“I can’t see him. Wait…there he is!” Coco said. “In the distance!”
Vallerio, magnificent in a shining suit of armor, rode in a silver chariot in the middle of the Kobold. In one hand, he held the reins of four magnificent black hippokamps. With the other, he saluted the Miromarans.
As the people saw him, a tremendous cheer went up. They rushed into the current, happily greeting their liberators.
Serafina kept a fearful eye on the city gates, on nearby rocks and reefs, and on the waters above, expecting Traho’s troops to come charging at any second. But they didn’t. The waters were eerily quiet.
Vallerio’s chariot passed by, and the cheers of the people became deafening.
“Come on! We’re missing it all! Let’s go!” Coco said. And then she shot off, Abelard zipping after her.
“Coco!” Serafina shouted. “Come back here!”
But the little merl was too far away to hear her. Serafina had no choice but to follow. She was still disguised as a swashbuckler, but she doubted anyone would have noticed her even if she was dressed in full court regalia. They only wanted to see Vallerio.
“Coco!” she called. “Coco, where are you?”
As she searched, she saw a small boy push through the crowd and swim up to a goblin. Instead of smiling at the child, the creature kicked him away. A few yards up the Grande Corrente, a mermaid offered another goblin a laurel made of seaweed. He backhanded her.
My uncle doesn’t know, Sera told herself. He doesn’t know that his troops are behaving badly. As soon as I can get to him, I’ll tell him what they’re doing. They can’t treat our people this way.
As she watched the Kobold, row after row of them, continue to march along, she saw a bright bronze tail flash by. “Coco!” she shouted. She zipped after her and grabbed her arm. “Don’t you do that again!”
“Come on, Sera! Let’s follow them!” Coco said, carried away by the excitement.
“No, stick close to me. I’m still wondering about the death riders. Where are they?”
“There! By the gates. It’s okay, Sera. See?” Coco said.
Sera looked at the gates. Coco was right. Death riders hadn’t been there before, but they were there now, and they weren’t poised to attack. They were lining both sides of the current, spears held upright before them in tribute to her uncle.
“They’ve surrendered!” she said excitedly. “Traho must know he’s outnumbered. He’s handing over the city peaceably, Coco. There won’t be any fighting.”
“I told you!” Coco said.
Joy flooded Serafina’s heart. She let go of Coco’s arm and took her hand. “Let’s go! We’ve got to get to my uncle!” she said.
The goblins’ behavior still unsettled her, and the presence of any death riders—even peaceable ones—made her uneasy, but what mattered most was that her uncle was home and that the city was his. She pushed her misgivings aside and swam ahead, eager to take part in his triumphant return. Eager to see Mahdi, too, and take her place at his side for a public betrothal. When the ceremony was over, she would ask Vallerio if he had any news of her brother. Then she’d show him Neria’s Stone and tell him what needed to be done.
She and Coco followed the other Miromarans to the Kolisseo. That was where it had all begun, and that was where it would end.
The fighting was done.
The invaders were routed.
At last, Serafina thought, it’s over.
VALLERIO’S BLACK HIPPOKAMPS drew his chariot to the center of the Kolisseo. He alighted to cheering.
With Coco right behind her, Serafina tried to make her way through the dense crowd to get to him. He needed her for the Promising.
She was rudely stopped by a Kobold with a pike. “G? tilbake!” he growled in a deep voice. Go back.
“But I have to see the high commander. He’s—”
“Tilbake!” the Kobold shouted, thrusting the weapon’s steel tip in her face.
Serafina understood him and did as she was told. She and Coco swam into the amphitheater and sat down. Abelard swam under Coco’s seat and peered out from her tail fins. Sera decided that she would wait until the crowd settled and her uncle announced the betrothal. Then she would make her presence known. All around them, people were still cheering for Vallerio, but Serafina noticed that the loudest cheers were coming from the Kobold troops and the death riders. Something had changed. The festive atmosphere of the Grande Corrente was gone. The mer of Cerulea looked wary and mistrustful. Some looked downright scared.
A few rows in front of her, a merman was cheering half-heartedly. A goblin noticed, and punched him. “Heie h?yere!” the creature shouted. Cheer louder!
Serafina looked around and saw that death riders ringed the top of the Kolisseo, in a dense, tight formation, spears in their hands.
If we wanted to leave, we couldn’t, she thought uneasily.