had shared with her. Lilliana had only heard prophecies that dealt with the next month’s rain or the New Year when they celebrated the circle of the sun. She had never heard of a prophecy that was so mighty and long. A thousand years of peace. Could that be true? Lilliana reached in her pocket and put her hand around the crystal that rested there. Last night was not a dream. The Morning Star had spoken directly to her and she had felt so good. She felt like she was safe and loved beyond anything she had felt before. She couldn’t remember his words enough to speak them. No, that wasn’t quite right. It was as though the words were emblazoned on her mind, but they wouldn’t be shared through her lips.
“That is a rather large prophecy,” Lilliana said finally.
“Yes, and it has been passed down through many generations,” the king replied.
“I think there must be some mistake though. I’m a girl, and your prophecy spoke of a male child. I have no light on my head, rainbow at my side or even a sword in my hand,” Lilliana protested. “Girls don’t learn to fight with swords in our land.”
The queen swam forward to Lilliana slowly, as if she didn’t want to stir the water too much. Even so, her mighty fins created a strong current that almost spun Lilliana around. Lilliana held on to Spectrum for balance and support. She felt his warm fur and steady beating heart and felt calmer.
“Child,” the queen said, “place your hand above my head and touch my crown.”
Lilliana looked at the huge and beautiful queen before her. She smelled fresh, like crisp mountain air. Her eye, for Lilliana could only see one, was as big as a plum from the royal garden, yet it was gentle and kind too. Lilliana tentatively put her hand out to touch the great whale on the side of her head. Queen Doris’s eyes shut slightly and she hummed. Lilliana moved her hand gently back and up to the place where the golden crown sat sparkling in the water. Lilliana put one finger on the golden edge, not sure if she was going to feel a shock or if she would fall down dead. She had never seen anyone touch her father’s crown; it was forbidden. Lilliana kicked her feet slightly and reached for the golden circle. Her hands touched the light and went right through the crown. It was warm, almost hot, but it was definitely not solid. She reached again, bolder this time. Lilliana slowed down as her fingertips approached the edge of the crown. The water was definitely warmer. Her hand passed into the light and she felt the heat. It was almost too hot and Lilliana brought her hand back to her side quickly.
“I don’t understand. What’s wrong with your crown?” asked Lilliana.
“It is not a crown fashioned by creatures, but by the rays of the Star,” explained Doris.
Lilliana gasped. “Do you mean that the Star came out of the sky to put this on your head?”
“No my dear. When I was chosen and anointed as Queen of Star Shadow the crown appeared over my head, and it has not left me since,” Doris said.
Lilliana thought about how difficult it would be to keep a golden crown on your head while you were swimming through the sea. She hadn’t even been able to keep her hair in royal braids under the water, much less anything solid. The crown was made of light, but it was almost a tangible light. Lilliana felt on top of her head, and the king laughed.
“Dear child, you do not need a crown of light above the land. Those of us in the sea have this crown, but I imagine yours is quite different in the bright light of the air. Speaking of air. It is time for a short break, love,” the king said to the queen.
Queen Doris gently swam back next to the king and the sword fish formed a circle around them. The sword fish pushed outward and all the creatures in the throne room backed away from the center, and most seemed familiar with this strange dance. The dolphins swam to the surface and King Nereus and Queen Doris followed. They all broke the surface of the water and there were ripples of light and waves across the top. Lilliana found herself smiling and she watched as several of the dolphins leapt into the air and came back down with a splash. In a moment the show was over and all the creatures swam back to the throne. Some jumped very high and one or two flipped before returning to the throne room. The king and queen swam above their platforms again, and the dolphins swam along the back of the dais. The ripples in the water ebbed away and as Lilliana felt them cross her neck she felt waves of fresh air entering her lungs. The sword fish swam to the sides of the room and Pierce and Lance moved back before the throne as if nothing had happened. Lilliana and Spectrum swam slowly up to join them.
“I’m sorry sir, I’m afraid I am unfamiliar with your customs – ”
“And you are confused about our short break?” the king asked.
