Pirate King Ari

Chapter 1

 "In a kingdom long, long ago lived a King and his Queen. They lived on the shore next to Atlantica, the place where the Queen was born and raised. The King's name is Eric and his Queen's name is Ariel, and this is her story." A mother with bright red hair began to tell a story to her young daughter, named Melody.

"Isn't that yours and Dad's name, Mom?" Melody asked. She tilted her head and looked up at her mother. Her mother nodded and continued with the story.

                                                               ⤞⤝

I found myself in a cave surrounded by darkness, not a single light in sight. I grabbed ahold of the side of the walls when I felt a tug on my foot and a creeping, slithering sensation on my ankle. Vines climbed their way around my legs, their sticky, disgusting leaves wrapped around my body. The vines crept up my legs and grabbed ahold of my neck, squeezing until I couldn't breathe. The vines kept changing back and forth between eels and vines, and I heard an all too familiar cackle whisper in my ear.

"Come find me, Queen Ariel," the voice jeered next to my left ear. "You must find me if you want to save your family," the voice quickly moved to my right ear and then chuckled before vanishing into the dark abyss. I screamed and lurched forward.

"Ariel! Please calm down, I'm right here sweetheart," a familiar, gentle voice whispered above my head. The voice was soothing, like the gentle beating of the waves in the ocean. I wrapped my arms around the strong build of my husband and hid my head in the crook of his neck, breathing in the salty smell of the ocean. His smooth black hair tickled my cheek and brought me out of my daze. I pulled back and looked at him with large tears running down my face.

"Eric! It was horrible!" I said, gripping onto his shirt and causing wrinkles to start to form from my grip. I sniffled and looked up at his delicate crystal blue eyes that stared down at me with sympathy.

"What happened Ariel?" Eric asked, pulling me into his chest again.

"She came back," I said, nerves starting to form in my throat. I felt sick all of a sudden and ripped out of Eric's grip. I ran down the hallway towards the bathroom with the thumping of my feet following with me. I reached the bathroom and kneeled over the toilet. I groaned and started to vomit in the toilet. The servants began to gather, and Eric pushed his way through the crowd. Once he reached me, he started rubbing my back and desperately looked for the butler.

"Butler, go get a doctor!" He said urgently, holding me tightly as I continued to throw up in the toilet. I eventually stopped and fell onto Eric out of exhaustion. I don't know why I was so tired when I had just woken up, probably from the nightmares. 

 "It will be alright, Ariel. You have nothing to fear," Eric told me while rubbing my back and looking at me with his gentle, caring eyes. He picked me up, walking us back to our room. He laid me down gently on the ground and held my hand as we waited for the doctor. The door to the balcony was open so a breeze came into the room. The breeze brought the fresh, salty smell of the sea and let the early glow of the sun creep into the room. The warm sun rested delicately on my skin and the air reminded me of home. I snuggled into the comfy blankets and held tightly onto Eric's hand before drifting off to sleep.

"Your Majesty, I can't perform a full diagnosis if Queen Ariel is asleep," I heard a voice softly whisper next to me.

"Then I guess you're going to have to wait until she wakes up," I heard Eric gruffly say in a whispered tone towards the other person. I slowly started to blink my eyes open and lift myself. I felt a gentle push on my shoulders as I was trying to get up.

"Please rest Ariel. You seem very tired, let the doctor do some tests on you," Eric said gently towards me. I nodded my head and laid back down on the sheets. The female doctor came towards me with a smile plastered on her face and dimples in her cheeks. I looked up at her with a dazed smile.

"Shoo, shoo! You'll disturb us, Your Majesty!" The nice doctor said while pushing Eric out of the room. She walked towards me again and grabbed a bag that was near the door. I was curious, so I lifted my head to see. The doctor saw and let out a gentle chuckle before showing me what was in her bag. There were all sorts of shiny instruments that I'd never seen before. I looked at her confused and then back at the bag.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, My Queen. My name is Doctor Elisha Spoolerton, and these tools are going to help me diagnose you." I nodded my head at Doctor Elisha and let her take out her equipment. She reached for my hand and put her fingers on my wrist.

"I'm going to be taking a measure of your pulse and then I'm going to take some other measurements with my tools." The process continued for a while, and Doctor Elisha tried her best to keep up small talk. I chimed into her talking and even giggled at some of her remarks.

"Well then My Queen, I think I have finally found your diagnosis."

"What is it, Doctor Elisha?"

~TO BE CONTINUED~