Author's note: I don't have much to say except this: I hope you will like this chapter! And I would like to thank all the readers who submitted reviews for my stories this far, particularly Atlandim and AuroraandRosalieWannabe. This chapter is yours.

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"Well, what are we going to do, gentlemen?"

The question rose in the air quite abruptly. The members of the Board were aboard the Descartes again. The ship was being guarded by at least twenty warriors who seemed determined to carry out to the letter the orders they had been given by Milo. The members of the Board had agreed to attend a special meeting so they could talk about the recent events and decide what to do next. Mr. Harcourt had not uttered a single word since Milo had tossed him that silvery coin, but the muscles of his faces contracted themselves rapidly under the pressure of the rage that was fogging his mind. He was sitting in an egg-shaped leather armchair, his little eyes peering ferociously through his tiny boxy glasses.

"Stop acting like that, Fenton! One could almost see steam escaping your ears!" one of his colleagues interjected.

"So what?!? WE HAVE BEEN HUMILIATED BY THATCH!!! I THINK I HAVE EVERY RIGHT TO SULK!!!"

"Sulking will not solve our problem, I'm afraid."

Harcourt only groaned in response.

"It seems our chief member is not in the mood for thinking logically, gentlemen."

"Of course I am!" Harcourt snapped.

"Then what are we going to do? Should we obey Thatch and make a public apology?"

"We have no other choice, if we do not want to become the laughing stock of Washington and possibly of all the United States."

"And do we also have to name the future Atlantean section of the Smithsonian Institute after Thaddeus's name?"

"Same answer, for the same reason. The bloody boy has trapped us!"

Another member of the Board pointed to the coin that Mr. Harcourt was clenching into his fist.

"I know you can't bear it, Fenton, but you've got to admit: the kid definitely paid us back in our own coin!"

"Ho ho ho. Very funny indeed." The chief member replied sarcastically.

"You should try to laugh of it. There's nothing we can do against Thatch this time. One might as well look for a needle in a haystack. What's more, there's a bright side for us too: the boy said he would provide us with information about Atlantis, which is of the utmost importance if we are to open that new section in the Institute."

"There is maybe one thing we can do to hurt Thatch." Another voice echoed.

A bewildered silence followed while all men turned to stare at their colleague who had spoken. Rick Chesley was the oldest member of the Board.

"There is?" Harcourt asked, hope flickering through his voice.

".We cannot harm Thatch ourselves."

"But you just said-

"I know what I have just said, Fenton! Gentlemen, I'm going to tell you a little story and I want you to listen very carefully. I have an elderly friend who used to be a hunter when time was still on his side. One day when he was going out in a bit of a hurry, he accidentally picked up his umbrella instead of his gun. When he got to the creek, he saw a rabbit sitting beside the stream. He raised his umbrella and went, 'bang, bang' and the rabbit fell dead. What do you think of that, Fenton?"

"I'd say somebody else killed that rabbit."

"My point exactly."

"I beg your pardon?"

"If we cannot harm Thatch ourselves, let's find someone else who can."

"And I suppose you have your own idea about who the 'someone else' is?"

Rick Chesley merely let an enigmatic smile cross his face.

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The sun was already high in the sky when Milo, Kida and Magoreshehb went on Atlantis's docks to find Harcourt and his followers. The King of Atlantis told his warriors to go home and get some rest, an order they were quite relieved and happy to obey. This time, Kida wore her royal dress and crown. She knew they gave her an extra aura of authority and intended to use it if necessary. The three of them slowly went on board of the Descartes and it was not long before all Milo's former employers went on the fore deck to meet them, which surprised him a little. And even more surprising was the fact that Rick Chesley took a step forward, thus leaving Harcourt remain in his shadow, and bowed slightly to the royal couple.

"Good morning, your highnesses. It is an honour to meet you again."

"Good morning, Mr. Chesley." Milo replied calmly.

Kida, however, frowned her eyebrows in suspicion. There was not a single piece of honesty in that man's attitude; she could feel it.

