Just for Fins (17 page)

At my gasp, Tellin cuts me a warning look.

I nod. He doesn't want me putting his father on the defensive about the state of the chamber. I draw my gaze away from the condition of the room and instead focus on the king himself. Seated in his throne, surrounded by several guards and what look like advisers, he sends them all away.

King Gadus looks like a shell of his former self, even worse than when I saw him at the council meeting. His skin is pale—not fair-skin pale, like mine, but ghostly pale with a grayish tint. There are dark bags under his eyes, and he is hunkered over in the throne, like a merman far older than I know he is.

It's heartbreaking.

“I can guess why you're here,” he says to me, throwing his son an angry glare. “You can't talk me out of it.”

“Your highness,” I say, swimming closer. “You can't think—”

“Call me Gadus, girl,” he barks. “We've known each other long enough.”

“Gadus,” I say, beginning again, “you can't think that this is the way to fix things.”

“I witnessed your first attempt to
fix things
at that absurd council meeting. I'm an old merman,” he says. “My kingdom is dying, and so am I. There aren't many choices left.”

“This is not the right one,” I insist. “Tellin and I are working on a plan to get help for your kingdom—for
all
the kingdoms.”

“Working on a plan.” He practically spits. “How long will that take? Weeks? Months? Years? Neither I nor Acropora have that kind of time.”

“Then we'll make it happen faster,” I say. “I will personally raid Thalassinia's stores and send everything we can spare. My father has already agreed to accept and provide for as many Acroporan refugees as we can support, and I'm sure we can get other kingdoms to agree to do the same.”

Eventually,
I add silently.

“It is not enough!” Gadus slams his fist against the arm of his throne.

“And you think starting a war will solve things?” I have to get through to him, and if he's worried about his kingdom, I have to make him see that this is the worst choice for his people.

“War comes at a great cost to a kingdom,” I say. “It takes resources you don't have and risks the lives of the very people you're trying to save.”

Gadus drops his head, and he's silent for so long, I start to think he's fallen asleep. I look at Tellin, but he's staring blankly at the ceiling.

I swim closer.

When Gadus lifts his head, I'm shocked to see his gray eyes sparkling. My heart aches for his pain.

“What other choice do I have, Lily?” he asks, and I get the feeling he is actually asking. He really wants my advice.

I wish I had an easy answer. I don't even have a certain answer, but I give him the only advice I have.

“Have patience,” I say. “As much as you can find. And faith. You have to trust that your fellow merfolk will do what's right in the end.”

Gadus snorts. “My fellow merfolk are idiots. They think breaking oil rigs and sinking ships is going to solve the ocean's problems. How can I expect them to help me when they're too dumb to help themselves?”

“You know about the sabotage efforts?” I ask.

“Of course,” he grumbles. “That damn fool clownfish Dumontia came calling at my door, asking Acropora to join the cause. Threw her out on her ear, I did.”

“Dumontia?” The queen of Glacialis. “She's behind it?”

Gadus nods, and I kick forward to plant a kiss on his wrinkled cheek. This is exactly what I needed to know. If I know who's behind the sabotage, then maybe I can talk her out of her plan.

“Promise me you won't start a war,” I say, “and I think I know how to turn things around.”

Gadus shakes his head sadly. “You're right,” he replies. “We don't have the resources to feed our staff, let alone an army.”

“I promise you, Gadus,” I say, “I will find a way to get you more help.”

“I hope so,” he says. “My kingdom is fast running out of options.”

“Come on, Tellin,” I shout, pushing away from the throne and grabbing him by the wrist. “We have to get back to Thalassinia. We have a long journey to prepare for.”

“Where are we going?” he asks.

“To the arctic,” I reply. “We have to talk to a queen.”

Chapter 19

F
irst thing Monday morning, I see Quince off with a pair of royal guards to swim him home. Daddy and his advisers—and Peri, who came for the meeting and stuck it out to the end, even though I wasn't there—have agreed that a series of royal visits from the king himself will convince the other rulers that the sabotage plan is a big mistake. I doubt that's going to help, but they clear his schedule, and he and his advisers will leave for Marbella Nova shortly after Tellin and I leave.

Maybe a kingly presence will make a difference, but I'm not betting on it. I'm starting at the top.

When I told Daddy my plan, he wanted to delay his first visit and escort me to Glacialis. After some arguing and insisting and giving him the same argument I gave before my confrontation with King Zostero, he relents. He understands this is my mission, and I want to do it on my own, without Daddy's weight behind me—if I can.

