The passing tides finally brought everyone the reassuring realisation that the right choice had been made. The crown prince did not react in any unusual way to the administered remedy; in fact, after such a short time, the first positive effects seemed to be emerging. Admittedly, if the prince had not been under such observation, no one would have noticed, but the trained eyes present had been able to joyfully observe how the fin's previously dull senses had become sharper. The crown prince himself apparently still reacted unconsciously to small impulses triggered by his two friends and his cousin as they scurried around him, touching his scales every now and then.
The second patient within the Old Atlantian palace walls had also undergone a positive development, to everyone's delight. Although it was still obvious that Zion's messenger had been through a terrible ordeal, he had meanwhile recovered to such an extent that he was able to entertain his princess and also the local crown prince and his friends with his stories when they paid him a visit.
Thus the priorities of the statesmen had now changed so that the further manoeuvres in the matter of Morgana came to the fore. In the time that had passed, some of the support from the other realms had also arrived, which favoured a common approach. Finding this common path, however, proved to be rarely difficult, as some of the most diverse opinions wanted to be taken into consideration.
Adella had been nagging her father for days to listen to the advice she had brought from Octolae. However, the fact that she was guarding the source of her knowledge and only dismissed it with the words - it came from a friend of Ariel's - made Triton remain critical. It may well be that Ariel had a so-called friend even in such a remote part of the sea, but Triton knew only too well his youngest daughter's definition of friendship, which often took a lot of getting used to. How many times had she not brought dangerous sea creatures into her ranks by her engaging ways, who was to tell him that this friend was not also a high potential danger. That Adella pressed around so much when it came to this information, so essential to him, only reinforced his premonition.
Emperor Sharga, on the other hand, had been very quick to respond to the general expectation. He did not send reinforcements in the form of men, but he had sent several full chests of sophisticated Sharkan weapons to Atlantica. The lanky Sharkan blacksmith who delivered them probably represented the expected subliminal tip. Triton immediately understood the message behind it. He had received very good weapons, now his own men should be better able to handle them in order to put the inferior opponent in Sharga's eyes in his place.
Orcanu's support was still a long time coming. Triton could only imagine that it was no child's play for Arista to convince Kyria that Atlantica needed her support in this matter. Perhaps she had not had the right opportunity to talk to her mother-in-law about the situation. After all, Triton knew only too well from her own experience how difficult the ruler of Orcanus could be. A lot of sensitivity and a thick skin were two very useful qualities when dealing with her. So he was not surprised that he had not yet received any news from the icy realms.
As far as the Düstra were concerned, they seemed to have their hands full with their own problems at the moment, as far as the information reached Atlantica. If things were different, Triton would probably have put together a relief squad himself to help the young king. However, he did not doubt that the king would be able to deal with the problem without his support. After all, the Düstra had often proved that he was far more prudent and, above all, more assertive than some of the older rulers. He would certainly get the situation under control again quickly.
Thus, for the time being, only slightly more than a handful of allies gathered at his crisis table. Among them were his loyal Olympian son-in-law Orpheus, the Lion Prince Zion with one of his scholars, his daughter Adella, the Sharkan blacksmith who, however, seemed to feel very out of place and, last but not least, his own people, including, of course, his advisor Sebastian and the captain of his soldiers. A small number by any standards, but enough to represent enough different points of view that the meeting, convened in the morning hours, now stretched into the evening.
Various sets of maps filled the large table around which the crisis team had gathered around Triton. The various pieces of information that were to contribute to finding Morgana's hiding place had been compiled and weighed against each other. They had marked the emerging locations on the maps with elaborate little statues. In each of the realms, there seemed to be at least one area that came into question. Combined with the questionable information about Ursula's old caves from Adella's source, they had now shortlisted nine potential hiding places. A heated discussion had broken out about which of the possibilities were the most likely and how they would deal with them afterwards.
Orpheus' patience, which was already strained, was stretched to the limit by the tough deliberations of his Lion brother-in-law. They finally had valid starting points and let time pass unnecessarily because he thought to think everything over twice and three times, not willing to take the risk of possibly swimming into a trap of the sea witch. Orpheus, however, was of the opinion that they could handle an ambush as long as they proceeded together. No one was surprised that the Sharkanian agreed with him. Besides, he could be sure of the absolute loyalty of the small force of Olympian soldiers still lingering in Atlantica to support Triton's men.
"I don't care if you want to pull together with me or continue to sit here idly in your musings. For my part, I will scout the nearest hiding places with my father's men and the support of all those who wish to follow me. We must not let this witch continue to show us up and we should put her in her place as soon as possible!" the Olympian proclaimed confidently, slapping the tabletop vigorously with the flat of his hand so that the small figures trembled briefly.
"It is precisely these mindless actions that will cost us victory. Morgana is just waiting for us to carelessly put ourselves within her reach so that she can manipulate us and turn us against each other. In the end, we do the work for her ourselves and get out of the way. We should proceed in small groups and with extreme caution to avoid great harm," Zion put forward his view.
"You don't even need Morgana's direct influence to turn you against each other, you can do that quite well on your own," Adella commented on her brothers-in-law's quarrels. Both mermen knew she was right and remained silent for the time being.