“Yes sir.” Lilliana did not want to insult the king.
The king chuckled and the water around him shimmered with the movement. “I was not fortunate enough to have gills come out of my neck as you have. The air that is between the water is impossible for me to breathe. I was created to always need air straight from the sky. My dear dolphins are the same, so we rise to get our air from time to time. Speaking uses more air than normal, so we had to interrupt your visit with me.”
“Why did some of your dolphins leap out of the air? Do they need air that is higher in the sky?” Lilliana asked.
“Not exactly dear one. They were leaping above the edges of Star Shadow to make certain that we are safe. Few ship shadows pass this way, but there are otters in the kelp forest and the sharks are occasionally outside the rim of the land.”
Sharks? Here? Lilliana hated to think about them. When she was in Atlantis she had dreams of sharks with their many teeth coming after her. There seemed to be so many dangerous creatures in the sea, and she hardly knew which ones to trust and which ones to avoid.
“Where were we?” Nereus asked.
“I showed Lilliana my crown,” Doris said.
“Ah yes, the circle of light. You see child, when you are chosen by the Star to rule your land, then you are anointed and your crown cannot depart from you until the time has come for it to pass to another. The prophecy speaks of a chosen one who has a crown or a “Circle of light at his head.” This means that the chosen one is an heir to one of the kingdoms. You said you are heir to the throne of Atlantis, isn’t that correct?” the king asked.
“Yes, I am the heir,” Lilliana said. She was the only heir. There was no brother or sister to take her place on the throne if she did not return.
“And you were born on the land yet live in the water. Who else among the heirs of the earth can do this?” Queen Doris asked.
“I know of no one, but I still have no rainbow and no sword,” Lilliana said.
“Sometimes prophecies are riddles. They only make sense enough to see when they are coming, and once the prophecy has come true, then all the parts of the riddle will make sense,” the queen said.
Lilliana thought back through some of the prophecies she had heard. She remembered how many of them seemed to contradict themselves, speaking of famine and feasting in the same phrase. Then at the end of the year when the history was read, the prophecy had always spoken the truth.
“This is more than I can do,” Lilliana said. “To bring peace to a foreign land? This is more than I could ever do. All of my father’s court and all of his advisors might be able to arrange this, but I’m too small and too young.”
“Remember this dear one. You do not act alone. The Morning Star will guide you and will always be with you. It is He who fulfills His prophecy. We simply serve him and follow the path he has set before us. Can you do that?” the king asked.
Lilliana was about to say that she didn’t know if she could or not when the court was in full motion again.
“Intruder alert! Intruder alert!”
The dolphins covered the top of the king and queen while all the swordfish closed ranks around them in a circle with their swords facing out, prepared to fight off any danger. Pierce and Lance crossed their swords in front of Lilliana and Spectrum protectively. Every e
ye looked toward the surface and all were drawn to one small creature.
“I will not let you hurt her! She is not guilty! She is not the poison goddess! I will not let you hurt my friend!” said a small spotted creature as it splashed into the center of the throne room from the surface and came careening toward the dais.
Lilliana could not believe Spike’s bad timing, or his stupidity. How would one little fish take on the army of King Nereus?
“I don’t care how many swords you point at me. I won’t let you hurt my friend!” Spike said, and he charged toward the king.
Pierce moved forward and placed his sword right in front of Spike’s face. “I believe it is time for you to go,” he said to the little puffer fish.
Spike turned red and puffed up. “You’re a traitor! You pretended to be her friend so she wouldn’t ask me to come, but you’re really no friend at all! Prepare to die!” At this, Spike puffed himself up as big as he could and charged at Pierce with his beak. Pierce moved slightly to one side and stabbed the smaller fish’s fins so that his tail and pectoral fins slid halfway down his sword.
“Ow! It hurts! It hurts…it hurts,” the fish said as he dropped into unconsciousness.
13. Leaving
Lilliana sat on the bed of sponges in the cave gazing at the collection of pearls along one of low shelves.
“Will you come and visit me after you go home?” Spike asked as he swam from side to side. His fins drooped so much that they made zigzags on the sandy floor.
