Chapter Ten

The ship was even more wonderful than Taylor could have imagined.

It seemed odd, being on it without many other people on board. In fact, she hadn't seen anyone else so far. Of course, she'd never bene on a cruise ship with a lot of people. She'd never even seen one in real life! Only on TV or in pictures. So, she didn't really have anything to compare the experience to.

Nelly led her around, letting her soak in all the amazing things they stopped at.

Like the ball pit.

It was on one of the decks, and the thought of jumping into the pool of colorful, plastic orbs while having a commanding view of the ocean made Taylor giddy with excitement.

"What's that?" she asked as she squinted against the sun, craning her neck up to look at the elevated platform.

"Oh, that's the coolest part! See that thing?" Nelly pointed at the metal bar that ran the length of the pit, above it, ending at a sturdy pole on the other side that was wrapped in soft padding. "There's a rope connected to it and you can grab on and ride it over the pit and let go, falling in. It's super fun!"

"I can't wait!"

"Want to do it now?"

Taylor thought it over for a moment. "I guess it wouldn't hurt. But then can we finish the tour?"

"Of course!" Nelly said. "The ship is ours for the next few days. We can do whatever we want! Well, almost whatever. But we need to still obey our Daddies."

Taylor giggled. "King Ireneo isn't my Daddy. I'm, eh, not really sure what he is right now."

Nelly studied her for a moment before finally adding, "Oh, he's your Daddy. You two just haven't talked about it yet. But I saw the way you looked at each other. He's definitely your Daddy."

Taylor considered her new friend's words. Was she right? The thought excited Taylor.

She wasn't going to obsess over it now. She wanted to live in the moment. That ball pit was calling her name!

She followed Nelly up the stars to the platform. Coming to the top, she took a few moments to admire the ocean around them. She could see land behind them, but it was distant now and growing smaller by the second.

She had mixed emotions as she realized she was sailing away from her old life.

They needed her. She wouldn't abandon them . Even if she had an opportunity to live on a tropical island with a king, she couldn't just leave them to fend for themselves.

Yet it felt good to not worry about whether or not she'd eat that night. And this view was such a stark contrast to the alleyway outside her apartment! She normally stepped out of her door to see an oppressive brick wall in front of her and scattered trash blowing along the pocked concrete. Now, before her, was the pristine, deep blue sea.

It still seemed like a dream.

"Here's how you do it," Nelly said. She grabbed the nylon rope from where it was hooked to a pole and gripped it tightly. "Weeee!" she cried as her feet left the platform.

She swung out over the ball pit several times, still cheering, before letting go. She fell the short distance and splashed into the balls, disappearing beneath the yellow, blue, red, and green orbs. A few seconds later, her head broke the surface, and she came up laughing.

"Now you try it!" she called up.

Taylor hit a red button on the pole that automatically slid the rope to her on the mechanical pulley system. She grabbed it and giggled as she pushed off. For a moment, it looked as if she could keep swinging right into the big, blue sea in front of her. Of course, she wasn't close to going over the edge and the rope didn't go nearly far enough. She was safe. But the thrill of it drew a deep laugh from the well of her soul.

She wasn't sure the last time she'd laughed that hard. If she ever had.

She could have admired that view forever, it seemed, but she was losing momentum, so she finally let go. It didn't hurt one bit when she hit the soft plastic balls. She was still laughing as she came up to join Nelly once again.

"Isn't it amazing?" Nelly asked.

"Yes! I could do this all day," Tayor replied.

"Do you want to?"

Taylor thought it over. "I kind of want to see the rest of the ship."

"Let's go."

The Littles climbed out of the ball pit and held hands as they happily skipped along the deck, eager to marvel at the other treasures the vast vessel held.

***

"That's the most amazing pool I've ever seen!" Taylor said.

They'd finished their tour there. She quickly realized that merely calling it a pool was a gross understatement. There were several pools connected to each other by a lazy river. There were water slides, too, some of them requiring the rider to zip down them on a raft.

She stood there a moment, listening to the hum of the pumps and the gurgling of the water.

"Want to get in?" Nelly asked.

"I don't have a bathing suit," Taylor said.

"You will, little one," Ireneo's voice said. "You'll have all you could ever imagine. But first, I want you to come with me. It is time for your exam."

Taylor's eyes grew wide as her body tensed. She slowly turned around to see Ireneo and Captain Reagan approaching.

"Sir, I don't need—"

"Hush now, little one. Your king has told you what to do. Do you think disobedience is really your best option here?"

She hung her head and solemnly answered. "No, sir."

"Then will you come along as I commanded?"

"Yes, sir."

Nelly gave her a comforting squeeze on the shoulder. "Maybe we can meet back up later, when you're done."

Taylor only nodded. She couldn't speak, as she was too busy forcing her feet to work as she reluctantly walked toward King Ireneo.

And her dreaded exam.