Under the Sea

Chapter Fourteen

Older Sister's Thoughts:

Attina knew her world was different than that of her sisters. As the eldest daughter, she would be heir to the throne should something unspeakable happen to her father. She also knew that it was her duty to act as a mother figure to her younger siblings with their lack of a mother and the poor quality of their governess. Sometimes it was hard to believe the woman still had a job at times.

It was a hard job, and it certainly wasn't fair at times but Attina managed to figure out a way to do it while still keeping what remained of her childhood. Of course Andrina and Arista were always around to help as the next in line, and it got a little easier once their father hired their governess to watch over the younger girls as the older ones matured.

It was Ariel who was the hardest piece though.

Attina knew that her youngest sister would need to be treated with patience—after all having an accident where you forget a boy you grew to know as a brother had to be traumatic. Attina couldn't think of anything worse happening to her little sister, especially just after losing their mother.

Harry had been a little brother to them all, and it still hurt to think about sometimes. She knew all the others wondered what had happened to that little raven haired boy who would bake kelp cookies with their mother and stick to Ariel like glue. Attina had to confess, she had been a little jealous of the relationship those two had had as she had wanted to get to know her adoptive brother better, and she knew Alana had been as well as her little sister basically lost a playmate in Ariel with the arrival of Harry.

Attina sighed as she remembered the last thing she had ever said to him. Blaming Harry for their mother's death? How could she have been so cruel? Granted she was young and had just lost her mother but that didn't excuse it. Harry must have been hurting too, after all he had become so close to their mother, and for her and Alana to just gang up on him...

At least Ariel stood up for him while the rest of them attacked him or made him feel inferior due to the fact that he hadn't been born a merperson. Attina didn't blame Harry for only hanging out with Ariel the last month he was with them. The last month her life seemed like it was normal.

That wasn't to say it didn't get back to normal-it did. Slowly and painstakingly, Attina had managed to get her life to make sense once again and things were starting to seem like they were back to the way they should bel.

But now, Ariel was acting strange-well stranger than usual for her. One time Attina almost caught Ariel sneaking around the throne room and Arista told her once that Ariel had become very interested in the guard's reports from the Black Lake. Attina knew her baby sister loved to explore—but she hoped that Ariel had enough sense not to go to the one spot in the kingdom that their father had forbidden them from going.

Swimming into their shared bedroom, Attina nodded to her other sisters who were occupying their respective beds, with the exception of Andrina who was still finishing up her nightly ritual.

"This is going to sound odd," Aquata said after a few minutes of silence as Attina busied herself with her bedtime ritual. "But has anyone noticed anything weird about Ariel?"

"What do you mean?" Adella asked, turning her head to look at her older sister.

"No, I agree," Attina nodded as she finished up and sat on her bed. "She sure is acting fishy lately. I just hope she doesn't have any adventures planned in the near future."

"Please, like she'd do anything like that," Andrina scoffed, setting down her brush and tuning into the conversation.

"Have you watched your baby sister lately?" Attina asked. "Honestly, Ariel has an adventure a week! We need to keep a closer eye on her—and no Arista and Adella, pointing out that she needs new sea-shells does not count as keeping an eye on her!"