead.
Anemone hesitated, looking lost.
"Why did the magic choose me, over all the others who wanted it so badly?"
Anemone gave a small smile. "Animus magic is not something that is gifted. It's genetic."
Shoal blinked, startled. "So my parents could be animuses?" she asked. "A – animi?"
Anemone shook her head, smiling an infinitesimal amount. "They had animus blood in them but they were tested for it when they were probably about your age. And where do your parents work?" she asked randomly.
"K – kitchens," she answered, startled into answering.
Anemone nodded. "So you're used to blending into the background?"
"I – I don't know. I think so," Shoal said.
"Listen, that will change from this moment forward." Anemone grabbed Shoal's shoulders. "You will be the center of attention. But they won't like you for who you actually are. They'll be super nice and ask for magic favors later. Believe me, I know."
Shoal stopped herself from taking a step back in fear. But even if she had wanted to, she couldn't have; not with the sharp grip Anemone had on her.
"And before you do any sort of spell, think through possible outcomes. I did something I can never forgive myself for. Please don't make the same mistake I did."
Shoal was scared. Anemone always looked so regal on her throne. Now she looked haunted.
Anemone tore her eyes away. "I'm going to give you an option that I never had. Leave."
Shoal took a step back. "L – leave?" she stuttered.
Anemone nodded. "Go somewhere else and start over where no one knows you. I can tell my mother that you ran away. And you could go to Ice Kingdom or something." Then she paused. "No, not the Ice Kingdom. Too cold," she mused. Then she snapped her head back up. "You could go to Jade Mountain Academy!" she said. "I went there when I was a dragonet and it was great!"
"B – but what about my family?" Shoal asked, her voice shaking. "I can just leave them!"
"They'll be scared of you. And even they won't see you for who you really are." Anemone shook her head sadly. "So what about it? Do you want to go to Jade Mountain?" Her eyes were glimmering.
Shoal's mind was whirling. She couldn't just leave. But Anemone was a princess. She couldn't say no to the princess. Her parents could be put in prison. She didn't want to get them put in prison on her account.
"I – I – I don't know!" Shoal cried, and she dove into the water with Anemone calling her name from the beach.