Ursula's Beginning

37. She has a very serious problem

"You two are unbelievable!" King Triton was rubbing his forehead in exasperation. "Ursula, critiquing my wife is beyond your role as High Priestess."

"Her actions are affecting the safety of my kind as well as yours, Your Highness", Ursula sneered. "It's very much my concern."

"Brother, do you not see the hypocrisy in condemning my wife for her amusements at the surface, when you go up there yourself to converse with gulls?"

"But that's just my point, Triton," answered Ganeon. I talk to gulls, unobserved. I don't go up there to admire the humans. I'm more careful than Marielle, and I daresay more intelligent."

The king inhaled sharply, his face reddening. "I believe this conversation is over." He moved to leave.

"It's far from over, Triton," Ursula snarled.

King Triton whipped around and suddenly was in her face, shouting. "I don't want to hear another word from you! You go where you aren't supposed to go, anytime you please. You lived in the Uncivilized Waters for a year, for Poseidon's sake! You have stirred up far more danger for Atlantica by doing that, than Marielle ever will with her innocent sunning and stargazing!"

Ursula backed up, unruffled. "And you followed me into those waters willingly, several times. Do not act so high and mighty."

"I was a fool and I regret every moment of it."

"And I regret risking everything to see a weakling gain the crown," the High Priestess shot back. "You can't even control your brat of a wife! You've indulged her every whim and it's gone from merely embarrassing to extremely dangerous. You said it best, Your Highness...you are a fool."

Triton's grip on the trident hardened, and red streaks began to appear along its shaft. The three pointed tips of his weapon began to spark with his fury.

"Go ahead," Ursula taunted. "See what happens."

"I'll tell you one thing that's happening, Ursula. Marielle does not like your eels. She finds them unnerving, and she's far from alone in that sentiment. They will no longer be living in the palace with you. The Queen's happiness is, and will remain, one of my highest priorities."

"Oh? Well, that seems to be line with the legacy you are building. Marielle pouts, and you banish the very creatures that helped save your life. So be it."

Triton studied Ganeon for a long moment, his face filled with pain. Then he left, leaving a column of hot water in his wake.

***

"Now what, my darling?" Ganeon was stroking Ursula's white locks in the early morning light. She had taken him as her lover since moving in to the palace, mostly in the hope that Triton could feel her arousal and be disturbed by the source of it. Besides, with Flotsam and Jetsam now dwelling in the courtyard, she did get lonely at night.

Ursula rolled away and stretched. "I'm going to speak to Siddikah." She rose and gathered her hair on top of her head. "Tighten the knot," she commanded. The prince obeyed at once, securing the nautilus more firmly against her throat. He began to kiss the nape of her neck and she sighed impatiently.

"Check on my pets," she barked as she left.

Ursula slowed as she approached Siddikah's home. Off in the distance beyond, she saw something that had never been there before: the skeleton of an enormous beast. It was every bit as large as the remains that housed the Squid Witch. It was empty.

"What's the latest, plum?" Siddikah sang as Ursula emerged from the shadows.

"Twins. They'll be here in a few months."