Page 65 of Retrograde

16

Sagan

We were shown the room and handed menus as we sat down, ourthreeservers clearly taking the chance just to get to meet me. I was polite but also glad when my guards moved them along.

One acted like she might sit down and join us for the love of the gods.

I tried to hide my annoyance when I opened the menu and saw their main special, but I must not have curbed it… Which wasoddbecause the media said I was a statue. Completely emotionless was what most said even.

So how had Zev busted me so easily?

“What’s wrong?” he worried.

“Nothing.” I swallowed a sigh when he was tense and clearly wouldn’t let it go. “I hate they are crass and call them ‘mermaid tails.’ They’re a certain species of lobsters, not another species of people.”

“It’s just for fun,” he chuckled, giving a half shrug. “It’s not that deep.”

I gave a noncommittal grunt and kept looking while deciding to make my point how I normally did with people who irked me. I talked about a bit of this and that, mostly my schooling, andthen rounded to how much fun it was to ride a dragon bike when I was abroad.

“Ihatethat they call it that,” he cut in, annoyance thick around him. “An electric scooterisn’tthe same asflyinglike a powerful and large dragon. It’s ridiculous and demeaning.”

I set down my menu and folded my hands in front of me with a smirk. “It’s just for fun. It’s not that deep.”

It took him a few moments longer than it should have, but then understanding lit up his face. He clearly didn’t like being called out, but then slowly his expression seemed to melt into understanding.

“Thank you,” he said quietly after a few more moments. “I’ve never had it framed like that for me.” He let out a slow breath. “Really, thank you for taking the time to make me see I was being—thanks.”

“You’re welcome.” I nodded when he seemed hesitant. “I learned that perspective studying abroad. A lot of dragons never leave Thovudin because they think only Thovudin matters. It doesn’t. There’s a whole world out there and it seriously upsets the mermaids just as it does us. And they don’teattheir scooters.”

I felt better when he winced.

Yeah, it was crass.

Beyond crass, but there wasn’t anything I could… Well, I could now. I’d not had the power before to do anything about it. Now I was the boss.

I figured out what I wanted and we put in our orders before I decided to show Zev exactly how upsetting it was to others. I apologized to him and made a call, leaving it on speaker.

“I’mshockedyou have time to talk to little ol’ me with all your piles of drama because like holy shit, Sagan,” Princess Orchid, the second princess of the mermaid royal family, greeted.

“Yes, it’s been fun. Sorry you’re on speaker, and I would have warned you, but you never answer like that.”

“I’ve had a few glasses of wine and just got done reading through all the texts with my younger sister—are you okay?” she worried, her voice truly concerned.

“I didn’t see all of them, but—I’m fine. We’re members of the royal family and always fine.”

“Sure, we are,” she drawled. “What can I do for you then? You always call with purpose.”

“You especially love your time being wasted,” I teased, glad when she snorted. “I’m on a date with one of my prospective mating candidates and—”

“And hopefully this one doesn’t drug you?” she seethed. “The fact it wasn’t called off after that is despicable. No, it wasalwaysdespicable they forcedseventeen meninto your home and declared you will mateseveralof them like—don’t get me started. I will rant all night.”

“I know, and your support in the media has honestly meant a lot,” I said genuinely. “Thank you for saying so much publicly. I know your sister likes to keep a lower profile than that.”

She sighed. Heavily. “I understand she will be queen one day, but she isn’t yet and she’s not my mother—whatever. We have to speak up when it’s not right even if someone smacks us later. You showed me that.”

I had. I’d spoken up against her and other mermaids being unfairly graded because of a professor’s bias and it had gotten me in “trouble.” Mostly with my parents, but I’d never regretted it.

Having power meant using it to help… And not just dragons.