"Good morning" she greeted coldly.

"Your highnesses, let me please get this straight for you: we will not bother you any longer. Please accept our most sincere apologies. We have behaved utterly wrong and beg the three of you to forgive us for the insults we have uttered against you and your people. Once we come back to Washington, we will do as you demanded and apologize publicly to clear Thaddeus Thatch's name once and for all. We do hope, though, that you will meet your commitments too, your majesty, by granting us information about your civilization in return."

"You have my word." Milo replied.

Suddenly Kida squeezed his hand and leaned close to whisper in her husband's ear.

"Milo, what was that saying you taught me? The one dealing with feeling trouble when everything appears to be right."

"Uh… 'I smell a rat'?"

"Teeg, that one. This is precisely how I feel now about that man. Something's not right. He is too benevolent. It is too easy."

Milo seemed to consider this for a moment before he spoke again.

"Mr. Chesley, I am going to provide you with sufficient Atlantean knowledge so you can set up that new section of the Smithsonian Institute. This is satisfactory, is it not?"

"It is, your highness. Once the Atlantean section will be ready, we will make sure to invite you and your wife so you can inaugurate it."

"Very well. But do not forget this: I don't trust you."

"And neither do I." Kida added, giving Rick Chesley a dead-serious glare.

Fenton Q. Harcourt let out an exasperated sigh behind Chesley's back, and the Queen immediately grabbed him by the collar of his shirt. She lowered herself so that her eyes were levelling his.

"If I am to find out anything that I normally shouldn't, I'll make sure to make you pay for it." She hissed the words through her teeth, making sure the man would feel their weight completely.

"That a promise?" Harcourt snarled.

Seconds lasted for an eternity before Kida spoke again.

"It's a guarantee."

A few days later, the Descartes left Atlantis's shores and rolled on the sea, heading for America. After the departure of the members of the Board, Atlantis seemed to breathe normally again. The king and queen themselves watched the ship disappear into the horizon from the top of the statue they had climbed so often. Once the ship was nothing more than a fading point, Milo –who had wrapped his arm around Kida's waist- hummed a small laugh.

"What is it?" his wife immediately inquired.

"Nothing."

Kida rolled her eyes and pulled back from his embrace to face him. He sighed in defeat and smiled.

"This goes back to our first underwater swim."

"Yes?"

"When you emerged from the water and was attacked by Rourke's men, you nearly killed one of them with your knife. I still don't understand where you were able to hide it, by the way."

Kida giggled.

"Anyway, it means that when you gave me that first tour of Atlantis, you had that knife close to hand all along."

"So what?"

"I've always wondered… Did you actually think I was potentially dangerous? I mean, when you snuck behind my back that day, you weren't wearing your armour anymore, so you deliberately chose to keep your knife with you. Were you planning to use it against me?

Kida's eyes widened. And suddenly, she leaped into action. She firmly grabbed his toga and threw her leg around Milo's so that he immediately lost his balance and fell onto the head of the statue, gasping in shock. While the both of them were falling, Kida's left hand cradled her husband's neck to protect it and her right hand made its way towards her hidden knife. The second she landed on top of him, she put the blade against Milo's throat with a lightning speed. The king found himself in the very same position that soldier had once been in. Breathing heavily, he looked up into Kida's eyes which were sparkling with satisfaction.

"You mean like this?"

"Uh…sort of."

"I did not think you were dangerous, Milo. If I had thought you were, I would have let you die in that cave. What's more, and don't be offended, I would have not needed my knife to knock you out at the time, considering the physique you had then."

Milo chuckled, slightly embarrassed, both by the memory and the current position he was laying in. The blade felt cold against his Adam apple.

"So you never planned on using your knife against me?"

"Kwahm. I knew I had a much more powerful weapon I could use against you."

"What?!? You did plan on threatening me, then?"

"Oh, yes."

"And what so 'much more powerful weapon' did you intend to use?"

Kida smiled seductively, obviously enjoying the moment.

"This one", she whispered warmly before she lowered her knife and bent down to kiss him.