"Frederick! Wake up!"
I sat up so quickly that I fell completely off of my bed. After I stood up and got my bearings, I found myself face to face with my father.
"Get ready, son, you're going to tour the rest of the country."
"Right now?" I asked, looking out the windows at the dark night. It actually wasn't too late, I had fallen asleep early that evening because I was exhausted from Alm's rock throwing training, but I still didn't think that seeing Gulbrania at 9 o' clock at night would be very effective.
"Am I going to be able to see anything?" I asked, rubbing the sleep out of my eyes.
My father chuckled. "Oh, you'll see it," he replied with a half smile. "Put some warm clothes on. Meet me downstairs where you're ready." Then he walked out the door without any more explanation.
I sighed. I put on a sweater and a coat and tried to tell myself that this was a good thing. After all, I had been wanting to spend more time with my father, but honestly, I wasn't really looking forward to it. My father had been absent from my life for over ten years, so every time I interacted with him it was kind of awkward. Plus, there was the fact that as King of Gulbrania, he expected so much from me even though I'd only known I was royalty for a little over a month. How was I supposed to know how to negotiate a trade deal? Or revise laws? Or navigate a code of ethics? For most of my existence my prime goal had been to avoid getting locked in a bathroom stall. I'd never imagined that one day I'd be responsible for a small country.
I pulled on some boots and checked my phone before I left my room. There was a message from Milo, asking me for the third time why I hadn't texted Kayla yet. I smiled and shook my head. It had been great corresponding with Milo again, but when I had decided to reach out to him, I hadn't considered that he and Kayla might be interacting with each other. Milo had told me about how Kayla had been lashing out at bullies and that she had been asking him about me. I decided that I would text Kayla, but it had been so long that I just didn't know what to say. Plus, I think I was still a little nervous about the whole situation.
I tromped down the long, spiral staircase that led to the front entryway of the castle, where I found my dad in the middle of a hushed conversation with Alm. When they saw me, my dad handed him an envelope and Alm quickly walked down the opposite corridor.
"All ready?" My dad asked, rubbing his hands together in apparent anticipation.
"Sure," I replied. "Are we going to take the helicopter?" To me, this seemed like the only reasonable way to explore the country at this hour.
"No. Follow me."
He walked out the huge wooden doors of the castle and I walked after him. I decided not to ask more questions, because my dad clearly wasn't going to divulge any details. Outside the castle, we were met by two large bodyguards who fell in step behind us. The air was cold and we all walked in silence for a few minutes until we reached the castle docks and my dad started to get into a row boat.
"Really?" I asked. "This is how we're going to tour the country?"
"Frederick, just trust me," he responded. His tone was reprimanding, but his eyes shone with excitement.
I shrugged and stepped into the boat, followed by the guards. We pushed off into the choppy water, and the guards took care of the rowing for us. I couldn't help but think that we all looked incredibly ridiculous, with the four of us crammed into a small row boat. I guessed these were the kind of amenities available to the King of Gulbrania.
I noticed a bruise on my father's chin, and unable to bear the silence anymore, I decided to attempt conversation again.
"So, how's everything going with the Jumerum?"
My father stiffened, but to my surprise, he didn't brush aside my question. "We believe we've been able to identify all of the members," he began. "We captured seven of them in an operation in Finland last week and they have been imprisoned, but we haven't been able to get all of the rest of them in one place. It would be dangerous, yet ideal, for the whole organization to come to Gulbrania. That way we would have the advantage of fighting them with all of our resources."
I raised my eyebrows. My father had never spoken so candidly to me about anything, especially his prime enemies.
"Is there any way I can help?" I offered.
My father gave me an odd stare, then looked away. "Soon, Frederick. Soon."
Okay, so he's back to being cryptic again, I thought. Just as I was getting ready to settle into more silence, my dad spoke up again.
"By the way, Frederick, I've never told you how impressed I am with your dancing abilities. It's an excellent form of exercise, and it improves your agility."
I nearly choked. Had my mom told him about that? Was he making fun of me? I had been careful to keep that hobby a secret. "How… how did you…?
He smiled. "There's something I should have told you a while ago, son, and I'm afraid you might be a bit put off by it. Regardless, you deserve to know." Now he was the one who looked uncomfortable as he took a deep breath. "There was a small camera installed in the basement of the house in Indiana that sent a private feed back to me."
"What?" I exclaimed.
"Calm down," he said, holding his hand up. "It was only on for about an hour every evening, nothing was recorded, and I wasn't able to watch it every day." He sighed. "It was an invasion of your privacy, I know, but I wanted to be able to check on you and watch you … grow up while I was gone." He looked away, and I thought I saw the beginning of a tear forming at the corner of his eye.
I opened my mouth, and then shut it. On one hand, I felt violated, but on the other hand, I was a little touched that my father had wanted to a part of my life, albeit in a creepy, illegal sort of way.
"Ah, we're almost there," my father announced, perhaps to dispel the awkward mood.
I looked up and saw a strange wall of fog. Nowhere else was foggy except for directly in front of us.
"We generate the mist as an extra security precaution," he explained.
I nodded, even though I had no idea what the fog was protecting. We passed through and on the other side was a large cove, looking very out of place sticking up in the middle of the ocean. Unsurprisingly, we rowed straight into the cove and docked next to a level ledge.
