Drowning Kingdom

Written by: Lillie

Author's Note: Thanks go out to Rachel and Ria for providing me with the inspiration from Twelfth Kingdom!

Gasping, Althea lifted her head out of the water and looked at her father's watch. Two minutes and forty-five seconds. It simply wasn't good enough! Releasing a sound of frustration, she slid to the floor and lay weakly on her side. Her shoulders shook with each ragged breath and it was a long time before she breathed easier. When it had returned to normal, Althea continued to lie and look at the clockwork watch she held, too tired to move.

The watch was an heirloom from her father, a relic of better days when the island had still been above the ocean surface. It was one of those old, useless antiques almost every family had. Althea rarely used it in order to preserve it as long as possible, but even so, the watch's days were limited in these damp conditions. As were the kingdom's days if Althea did not find a solution to their problems. Her grip around the watch tightened at the thought.

No one seemed to realise how frightened Althea really was. She had always been good at hiding her feelings. Other people only knew that their young ruler was worried. Althea said very little and spent most of her time running the kingdom and searching for solutions. She was often cocooned inside a room with books piled around her, studying in hopes of becoming a better healer. Sometimes Althea felt that tending to the sick and dying was all she could really do. Everything else - the lack of sunlight in the underground caves, the poor diet and ill health of her subjects, the island sinking further and further beneath the ocean every day - seemed to be beyond her power. All the same, Althea carried the kingdom's burdens on her young shoulders.

What was going to happen to the kingdom in the future? This question shadowed her every waking moment and terrible nightmares haunted her sleep, but still Althea had no answer. Her grandfather had had no answer, her mother had had no answer and she had no answer. Althea had had no answer as a fifteen-year-old princess and tomorrow, when she would be crowned queen, she would still have no answer.

'Lady Althea?' a quavering voice echoed through the cave. Althea sighed and pushed herself up from the cold stone floor. The maid, Yoanne, was evidently looking for her. Yoanne called again. 'Lady Althea?'

'I am in my room, Yoanne. Please wait a while!' Althea rubbed her wet hair vigorously and put the watch away. She decided to leave the water in the basin and use it later. It wasn't too dirty and she couldn't bear to waste anything. One day there would be no more water... She sighed again before lifting the curtain that hung in her doorway.

Yoanne was in the main entrance cave adjoining Althea's room with the head of the guards beside her, clearly distraught. The girl stood a little straighter as she approached them. He must have important news. She fretted silently about what new calamity might have befallen them. The guard bowed and the maid curtsied.

'Forgive me, my Lady,' the guard began immediately, without waiting for permission to speak. 'The divers are back from the surface and one is in need of your help.' Althea's eyes widened in horror. He stopped, looking helplessly at her. Without wasting a moment longer, she walked straight out of her abode with Yoanne and the guard at her heels. Guilt overwhelmed her. To think that she had dried her hair when someone might be dying!

'Where is he?'

'By the ocean, we daren't move him.'

'What happened?' she demanded as they made in that direction at a rapid pace.

'The island has sunk further. He ran out of breath on the way back and began to drown. The other divers brought him back to shore.' Althea said nothing to this but walked faster, her lips pressed together in a thin, hard line.

The trio took several shortcuts through an intricate maze of alleys and passageways, abandoned by most people. The corridors were lit only by lanterns containing glow-worms, specially bred for this purpose and casting a silvery glow on everything. A few late night walkers bowed when they recognised the Lady, but otherwise, they met no one else. As the threesome progressed further, greater and greater distances hung between the lanterns. A salty tang in the air became quite distinctive.

Althea began to hurry at almost a run, slipping and sliding along. Please let me be on time, she begged. Please.