“Well, we have to come up with something,” I insist. “We can’t just sit by while they start these attacks. I won’t.”
“No, of course not. You and I will meet with my advisers, for as long as it takes, and we will come up with a plan. Mangrove,” he calls out to his secretary.
“Yes, your highness,” the eager-to-serve merman says as he swims into the office.
“Please ask Graysby and Grouper to come in for a meeting. We have important matters to discuss.”
“Yes, sir.”
“And please find Peri, too,” I add. “She’s my adviser, and I want her here.”
“Yes, Princess.” Mangrove disappears into the hall, and I can’t help feeling like this isn’t enough.
“I promise you, Lily,” Daddy says, “we will figure out how to solve this.”
“Pardon me, your highness,” a royal guard says, peering into the room, “but Princess Waterlily has a visitor.”
A visitor? Maybe Peri heard that I was home and is already here.
“Prince Tellin awaits you in the entry hall.”
Okay, not Peri.
“Go,” Daddy says. “We will begin the meeting without you.”
I nod and swim out into the hall. As I follow the guard through the palace, I pass by Graysby and Grouper, Daddy’s closest advisers, on their way to the royal office. Peri has a longer way to swim from her home outside the palace walls.
“What’s wrong?” I ask Tellin as soon as I see him.
The guard who was escorting me disappears back into the palace. When Tellin turns to face me, there is pure panic in his eyes. I open my mind to the bond connecting us, and the panic I saw in his eyes assaults me tenfold.
“What?” I ask, darting to his side. “What happened?”
“Lily, I—” He swings his gaze around the space, as if checking for eavesdroppers. “Can we go speak somewhere private?”
Normally I would say that the palace staff knows better than to eavesdrop on their princess. But Tellin does not look like he’s in the mood for verbal assurances.
“Of course.”
I lead the way up to my room, where we won’t be interrupted. As soon as we float inside, I say, “Tell me.”
He wrings his hands and starts swimming in a circle. “My father . . . ,” he begins, then trails off.
“Oh my gosh,” I cry. “Is he okay? He’s not—?”
“No,” Tellin says with a pained laugh, “he’s not dead. Lily, he’s . . .”
The fear coursing through Tellin is pounding me. “Please,” I say, wanting this pain to lessen, “tell me.”
Tellin draws in a quick breath and nods. “I think he’s going mad, Lily,” he says. “He . . .” He hesitates, shakes his head, and forces himself to continue. “He wants to start a war.”
“What?” I gasp. “What are you talking about?”
“Since the council meeting, he has been consumed by anger,” Tellin says. “I tried explaining that the other kings and queens only refused aid because they have terrible problems of their own. That we aren’t alone, and that Acropora is not a failure because we suffer.”
“Okay,” I say, still trying to understand what he’s saying. “How does that lead to war?”
“He said that if the other kingdoms wouldn’t help, then he would take help from them.” Tellin closes his eyes, and I’m pretty sure it’s to hide their sparkling. “He has spent the past two weeks amassing an army to invade our neighbors, to plunder food and supplies.”
“Your neighbors,” I whisper. “You mean Queen Cypraea and her people?”
“Yes, Antillenes.” When Tellin opens his eyes, they glitter bright orange. “And Thalassinia.”
“What? Why?” I demand. “We have sent aid. We’re doing everything we can to help.”
“I know,” Tellin snaps. “Don’t you think I know that? Don’t you think that’s why I wanted to bond with you in the first place? Because your people already support us.”
“I’m sorry,” I say, not because I did anything wrong, but because I know Tellin is stressed beyond belief.
“I’ve tried talking to him,” Tellin continues, almost as if I’m not there. “I yelled at him, argued with him, and begged him. He won’t listen to reason.”
There seems to be a lot of that going around lately. Desperate times lead to desperate acts. But war?
Though the history of the mer world is not without a few wars, there hasn’t been one in my lifetime. There hasn’t been one in the Western Atlantic for centuries.
But besides that, Thalassinia and Acropora have always been great allies. We are already sending what aid we can spare, food surpluses and medical supplies. We are welcoming Acroporan refugees with open arms. Thalassinian schoolchildren are even raising sea coins to help Acroporan children.
The idea that Acropora would invade Thalassinia is unfathomable.
“Tellin,” I whisper, my brain in shock, “what are we going to do?”
“I don’t know,” he says. “My father won’t listen to me. Or Lucina or his advisers or any of the nobles and ambassadors who have tried to change his mind. I have tried everything.”
I feel bad for Tellin. He’s trying so hard to do right by his kingdom, to help his people in this time of need and suffering. His father is not helping the situation.