against the dolphin’s neck.
“I trust Sir Lance with my life, and my kingdom. Whoever the traitor is, it is not a sailfish and neither is it this young princess,” the king said.
Pierce slowly let the dolphin go and returned to his place beside Lilliana and before the king. He held his sword up a little as if daring anyone else to speak.
“Do you know who the traitor is?” the queen asked.
Lilliana shook her head sadly and the throne room was filled with quiet murmurs of speculation. She looked around the throne room at the king and queen and the dolphins who served them. She knew they wanted the best for their king. She looked at Pierce and the handful of sailfish around them. Could there be a disloyal sailfish? From the character of Pierce and Lance she doubted it. She looked at the beautiful gold laced through the rocks of the volcano and at the servant fish picking up the discarded clam shells from previous meals. A movement in the corner caught Lilliana’s eye. It was one of the purple urchins. Several images passed through her mind.
Lilliana remembered her first swim with Spectrum and how the purple urchins littered the floor. She remembered what Big Mama had said about the urchins loving to gossip and how the sharks were keeping them as pets. Then she remembered Brutus and Smiley talking about getting information on Nereus from the urchins. He must have been talking about the purple urchins. Lilliana looked up and swam to the queen’s side on the dais.
In an instant six swords were at her throat and a dozen dolphins were between her and the queen.
“Put your swords down,” the king said. “Is there something you wish to share with us?”
“Yes, but it must be whispered,” Lilliana said.
“You can say what you want before my advisors,” the king said. Lilliana looked at the servants and the urchins inching towards the door. They had to be stopped now, before they swam off to find the sharks.
“Sire you have not one spy but many.”
The room was heavy with silence.
“The urchins have been talking with the dark shark, and that one is about to go to him too,” Lilliana said pointing to the spiky little thing that was inching out the door. In an instant a guard scooped up the little urchin and put him in a box.
“Gather them all. From all the corners of the kingdom and bring them here,” the king said. The throne room was a flurry of movement as the fish and dolphins swam quickly to do the king’s bidding.
“How do you know this?” Queen Doris asked after the room had settled down.
Lilliana explained what she had put together. “It all makes sense. They have been everywhere that I’ve been under the sea. The sharks have been taking them from the otters so they can put them in the castle to spy. That’s why the otters don’t have as much food. Nobody bothers to look at them as they tumble around the kingdom, so they make perfect spies.”
“Hmmm.” The king lifted his fluke and swam closer. “Perhaps we will find a few and give them something special to talk about.”
21. Battle
Lilliana crouched behind a rock waiting for a glimmer of movement by the mermaid cave. Earlier in the day the king had gathered all the urchins and locked them in a chest. He put the chest in the throne room and allowed them to hear a private counsel containing false plans.
Pierce then took the chest and dropped it at the entrance to the mermaid cave. Urchins scattered out of the light and into the safe darkness of the cave while the sailfish pretended to try to pick them up.
“Won’t they know we’re tricking them?” Lilliana asked as they swam back to the king.
“Urchins are not known for their wisdom. They’re so happy to have gossip that they likely won’t stop until they’ve spread the news. Let’s just hope they forget to mention that we’ve gathered them into a box.”
Throughout the day the kingdom had been swept of hundreds of the tiny prickly creatures, most of them found outside the throne room and by the mermaid cave. Lilliana shifted to a seated position. Swimming constantly still wasn’t natural for her and her toes were starting to feel numb. She felt the softness of the sand under her legs and her thoughts drifted again. Earlier, the king had allowed Lilliana to listen to his battle plans. The king had asked her details about the shark and his habits and she told the council about Brutus and Cookie and the bubbles, remembering that the smallest bit of knowledge could be helpful to the king. The court had argued whether she should fight or not, using the words of the prophecy and her poisonous toes as major points of issue. She had dull teeth and her nose was not sharp, but she had escaped the sharks and her toes and fingers could be quite useful. Unlike the prophecy, there was no rainbow and no sword, but still she was a land dweller who lived under the water.
