The Tail of Emily Windsnap - Liz Kessler [55]
Neptune let out a thunderous sigh and a huge mock yawn.
“My dad fell in love. So what? What did I do to deserve to grow up without a father?” I continued.
Tutting noises were spreading through the spectators’ seats. A couple of them shook their heads.
“I wanted to see my dad, that’s all. Is that so wrong?” I paused and looked at Mom. “If it really is so terrible, if love is such a horrible crime, then fine, lock me up. Lock up my mom, too.” I turned back to Neptune. “Your Majesty. That merman”— I pointed to the first one who’d spoken —“he wants us imprisoned because of laws that were written centuries ago. Things have changed. Humans aren’t all bad, you know.”
As I looked around the courtroom, I paused on Mr. Beeston’s face. Neptune remained silent. “Hey, even one of your top advisers had one for a father,” I said. Mr. Beeston lowered his eyes as people turned to look at him. “If it can produce such loyal, devoted merfolk as Mr. Beeston, can it really be so wrong?”
I let my question hang in the air for a moment before turning back to Neptune. I couldn’t think of anything else to say. “I only wanted to see my dad,” I said finally.
Neptune held my eyes for a few seconds. Then he banged his trident on the floor. “I will NOT be told my laws are wrong! How DARE you presume!”
He got up from his throne, banging his trident again. Everyone instantly rose to their tails.
The gates behind him opened. His chariot was waiting outside. “Court will adjourn,” he barked as the dolphins swam into the courtroom. Then he leaped into his chariot and swept out of the court.
I slumped back on my rock and waited to hear my fate.
No one spoke for the first few minutes. Then, gradually, everyone started whispering to each other, like at the doctor’s when you have to act like it’s a crime to talk. Maybe it was a crime, here. Everything else was, it seemed.
I returned to my seat and looked up nervously to see if I could catch Mom’s eye. She was sitting with her head in her hands. Was she mad at me?
We sat like that for ages, the court almost silent while we waited. Some people left; a few took out lunch boxes and munched on seaweed sandwiches.
Then the gates at the front of the court opened. Neptune was coming back in. Everyone leaped up.
Neptune waved us down impatiently with his trident.
He waited for the court to be absolutely silent before he spoke.
“Emily Windsnap.” He looked at me and indicated sharply for me to get up. I flicked my tail and stood as straight as possible. He looked at Mom and pointed upward again. “Mary Penelope Windsnap,” he read from the card in front of him, and Mom stood up. “You have both defied ME, and MY laws!”
I swallowed hard.
“My kingdom has held by these laws very well for many generations. I invent them; you abide by them. That’s how it works!”
I tried to get used to the idea of living in a cell with a bed of seaweed and limpets on the wall.
“Do you DARE say I am wrong?” he continued, his voice rising with every word. “Do you think you know better than ME? You do NOT!”
He leaned forward to stare at me. What would I get? Ten years? Twenty? Life?
He paused for ages. When he spoke again, a gentleness had fought its way into his voice. He spoke so quietly, I had to hold my breath to hear him.
“However . . .” he said, then stopped. He stroked his beard. “However,” he repeated, “you have touched on something today. Something beyond laws.” His voice softened even more. “And therefore, beyond punishment.”
I held my breath as he paused, tapping the side of his trident.
“You will both be released!” he boomed eventually.
A gasp went through the court, followed by a stream of murmuring. Neptune lifted his trident and glared around the room. The chattering stopped instantly.
“You defied my laws,” he went on. “But why? Shall I pretend I do not understand? Or that I have never felt that way? NO! I am no hypocrite! And I shall NOT punish you for love. I shall NOT! Mrs. Windsnap.” He turned to Mom. A long deep sigh, his breath rumbling