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"But now I must melt the rest of the ice and liberate Clia." This she did in an astonishingly brief time, and the pretty princess, being herself a fairy, had not been at all affected by the cold surrounding her. They now swam to the door of Cap'n Bill's room and found the Peony Chamber a solid block of ice.
"Let us hear it, anyway," said Aquareine encouragingly. "It is to destroy Zog himself and put him out of the world forever. Then we would be free to go home whenever we pleased." "Can you suggest a way to destroy Zog?" asked Aquareine. "No, your Majesty," Clia answered. "I must leave the way for you to determine."
Over the flower beds and through the gardens they swam, emerging into the open sea in a direction opposite that taken by the visitors the day before. The party consisted of but four: Queen Aquareine, Princess Clia, Trot and Cap'n Bill.
"Do you like Zog better than you do me?" inquired Aquareine. "No," was the answer. "I hate Zog." "Then won't you make the sword to please me and to show your skill?" pleaded the pretty mermaid. "I'm afraid of my master. He might not like it," the man replied. "But he will never know," said Princess Clia. "You cannot say what Zog knows or what he doesn't know," growled the man.
Queen Aquareine and Princess Clia were a little way off, lying with their pretty faces just out of the water while their hair floated in soft clouds around them. "Goodbye, friends!" they called. "Goodbye!" shouted both Trot and Cap'n Bill, and the little girl blew two kisses from her fingers toward the mermaids. Then the faces disappeared, leaving little ripples on the surface of the water.
"Yes, dear," said Clia. "But we haven't any gray whiskers," added Merla merrily, "and our hearts are ever young." Trot was thoughtful. It made her feel solemn to be in the company of such old people. The band of mermaids seemed to all appearances young and fresh and not a bit as if they'd been soaked in water for hundreds of years.
"Come, then," said Clia, and once more taking Trot's hand, she led the girl through still another arch, while Merla followed just behind them, escorting Cap'n Bill. They now entered an apartment so gorgeous that the child fairly gasped with astonishment. The queen's throne room was indeed the grandest and most beautiful chamber in all the ocean palaces.
"Seems like we're gettin' further into the trap," growled Cap'n Bill. "We couldn't find our way out o' here to save our lives." "Oh yes we could," replied Clia, who was just behind him. "Such a maze may indeed puzzle you, but the queen or I could lead you safely through it again, I assure you. Zog is not so clever as he thinks himself."
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