wasn’t sure if he was still waking up or if he was agreeing with her. Either way it didn’t seem to reassure the little, now big, fish.
“Spike!” yelled the spotted melon.
“What?” Lilliana asked.
“Spike!” the fish hollered again.
Lilliana looked around the cave for a long metal object. There were none.
“I don’t see any spikes, sorry.”
“My name is Spike. If I’m already puffed up I guess I can tell you my name.” Spike was getting a little slimmer.
“You didn’t nibble my toes did you?”
“No, poison goddess. I promise.”
“Call me Lilliana.”
“Okay Lilliana. I guess you want me to go now.” Spike was almost back to normal size now and his fins drooped. He began to swim slowly to the window.
“Why would you say that?”
“Now you know why nobody likes me. Poisonous barbs don’t help my popularity.” He rocked from side to side.
Lilliana pushed the hair out of her face and smiled at Spike. It would be nice to have some company to talk to. “You can stay,” she said.
“Yay! I promise not to puff up again! And I won’t nibble mitoes even once!”
“Mitoes? Oh, my toes. No problem, Spike. I think my horse is hungry though. Do you know where any good grass is?”
“Do I ever! Follow me, oh giant one,” he said to the horse, and he swam through the opening of the cave.
11. Morning
Spectrum was grazing in the sea grass and Spike was catching snails as they fell off the plants when Pierce and Lance came to the door with trays of breakfast. The servant fish brought two extra large food buckets for Spectrum this time, placed them carefully at the bottom of the hill and darted away. Spectrum tossed his head and reared up, kicking at the water with his front hooves. He charged down the slope, kicked over a bucket and grabbed a mouthful of food before he wheeled around. His mane was floating behind him as he spun to stand over his food. He flared his nostrils and dared anyone to come near.
Pierce and Lance swam into the cave with Lilliana and settled near the door while she investigated her breakfast. Shrimp again. Lilliana longed for Nana’s magic honey cakes and steaming hot chocolate. Of course the honey cakes might get a bit damp in the ocean, but if Proteus was right, the magic would keep them tasty anyway. Lilliana’s heart skipped a beat as she thought of her curly-haired cousins. Facing a strange king would be so much easier if she could just spend a few happy minutes with them. Seeing no forks she used her fingers and took a shrimp and popped it into her mouth. She still had no idea what good manners were in the land of fish, but they probably didn’t know much about beasties either.
“Thank you for bringing me breakfast, though I’m a little surprised to see both of you.”
“The king wanted to be certain that you were being treated with the utmost care and kindness, so he asked me to observe your morning meal,” Pierce said with a sideways look at his brother.
“Stay back from her then. She’s my poison goddess,” said a small voice from behind Lilliana. The sailfish turned to see the small puffer swim in front of the princess and point his spines in their direction.
“You’ve made a new friend I see,” Lance said to Lilliana.
Spiked puffed up a little. “I don’t have many friends with the way your kind treats me so watch your swords. I’m warning you. I’ll protect the poison goddess with my life if I need to.” Spike wiggled at both of them so they could have a better view of his spines.
“It’s okay Spike, don’t get upset. These are my friends too,” Lilliana said.
“Yeah squirt, don’t blow things out of proportion,” Lance snickered.
“Ignore him. I do," Pierce said. "What was the name you gave Lilliana?”
“She is the goddess of poison and if you upset her she’ll eat you… or take away your venom. If you touch the mitoes you'll explode!” Spike insisted.
“-and he thinks this because?…” Pierce looked at Lilliana.
“Look at that tasty shrimp,” Lilliana said, as she pretended to look back at the breakfast tray.
“That’s my line, beastie,” Lance said with a smile. "You can't avoid Pierce for long."
“Why does this little fish,” Spike started to get bigger as Pierce spoke, “I mean this considerable fish believe you’re some sort of goddess. Is there something you’re not telling us…are you perhaps worshipped in your home?”
“Oh dear.” The lies Lilliana had told Spike that morning didn’t seem so funny anymore. They felt like seaweed around her legs. “I just didn’t want him to bite my toes.” Lilliana played with small orange fruits on the breakfast tray.