So, once Quince is safely away and Tellin, Peri, and I have a dozen guards to escort us, Daddy uses his trident to whip up a powerful enough current to get us to Glacialis in record time.

“The return current will begin about two hours after your expected arrival time,” he tells me.

“That should be long enough,” I say. “Either she'll see reason by then, or she'll have kicked us out.”

Daddy nods. “Be careful, daughter. And good luck.”

“Thanks,” I say, giving him a quick hug before swimming back to join my group. “We'll need it.”

We leave the palace, swimming east, where we run into the enhanced current. Usually Daddy's current boost is at the fast end of normal for the given waters, but I doubt the Gulf Stream has ever flowed this quickly before. I give Peri a look that says, “Here goes nothing,” and we move into the fast-flowing water. Tellin and the school of guards swim in after us.

Staying streamlined, the flow speeds us north, through the kingdom of Trigonum, into Nephropida and then Rosmarus. Every mile brings us into cooler and cooler temperatures. Even though it's practically summer, the water around us is freezing cold. Everyone in our group uses mer powers to warm the sea around us so we are traveling in a bubble of lukewarm water.

Finally, as the current takes us through the Strait of Belle Isle, we emerge in the southernmost tip of Glacialis.

The water up here is different. Not just colder, although it definitely is that, but it
feels
different. It looks different. Crisper blues and denser liquid. And whether because of its geography or the melting ice caps Dumontia claims are desalinating their waters, the salt content is far lower than in Thalassinia.

“The palace is just on the other side of that ice wall,” Peri says.

She has really done her research.

I nod and follow her direction, swimming toward the vertical sheet of ice and then around it. On the other side I see a palace that looks like something out of a fairy tale.

The entire structure is pure white, so white the glacial blues of the world around it reflect off its surfaces. I count at least a dozen spires, sharp angular things thrusting up toward the surface like icy stalagmites.

“It looks completely out of sync with the environment,” I say. “Aren't they worried about discovery?”

“Not up here,” Peri says. “Not too many humans diving in these frigid waters.”

“Besides,” Tellin adds, “their shape is not
so
unusual.”

I follow the direction he's pointing and see a similar-looking formation a few hundred yards away. Only that one looks completely natural and organic.

“Oh, wow,” I say as we approach the main entrance.

A pair of merfolk swim by, one a mermaid with a tail the color of glaciers. Pale icy aqua with touches of pale turquoise and sky blue. Her hair is such a pale blond, it looks almost as white as the icy palace.

The other, a merman, has a tail that is dark brown, almost black. Matching dark-brown hair flows long past his shoulders, and with a brown fur jacket on, he could easily pass for a seal or a walrus if he had to.

I never really thought about it, but I suppose over time merpeople naturally evolved to match the colors and textures of the world around them. My lime-green-and-gold scales fit in perfectly with the brightly colored fish and sea life in my kingdom's ecosystem. Up here, blending in with the ice or masquerading as an arctic mammal would definitely be an advantage.

To enter the palace, we swim through what feels like a curtain of ice cubes. Shards of ice hang down in strings, and the Glacialine guards pull them aside to let us in.

“I shall tell the queen of your arrival,” one of her guards says.

He leaves, and the remaining guard—a mermaid not much older than me with gray-and-white hair—stares openly at us. Her pale-gray gaze sweeps over my brightly colored tailfin and then Tellin's. And then those of Peri and the guards.

“They're . . . beautiful,” she says, the warmth of her breath clouding in the icy water.

“Thank you,” I say, blushing. I gesture at her tailfin, varying shades of gray from dark steel to nearly silver. “I think your scales are beautiful, too.”

“Princess Waterlily, how nice of you to visit.”

I look up at the sound of Dumontia's voice. She floats into the room like the queen that she is, pale silver hair floating behind her like a floe of ice. Two attendants, a pair I recognize from the council meeting, flank her. Her posture—rigid spine, hands relaxed at her sides, and chin elevated—tells me everything I need to know about her. She is powerful, she knows it, and she wants me to know it too.

Well, I'm not scared. Not anymore.

“This is not a social call, your highness,” I say, bowing slightly and hoping that the sign of deference will put her in a more agreeable mood.

“No, I thought not,” she says. “Come to make another plea for help for the poor dying kingdom?”

The false pity in her voice is intended to taunt Tellin, and it works.

