“No, she didn’t. She got busy with clients; she never had time,” Kuda answered.
“But does that mean you’re not going to the ball?” Cora asked.
Lumina shook her head. “I’ve been waiting to see the castle all my life. I’m not going to let something like a gown stop me,” she replied bravely.
Madame Ruckus rubbed her jaw in thought. Lumina was her best stylist. And she had a heart as big as her own. She couldn’t let Lumina flounder. “Ladies,” she commanded, pointing her tentacles in eight different directions. “Grab everything you can find here that’s made of fabric!”
The girls and Kuda raced to action.
Lumina blushed. “No, really, you don’t need to,” she protested.
But the fins were already set in motion.
“I’ll get the shampoo capes!” Cora called.
“I’ll grab the drapes and curtains!” Sandrine shouted.
“The pink and purple are the prettiest,” Madame Ruckus noted.
“I’ll pick out the trimmings!” announced Kuda, piling seashells, gold ribbons, and jewels onto a nearby table.
“But . . . ,” Lumina protested. She didn’t want her friends to go out of their way for her. But on the inside, her heart swelled like a song.
Just past eight, the ball was in full swing. Mercouples waltzed to a band playing on a balcony above the dancers. A grand staircase descended on one side of the room, and everything glittered with jewels and scalloped seashells. At the far end of the room, the king and queen’s throne sat waiting for them at the center of a long table on a stage.
Cora and Sandrine danced next to a large dessert table covered with cupcakes and pastries of all shapes and sizes. Spike stood near them, sampling the sweets.
“Yoo-hoo!” Fergis shouted from across the room. “Cora!”
Cora waved and watched him approach. As he got nearer, she smelled something funny.
Fergis looked down at the flower corsage on her wrist. “The Robena Graniflora!” he gasped with excitement.
Cora nodded. She had added it at the last moment in honor of her new friend, Fergis.
“It’s radiant!” Fergis gushed. “And so are you.”
Cora blushed.
“I wore a flower, too,” Fergis continued. It’s a—”
Just then, Caligo stormed over. He wore a pearl-studded dress uniform. “Fergis!” he bellowed. “Why aren’t you dancing?! You’re supposed to be finding a bride!”
Fergis hung his head. He had really been enjoying his conversation with Cora. He didn’t want to think about all of the rules his father had set for him tonight. “I’ve tried, Father,” he said with a sigh. “Really, I have. But no one will dance with me. They mostly swim away screaming when I get near.”
Caligo leaned in toward his son and sniffed. “Whew!” he cried, plugging his nose. “No wonder! What is that stink?”
Fergis puffed out his chest proudly and pointed to his boutonniere. “Oh, that’s my Quidest Fetere,” he explained, touching the flower on his uniform pocket. “It’s quite rare, you know. In fact, you can only find it—”
“Well, lose it,” Caligo interrupted in a thunderous voice. He grabbed the boutonniere and crumpled it in his hand. “Now get out there and dance!” he commanded, dumping the crushed flower in a nearby planter.
Fergis hung his head miserably.
Cora was worried. She moved toward him and spoke softly. “Does your father always speak to you that way?”
“What way?” Fergis asked sadly. The music began to play again, snapping him out of his pout. “Oh, there’s the music. Excuse me. Father says I have to go dance.”
Cora placed her hand gently on his arm. “You know, I like to dance,” she said.
Fergis looked surprised. “Really? You wouldn’t mind?” he asked.
Cora smiled and took his hand. “And I thought your flower was beautiful,” she said as they began to waltz.
Meanwhile, in the ballroom beverage closet, a white-gloved butler unlocked a cabinet. He pointed to a row of bottles, giving instructions. “Their Majesties will be drinking merberry nectar reserve tonight. Be certain you serve them first. Is that understood?”
“Perfectly,” Scylla answered, rubbing her hands together.
Back in the ballroom, the party continued. But someone was missing.
“What happened to Lumina?” Cora asked Sandrine, who was dancing next to her and Fergis.
“As far as I know, she’s still outside with Kuda admiring the castle,” Sandrine replied.
