"No one had to send us," he rasped, his voice husky from the abuse Aboshan inflicted on his throat. "You are everyone's enemy under the sea."
The emperor dragged his trident down the rebel's flank, letting blood into the water.
"You lie," said the monarch, sending the tines deeper into the trailing tentacles. "You came at the instigation of our wife, Llawan. Why did she send you to kill me?"
"The ocean is marred by your armies and forts," whispered the rebel, lines of despair evident in his face. "None may trust the other for fear of informers in your pay." He breathed in polluted water and paused. "The denizens of the upper ocean must bow to your will or flee. The cetaceans suffer from your contempt and whale songs grow bitter. How can any not rise up and strike you down?" The fighter began to talk with more strength, the emperor's magical hold weakening as the offender further roused the imperial temper.
"We are only the first lapping of a wave sweeping you aside," the captive said more boldly. "You dare not leave your palace unless escorted by schools of guards. You cannot hope to chain the seas with your decrees."
Aboshan was bright red with rage, the muscles holding the trident quivering with anticipation.
"You shall fall and Llawan, Empress of the Sea shall reign in-"
The monarch cut the speech short, plunging the bronze barbs deep into the cephalid only to withdraw and stab him again. The emperor's skin pulsed a howl of rage as he executed the prisoner.
"Bring me the captain of the guard," the monarch commanded, letting loose the rebel to drift with the current. The captain was a pale blue as he approached his sovereign.
"I am trying to find out how the attackers infiltrated the palace, sire," he said in a trembling voice. The emperor jetted back and forth, his skin still pulsating in rage.
"I know how the scum came into our presence," Aboshan said and came closer. "The question is merely one of your incompetence or active treachery."
"I assure you that I live to serve only you, Majesty," the captain said excitedly. The monarch regarded him narrowly, the pulses of color slowing.
"We think not. We think you serve the self-styled Queen of the Seas, Llawan." He swam closer to the officer. "We think you would see another on the throne, so take your seat!"
Aboshan forced the captain onto the organisms that groomed the ruler, the soldier jarring against the under lying rock. His taste was not the emperor's, and the polyps turned upon the perceived usurper. Venom seared into the officer's scales, killing him as broad swathes of flesh swelled and burst. A look of unspeakable agony showed, and the face was washed away by the throne's caress.
"Let him be cast into the abyss," Aboshan proclaimed. "There to be devoured by worms along with his brethren in treachery. Let others of the slain be displayed as proof of our justice and continued power."
The captain's former command gathered up the dead and retreated to do the monarch's will.
It was some time before the next guard commander dared report to the emperor. Finally, a sergeant stationed in the palace came to speak to the monarch in his private quarters. Aboshan had retired to regain his composure, though a clerk to conduct official business accompanied him. The imperial rooms were lit by light pumped from the upper world. Long kelp plants swayed in the currents, and small edible fish and crustaceans scurried over the floors. The emperor saw distrust in the sergeant's face as the soldier regarded the restful scene. Aboshan hoped fear of poisons and hidden guardians would give others pause when they plotted against him. The attendants who usually filled the rooms waited elsewhere until his temper subsided.
"The attackers appeared in the palace through use of a transport pool," the commander began without preamble, anxious to discharge his duty and leave. "The cuttlefish filled the outer rooms with poisonous ink, and the rebels prevented the flow of reinforcements from inside the defenses. Most of the troops were unaware of any problems until the attack was over. All the invaders perished resisting capture or during the assault on your person. At this time we have no leads as to who might be responsible." The soldier dipped his head, the emperor and his servant half-hidden from sight by the room's growth. He left at Aboshan's nod.
The monarch turned to his clerk. The privilege of serving as private secretary to the emperor rotated fairly often. The civil service assured him that it was awarded on the basis of performance. Aboshan wondered if the ministers overseeing the palace staff really thought him so dull witted. The secretary was a tall spindly crab holding a stylus and a sheet of wax, ready to take down his orders.
"We charge the army to investigate all signs relating to the recent conspiracy to unseat us," the monarch dictated, plucking a tiny urchin from the floor and splitting it open, the pain from the quills spicing the coming meal. "All communications with the southern court of Queen Llawan are to be closely scrutinized and correspondents questioned rigorously as to their connections with our estranged spouse."
The cephalid sucked the urchin's innards down and tore at the flesh with his beak as he considered further actions. His maleficent wife and her pawns had breached his palace. Yet to act against her would provoke a civil war that even in victory would leave the kingdom crip-pled. He needed uncontestable proof of her guilt. The emperor thought of her rumored alliances with the cetaceans and the monsters of the abyss. Perhaps he should increase efforts to infiltrate her court as she had so obviously violated his own.
Aboshan thought of Laquatus, banished to play ambassador to the land because of his unfortunate ties to the queen. Perhaps his close experience with the land might promote sympathy for imperial plans. He thought of the arrogant and cruel merman doomed to scrape before air breathers and land walkers.
"I recall our ambassador from the Cabal to serve our pleasure once more, his successor to be appointed after close consultation with our loyal friend, Laquatus," the emperor said. He waved the crab away to convey his orders to the palace ministers.
Undoubtedly, Laquatus would serve Aboshan to regain favor. Most of the world waited for a ruler's firm hand. The monarch would establish a new dominion over sea and land. The emperor's mirth showed in a shower of colors flowing over his skin, and he rang for his maidens to attend him.
CHAPTER 19
Laquatus looked at the capital as he swam through the water, enjoying the comparative warmth of the ocean after days in the caverns under the continent. Turg swam alongside, his clumsy strokes amusing the merman as the ambassador continued down. The light grew dimmer as the bottom gained definition. From the surface, the city could not be seen, but it filled a huge stretch of the continental shelf. The buildings below lived, straining nutrients from the water to repair themselves and repelling pests. Steady streams of mer people swam through and above the city. A pod of whales called to the ambassador as they herded a school of fish with sonic calls toward the capital. Once a sign of tribute to the emperor, the cries sounded of onerous duty to the merman's ears. But what did he care for the opinion of air breathers? He felt the flutter of his gills to prove his superior nature.
The whales grew silent as mer warriors swam up to meet them, their lack of song more telling than any call. The soldiers' magic now herded the fish, their command lulling the school to an army encampment.
Laquatus noticed many soldiers and a distinct lack of traffic other than warriors. Wondering if some great danger threatened the kingdom, he headed for the palace. Perhaps a great feeding spiral of sharks swept through the ocean. Laquatus remembered that the seas could be suddenly violent as well as tranquil.