"Follow me," my father commanded, stepping out onto the ledge. We walked through a short tunnel and came to what appeared to be an elevator. "Here, take this," he said, handing me a small pill.
"What is this for?"
"It's for your ears," he explained. "The pressure can be pretty intense."
I swallowed the pill, along with a dozen comments about how bizarre this tour was turning out to be. The four of us entered the elevator, and with a big grin, my father pushed a large button on the wall.
The elevator doors slammed shut and we started to descend so rapidly I had to grab onto the walls to keep myself from toppling over. Down, down we went for what seemed like an eternity. My head was spinning with the impossibility of the situation, and when I was starting to imagine that my father had actually lured me into some kind of suicide mission, the elevator slowed to a stop. The doors clanged open, and we stepped out into a space that looked suspiciously similar to my room in the castle.
"What is this?" I asked, stumbling around in bewilderment, still a little unsteady from the elevator ride. "What's going on?"
"This is the new castle," my dad replied, beaming. "The other one is the old one. We just use it as a decoy."
"Decoy?"
"Yes. Everything on land is a decoy. We have them up there for security."
Decoys? What in the world was my dad talking about? "I… I don't understand."
My father clapped his hand on my shoulder. "In a few minutes, you will."
I decided I had to trust my dad as I followed him down the spiral staircase because my mind couldn't think of any feasible answer to explain the situation. We reached the front doors in the identical castle entrance hall, and with a flourish, my father pushed them open.
The scene I saw before me was unbelievable. Ornate stone buildings lined a wide, cobblestone street that was lit with dozens of large lanterns as it stretched up a hill. Hundreds of people walked in and out of shops and restaurants, talking, laughing, and sampling food that filled the air with delicious aromas.
"This is incredible!" I exclaimed, taking in the sights and sounds.
"This isn't even the best part," my dad commented. He led me up the street and as we crested the hill, the road ended and gave way to a sheer cliff that revealed a spectacular view of a massive city below us.
"Welcome to Gulbrania," my father said, gesturing his hand out with obvious pride.
My eyes couldn't take it all in. There were clusters of buildings as tall as skyscrapers and huge screens and lights glittering in between them. There were jagged rock formations jutting up throughout the city, making it seem all the more dramatic. There were streets and highways filled with exotic-looking cars and motorcycles. There were even small planes and helicopters flying above the buildings. Farther out there were apartment buildings and houses, with trees and parks and lakes. But I discovered the most enthralling feature when I looked above me. A lighted, transparent material stretched in all directions, and through it I could see all sorts of ocean life swimming and gliding around, from schools of tiny fish to massive whales.
"How is this possible?" I asked. "Where are we?"
"This is possible largely because of the Gulbranak," my father responded, "and we are on the ocean floor." He guided me to one of many orb-like elevators clinging to the side of the cliff, and gestured for me to get in. We began to descend into the city, the orb allowing us to view the scenery as we went. "The Gulbranians discovered Gulbranak several decades ago," my dad explained. "When they realized the potential of the metal, they decided to build a hidden city to protect the Gulbranak from dangerous forces." Reaching our destination, the orb opened and we stepped out onto a busy street. "Most of the outside world knows nothing about this part of Gulbrania," he continued, "and we go to great lengths to keep it that way."
I followed my father down the street, with the two bodyguards walking behind us. I noticed several people staring at us and whispering as we passed, and I felt my cheeks flush as a group of teenage girls pointed at me and giggled. I was used to being singled out and laughed at, but it wasn't until we had gone a few more blocks that I realized they probably hadn't been making fun of me.
I was so absorbed in taking in this underwater world that I almost didn't notice my father turn down a small alleyway. At the end of the alley was a bolted door. He punched in a code on the side, then ordered the bodyguards to stay outside as he pulled me through the door. A short corridor opened up into a circular room encased in that same glowing, transparent material. I could see people scuba diving in the ocean outside of the room, holding tools that looked like really fancy drills.
"Right out there is where the majority of the Gulbranak is mined," my dad announced. "We employ only the most skilled and trustworthy citizens to perform that work," he added. "And back here," he said, gesturing to a door we had passed in the corridor, "is where most of the Gulbranak is stored." He activated a screen that required a handprint and turned to me. "Go ahead, Frederick."
I placed my hand on the screen. At first, it just scanned it, but then I felt a sudden prick on my index finger.
"Ouch!" I yelped. "What was that?"
My father chuckled. "Access to the Gulbranak requires the correct fingerprints and DNA found in the blood." The door slid open. "And as my son and the heir to the Gulbranian throne, you possess both," he said solemnly.
I stepped forward into a massive room filled with the shiny green metal, stacked in tall, neat rows.
"You and I are the only people with access to this room," my dad said, stepping up beside me. "Unfortunately, the Jumerum now know that the key to this room is in the DNA of the royal family. Previously, they believed they could just get to the Gulbranak by killing us off, which is why they killed your grandfather and made multiple attempts to kill me." He turned to face me. "It is therefore imperative that you follow every order given to ensure your safety. Do you understand?"
His intensity was making me nervous. "Yeah, I get it, dad. I've been pretty good at self preservation so far, so I think I'll be okay."
He gave me a disapproving look. "I hope you'll take this seriously, Frederick. Trillions of dollars and countless lives depend on the safety of this Gulbranak."