Ursula had to give a repeat performance a year later. This time it was a single child--a brown eyed, brown haired girl they named Aquata.

Ursula had concluded, through the course of her yearlong training under Ephram, that Triton and Marielle were going to have seven daughters. Cosmas and the other prophets agreed--a convergence in predictions that pleased the High Priest greatly.

She had come to trust her dreams as full of valuable information; after all, her dreams had shown her the eels before they found her. She had seen Nepp's dead body in a dream, and Alphon's violence towards Ganeon with a book--representing the scholarly knowledge that Ganeon had wielded against his brother--before that drama had unfolded. And now, she was dreaming again and again of Marielle prodding Triton to sign seven scrolls. There was one scroll for each of their daughters. She didn't see the children in these visions, but the connection of the scrolls to the girls was something that Ursula simply understood as part of that dream's universe and context.

At the same time, she kept swimming through two memories in her sleep. They appeared as snippets wedged between other dreams. One was Ganeon talking to her at Triton's coronation feast. As his lips moved, she could only hear the chatter around them. The clink of glasses and the laughter of the crowd drowned out his words. The other was Nepp speaking to her in the hours before his death. Again, she could see everything perfectly, but could not hear what he was saying.

Most nights, she dreamed of the dome of the temple caving in, the entire structure reduced to rubble. Merfolk were screaming and staggering about. Then she would catapult into wakefulness, her heart hammering away in the narrow bed she slept in at Dismas and Melisande's home.

She began to connect the crumbling temple to her frequent dreams of Queen Marielle. "She's eroding our way of life here," Ursula said to Ephram after months of nightmares. "The temple is a symbol of what makes Atlantica so different from the other kingdoms, and here she is, heralding from the most anti-cecaelian kingdom there is and constantly introducing her customs into our waters. She's dangerous!"

Ephram shut her down so forcefully she knew she couldn't speak against Marielle again if she wanted to become High Priestess and regain the influence she craved. "No one but you has foreseen any danger connected to Her Highness, child, and you are not yet able to separate fear from fact!" he had snapped. "Your personal dislikes will color all the soothsaying you do until you become more experienced." His tone held a warning and there was a steely, severe look in his eyes she had never seen before.

After that, Ursula dropped the topic with Ephram and resolved to check the influence of Marielle by herself in due course. So she carried on quietly, striving to appear ever more serene and dignified in front of everyone despite the mounting hatred she felt for Queen Marielle. Only Ganeon knew her true heart and shared her sentiments.

They sat through dozens of concerts featuring Marielle, at King Triton's insistence. Every holiday, every birthday, every gathering with foreign dignitaries, Sebastian and the Queen inflicted another performance onto innocent victims.

They watched as clam shells became all the rage for the females of the kingdom.

They listened to the Queen carry on about the thousands upon thousands of pearls given to her and her daughters by the oysters of Atlantica.

They witnessed the installation of more art that celebrated Her Grace.

But none of this compared to the outrage they felt when they learned of Marielle's fondness for visiting the surface of the ocean. She loved to sunbathe, to stargaze, to watch ships come and go. Like her father, the Pacifican Elder that had supported Alphon's bid to establish relations with the humans, Athena Marielle seemed to think land dwellers weren't all that dangerous. And worst of all, her favorite time to engage in this recklessness was around major events in the kingdom--her own way of celebrating.

***

It wasn't long after the arrival of Aquata when Venerable Ephram summoned Ursula for a meeting with the king and himself. Siddikah's prediction had come to pass. The trident was behaving as no trident should in the hand of a merman.

She found herself in the same room and around the same table they had been when Ephram had discovered their affair. The place where, as far as Ursula was concerned, Galataye had ruined everything.

"Show her, Your Highness," Ephram instructed.

He plucked the instrument from the table. She watched the trident glow and vibrate in Triton's hand and felt the panic it created in him, even while his face betrayed nothing. He put it down moments later.

"What do you want me to do?" Ursula's eyes narrowed. "This is a consequence of saving his life. Am I supposed to apologize?" she scoffed.

"I am grateful you saved my life," said Triton.

