Ursula was last to arrive in the drawing room. Ozmoses and Aether hovered side-by-side and the royal family formed a loose semi-circle in front of them. Ephram the Venerable was a little off to one side, and Ursula came to rest next to him. The room was opulent—all pink and gold and pearls—but there was no time to admire the splendor before the Diaphanous began their musical speech.
"It was a most interesting journey," they sang together.
"What did you learn?" asked Queen Galataye. She had aged visibly over the past couple of weeks, but remained elegant and beautiful nevertheless.
"His long sleep before leaving this world was a period of preparation for a future life. He was given visions of things to come," said Ozmoses.
"I'm not sure I understand," said the queen.
"We believe he got to see the future of Atlantica during his slumber...or at least one possible version of the future," Ozmoses replied. In her peripheral vision, Ursula saw Ganeon nudge Triton with the subtlest of movements.
"And he probably saw the place where he was going—the place he is now," hummed Aether.
"And where is that?" Galataye asked anxiously.
"He's in a holding place at the moment. Very peaceful. He must forget his old life so the memory of it does not disorient him in his next life," Aether explained.
"So he will certainly live again?" The queen's voice trembled and her eyes clouded over with tears.
"Most of us live again and again," came the reply in four-part harmony.
"Oh, please," Alphon muttered.
Galataye ignored her son. "Will I ever see him again? When we he re-enter our world?" she pressed.
Aether and Ozmoses looked at each other knowingly. "This was the most surprising thing we learned. Nepp will live again, near here, as royalty...but we believe as a human."
"What?" gasped Queen Galataye. Her children shared her thunderstruck expression. Psamanthe and Halimede reached out to steady one another, so staggered were they. Ursula searched the face of the High Priest, but he only smiled mysteriously.
"Yes. He will be a human prince, born to a maiden of the sea, and he will love and protect the ocean," they sang together.
"A maiden of the sea? Do you mean... a mermaid?" asked Triton. "How could that ever be?"
"Stranger things have happened. It will make more sense in time, we were assured. Those that need to understand it will understand it, at the appropriate time." The Diaphanous looked mildly amused.
Alphon scoffed loudly.
"Were you able to communicate with Nepp directly? To ask him about his parting wishes?" inquired the queen. Her voice had an edge of desperation to it.
"No, Your Majesty. That would have been confusing for him. He's already starting to forget this life in Atlantica. His guides did say they took him rather rapidly." They turned to serenade Ursula. "So there's no reason to believe your vitality spell malfunctioned in any way. It was his time to go." Aether smiled gently at the healer.
"I'm so glad to hear that," said Ursula. "Was he lucid at the end? He seemed so to me." The significance of her question was palpable to the entire room.
"His guides say he was of very clear mind. Nepp was frustrated at having to leave, but unafraid and cooperative," explained Ozmoses in two octaves.
"That's how it appeared to me, too," said Ursula quietly.
"Is everyone in on this conspiracy?" boomed Alphon without warning. He broke away from the semi-circle. "You all accept this account without question? Why?! Based on what?" he spat. "Holding places? Human reincarnation? And of course dear Ursula is innocent," he sneered.
"Alphon..." his mother warned.
The eldest prince was humming and swaying now. "Please, ohhh please, won't you spare me the shark shit," he sang in mockery of the Diaphanous.
"Show some respect!" Ursula shouted, her hands balling into fists.
"It's YOU that had better learn some re—"
"I'll not have this!" yelled Queen Galataye over their rising voices. "I want both of you out! Now!"
Ursula bowed quickly before the queen. "I'm terribly sorry, Your Majesty," she said before scurrying out of the room. Alphon was close behind her, and Triton was inching toward the door to follow them.
"You stay, Triton! I didn't say anyone else was dismissed," snapped the queen.
Alphon closed the door tight behind him and charged after Ursula, who was moving down the corridor at a fast clip. He grabbed a handful of her thick hair, near the scalp, and drug her backwards toward the door. Her arms shot out behind her head and she flailed blindly, trying to introduce her nails to his eyes. When she attempted to twist around to face him, he propelled the two of them faster down the hallway, causing her to pivot back. She lashed at him furiously with her tentacles.
Alphon crushed Ursula's hands together at the small of her back, encircling both wrists with one of his massive hands. His grip was like iron. Then he pinned her against the front of his body—her shoulder blades against his chest—so firmly that she couldn't do anything with her lower limbs; there was no longer enough empty space between them to complete the whip-like motions that had slowed him down a moment ago. His meaty forearm applied pressure to her throat. She felt like she was choking, but she didn't panic. Ursula knew how solid her protective spells were, and whether it was a barracuda or a bastard, they could do no more than inconvenience her.
"I've just decided what my first meal as king is going to be," he growled, cheek to cheek with her. "Your impertinent tongue."
"Such a mystery why your father didn't want you to become king, isn't it? Do you have any self-awareness at all?" she croaked.
