Free Kingdom of the Deep by EJ Altbacker

understand.”
    â€œOf course you don’t! No one does except me!”
    Velenka remained silent. She didn’t want to take the chance of angering the frilled shark again.
    He went on, “In ages past, the Big Blue was ruled by prehistores directly descended from Tyro and the First Shiver. Of course my great species of frilled sharks was very important during this. Interestingly, we never evolved from our prehistore form, unlike everyone else. We’re perfect, so why change, hmm? Anyway, when we great sharks ruled, there were no petty disputes and wars like the one that dear, demented emperor of yours fought.”
    â€œBut what does that have to do with anything?” Velenka asked, genuinely baffled.
    â€œIt proves that today’s Big Blue is a mere shadow of the greatness of what once was! But luckily, what was once
can be again
!” Hokuu smiled and waited for Velenka to comment, but she had no idea what he wanted to hear. “I can bring Fifth Shiver here to take over! It would have already been done if the passage between the oceans hadn’t closed. I have my suspicions on what happened there, by the way, but they aren’t important to you. What’s important is that when I open the new passageway, Fifth Shiver will dominate and then eliminate the ineffective shivers here and the watery world will run smoothly again!”
    Eliminate everyone, Velenka thought. He can’t be serious. He can’t. “But how would you do that?”
    Hokuu’s tail slipped from her flanks and he waved the spiky end from side to side in front of her eyes. “That’s not for you to know yet! And this brings us back to the issue of trust.”
    â€œIt does?”
    The razor-sharp point of Hokuu’s tail hovered an inch away from Velenka’s eye. “You were awfully interested in my conversation. A little too interested. I think you were spying!”
    Velenka gasped. “No, no, I was looking—”
    Hokuu whapped her on the forehead with his tail. Hard. “I need to trust everyone that serves me. If I think that you’re playing games, I’ll eat you alive. Do you understand this simple fact? Nod if you do.”
    Velenka did so as motes of light danced before her eyes from the blow. Then Hokuu slapped her on the flank with a loud
crack
. “Excellent!” he said, smiling once more. “I knew I could count on you! Now, get ready for some real fun. We’re going to change the world, most likely replacing every fin with someone better!”
    Velenka nodded. “Good plan. And you’ll rule them all, right? Like the Seazarein?”
    â€œThe Seazarein?” Hokuu shook his head. “That young fool should be swimming the Sparkle Blue already. She hides inside the fortress of Fathomir, where I can’t get near her. Not when she has all those finja around. It was blind luck she escaped my plans, and she had no idea until I struck. None. I was even her Aquasidor for a few short weeks before I struck. That’s how stupid she and Bollagan were. If only Drinnok had come up before the passageway closed, then there would be no problems at all.”
    â€œDrinnok?” Velenka asked, puzzled.
    â€œHe’s royalty and
sharkkind
, of course,” Hokuu said, his voice dripping with sarcasm. “Fifth Shiver still follows the ancient ways, so I need a royal to give everyone their swimming orders. But after a while, well, anything’s possible.”
    Velenka found herself interested in the plan within a plan. She was a mako, after all. “So Drinnok will rule, but you’ll guide Drinnok’s fins. Help him . . . for a while.” Velenka thought she had been too forward, but the frilled shark nodded his long snout.
    â€œExactly,” Hokuu told her. “Bollagan didn’t understand that in order to swim into the future, you must break with the past. He wants to live in peace with the sharkkind here. But