Of Mermaids and Princes'

How To See Beneath The Water

Argel rushed through the family of fish, down the halls of the palace, over the wild-grown coral to the throne room. 

She could barely take in enough water as she slopped into the smaller throne on the right of her father. She flashed her huge merman of a father a smile in hopes he would forgive her tardiness.

He gave her a look before waving the guards to open the palace doors. 

With a huge influx of water came sea-creatures of all kinds.  Sea horses the size of human men, Turtles, Fish, Merfolk, and more. Today was the day Argel and her eleven siblings were introduced to her father's kingdom. 

"Welcome all to today's celebration." Her father began, the doors open for all the kingdom to hear, "We welcome my children from all corners of the sea!" 

Argel and her siblings all looked very different, aside from the features they inherited from their father. They all had different Mothers who had been previously caring for them until they were all collectively shipped to Tidenus the Royal Capital of the Seas. 

"My children have finally reached of age to learn to lead and guide this kingdom one day. Let us all welcome them with open arms as we feast!"

The capital entered an uproar as sea creatures cheered and let out cries of joy. Argel hated the thought, and she had always preferred her small life in the southern seas with her Mother. Her mother was a large MerQueen, who was on her father's many wives. While her mother was here in the capital she had saved a human and stopped a war her father had almost waged with them. Because of this incident, Argel was a favored child. 

Argel would often be called to sing the songs of the sea for her mother back home, she would be praised and be allowed to do as she pleased. Since moving to the capital she was unable to adventure or even make any friends. This time of her life as a young princess was about learning to rule. She was exhausted. 

The party flared into full bloom. The music shook the waters and the royal family of father and children were seated at a round table. Argel straight across from her father. While the other children had been bred to try and find favor with her father, she had not been. The others almost fought for his attention, telling him about their many accomplishments with classes, or how they'd defeated a shark in battle. 

One brother, in particular, had quieted the entire table as he recanted a tale of how he had watched a shipwreck occur today. 

"Father, you should have seen it. The lightning struck it and the humans all drowned. I did as you told us and did not approach the surface." 

His name was Drifur, he was an eastern sea child with hair of ember and a short snouty nose. He was older than Argel but always seemed to hate her. Drifur was the son of Queen Rema. Queen Rema was not the most beautiful of the sea creatures, she also hated Argels mother. This lead to a lot of tension between these siblings. 

When they were younger and would come to the capital to meet once a year Drifur would pull Argels hair and tell their other sibling that her mother had been a harlot. This frustrated Argel and she often fought him and won. Argel was the strongest swimmer of the girls and Drifur was one of the weakest of the boys. This gave her an advantage, and eventually, the bullying stopped. He resorted to ignoring her now. 

Argel slammed the food in her mouth, she loved pufferfish. It was her favorite though it would always give her stomach aches. 

"Where did this happen?" Her father's booming voice finally rang through the water. 

"Towards the northern shore. not far. I was there scouting and preparing to become head of the guard father," Drifur puffed his chest a bit trying to impress their father. 

"All of you, stay in the palace until I can send a guard to make sure the wreckage is clear." 

"But-"

"That's final," Their father cut him off and gave everyone his famous stern look. He was a serious man and hardly ever joked. He did show affection every now and then but other than that his word was law. 

All the children nodded and were soon dismissed. Argel hurried off to her room, not wanting to be bothered with the formalities of the palace. She did have a few run-ins where she had to smile and be polite, she hated this. She reached her room and slammed the door launching her body across the bed. 

She missed her mother, she missed her sea, she missed her friends, she missed adventuring off. The thought sparked up of the conversation her brother had held, of the ship wreck, she had never seen one. She had been dismissed for the night and Drifur had said the wreck wasn't far. 

She peered out of her bedroom window, she could just barely slip through...