The Trilogy of Two by Juman Malouf

Author:Juman Malouf
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Penguin Young Readers Group
Published: 2015-10-18T16:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

Underwater Again

CHARLOTTE DOVE IN AFTER HER SISTER. THE WATER WAS crisp and clear and a little salty. She sucked in an oxygen bubble as it floated by. A breath of air filled her lungs. An eel brushed her hand. Its skin felt like velvet, and its big globular eyes stuck out on either side of its head. She swam after it. The eel joined a hundred other eels as they flicked their silky tails up and down their backs. Sonja floated among the swarm, swaying back and forth. Charlotte grabbed her hand. She had not seen her sister this happy since they were last onstage. Charlotte listened, hypnotized. The eels’ music was slowly bringing something in her back to life.

Dear Jack Cross,

I know why you’re so sad. I feel the same. I hope we’ll be able to play music together one day.

Love, Charlotte

Charlotte felt a poke in her side. She swished around. Moritz waved and paddled away. Sonja kicked the water violently. Wolf Boy was holding on to her ankles. He finally let go and swam off. Charlotte watched as Sonja shot to the surface, but instead of following her sister, she swam after the Changelings.

They were nowhere in sight. Charlotte inhaled another oxygen bubble. She saw white bodies ahead, swimming playfully in the gentle current. They were Alban girls in little smocks. Painted shells were tied around their wrists and ankles. Their white hair zigzagged behind them.

Charlotte felt the chain around her neck slip under her dress. She looked down. The locket was sinking fast into the blackness. She swam after it, paddling wildly. A pale figure whooshed under her and swiped the locket. It was a full-sized boy. He stopped in front of her. It was not Wolf Boy or Moritz.

Charlotte stared at him curiously. He had cloudy blue eyes and strong shoulders. His hair was long and blond. He returned the chain to her neck and reclasped it; then before she knew what was happening, he pulled her face to his and kissed her on the mouth. Charlotte jerked back, stunned, and kicked frantically to the surface. She wiped her eyes.

Ansel, Alexandria, and Sonja waved to her from the shore.

“Come on, Charlotte!” beckoned Moritz as he and Wolf Boy swam past her.

Charlotte emerged from the water, dripping, and walked dizzily among Alban girls lounging on the rocks. Garlands of white flowers draped over their chests, perfuming the air. An underwater boy had kissed her—her first kiss ever—and she did not even know who he was. She touched her lips. They tingled.

The palace was carved into a rock wall. Precious stones, gold tiles, and statuettes removed from the old palace crisscrossed the facade like a patchwork. Doors and curtains had been refitted for their new home.

“Hold it!” a voice shouted from above. Descending guards approached from every direction and surrounded them. The startled Alban girls fled to the corners, covering themselves.

“What’s all this ruckus?” Ansel said, frowning. “They’ve come to speak to Edgar.”

“He’s swimming,” barked a guard with a lantern jaw.

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