“I’ll do my best,” Lilliana replied, “but sometimes it’s difficult to get away from the castle. My father has guards with me just in case some enemy is around.”
“He didn’t have any a few days ago.”
“That was…different. I wasn’t really supposed to be by myself.” Lilliana looked around the cave for things to pack, but her skirts were at the bottom of the cliffs, and she had nothing else with her. Well, not much. The crystal was still in her pocket and Lilliana closed her hand around it. She looked at Spectrum and watched his coat shimmer in the afternoon light. The depth of Star Shadow filtered most of the color out of the natural light so Spectrum’s coat had a pale blue and purple sheen to it. It reminded Lilliana of the ribbons of clouds that crossed the sky minutes after the sun set. The sun was a constant reminder of the real Morning Star. Would the Morning Star leave her if she went home?
“I can keep you perfectly safe when you visit,” Spike said and he puffed up his chest a little.
“I’m sure you could, but my father will have to meet you first.” Lilliana could just imagine what her father might say to the fish. “However, for now Lance is taking me home.”
“Do you really have to go?” Spike asked.
“You heard what the king said, didn’t you?”
Spike turned a little orange and looked at the sand under his fins. “Actually I think I missed that part.”
“Ah yes." Lilliana remembered the little fish's sudden entrance. "It was brave of you to come to my rescue.”
“Everybody laughed at me! It was a dumb thing to do,” Spike muttered.
“Perhaps you should trust your king more, but you were still very brave to swim in front of all of those armed guards.”
“You really think so?” The little fish looked up.
“I do.”
“So what did the king say?”
“Well, he said that there were some bad sharks causing problems.” Lilliana knit her eyebrows together. There seemed to be a lot going on in this underwater kingdom and she had much respect for King Nereus. She would like to help, but the prophecy was clearly meant for someone else. It was meant for a boy with a sword.
“The Dark Shark?”
Lilliana looked up at the evil shark’s name. “I thought you weren’t listening.”
“I heard the urchins murmuring about it at the trench. They said the Dark Shark was strong, even stronger than King Nereus.”
“Well, the King asked if I was part of a prophecy and when I insisted that I wasn’t he told me about his problems with the shark. Apparently there have been many surprise attacks. The king’s strongest fish have been ambushed in strange places. There may even be a spy.”
“A spy in the king’s courts?”
“Quite possibly.”
“I’ve never trusted Lance myself,” Spike muttered into the water.
“You’ve just met him haven’t you?”
“He’s famous all over the sea. He has clever ways of catching little fish to eat in his sail and he’s always been known for playing tricks on other citizens.”
“The king seems to trust him.”
“Yes, but if there is a spy in the king’s court, then it must be somebody the king trusts, right?” Spike said.
The little fish had a point. A spy was someone who could lie convincingly and get close to the king. Lilliana thought about the other fish she had met at court. The guard was a little hasty, Pierce had speared Spike along his sword, and Lance didn’t want to be in the king’s presence. Even so, Lilliana liked the sailfish, and so did Spectrum, which was saying something. Her horse seemed to have an instinct about people; perhaps he was right about fish too.
“Are you ready to go?” asked Lance from outside the cave.
“Yes. We were just coming to meet you.” Lilliana put her hand on Spectrum’s side and they swam together through the door. Spectrum nickered and put his snout up to the roof of the cave. The small grey worms, visible in the daytime wiggled out of his reach. Spectrum tossed his head with a laugh.
At the door Lance was prepared with a snout full of sea grass. “Here you go horsie!” He tossed it down the hill and Spectrum chased after it. He returned slowly with green bits of food trailing from his mouth.
“I’ll miss that horse of yours,” Lance said.
“I think he’ll miss you too. Are we going back the way we came?” Lilliana watched as Spectrum stopped again to pick up some stray grass that had fallen.
