The Coral Kingdom - Douglas Niles [84]
The northman captain didn't try to keep the bitterness out of his voice. He looked at Alicia, his expression despairing, and the princess wanted to take him in her arms and soothe his pain. She remembered, with a tinge of resentment, that the northman would find such a reaction humiliating in the extreme.
"Look! Isn't that Trillhalla?" asked Alicia. "I hope she's bearing good news!"
They recognized the female sea elf, the only one thus far who had offered them the slightest willingness to listen, not to mention help. She was identifiable not from her features, but by the formed escort of warriors screening her approach. No less than a full score of large males swam before her, breaking the water like dolphins so that they could continually observe the humans.
Finally the formation broke apart in the shallow water before the reef where the Princess of Moonshae sat in her coral-bound trap. The dappled face of Trillhalla broke the surface, framed by her silver curls and growing rings of water as she raised her torso into the air. Palentor rose beside her, his face fixed in its familiar scowl.
"You, Brigit Cu'Lyrran," began the female sea elf in heavily accented Common, "are commanded to bring two of the humans and appear before Queen Amlaruil in the Summer Palace." Palentor turned to object, his face blanching with shock, but his reaction was halted by a sharp gesture from Trillhalla.
The female sea elf remained still, half out of the water, and it was several moments before the visitors realized that she had concluded her speech.
"I thank the queen-and yourself-for this gracious command," replied Brigit. The sister knight turned and, without hesitation, named Robyn and Alicia as her companions.
Meanwhile, a long, graceful canoe appeared, emerging unobserved from a concealed gap in the verdant shoreline. It was already halfway to the stricken longship before any of the companions noticed it. Then it was Knaff the Elder who, in obvious chagrin at its undiscovered approach, pointed out the craft.
The canoe was half the size of a small longship, propelled swiftly by a dozen paddlers on each side. A single long outrigger extended to the craft's starboard side. It had neither mast nor sail but was decorated in multicolored, flowered patterns along the hull, with garlands of real blossoms gathered in many places along the gunwale. The thing moved very quickly. Alicia thought it the equal in speed of a longship under full sail.
The craft slid easily into a tiny inlet of the coral reef-no more than six or eight inches of water-and came to a rest just a few feet from the longship. The three visitors climbed easily over the side, took two steps across the exposed coral, and were helped into the canoe by silent, muscular elves. These were not sea elves, but Alicia saw that their skin had a bluer cast than did the Llewyrr. Also, many of these elves of Evermeet had dark hair, a virtually unknown phenomenon among the elves of the Moonshaes.
They took seats in the bow of the slender boat on plush, cushioned benches surrounded by bouquets of brilliant flowers. The canoe moved smoothly but with surprising speed as it drew away from the longship and glided toward the tree-lined shore. Trillhalla swam beside them.
"The queen was surprisingly calm about your arrival," the sea elf announced, speaking in particular to Robyn. "Though the rest of the palace has been thrown into quite a stir. She, too, has heard of the High King and Queen of Moonshae. Synnoria is an important place to us in Evermeet, and the reign of you and your former husband has made that valley more secure than it has been in many years."
"Let's hope she wants it to go on for a few more," Alicia observed wryly. By then, however, the wonders of Evermeet drove the desire for further conversation away.
The trees, they saw as they neared the shore, sprouted a leafy mixture of blue, green, and silver foliage, all three