King of Atlantis: Love in the Deep

Love

It was night in the skies. The depths of the ocean were dark. Deep in the kingdom of Atlantis, there was a bit of light that lit parts of a particular palace.

Marina was in her chambers. She got dressed in a light turquoise peplus dress. There was an elderly puppet. If she were alive, she would be in her late fifties, her pale gray hair was put in a bun, and her eyes were light brown, filled with emptiness. She was fixing Marina's hair.

She wanted to speak with the puppet but knew that she would not receive a response, but she had the temptation to. "I wish that every puppet in this kingdom would speak. I am curious about how all of you were as humans."

There was no response from the female puppet. She held no emotion in her eyes and face. It saddened Marina that Trystan's only forms of companions were puppets that could not speak or have any emotion. The puppet finished fixing her hair, which had white flowers and gems.

"Thank you."

The puppet bowed and motioned her to follow her.

Every step that Marina took made her feel nervous. She was going to dine with Trystan in his chambers and felt very nervous and excited. She wanted to speak with Trystan more; he was opening himself more.

Marina made it and stood before the doors while the puppet left. She took a deep breath and was about to knock, but one of the doors opened.

Trystan was before her. He wore a white tunic with a red cloak; his hair was tied. He smiled and extended his hand to her. "Shall we?"

The shy woman nodded, took hold of his hand, and entered his chambers. Once inside, the doors closed, and she saw a small round marble-like table and chairs. There were plates of fish, octopus, shrimp, and some water. There were candles on the table and a few on the walls. It gave out a romantic vibe.

The king motioned Marina to sit first; he then sat on the other side of the table. He looked at her while Marina looked at the plates of food; a blush was on her cheeks. "You look beautiful. The dress looks well on you."

"T-Thanks. You look great yourself. I am not used to wearing dresses, but I admit I am starting to like them. Your people had great tastes in clothing. Not like the people in my generation."

"How is your generation? The people, the rulers?"

Marina explained different parts of the world, the clothing, the politics, wars, and languages. Trystan paid close attention when she spoke; he expressed interest.

"How do you feel about living in your world, your generation?" he asked as he took a bite of an apple.

She became thoughtful. "I have mixed feelings about it. There are positive and negative aspects to different periods. Overall, life can be cruel. That's the bottom line." Marina took a sip of wine. "Hey, can I ask you a personal question?"

He nodded.

"Um, have you ever considered marrying when you were mortal?"

Trystan's eyes opened a bit; he was surprised by the sudden question. He became a bit thoughtful but gave her his attention. "Back then, marriage was the last thing on my mind. Since I was king, many women threw themselves at me; even parents threw their daughters at me to gain my attention. I was so used to getting so many women that marriage was foreign to me."

"Wow, that's tough."

"Indeed. I did want a woman to stand out from the others. I wanted a woman to help me change my ways, but it was not meant to be while I was mortal."

"Oh, sorry I asked."

"Don't be. What happened is in the past. You taught me that."

Both ate their food quietly.