He starts forward, and I throw out an arm to stop him. I nod at two of my guards, who swim to his side and, each taking one arm, pull him back next to Peri.

Yes, her snide comment was uncalled for, but his emotional reaction is just what she wants. It won't make this go any easier.

She reminds me of Brody's ex-girlfriend, Courtney. When I was crushing on Brody, she used to say mean, ter­rible things about me. And I just let her. Now that Doe is with Brody, Courtney tried her tactics again. Only Doe stood up to her, and Courtney backed down.

I hope that works with Dumontia.

“No, I haven't,” I say, straightening my spine and trying to float a little higher. I could use the advantage. “I'm here to—” I debate using the word “tell,” but I think she'll react badly. “
Ask
you to stop the acts of sabotage you have planned against humans.”

“Oh, you are, are you?” She laughs, weakly, like she pities me. “I'm sorry you came all this way for me to say no, but . . . no.”

“Dumontia,” I blurt; then, when I see the look of insult on her face, I backtrack. “Your highness, this is not the way to solve the problems facing our kingdoms.”

“No?” She floats closer, looming over me like an imperial icicle. “And what do you suggest
is
the solution? Band-Aids and care packages?”

“It's a whole lot better than your plan,” Tellin snaps.

I throw him a silencing look and find Peri already shushing him.

Dumontia rolls her eyes at him. “I'll pass, thank you.”

“You're not going to drive humans out of the ocean,” I say, trying to make her see why her plan is doomed to fail. “You're going to confuse them and make them angry. And then, maybe, you'll make them curious enough to start investigating why all these accidents keep occurring in their offshore endeavors.”

“Will I?” she replies with a mocking tone. “Oh, that would be such a shame.”

“No,” I say, building up steam, “it will be a disaster. If they start investigating, then it's only a matter of time before they—”

Dumontia lifts her eyebrows and gives me a casual shrug.

“You—” I can't believe she's implying what I
think
she's implying. “You
want
them to investigate. You
want
them to find one of us, to discover our greatest secret.”

“No,” she says, her voice dripping with sarcasm, “that's not at all what I want.”

“Was that your plan all along?” I ask in disbelief. “To reveal our existence to mankind?”

The superior look on her face melts and she leans in, looking serious. Her voice is just loud enough for me to hear, but not anyone else in the room. “Can you think of a better way to make humans realize the gravity of the situation? They could care less if whales and polar bears and entire coral-reef habitats die out as a result of their disregard for the natural environment. But mermaids? Well, they might think twice about dumping pollution into our waters if they know we're here.”

“Dumontia,” I say, shaking my head. This time she doesn't show insult at my use of her name. “This is not the answer. This could be the worst mistake in our history.”

“Or it could be our finest moment.”

She doesn't understand. I've lived with humans for years. I love a bunch of them, and I respect who and what they are. But I also know that things are never that easy. It wouldn't be, “Oh, look, here we are, let's have a party.” Between scientific study and governmental intervention, revealing ourselves to the human world at large would likely be a disaster.

Clearly Dumontia doesn't see it that way. I wonder if the other kings and queens do.

“Does the rest of your coalition know about your ultimate plan?” I ask her. “Do they know you want to expose our existence, or did you bring them on board with the false promise of retribution and kicking humans out of our waters?”

I can read the answer on her face.

“I didn't think so.” I swim closer still, so close only
she
can hear
me
. “You call off your plans, or I will expose you.”

“So what?” she says. “They might not know this is my plan, but most of them will not care. Their thirst for revenge and freedom is stronger than their desire to keep our secret.”

“You really believe that?” I ask. “I think you're wrong.”

I think the other rulers of the Western Atlantic—and in the rest of the seven seas—would be horrified to learn that Dumontia's ultimate goal is to reveal our existence to humans. I think they'd do anything to stop her. And that might be just the thing I need to get them on my side.

“Try it,” she dares me. “We shall see.”

Then, with a dismissive swirl, she turns and swims out of the room.

“I knew this wouldn't work,” Tellin says, shrugging free of the guards holding him. “No one listens to reason anymore. Maybe my father has the right idea after all.”

“Don't be so melodramatic,” Peri tells him.

“Besides,” I say, “now that we know her secret, we can use it against her. I think I know how to stop the sabotaging. And, if that works, then it will pave the way to inter-kingdom cooperation and help for your people.”

Tellin gives me a skeptical look.

“What plan is that?” Peri asks.

“You'll have to wait and see,” I say with a smile. “Wait and see.”