Pierce considered this for a moment. “What are mitoes?”
“They’re the poisonous pink nubs where her tail should be. If you eat them you’ll blow up!” Spike spun around on the last word.
“Do you mean those nasty little things that kicked me in the face at Mer-hill? Those are definitely deadly.”
“You’re not helping, Lance. Continue please,” Pierce said.
“I didn’t know what kind of fish Spike was and I didn’t want him to bite me, so I told him that the pink nubs, we call them toes at home, were poisonous. He then called me poison goddess. I told him that Lilliana would be fine.”
“Well,” Pierce said thoughtfully,” I think we can all agree here that Lilliana is not a poison goddess, and that the pink things at the bottom, mitoes, are attached and thus shall not be eaten.” When he had looked every creature in the eye he continued. “Now if you’d like a few moments to finish your breakfast and prepare to see the king, Lance and I will wait for you outside.”
“What if she doesn’t want all her shrimp? You’re wrong Lillibeastie, that one there is the tastiest shrimp. See how fat and juicy – “
“Lance!”
“Don’t get a knot in your sail. I’m coming. I don’t see why everything with you has to be about big speeches and no food.”
Lilliana watched as Lance swam behind his brother out the door.
“So you’re not the poison goddess?” Spike asked quietly.
“No, I’m just Lilliana. I’m a normal human girl.” Lilliana thought about that for a moment. She was under the sea having a conversation with a puffer fish and she had just been lectured by a sailfish. “Well, human anyway.”
“What is human? Is that a contagious disease? And why aren’t you a normal human?”
Oh the answers Lilliana could give him, but she just said, “I have a puffer fish for a friend. That makes me better than normal.”
Spike’s yellow skin shimmered orange just a bit and he gave her his best smile. “Does that mean I can have that tasty shrimp?”
A few minutes later Lilliana swam outside to join Pierce and Lance. As soon as she was visible, both fish shook their heads at her. Spike felt threatened and blew up to full size. It took a lot of talking to calm down the little puffer.
“I don’t believe you want to go to the court in your present state,” Pierce said.
“What do you mean?” Lilliana asked. She had pulled down her pantaloons and wiped all the shrimp off her shirt.
“He means you look like a mutilated mermaid – they’re always a mess. Proper fish are neat and tidy and streamlined. Try again Lillibeastie,” Lance said.
She swam back into the cave and found the polished mirror. It took her two tries to pull her hair into a bun and fasten it with some seaweed. Then she used some of the brown kelp to make a sash at her waist to keep her shirt from rising and tied her pants legs around her ankles. It wasn’t high fashion in Atlantis, but she didn’t look as messy as a mermaid now either. Lilliana wished she had kept her slippers with her, but she just had to hope that her toes wouldn’t cause any more problems.
After an approving nod from the sailfish, they decided that Lilliana should enter with Spectrum and Lance at one side and Pierce at the other.
“Why do I get to do horse patrol?” Lance complained.
“Sea urchins,” reminded Pierce with a knowing look.
“Will I never live that down? That prank was ages ago,” insisted Lance.
“I’m going too,” Spike said. He was swimming as hard as he could to catch up. He was still inflated and had difficulty swimming through the water.
“You might get a little too excited in the high court. There are lots of marlins and dolphins who may have angry looks on their faces, and we don’t want you puffing up in response,” Pierce said.
“Yes, you could blow your top,” Lance added.
“I’ll be good. I promise,” Spike said although he was still having trouble deflating completely.
Pierce looked sternly at the little fish and said, "You aren’t allowed to enter the presence of the king without an invitation.”
“Hey, he could go if Lillibeastie wanted him there,” Lance said.
Pierce shot Lance a sharp look.
“Do you want me there – can I go – do you want me?” Spike asked. He swam frantically around the group so he could face Lilliana.
Lilliana sighed. This was a crazy fish with a quick temper. A temper is never a good thing at court, but it would be nice to have a friendly face, even if it was covered with poisonous thorns. Lilliana looked at Spike’s big hopeful eyes. This meeting with the king was important to her freedom and maybe even her life. She just couldn’t risk it.