"A little of both seems to me to be the best tactic," Triton now tried, "we'll form a small group that will be the vanguard and take a look at the hiding places. A second, larger group will accompany the scouts at a sufficient distance as a rearguard, so that they can react in time if the first group gets into Morgana's sphere of influence."
Triton then pointed to the hiding places that were most likely to apply in his eyes. After everyone at the table had let this suggestion run through their heads, they agreed one by one. Whether it was respect for his authority or his experience as a ruler that tipped the scales, he himself could not quite judge, but all that mattered in the end was that they had finally reached a consensus that satisfied each of the different characters.
Triton divided four groups, the vanguards led by Orpheus, the captain of his own and Augustus' guards, and himself. Zion would coordinate the rearguard, which consisted of further Atlantican and Olympian guardsmen, who were to be equipped with the Sharkan weapons in order to be able to intervene with force if the worst came to the worst.
The implementation of this plan was to start the next morning, which meant that all the necessary preparations had to be made that evening.
Triton and the other three squad leaders gave their men final instructions and information on things to keep an eye on.
The Atlantean king would swim the northern potential hiding places with his men, Orpheus had chosen the western areas, the Atlantean captain would lead his soldiers towards the south and the Olympian commander took over the eastern area.
Zion had given all four units their respective geographical features from the extensive research of the scholars, and in the rearguards there was one of the Lionian specialists in each case to be ready for any questions that might arise.
In order to put a stop to unnecessary quarrels with his brother-in-law, he himself had joined his father-in-law's rearguard. He was still not comfortable with this, but Triton's strategy reassured him. This way, his people would have enough opportunity to get to safety if there were any signs that Morgana had seized one of the vanguards.
Triton and the four guardsmen he trusted swam far ahead. So far there seemed to be nothing unusual in the water, but Zion knew better than to be fooled by it and become careless. As soon as he noticed Triton pausing, he too gave the order for his troop to stop. After all, the distance between them could not be allowed to grow smaller without being noticed. Such a mistake could break all of their necks in the end.
When Triton's group did not move for a long time and the Lion prince could see how someone kept pointing at something in the distance, he suspected that the vanguard had encountered something. Shortly afterwards, eye contact with Triton's group broke off as they made their way over the cliff crest and down into the valley ahead.
Zion told his group to wait for the time being, even though the plan had been to keep an eye on the first group at all times. The likelihood that Morgana had her tentacles in play right now seemed too great. The location was perfect for separating their groups and throwing their strategy out of kilter.
Triton gripped his trident tighter, ice cold running down his spine as he gazed at what was revealed in the valley below them. Not so long ago, a cruel battlefield must have taken place here.
Streaks of blood dotted the water and lifeless, gruesomely mangled bodies were strewn across the seabed. In the distance, he saw a group of killer whales, and he was sure that they were not the peaceful kind, like the still-young Pünktchen that Ariel had once hidden from him in her room. These were full-grown killer whales that - from what he saw before him - lived up to their name.
Surely he also knew that this could very likely be a trap prepared for him by Morgana, but his good conscience forced him to look for survivors. He therefore ordered his men to follow him and search the valley thoroughly.
As soon as they were closer, they all came to the frightening realisation that the victims must undoubtedly be the Orcan reinforcements that had been on their way to Atlantica. A bad premonition seized Triton and he urged the men to continue searching quickly.
It was he himself, however, who finally made the discovery he had been so afraid of.
There in front of him, barely recognisable, lay the lifeless body of the Orcan ruler. He himself almost did not recognise her, but an object lying in the sand not too far from her, which probably must have been intended as a souvenir for him, left him in no doubt as to who it was. Triton was sure that Kyria would never have given away this cherished memento of earlier times.
Gingerly, he picked up the music box, of which he knew very well that there was only one other of its kind, and fought convulsively against the sadness that overcame him at the sight of it. The token of his waiting, which as a young prince he had presented to only two ladies in the seven seas, weighed heavily in his hand. The weight of the memory threatened to overwhelm him, but he could not allow himself any weakness now. They were in enemy territory, that was now more than ever out of the question. Morgana made her ambitions and her willingness to stop at nothing abundantly clear.
But Triton could not shoo away the images that once again forced themselves to the forefront of his mind after he had been able to suppress them for so long. Even at the time he lost the woman he had finally chosen, nothing more than the counterpart of this ornate music box remained in his hands. These two relics of old, happier and more carefree days seemed almost cursed to him now. Or was it even he himself who had brought this terrible fate upon the two women?
Triton shook his head vigorously to clear the thoughts that were not leading anywhere and to concentrate on the essentials again. They had to apprehend Morgana and prove that she was behind it all, otherwise this tragedy would bring dire consequences.
"Keep searching!" his thunderous voice echoed across the valley and he too started moving again. But all their efforts were in vain, none of the Valkyrs were still able to tell them what had happened here. So the ruler of Atlantica had no choice but to make sure that all those who had lost their lives in this place were paid their last respects.
He decided to have Kyria's mortal remains properly returned to her homeland so that she could be given a proper burial and her sons could say goodbye to her. Triton was well aware that this would not change his relationship with Orcanus for the better, but it was the least he could do.