"We are here to figure out how to proceed, Ursula," stated Ephram. "He must be taught some magic. He needs to understand how to control his newfound powers. And since your tentacle lives on inside him, perhaps you ought to be the one to teach him."

"Surely you know I never intended for this to happen." She was stalling, trying to read Triton's emotions. "Mermen are not supposed to have this knowledge. It may be simpler for Triton to give up the trident."

"The tradition goes back countless millennia." Triton glared at her.

Ephram raised a hand to extinguish their exchange. "The trident isn't the point. The king has abilities now that must be tempered with education. That is the case whether or not he ever touches the trident again."

"I see."

"So, what do you say? This would mean you and Triton would spend a significant amount of time together. You would be unsupervised. Can I trust you to conduct yourself properly? To train him earnestly?"

"I have no complicated feelings for His Highness, Ephram." Ursula caught Triton's eyes with her own. "Any desire I had died long ago."

"So you'll do it?"

"I believe you should do it, Venerable Ephram. I think Queen Marielle would be more comfortable with that. And I am ready to take on the responsibilities of High Priestess again. This time, for good. I can see to the daily affairs that occupy you presently, and that will free you to instruct Triton. There is no teacher superior to yourself, and in this delicate situation, he should have the best education possible."

Ephram broke into a smile, and Ursula could feel relief pouring out of the king.

"Then so it shall be!" Ephram announced. "You have passed my final test! With the wisdom and temperance you have just displayed, I am ready to transfer my title to you."

"Not provisionally, I hope?"

"Not provisionally. It is time."

***

Melisande and Dismas were relieved to see Ursula exit their house to take up residence in the palace once more. She had become a remote stranger to them both, and it grieved them terribly. Ursula felt nothing; she had learned to disassociate from any feelings of happiness or its opposite. She could register anger. Lust. Excitement. Fear. But for her own sanity--what with Triton so often relaying happiness and that happiness making her miserable--she had learned to ignore joy, and no longer knowing joy, she no longer knew grief either.

It was the night before her ceremonial installation as High Priestess, and Ganeon was helping Ursula arrange her palatial quarters. His hopeful expressions and tender words were irritating her, and she was relieved to hear a knock at the main door. It was Ephram.

"Leave us, Ganeon," she commanded.

Ganeon left, grinning, passing by Ephram at the threshold.

"How does it feel, moving in again?" Ephram asked as he entered.

"It feels right. This is where I belong."

"Indeed."

Ursula swatted Flotsam and Jetsam off a sofa to create a seat for her visitor. "I want to be sure I understand the situation fully," she began as he made himself comfortable. "No one may strip me of this title, correct? I will remain High Priestess until I willingly pass the role onto someone else?"

"That is correct, Ursula. But I've come here to tell you that my decision to name you my successor isn't met with unanimous approval. Here, sit with me," he said, patting the space beside him. "I need to prepare you for tomorrow morning...for the fact that the crowd at your ceremony may be smaller than it was when you were named Priestess provisionally."

"Oh?"

"Yes. Some have left Atlantica altogether, and--"

"Who?" snapped Ursula.

"Many of them you don't know very well. But your old friend Amoret is among the tentacled that have moved on to search for a new home. A few of the cuttlemaids have gone with her, and--"

"Oh, that's no big loss. Don't trouble yourself over that." Ursula rolled her eyes. "Is that all, Ephram?"

"No. I am taking a leap of faith here, Ursula. By far the biggest I've ever taken. I'm placing my faith in you, as I always have, despite so many disagreeing with me. Please prove me wise in my decision. I understand you will have to contend with powerful feelings while living under the same roof as Triton and Marielle. I know how you feel about Her Highness, and I know there may some dark days ahead for you. But I trust you will come through them and be the benevolent leader you were born to be. I choose to believe that." The old cecaelian was crying.

"That is what I want to be." Ursula took his wrinkled hands into her own. She was shocked at how delicate they felt. It was as if The High Priest had become old and weak in a short span of time, and it had escaped her notice until she touched him. "I want to act for the good of the Tentacled Folk, and for the good of Atlantica. Always. Your faith in me is well placed, Ephram. You'll see."