Shan was about to answer when a harsh shout was heard. It came from the infirmary, but his eyes took on a wary look nonetheless. “We need to make sure we’re seen working. Come on,” he said, tugging on Ling’s sleeve.
They swam back inside. Shan slipped another pebble into the mouth of another dead prisoner, then he and Ling carried the body to the death cart. Shan continued speaking as they worked, making sure to keep his voice low so that only Ling could hear him.
“When I ascended from the Abyss, mermen were waiting for me,” he explained. “Their leader wanted to know if I’d found anything. I told them I hadn’t, but he didn’t believe me. He told his men to search me. Something inside told me not to let them get the puzzle ball, so I pulled it out of my bag and threw it back.”
Threw it back? No! was Ling’s first reaction. He’d had it in his bag, and now it was back in the Abyss. But better that, she knew, than for it to be in Orfeo’s hands.
“I didn’t know it then,” Shan continued, “but the mermen who stopped me were death riders. They beat me silly for throwing the puzzle ball back and brought me here. I wish I knew why they want it so badly.”
“Because it’s an incredibly powerful magical talisman that belonged to Sycorax, one of the six mages of Atlantis,” Ling said.
Shan looked stunned. “How do you know that?” he asked.
Ling glanced around to make sure no guards were nearby. “Because the Iele summoned me to the River Olt. So I went. And found out that everything we know about Atlantis is nothing but some serious spin perpetrated by Merrow.” She looked at her father again. “Um, Dad? Close your mouth, okay? In case a guard sees you,” she said.
Shan did so, and Ling, talking fast, told him everything that had happened since she’d left her village—ending with her arrival at the camp.
Shan was stunned when she finished. “That was a truly insane thing to do, Ling. And a truly brave one,” he finally said. “So Rafe Mfeme is Orfeo? Mfeme the terragogg? Ling, are you sure?”
“Positive,” Ling said, shuddering at the memory of Orfeo’s empty, soulless eyes. “And Vallerio’s in league with him. Orfeo’s helping him take over the mer realms one by one. When Vallerio’s got them all, he’s going to combine their armies, help Orfeo free Abbadon, and then they’ll attack the underworld. If that happens, the gods themselves will fight against Orfeo. But Orfeo doesn’t care if he destroys the mer realms, the terragogg realms, the entire world, as long as he gets his wife back. If we don’t get the talismans before he does, we’re goners.”
Shan nodded. The dazed expression on his face receded and a determined one took its place.
“That can’t happen,” he said. “You have to escape. You have to find the puzzle ball and get back to your friends.”
“That’s a great idea, Dad,” said Ling. “But there’s a slight problem…there’s no way out of here.”
Shan looked at the bodies they’d just carried out. They were lying three deep in the rickety death cart.
Then he looked at his daughter.
“Actually, Ling,” he said, “there is.”
ASTRID FLATTENED HERSELF against a wall of ice and peered around a corner.
Lights were on in the upper floor of the house that Ludovico di Merrovingia shared with his family. Huge, with a circular courtyard, an ornate facade, and sprawling stables, the house was located on the outskirts of the Citadel at the bottom of the iceberg.
The dimly lit passageway that ran through this part of the Citadel was empty, but Astrid was still wary. As soon as it was discovered that Desiderio had escaped from the dungeons, Rylka’s guards would be visiting Ludo’s house. Maybe they were already there.
“Any sign of life?” Desiderio whispered.
“Someone’s home. Hopefully just your uncle,” Astrid said, tightly gripping the old saber she was still carrying.
She and Desiderio swam swiftly out of the alleyway, through Ludo’s courtyard, to his front door. Des lifted the heavy doorknocker and banged it down twice. Astrid winced at the noise it made.
A few seconds later, the door opened. Astrid expected to see a servant, but it was Ludo himself.
“Thank the gods,” he said, when he saw his nephew. He ushered Desiderio and Astrid inside and locked the door behind them. Then he hugged his nephew tightly.
“I didn’t know who I’d see when I opened the door, you or Rylka,” he said.
“You heard already?” Desiderio said.
“Yes,” Ludo said. “The entire Citadel’s in an uproar. You”—he nodded at Astrid—“are accused by Rylka of murdering your father. If we could just get to the palace and sit down to talk with Ragnar present, we could put an end to these wild accusations and—”
Astrid cut him off. “Rylka wouldn’t let that happen. Vallerio wants to take over Ondalina and she’s going to hand it to him. In exchange, Tauno gets to rule Ondalina.”
“What?” Ludo said, stunned.