A Merhog's Tale: Book 2

The First Item

Back at the palace, a very angry Queen Bernadette was swimming down a secluded tunnel deep under the castle, a silent as always Shadow swimming close by. No one but Shadow and the queen knew of this place.

There was a very good reason why Bernadette wanted to keep this place a secret.

As Shadow swam by her side, his mind began to wander. The ebony merhog knew he had to keep the queen distracted as much as possible until Sonic and his friends returned with all the tools to defeat her.

"You are sure Shadow?" The queen asked, not wanting to be tricked by her best guard. "You are sure that no one near or in Seaflora Flower Shop saw anyone strange swimming around nearby?"

"No one your majesty." He replied with little to no emotion.

"Fine." She snapped. "Then we'll just have to get our answers somewhere else." She smirked slightly and Shadow glared.

At the end of the tunnel, a metal grate, that resembled thick, sharp coral, slid out of the way into a dimly lit room. Inside was a sea fae with light purple fur, flowing dark purple hair and a tanned muzzle.

She wore a long white dress that just barely covered her long, beautiful tail.

Her hands were moving side to side as more blue strands of merillia floated down into a basket as they were collected.

"Hello Bernadette." The female merhog spoke with a cold voice, not looking up from her work. She knew the only person whoever came into this room was Bernadette. "It's nice to see you again, dear sister." She added casually.

"Half-sister." The other hedgehog replied nastily, glaring at Aleena, as she swam in front of the imprisoned queen. "I saw Sapphire today, lovely lady; and I have great news. Guess what? I'm an aunt."

"Really?" Aleena glanced up. "And who's the long lost sibling that is the lucky parent?"

"Ooh, nice try Aleena." Bernadette sneered. "But the baby is yours; only he's not a baby now, is he? You found a way to hide him from me, a long time ago; but now he's all grown up and here in Atlantica." She smiled before whipping around to face her sister with a flaring glare. "Where can I find him?" She snarled.

She was hoping to find a way to egg her sister into talking, but it didn't seem to be working.

"How would I know?" Aleena replied, still not looking up from her work. "I've been locked up in this cage for nearly 17 years, so even if I did have a son, I know nothing about him." She hissed.

"That's true." Bernadette agreed with a very cruel smirk, showing of her fangs. "But you could still tell me which lucky sea fae the father is." She smiled as Aleena remained silent, but Bernadette saw through it. "Unless... no. It couldn't be. You wouldn't have. Is the father not a sea fae at all? Not that Mobian you were always swooning over?" She coldly laughed.

Aleena's control over the merillia failed for a second, and Bernadette knew she had hit the nail on the head.

"I haven't the slightest idea what you're talking about." Aleena glared, her voice ever so slightly cracked, and focused on the merillia even more, hoping to distract Bernadette.

"A half Mobian, half sea fae?" The younger female snorted in cold, cruel laughter. "You had better end the poor boy's suffering now and just tell me where he is, then I might show him some mercy." She snickered but she still got now reply. Silence is golden, but apparently, no one had told Bernadette that.

"Fine then, but I will find him. And for every hour you don't tell me what I want to know, I will imprison 10 innocent sea fae." She smirked as she swam away from her sister. Shadow glared at the evil queen's back as they swam away.