He bore down harder on the front of her neck. "First, you will apologize for everything you've said and done against me, and beg for mercy. This will happen in front of a crowd assembled specially for your humiliation. Then, I'll cut out your tongue. And you, Ursula, will personally serve it to me on a platter, alongside a note thanking me for my leniency. You will hand feed me every last cube of it, should I wish it."
"That's a colorful fantasy you've got there."
"It's not a fantasy. It's a plan that I intend to see through."
"Your plan has a flaw," she wheezed. "You see, you'll never have a first meal as king because you'll never be king. Your chances are so slim, I'd wager that I have more of a shot at ruling Atlantica than you do."
The door creaked open behind them. Alphon shoved Ursula away forcefully by the head, and a moment later, Triton, Ganeon, and the twins filed into the corridor. "What's going on here?" Triton asked in alarm when he saw Ursula rubbing her throat and wrists.
"Ursula was just bragging about how she'll be ruling Atlantica one day," Alphon answered airily.
"That's not what I said and you know it," she shot back.
"Ganeon, will you escort our sisters to the dining hall, please? I don't want them to witness any more ugliness today," said Triton, his eyes locked on Alphon's. The threesome left in silence.
Alphon spoke rapidly as he neared his brother. "You know why she said that, Triton? Because if she manages to bind you in matrimony, she knows she'd be next in line. The two of you couldn't produce heirs, so there you have it. No doubt she'd kill you, as she did our father, and have the trident in hand before she's twenty-five years old."
"You're preposterous. I have no such designs." Ursula turned to Triton. "He said he was going to eat my tongue as his first meal as king, and I made a statement about how abysmal his chances of ever becoming king were." She glared at Alphon. "Don't twist my words, and stop calling me a murderer," she seethed.
"That's a new low for you, Alphon. I'd have never challenged you, if not for father's wishes. But every time you say something despicable like this, it reassures me I'm doing the right thing," snarled the youngest prince.
Alphon tried to place his hand on his brother's shoulder, but Triton shrugged it away angrily. "There's one thing I know we can agree on, Triton. I have much more experience with women than you do. I know how cunning and power-hungry the average woman is."
"You do have more experience, but the nature of that experience seems to have warped you," countered Prince Triton.
"If you could suspend judgment about my lifestyle for a moment, you'd learn something that could save you. It could save the entire kingdom from her wiles," Alphon said, shooting a hateful look Ursula's way. "Do you really think I've pursued all the females I've had over the years? Ha! Why, no indeed. You'd be amazed to learn how many have come slinking around me, trying to entice the next-in-line for their own selfish motives. And the ones I did chase? It took a single mention of my favorable position to get them to do whatever I wanted. Females will do anything to gain power, or even a shot at having a bit of power."
"So you're a victim, then?" Ursula laughed. "You're saying—with a straight face, no less!—that hundreds of crafty females have cruelly used you over the years?"
"I'm saying they've tried to use me, and have found themselves used and discarded instead. And every last one of them has deserved the treatment they received from me."
Galataye and Ephram's voices became audible on the other side of the door. "Listen," Triton said in a low voice. "Mother's coming through any moment, and she wants the family to take lunch together now. Perhaps you should go, Ursula." Triton looked pained at having to dismiss her.
Ursula was halfway down the corridor when she heard Alphon ask what was on the menu for lunch. "I hope it's octopus," he remarked loudly.
***
Never before had Ursula wished she knew the dark arts for the purpose of harming another, but Alphon had now brought that desire forth. Siddikah's recent comment about Ursula's incomplete magical knowledge rang in her ears all afternoon.
There was no time to check on Barry the rest of the day, as a steady flow of injured merfolk came through the temple needing help. Most reported odd encounters with animals that rarely came close enough to be a problem. There were jellyfish stings, eel shocks, and small shark bites to administer to until dusk.
Ursula left as soon as there was a lag in patients. The entire day had been strange and disturbing, and she was craving some comfort. She looked in on Dismas and Melisande, who thankfully asked her to stay for dinner.
They had a good laugh over Barry and Ursula's recent attempts at domestic spellcraft. She told her parents what the Diaphanous had reported earlier in the day, which led to a satisfying philosophical discussion—the sort Dismas especially loved. And they all cried a little, at the end of their meal, when Melisande brought out two long pearl necklaces and looped them lovingly around Ursula's lavender neck.
"They are breathtaking, Aunt Mel!" she gushed. "And you made them so quickly! Thank you!!"
All of this, and a crushing hug from Uncle Dismas as Ursula was departing, had set the world right again. With her spirits restored, Ursula could brave the Uncivilized Waters and another encounter with the Squid Witch. No matter how badly Siddikah teased her tonight, Ursula would get her to promise to perform a transformation a day from now. She had a date with Triton in almost exactly 24 hours, and come hell or high water, it was going to be perfect.