Suddenly, the crowd gasped and grew silent. All eyes turned toward the grand staircase.
Cora and Sandrine looked up and saw Lumina floating gracefully down the stairs. Madame Ruckus and Kuda trailed behind her. Lumina wore a pink-and-purple gown studded with shimmering pearls. Around her neck she had fastened a glistening jewel and pearl necklace. She looked magical.
“Girl sure knows how to make an entrance,” Sandrine said in awe.
As Lumina glided down the stairs, she tried to take everything in. She had always dreamed of seeing the castle, but she had never imagined she’d actually be attending a royal ball! It was breathtaking.
“Kuda. It’s . . .” Lumina felt at a loss for words.
“I know,” Kuda replied.
Just then, a man in a pearl-studded uniform swept across the room to greet them. Lumina remembered him from the salon. He was her client Fergis’s dad.
“Miss Lumina, welcome! I must thank you. You did absolute wonders with Fergis. I almost didn’t recognize him,” he said, pausing. “And then, sadly, I did.”
Lumina winced. “You’re welcome?” she tried.
Just then, a familiar voice stepped in. “I call the first dance.”
Caligo bowed and backed away. “Of course, Prince Delphin.”
The prince whirled Lumina onto the dance floor.
“Prince Delphin?” Lumina asked, shocked. “And you deliver hair supplies, too?” She thought back to when she had first met Delphin as a delivery boy at Salon La Mer.
“Well,” the prince replied, winking. “It’s more of a hobby than anything else. When I’m not performing my more princely duties.”
“You’re joking with me,” Lumina replied with a smile.
“And what about you?” Delphin continued. “Hairstylist by day, princess by night?”
“Princess? Who, me?” said Lumina, blushing at such a silly thought. “I’m the farthest thing from a princess.”
Delphin gave a sly smile. “Now who’s joking?” he asked with a twinkle in his eye.
Lumina laughed as the prince twirled her around the dance floor. To think that just two days ago she was playing princess with Kuda at the sea cave, and here she was now, dancing with an actual prince! She could hardly believe her good fortune.
Caligo stepped out onto the empty castle terrace. He looked nervously at the town clock tower. Almost time. He turned to enter the castle. “Arrgggh!” he cried, jumping with fright.
Murray swung from the doorway and cackled, pleased to have scared Caligo once again. “Sorry,” he hissed. “Everything going as planned?”
“Like clockwork,” Caligo replied, recovering himself. “Their Majesties will grace us with their presence fifteen minutes from now—for what will be the king’s final appearance. What about the girl?”
“We’re zeroing in,” Murray said. “Every crawly creature in town is now looking for a seventeen-year-old blond girl named Lumina. Don’t worry, we’ll get her.”
“Named what?” Caligo whispered fiercely, yanking Murray by the collar.
“Lumina,” Murray said unsurely. “It was on her note.”
Still clutching Murray by the neck, Caligo looked back into the ballroom. “Is that her?” he asked, pointing a finger toward Lumina spinning around the dance floor.
“Um. Why, yes, it would seem so,” Murray managed in a choked voice, feeling Caligo’s grip tighten. “You found her! And all on your own, too!”
Caligo’
s eyes narrowed with menace. His plan was coming together.
Inside the ballroom, the music came to a stop. Prince Delphin and Lumina applauded for the musicians.
“Dancing in the castle,” Lumina said with a happy sigh. “I never would have believed it.”
“Why not?” Delphin asked. “You dance as if you’ve done it a hundred times.”
“Thank you.” Lumina giggled.
“I’ll get us some refreshments,” Delphin offered. “Promise me the next dance.”
“I promise,” Lumina replied.
The band struck up its next number. Lumina tapped her fingers to the beat as she waited for the prince to return. Then someone grabbed her wrist and yanked her roughly toward the dance floor.
Lumina was shocked. “Uh . . . Mr. Caligo,” she began awkwardly, trying to free her hand. “Prince Delphin made me promise to dance with him next. But I can promise you the next—”
Caligo gripped her wrist tighter and twirled her toward the terrace. “Tell me, Miss Lumina,” he began with a dangerous look in his eye. “Are you here with your parents?”
