The next morning, Athena heard the door of the prison swinging open, and two intimidating guards came into her cell.

"Come along," one of them barked.

Frightened, but seeing no alternative, she slowly swam toward them. They grasped her arms, put them behind her back, and put on chains which were thicker and more painful than the ones humans had used to use on her.

"Where are we going?" Athena asked.

"To the palace," was the grim reply. "Today is your trial, and the trial of all the other music-makers which have been arrested over the last two weeks."

The palace! She was going home! Oh, how she prayed that they were telling the truth, and that soon her nightmare would be over.

Within minutes, she found that it was just beginning. She was prodded into a line with about twenty other merfolk and sea creatures, a few of which were merely children. Children being arrested in Atlantica? What under the sea was going on?

Then, in the front of the line, she espied a small crab. His head was bent, and he looked utterly dejected.

No, it cannot be! Athena thought. Sebastian arrested? But he has always been Triton's closest confidante, and friend!

But upon closer inspection, she had to admit to herself that it was him. The crab did not notice her, completely lost in his own thoughts, and she was too far away to accost him.

The prisoners were led helplessly through Atlantica.

…

The palace was familiar, yet eerily different. The last time Athena had been in that stately structure, it had been echoing with laughter. Now the silence was deafening. The guards who were stationed at the doors seemed sterner than ever – Athena could not recognize a single one of them. The servants went about their work quietly and efficiently, and with downcast faces. Athena shuddered. It was as if the entire kingdom were under a spell of unhappiness.

Their chains were inspected one and tightened one last time, to ensure that none of them could possibly get loose in front of the king. Then they were marched into the throne room.

Athena's heart pounded as she swam through the threshold and gazed upward. She had to catch her breath as she looked at the throne. Yes – he was there. After all these years of sorrow, she was finally in the company of her husband once more.

She gazed at him with hungry eyes, eyes which had spent ten years starved for the sight of him. The Sea King had aged – last she had seen him, his hair had been brown, now it was completely white. It did not matter to her, however. All that mattered was that he was alive, and in the same room with her!

But there was something about his demeanor that she found odd. His green eyes seemed to be unfocused on the scene before him. He appeared completely disinterested in the lines of prisoners who had just been presented before him. In times past, nothing had been too small to be beneath his notice. And he looked sad. Athena felt her heart breaking for him. She would have given anything to rush to him and embrace him, but the guards and the metal restraints on her wrists made that impossible. She was about to call out his name to get his attention when another voice shattered the quiet.

Looking at the direction from whence it had come, Athena beheld a curious sight. Next to her husband, on a throne slightly lower than his, sat a strange-looking mermaid. She had on the most ridiculous outfit: a headdress with two pink ribbons attached, and her tail and fins were covered with some sort of stripped pink fabric. Purple makeup was caked on her face. Her demeanor, however, was even more nonsensical than her attire. In a shrill voice, she ordered the guards about, demanding that they bring one prisoner three feet closer to the throne while moving another two feet away. It was clear that there was no purpose to these orders other than showing off her own importance.

"Who is that?" one of the other prisoners asked in a whisper, echoing Athena's own thoughts.

"Marina Del Rey," came the answer from a poor blowfish who was likewise in chains. "She was the governess to the princesses for many years. Little wonder that those seven girls look like the most miserable mermaids under the sea! She was the one who told the King about the Catfish Club, and that Sebastian occasionally sang there – all in a ploy to get his job. It looks like it worked. She makes a nice chief-of-staff, doesn't she?"

Athena took another look at the babbling fashion disaster. This was who had raised her daughters in her stead? This was the example of womanhood that they had been given? Whatever had possessed Triton to hire her? If he had needed help, he did not have to look far – her old ladies-in-waiting were elegant, gentle mermaids who had been absolutely devoted to her daughters. Why had he felt any need to bring in this sea witch?

"Are all the prisoners here?" Marina Del Rey demanded.

"Yes, ma'am!" the guards replied in one voice.

"Then we shall proceed," the King said brusquely. Athena felt a chill creep down her back at the sound of his cold voice. For the first time since her arrest, she began to believe that he was capable of outlawing music.