Spike flipped next to her as he tried out various battle stances. The little fish arrived in the kingdom after lunch and insisted upon helping with the battle. The king eventually relented and allowed him to be present as long as he stayed at the edge.
“We are gonna kick some shark tail today!” yelled the little fish as he wiggled his fins and puffed up. “Don’t worry about a thing princess. We’re friends and I will protect you.” The little fish hit his fin on a rock and started swimming lopsidedly in a circle.
“Spike, I think I’d rather swim through the crab hole again; at least then I was the only one being attacked. We didn’t fare so well against the sharks in the trench, remember?” She sighed as she thought of her beautiful horse and how he had been such a good friend. Spectrum had saved her life at least once and now he was nothing but crab food. Being part of the action hadn’t done him any good.
“But then we didn’t have the king with us, not to mention all the king’s fish,” insisted Spike as he inspected his injured fin. He flexed it twice, shook it out, and proceeded back to his flips.
The blue above them was deepening as night was falling. The sounds of the fish around them grew quiet as they became more watchful of the mermaid cave.
The king had ordered several of the larger fish to roll stones in a semi-circle around the cave and he placed his sharpest swords just behind the rocks. The dolphins with their mighty teeth and tails were behind them, and the king and queen were behind the dolphins. All were ready to fight. Lilliana was on a small cliff that led to the cave.
The waiting was difficult for the fish and occasionally Lilliana would hear murmured arguments followed by quick reprimands and silence would cover them again. Spike nestled into a small nook at the base of the rock and closed his eyes. Lilliana resisted the urge to pet the prickly fish. She looked up at the deep black ocean above her. It was hard to judge the passing of time under water with no stars to help break up the darkness. Lilliana felt in her pocket for the crystal and it hummed in her hand, nestled in the rest of the dragon berries from the cliff. She closed her eyes and remembered the sunshine and the cool breeze.
Sounds started coming from the cave and Lilliana’s heart beat faster. She could see the glow worms lighting up as something, or some things were travelling past them. The dorsal fins around her flipped up to full size and Spike puffed partway and looked over Lilliana’s shoulder.
“Is it them?” Spike asked.
“Are we expecting anyone else?” Lilliana asked.
“It could be a merman just wanting to trade.”
“At this time of night?”
“Or Big Mama.”
“She stays on the other side of the volcano. It must be the scouts for the shark, so stay quiet and keep down. We don’t want them to be suspicious.”
Spike lowered himself cautiously to a rock next to Lilliana’s. They could see the expanse of white sand in the middle of the boulders, the fighting field created by the king for his advantage.
The light from the cave grew stronger as the glow worms at the entrance lit up alerting all to the presence of the intruders. And then, through the mouth of the cave, tumbled several purple urchins. A rush of air rippled past gills as th
e fish spotted the annoying creatures. Spike squinted his eyes and dove down taking two of the stinky urchins in his mouth.
“Spike! No!” Lilliana said before she could stop herself. The little fish was going to get himself killed for an evening snack.
Spike brought the urchins to Lilliana and put them by her hand.
“We can’t let them tell the shark about our army. Hold these will you?”
Spike swam off to gather more of the spiny creatures, this time picking up three. That left six of the things and they were scattering fast. The other fish held their positions and just watched as the little fish did his duty. If the sharks saw the fighting fish they would know the attack was expected, but they might not be suspicious of this little puffer.
Lilliana struggled to put the urchins someplace where they couldn’t crawl away. By the time Spike had brought her five of them she was running out of room in her hands. She started putting them in her pockets, thankful that Nana had made them deep.
Spike went down for another pass. He grabbed an urchin in his mouth and swam past the cave to another. He turned to come back to Lilliana’s hiding place when a tiger shark rushed out of the cave and snapped at Spike, just missing his tail. Lilliana covered her mouth and ducked her head. Her heart was pounding in her chest. This was it. It was all starting now. She waited impatiently for the little puffer to