Lumina bit her lip. She started to feel nervous. “My parents? Actually, I was raised by my aunt.”
“I see. One of life’s little secrets,” Caligo said with a smirk. “Some secrets, however, are best kept under wraps!” He waltzed Lumina out onto the empty terrace. On Caligo’s cue, a mermaid-size sack swooshed down over her from above.
Lumina struggled to break free as the bag scooped her up. She tried not to panic. Then she heard a familiar voice.
“Hey!” Kuda shouted. “What do you guys think you’re—”
Whoosh! Lumina heard another sack swoop though the air and then Kuda’s muffled cries as she was trapped inside.
“No witnesses!” Caligo cried.
“Where do you want them?” Lumina heard Caligo’s partner in crime ask. He sounded slimy.
“The castle dungeon,” Caligo replied. “I’ll be down in twenty minutes. This time, I’m going to make sure the job is done right.”
Moments later, Lumina and Kuda sat miserably on the floor of the dungeon. The bars across the cell looked like teeth in a giant shark’s mouth. There was no way to escape. Caligo’s eel cronies—Murray, Garth, and Wormwood—guarded them.
“If you ask me,” grumbled Kuda, “the only thing eels are good for is sushi.”
Garth leaned in and growled at them. Grrrr.
Kuda cowered behind Lumina.
“I don’t understand,” Lumina said to Murray. “What do you want with us?”
“Patience, patience, my dear,” Murray hissed. “You’ll find out soon enough.” He slithered along a stone column.
Something about the way he moved jogged Lumina’s memory. “Wait, I remember you—from the reef. Aren’t you a friend of my aunt’s?”
Garth and Wormwood giggled.
“Oh, I’d hardly say friend,” Murray said. “Your aunt and I are more like business associates.”
Kuda raised an eyebrow. Something about this seemed fishy. “Oh, yeah? What kind of business?”
Murray dropped from the ceiling in front of Kuda’s face. Kuda jumped.
“We’re exterminators of a sort,” Murray replied cryptically.
“Yeah!” Garth cried excitedly. “In five minutes, your aunt is going to exterminate the king!”
“Right,” Wormwood seconded. “She’s going to ‘poisonate’ him!”
Murray smacked his cronies’ heads. Leave it to them to say too much.
Lumina looked concerned. Exterminate? “Aunt Scylla would never poison anyone!” she declared. Would she?
“Lumina, what are we going to do?” Kuda whispered, staring at the dungeon bars.
Lumina huddled closer to her friend and tried to think. “I don’t know,” she admitted.
“What do you mean you don’t know?” Kuda replied, panicking. “You’re always so sure of everything!”
But Lumina wasn’t sure about anything anymore. Was her aunt Scylla really going to poison the king? Would Caligo ever set them free? She felt a long way from the safety of the sea cave. Maybe her aunt had been right: the castle was turning out to be a dangerous place. She shook her head. “I’m afraid all is— Wait!” she exclaimed, suddenly coming up with an idea.
“I knew it!” Kuda cried happily.
Lumina unclasped the pearl necklace from around her neck.
“Ah, bribery,” Kuda remarked. “Good thinking.”
“Not exactly,” Lumina replied. She eyed the eels, huddled together, deep in conversation.
Lumina tossed the string of pearls through the cell bars. They landed with a soft thud on the sandy floor. Then she raised her hands and conducted.
Slowly but surely, the string of pearls crept along the floor like a snake.
There’s more than one way to out-slither an eel, Lumina thought.
The string of pearls snaked up the opposite wall and, at Lumina’s command, wound itself around a ring of keys. Clank!
Lumina winced. The eels looked up, but then Kuda coughed, covering the noise.
As the eels returned to their discussion, Lumina made the pearls slink back toward the cell, dragging the keys with them.
Finally, Lumina grabbed the keys through the cell bars. She hid them behind her back.
“Now what?” whispered Kuda. “How do we distract the Noodle Brothers?”
Lumina thought for a minute. Then she plucked a single pearl off her gown. Ready, aim, fire! She flung it at the eels, hitting Wormwood in the back. Ping!