“I’m sorry Spike, but this time I have to agree with Pierce.”
Pierce let out a stream of water as if he’d been holding his breath. Spike’s face dropped.
“S’okay. Nobody wants me. You’re not the only one. I’ll go play at the trench. The deep one with the barracudas.” The little fish deflated, turned around and swam quickly over the hill.
Lilliana felt like she had eaten bad squid. She hated hurting Spike’s feelings, but there were some things she could not risk. Her life was one of them. She was going to the king’s court, not to a party, and this king may demand anything of her while she was in his kingdom.
“Now that that is taken care of,” Pierce began, "we need to go over a little protocol before we meet the king. He likes us to enter from the left and exit on the right and we always swim head up and tail down, facing with both eyes towards him. Are you listening?”
Lilliana swiped away a tear from her eye and placed her hand on Spectrum’s side. “Pardon?”
“I said – “
“In left, out right, and face the front. I understand.” Lilliana put her head down and tried to keep her lower lip from quivering.
“Are you all right?” Pierce asked in a quieter voice.
“Of course she’s not all right you prude,” Lance said rising above Spectrum’s side to make eye contact. “You rushed her breakfast, you made her swim next to the ugly brother, and she had to tell her only friend who doesn’t have a sword to take a swim.”Spectrum nodded his head, and Lilliana had the impression that her horse liked Lance. The horse looked at her and nudged her cheek.
“Will you keep your tail-fin out please?” Pierce asked.
“Certainly your prudishness,” Lance said.
Lilliana controlled her tears. The sailfish weren’t really so terrible, except to each other. They swam in silence up a wide entrance towards the castle and all along the sides were gardens of coral. The rocks themselves seemed to be living with creatures attached to every available surface. There were brightly colored fish swimming in small schools darting in and out of the coral with amazing grace and dexterity. All the fish were small, but each school had a different color. One school of fish was bright yellow, with snouts at the bottom. Another school had pink fish, each one with a perfect purple square on both sides. Blue and yellow fish joined them and swam between the other schools as if they were directing traffic.
“What do these fish do?” Lilliana asked.
“They are the artists. They perform dances mostly, although some will learn songs on the pipes or design coral gardens,” Pierce explained.
Lilliana looked again, and she felt like she could understand the dance a little better. They seemed to feel each other’s presence all over their bodies and they swam exactly in tune with each other. Not once did Lilliana see a fin out of place or a fish bump another.
“Amazing.”
“We must travel up some distance to get to the court. Your body may feel the change in pressure,” Pierce said.
Lilliana followed the fish up a pearly white ramp. It looked as though it had been made from the inside of an oyster shell. She recognized the taste of metal in the water as they swam towards the gate. The taste was familiar to her somehow, and not entirely unpleasant. As they approached the gate, Lilliana noticed it was bright yellow and shiny. Gold. That was the taste. There were two very large marlins guarding the gate.
“Who enters?” barked the guard.
“Is that really necessary Rip? You know who we are and why we’re here,” Pierce said calmly.
“It’s my job.”
“It’s ridiculous and you know it. We are Pierce and Lance, your superiors, and we have an appointment with the king. Shall I tell him why we’re late?” Pierce said and his sails began to rise along his back.
“All right, all right. Enter,” Rip grumbled. He pushed a button at the top of the wall and the gates slid down from the top. He gave Lilliana a suspicious look and puffed up his chest at Spectrum. Spectrum flared his nostrils and refused to swim forward. He shook his mane and bared his teeth at the guard. Rip just turned to the side slightly to show off his puffed up chest. Spectrum rose on his rear legs and kicked at the guard, but Lance pushed his hooves to the side. They clattered loudly against the golden gate, leaving a dent the size of Lilliana’s head.
“Control your prisoner! He could have broken his head open!” yelled the other marlin guard as he helped his friend.
“Respect the king’s guest,” Pierce replied calmly and firmly as he led Lilliana and Spectrum through the gates. He positioned himself behind the horse and in front of the guards. Lilliana wasn’t sure which party he was protecting.
