dashed back to the door, but Titan was faster.
“You are so predictable,” Titan laughed. “You really think you can escape? Perhaps you even think you can hurt me with your little pink nubs,” he gestured to her feet, “but let me warn you princess. Any wrong moves and I’ll turn your floppy little friend here into dinner so much faster.” He gestured towards Lance on the floor. “And I know how you Star people are about your friends. You actually think they matter.” He laughed again.
How could the shark think that Lance was her friend when he had just told her that he was the traitor?
“So you know who I am and you’ve insulted my feet. What’s next?” Lilliana asked.
“Hmmm. You still lack royal manners. Let’s show you to your waiting room, shall we? I’m sure after a few hours there you’ll be much friendlier to me, and if you’re extra nice I’ll even let you out early.” Titan grinned then poked his head out of the door.
“Guards! Take our guest to her special chamber,” Titan said.
Two pale gray sharks came through the doorway. One of them was a darker gray with specks on top and a pale belly. The other was much smaller and thinner, but he had lips that pulled back into a sneer over his sharp teeth. He was without a doubt the ugliest thing Lilliana had seen under the ocean and she couldn’t help but stare at him as he came forward.
“Should we tie her up, Your Highness?” asked the larger one.
“No leave her. She can’t swim fast even if she does get away. She has no fins.”
The sharks nosed at Lilliana’s back and Lilliana felt a sharp poke.
“Ouch!” she yelled, “What was that for?”
“Smiley, you can’t snack on the guests, remember?” Titan said to the smaller of the two sharks.
“I just wanted to give her a kiss. I wasn’t going to have a full cookie…yet,” Smiley said. “I have to wait after dinner for that,” and he smiled. He had a gruesome smile that pulled bright red lips over his teeth.
“Enough you two!” shouted Titan. “I have things to do. Take her below and make certain the door is locked.”
The larger shark grabbed Lilliana’s hair and began to pull her out the door. What was it with fish and backwards travel? The other shark swam behind Lilliana and occasionally snapped his teeth at her feet.
They swam down the side of the black abyss past several outcroppings of stone. Occasionally Smiley would yell, “Bubble!” and they would move to one side or the other. The water continued to grow warmer as they descended and it smelled like sulfur. That could only mean one thing. They were going towards an undersea volcano. It made sense to Lilliana now that she thought about it. Star Shadow was protected by a dormant volcano, and this place, whatever it was, was heated by a volcano. She just hoped she didn’t have any bubbles in her room.
The sharks stopped after they had traveled into the darkness for a long time. There was no light anywhere, and Lilliana had lost track of any sense of time or depth. The sharks pulled her into a cave on the side of the cliff and allowed her to stand on her feet. Although Titan’s cave was roomy and well lit, this one had no light at all. The water here felt stale, like there wasn’t much air in it and Lilliana grew a little worried.
“Don’t worry dinner---”
“Smiley, we don’t eat the guests!”
“What do we call it?” Smiley asked the other shark.
“I’m not sure. It sounds funny, smells funny and has those strange short tentacles instead of fins.”
“What did Titan call it?” Smiley asked.
“He called it princess!” the other shark said.
“That’s a good one,” laughed Smiley. “Next he’ll keep her for a pet.”
“No that’s you,” laughed the other shark.
“That’s not funny, Brutus!”
“I think it is,” Brutus said and he kept laughing.
“I’m sure your king doesn’t think you’re a pet,” Lilliana said.
“’Course he does. We all do, don’t we Cookie?”
“If he was a pet, then he wouldn’t have the duty of leading the future queen, would he?” Lilliana protested.
“What?” asked both sharks.
“Titan gave you the honor of leading me here, didn’t he? I’m to be your future queen, so he must think very highly of you.” Lilliana wondered if fish could taste a lie the same way she could taste metal in the water.
“You and Titan?” Brutus asked.
“But you’re so ugly! No offense, really,” said Smiley.
“None taken. But if I do, I mean, when I do become your queen I will remember those who are kind to me. Those who bring me food, for instance, will have special places.”
“Oh yeah,” Smiley said, “special places.”
