The Tail of Emily Windsnap - Liz Kessler [53]
Then a hush fell on the room as a sound of thunder rumbled toward us.
As the noise grew louder, the water started swishing around. The clerk grabbed her table; people reached out to grip the ledges in front of them. What was happening? I glanced around as I held on to the coral shelf. No one else looked worried.
The waves grew heavier, the thunder louder, until the gates at the front of the court suddenly opened. A fleet of dolphins washed into the room — a gold chariot behind them, filled with jewels and crystals. The chariot carried a merman into the room. At least seven feet tall, he had a white beard that stretched down to his chest and a tail that looked as if it was studded with diamonds. It shot silver rays across the room as the merman climbed out of the chariot. Sweeping his long tail under him, he slid into the throne. In his hand, a gold trident.
It was Neptune! Right in front of me! In real life!
A sharp rap of the trident on the floor, and the dolphins swiftly left the courtroom, whisking Neptune’s chariot away. Another rap and the gates closed behind them. A third, and the water instantly stopped moving. I fell back on my seat, thrown by the sudden calm.
“U-U-P!” a voice bellowed from the front.
Neptune was pointing his trident at me! I jumped back up, praying silently that I hadn’t just doubled whatever sentence I was about to get.
He leaned forward to talk to the clerk, gesturing toward me. The clerk looked up at me too, then picked up one of her reeds. Poking the squid with the reed, she wrote something down in black ink. The squid shuffled grumpily on the edge of the desk and refolded its tentacles.
Eventually, Neptune turned back to the courtroom. He stared angrily around. Then, with another rap of his trident, he shouted, “DOWN!”
Everyone took their seats again as the sea horses at the back split into two rows and swam to the front of the court. They formed a line on either side of Neptune.
The merman in the gold jacket stood up. He bowed low.
“APPROACH!” Neptune bellowed.
The merman swam toward him. Then he ducked down and kissed the base of Neptune’s tail. “If it please Your Majesty, I would like to outline the prosecution’s case,” he began, straightening himself up.
Neptune nodded sharply. “On with it!”
“Your Majesty, you see before you a mermaid and a . . . human.” He screwed up his face as he said the word, as though it made him feel sick. Pulling at his collar, he continued. “The pair of them have colluded and connived. They have planned and plotted —”
“How DARE you waste my time!” Neptune shouted. He lifted his trident. “FACTS!”
“Directly, Your Majesty, directly.” The merman shuffled through a few more files and cleared his throat. “The child before you today has forced an entry into our prison, damaged a section of the Great Mermer Reef in the process — and assaulted one of your own advisers.”
“AND? Is there more?” Neptune’s face had turned red.
“It’s all in here, Your Majesty.” The merman handed a file to Neptune, who snatched it and handed it to the clerk without looking at it.
The merman cleared his throat again. “As for the human”— he forced the word out —“the same charges apply.”
Neptune nodded curtly. “Once again, Mr. Slipreed, will that be ALL?”
“Absolutely, Your Majesty.” The merman bowed again as he spoke. “If I could allude to one outstanding area of this case . . .” Neptune clenched his fist around his trident. The merman spoke quickly. “In apprehending the accused, a merchild, acting with the help of another human”— he cleared his throat and swallowed loudly —“was discovered in the vicinity.”
Millie and Shona! I slapped my hand over my mouth to stop from gasping out loud.
“Both merchild and the other human are being held awaiting instructions from the court.”
“From the COURT, Slipreed? ANY old court is that?”
“Your Majesty, they await your divine ruling.”
“THANK you, Mr. Slipreed!” Neptune boomed.
“If I may now call upon my first witness . . . Mr. Charles Finright Beeston.”
As Mr. Beeston