“Wow, that was awesome!” Lance said to the horse. “Sorry I couldn’t let you smack him,” he bumped his fin against his side. “Not that I have a shred of affection for Rip, but the healer’s rather busy and we can’t afford a lost guard right now. Now, if you can come next Tuesday…”
“Don’t encourage the horse,” Pierce said. “Honestly, your pranks are bad enough without a four-legged friend helping you out with them.”
“I’m just saying…”
“We’ll have to wait on the side to see if the king is prepared to see us,” Pierce said as he gestured to the left hallway. The top of the hallway was covered with tiny crystals that lit the way and made the difference between a hallway and a cave. Lilliana didn’t taste as much of the gold in this hallway, but the walls still glittered. There were pearls, emeralds, and sapphires embedded in the sparkling wall as it curved continuously up. She wondered just how close they were to the surface when she saw the opening to the hallway ahead. Light streamed out of the opening and poured down the passage like a kind friend. Lilliana could almost smell the sunshine and the breeze, and for some reason she thought of her little cousin Proteus. She had to see her family again. She would do whatever it took to make it out of here alive.
“We must all go out to arms!” insisted a voice from above.
“Sire this might be a trap. We need more information from the scouts,” another voice said.
“If we wait, we perish. The monster and her horse almost caught us by surprise. We can’t risk waiting for an army to attack first.”
“Each time we make a move there’s a trap. It’s as if there are ears in this courtroom,” the second voice said. There was an uncomfortable silence after that remark and Lilliana could only imagine the looks that were passing in the chamb
er of the king. Pierce scratched his sword with his fin and looked down towards Lilliana as if he wanted to know if she caught those last words. She had. She was familiar enough with the court of the king to know that there were some officials who lived to serve, and there were others who wanted to serve themselves. She wondered a little about Pierce and Lance. Did they serve themselves or were they loyal to the king?
“Good fish, we have company,” said a large voice that Lilliana could only describe as royal. “I wish for you to stay until after my guest has had an audience.”
That must be the voice of King Nereus. His voice was mellow and deep, and he spoke as if there was all the time in the world. Lilliana felt a little hope. Perhaps this king would be reasonable. Maybe even kind.
“Announce the next guest please.”
“His highness will now see Lilliana and her horse, Spectrum before the throne of the most noble and highest King Nereus and Queen Doris,” said a high voice. There was a blast like a trumpet to confirm the message.
“We’re up beastie. No worries,” Lance said and he positioned himself at the door.
“After you,” Pierce said with a nudge. Lilliana felt hot and cold, and thought that those shrimp she had for breakfast must have turned into live jellyfish in her stomach. No choice though, she had to go forward. Still she looked back at the winding hallway of jewels. The glittering hallway seemed harmless, cheerful even, but that was not where her future lay. It was time to go forward. She swam up to Spectrum and placed her hands on his flank and her cheek against his. Pierce and Lance joined her and they formed a rank of sorts before going into the courtroom. Face front, Lilliana reminded herself.
12. Throne Room
The doors to the throne room were open and they stopped for a moment at the entrance. Lilliana heard a small gasp. The throne room was filled with fish, dolphins, and other sea creatures with eyes all directed at her. The room itself was as big as her kingdom’s biggest ballroom and was brightly lit with sunshine pouring in from the surface above. It was a circular room enclosed on all sides by a high pearly wall that reached almost to the surface. Lilliana could see the black walls of the city’s edge just to the left, towering above the walls of the throne room. The black walls reached up as far as Lilliana could see above the surface, making the throne room look like a shining, pearly star set against a dark and endless night. The surface seemed an unsafe place for an important king, but when Lilliana looked to the dais she understood.
King Nereus and Queen Doris were swimming atop golden platforms. Lilliana had half-expected a human-like form for their king. Someone who was like her father or perhaps a kindly merman, but these were majestic whales, orcas. Each one was longer than father’s grand dining hall, and their bodies were lean and muscled. Lilliana thought they could leap from the sea and capture the witch’s dragon if they wanted to, and perhaps they could. Their skin was bold and shiny with their black and white markings, which made them even more majestic. They
The Prophecy of Atlantis Page 16