“Like a place in the royal court and fishing areas of our own?” Brutus asked.
“Perhaps,” Lilliana continued. “The best fishing places will be saved for those who are my very favorites though.”
“Pick me! Pick me!” Smiley said. “What do your favorites do?”
“They’re the ones who introduce me to the kingdoms and show me the most special swimming tours,” Lilliana said.
“Ooh, Ooh! The very best place is right on the edge of the trench where the drop-off is. I’ll take you there!”
“Not so fast,” Brutus said. “This is one of your tricks, isn’t it? Titan said we had to watch out for you. He said you knew Icthus better than any of us, and I bet we should check with him before we take you anywhere. Come on Smiley. Let’s lock this one up and go.”
They pushed her back into the cave and turned around at the entrance.
“Push it down. There’s no way she can lift it with those little tentacles.”
Down came a large boulder and Lilliana felt the current of water rush past her as the doorway closed with a bang. The sharks were still talking as they swam away, but now their voices were muffled by the rock.
Now what? Befriending the sharks hadn’t worked at all, not that she really thought it would. So what did that leave her with? She had a sore on her back from Smiley, but other than that she wasn’t injured. She felt above her and the ceiling was rather low. She could stand up in it, but her horse couldn’t. A wave of sadness washed over Lilliana. Spectrum had been so good to her, but now he was gone. Lilliana sighed and put her hands out to the wall. It was cooler than the water, which was a relief, and the stones felt hard and rough. How far back did this cave go? Would she get lost in it, or could it possibly have a back exit? Lilliana was afraid to move or she might not know where the door was. What if she was in a maze and she was lost and never found?
Measuring seemed like a good idea. She took some of the seaweed from around one of her ankles and put it under a stone by the door. Then she stretched out her arms and put her chest against the dark wall. One. Then she moved her hands very carefully and stretched again. This time she hadn’t stretched fully out when she felt an opening in the wall.
Excited Lilliana slid both hands along the wall to the edge of the opening. Was it a door, a window? She could feel water flowing through the hole and she used both hands to explore. It was a window at about the height of her waist to her head, and as wide as one of her arms. There were smooth rods going up and down the window and anything outside was just as dark as the inside of the cave. Lilliana couldn’t even see her hands, much less the window. The bars felt thick and strong and tasted like some sort of strange shell. Bone, that was the taste. Lilliana wrinkled her nose and sank to the floor. What use was this anyhow? She was in a cell and she would never get out.
Lilliana sat and hugged her knees to her chest. She missed the lovely glow worms that lit her room in Star Shadow and the soft, living bed she had slept on. She remembered being nervous about meeting the king, but that fear was nothing compared to this. She shivered in the dark. How could she marry a shark? She had always dreamed of loving a noble man like her father. One who
would love and adore her as she served her beloved Atlantis. She could never agree to the demands of this monster.
Lilliana was exhausted from the fighting, the arguing, the thinking, and the worrying. What was the point in worrying now when she was at the bottom of the deepest pit she’d ever known? She had no friends. Spectrum was dead on the bottom of the trench floor, Lance was a traitor, and Spike was surely crab food by now. Titan was planning an attack on Star Shadow that would kill the king and queen and probably Pierce too. After that where would he go? What would he do to Atlantis? What would he do to her family?
Lilliana looked uselessly around her black cave. It didn’t matter if her eyes were open or closed in this cell. She was utterly alone, and her chest felt heavy. A fresh wave of sulfur flowed over her and the smell of rotten eggs permeated her gills. Lilliana put her head in her hands and sobbed. Long low sobs. She ran her hands through her hair and pulled out the seaweed ties. What use had they been? Would King Nereus find her? He had the sharks to worry about, and he wouldn’t expect Lance home for a couple of days. He would have no idea where she was. Her father was already looking for her, she was sure. Would he search the sea? Would he be attacked by the sharks? She had no help. She had no hope. What was the point of breathing in and breathing out when all she had around her was darkness. Lilliana shut her eyes and cried herself to sleep.
15. Light
The pale glow made Lilliana feel warm inside. It was the