“The king believes that the safest route will be through the fountain gate on the eastern side of the kingdom. He thinks you might be in danger if we take you back through the tunnel to the Merhill.” Lance rolled his eyes. “We’ll have no trouble. A beastie and a horse traveling with me should be enough to scare any fish away. We’ll go past the trench and over the flatlands and have you home by tomorrow’s sunrise.”
Home. Was there ever such a beautiful word?
“We’ll follow you,” Lilliana said. She motioned to Spectrum to hurry, but he was in grass heaven, having found a plentiful supply of the weed nearby.
“Can I come too?” asked Spike. The little fish turned his face towards Lilliana and looked up at her with the biggest blue eyes. How could a puffer fish be so cute?
“It might be dangerous,” Lilliana warned.
“I’ll protect you, I promise,” Spike said.
“It might be dangerous for you, little fish. Besides that, what will you do when we get to the land?” she asked.
“I will make sure you get home, and then I can protect Lance on the way back here.” The other fish laughed at this.
“All right Spike. You can come, just stay out of trouble.”
“Yay! I’ll be good. I’ll be better than good!” Spike swam in tight little circles looking like a small dog chasing its tail.
“Did she have to do that?” Lance asked Spectrum quietly. Spectrum whinnied and shook his mane.
The path to the wall of Star Shadow was even more pleasant in the light of day than it had been when Lilliana first arrived. Many of the fish stopped what they were doing and looked at the strange group with curious glances, but nobody called her beastie. Not even Lance. The sea pipes were being played by the musical fish and the lilting notes flowed all around them.
“Where is Pierce this afternoon? I would like to say goodbye,” Lilliana said.
“The king asked him to stay. I think more trouble is brewing past t
he kelp beds, but that shouldn’t involve us,” Lance answered.
“What happened there?” Lilliana asked.
“The otters are upset. Apparently they’re having a food shortage and they’re stuck with mostly oysters. They aren’t their favorite food, and the young, restless otters are causing trouble.”
“What are they doing?”
“Setting clams and oysters on fish tails, poking stonefish and tossing cone snails for starters.”
“Poor snails.”
Lance and Spike looked at her and Lilliana knew that must not have been the reaction they expected.
“Not poor snails?” Lilliana asked.
“No. Definitely not poor snails. They are such dangerous creatures I wouldn’t even tease Pierce with them,” Lance said.
“Dangerous? How can something like a snail be dangerous?” Spectrum snorted up water. Apparently he didn’t see much danger in a snail either.
“I can’t protect you from a cone snail,” Spike said. “They have more poison in their little dart than I have in all of my spines together.”
“Oh that must be painful,” Lilliana said.
“Most often it’s deadly,” Lance said. He was far more serious than usual.
“Do they hurt otters?” Lilliana asked.
“One sting from a cone snail will kill anything smaller than the king or queen in less time than we can find the healer,” Lance replied.
“She was easy enough to find when we had to pull Spike from Pierce’s sword,” Lilliana said.
“Aura was on the edge of the king’s court this morning, and Pierce was being very careful with Spike. He barely nicked the little monster’s fins.” Lance glanced sideways at the spiny fish. Spike glared back. “Aura was supposed to go on a journey this morning, but the king asked her to remain here an extra day because of all the trouble. The kelp beds are on the other side of the throne room and the king wanted her medicine close at hand should one of the cone snails make it past the wall,” Lance said.
They were swimming closer to the great black boundary now and approaching the gates.
“Do the otters eat shrimp then?” Lilliana asked.
“Ha! No…you won’t believe it, and this is why it’s so great that Pierce is helping with the situation. The otters love sea urchins. That’s the whole reason they hang out in the kelp beds; we throw our trash there including urchins. The problem is, while we’ve had more urchins than ever littering our castle, the otters don’t have enough.”
Lilliana looked ahead at the massive gates with the stars in the middle set in the thick black wall. They were still a short distance from them and Lilliana could see the guards watching the entrance.
“Is this the fountain gate?” Lilliana asked.
“Not yet. This is the castle gate on the edge of the inner city. These black walls along the inside were made by a volcano long ago and the tops of the mountain reach several feet above the surface. During a storm even the top is covered by waves, but when it’s calm the walls