Wormwood spun around to face Garth. “Hey! What did you do that for?” he asked.
“Do what for? I didn’t do anything!” Garth replied.
Lumina flung another pearl, this time hitting Murray. Ping!
“Ow!” Murray cried, eyeing Garth. “Have you lost your mind?”
Garth held up his hands. “No, I swear! Wormwood must have done it, because I— Ow!” he cried, rubbing his arm where another pearl hit him.
Lumina flung pearl after pearl, pelting the eels. Just like she planned, the eels started fighting one another, pushing, shoving, yelling, and wrestling.
“Cut that out!”
“You started it!”
“Did not!”
“Did too!”
Once they were totally distracted, Lumina seized her chance. She commanded the string of pearls to tie itself into a knot—right around the fighting bunch of eels!
“Hey! What the—?” the eels cried, confused and trapped.
Lumina brushed her hands together and chuckled. “Shall we?” she asked Kuda.
Kuda grinned. “Let’s.”
Lumina unlocked the cell with the key and they swam out.
“Hey! Grab them!” Murray yelled.
The three eels tried to swim in three different directions, but the pearls knocked them back together.
“You idiots!” Murray screamed, furious.
Lumina conducted the pearls to wrangle the eels into the cell. She slammed the door tight and locked it, then turned toward the exit.
“Come on, Kuda,” she called. “We need to hurry!”
The friends raced through the maze of dungeon passageways, trying to find their way back to the palace.
“You don’t believe what those slimeball eels said about Scylla, do you?” Kuda asked.
Lumina shrugged. “I don’t know what to believe. But if Aunt Scylla’s in some kind of trouble, we’ve got to help!”
They rounded the corner and spotted two Trident guards.
“Whoa!” Kuda cried, screeching to a halt. She shoved Lumina into an open archway and dove in after her.
The guards floated by without seeing them.
Lumina let out a sigh of relief. The last thing they needed was to be captured and jailed again—especially if Aunt Scylla really was in danger.
“Now what?” Kuda whispered.
Lumina grinned and tossed a few loose pearls into the water. They floated down the hallway toward the guards.
One by one, the pearls slipped inside the guards’ shirt collars.
Soon, the guards were twitching and giggling as the pearls tickled them. “Now!” Lumina commanded.
She and Kuda raced through the dungeon gate and zoomed through the water, the giggling guards hot on their trail.
As the clock struck nine, Scylla tapped poison silver shavings into a goblet filled with thick syrupy nectar. She set the cup with the others on a heavy silver tray and stepped onto the royal stage. She placed purple goblets in front of where the king and queen would sit, once they were announced. Then she set a black goblet before Caligo, who was already seated.
“Your nectar for the toast, sir,” she said flatly.
Caligo gave her a nod as Scylla retreated to the side of the stage. He looked at his goblet and then at the others. Why was his black while all the others were blue? He wondered whether he could trust Scylla. He picked up his goblet and examined it, trying to catch Scylla’s eye for some sort of sign.
She didn’t give him one. Caligo thought for a moment and then switched his goblet with the king’s. He smiled smugly at Scylla. He wouldn’t let her get the best of him—not this time. And certainly not when he was paying her handsomely to do the job his way. But still, he felt worried. He switched the goblets back again.
Scylla didn’t blink.
Caligo started to sweat.
Satisfied that Caligo was worried, Scylla carried her tray back to the beverage closet. As she refilled a pitcher with nectar, she heard voices from behind a nearby curtain. Curious, she moved a little closer to listen and recognized them as the king’s and queen’s.
“Nereus, I’m just not sure I can do this,” the queen whispered, sounding upset.
“I know, Lorelei, I know,” the king said, comforting her.
“We wanted so much for the Pearl of the Sea and the kingdom to someday go to our little girl.” The queen sounded like she was choking back tears. “I just wish that she were here. She would have grown up to be such a bright, beautiful girl.” She broke down in sobs.
“It’s been hard, very hard,” the king agreed. “But we have a duty to our people. Try to be brave.”
Barbie: The Pearl Princess Junior Novelization Page 5