The Legend of the Underwater Palace and the Sea Dragon Prince

3. The visitors from the Mortal Realm are taken to the crown prince

Hua Cheng, He Xuan and the captains of the ships – Hua Cheng instructed the rest of the crew to stay on board – walked behind Jun Wu, the Guoshi and a few other officials through the city, towards the palace, which even from there looked as big as Mount Tai. They crossed wide avenues lined with elegant buildings and underwater gardens with floating, colourful sea plants.

XianLe's inhabitants flocked in to see them, all beautifully dressed in flowing skirts and silver or gold jewellery all over them, and through their human bodies, one could see they were yellow fin tunas, mandarin fishes, mackerels, rainbow runners; a darkfin pike eel or a sting ray demon could also be seen here or there, as well as marlins or swordfishes.

In an incense time, they reached some jaded high stairs decorated with reliefs of sea dragons battling whales, which led to exquisite, colourful gardens surrounding the palace's many pavilions. Naturally, the palace's main building stood up, beyond elegant and refined: of a pure white jade, with tall turquoise columns and carvings as delicate as lace, with coral and gold details.

"This... not even the palace of the emperor has such precious and rare materials, nor is this beautiful", Hua Cheng sighed; the rest of the pirates, including He Xuan, were speechless.

Its interior was equally magnificent, with open spaces with gardens, like sunrooms, through which the dying sun light was coming in; many large, unfurnished halls, some of them with turquoise columns, some with coral or green jade, all of them with carvings on the ceiling.

They were taken to an audience hall of a creamy green jade, with bright red columns made of coral and carvings on the elevated ceiling. There were long stairs, on top of which there was a throne – so high Hua Cheng couldn't discern who was sitting, only the two men standing at its sides: according to the Guoshi, these would be the crown prince's most trusted aides.

Even though they were demons of similar species, their human bodies looked very different: on the right, Feng Xin, a blue marlin, was muscular, with wheat skin, deep brown hair and amber eyes. He was handsome, with an alert frown, having a warrior-like outfit: plain battle skirt, bronze arm rings and a wide necklace. He'd be the prince's bodyguard.

The one on the left would be Mu Qing, the crown prince's personal attendant: a black marlin demon, slender, with a pale skin and sharp grey eyes, handsome and expressionless. His outfit was plain but elegant: a silvery grey skirt with discrete embroidery, jewellery with simple lines, his long black hair tied up with a silver clasp and hairpin.

The Guoshi did the presentations, bowing respectfully, "Your Highness! We brought the visitors from the Mortal Realm for an audience! I gathered you'd like to see them in person..."

"However", Jun Wu interrupted, his tone betraying his annoyance, "We were about to discuss important matters, such as XianLe's trading policy – these gentlemen are merchants, so – "

Hua Cheng was of course bowing, with his hands cupped, and only heard a soft pleasant voice saying, "Thank you Jun Wu, we'll get to the bottom of these important matters shortly. Ah, thank you Guoshi! Indeed, I was very keen to see these visitors..."

Hua Cheng looked up discretely as the prince got up from his throne. Maybe he was backlit with sunrays, or it was his sea dragon nature – he looked shimmering gold, with gentle eyes and smile, a bodhisattva-like aura: spiritual and ethereal, above the red dust, unconcerned of earthly matters. Hua Cheng felt a strange excitement.

He couldn't stop staring as the prince descended the stairs: tall and slender, with a pearly skin, fair and shimmering, and a long, golden-brown hair. He was dressed luxuriously, with a white battle skirt of a richly gauzy fabric and a golden coat of mail, so loose and delicate one could see his powerful, with well-defined muscles upper body completely, full of masculine beauty.

He wore golden vambraces and ankle rings, his hair tied up on an exquisite crown and hairpin, and as he stopped at the bottom of the stairs he smiled, and Hua Cheng was stunned: there are people beyond people, and heavens beyond the heavens; he was above mere beautiful. What was the most impressive were his phoenix eyes, golden and full of warmth like the early morning sun.

"Welcome to XianLe", he said smoothly, "I trust Jun Wu had offered you all our utmost hospitality".

"Your Highness", Hua Cheng could only say, bowing low and realising that, for some reason, he was nervous, far from his cool, collected self. He continued, "We're but humble merchants looking for new markets, delighted to have reached the beautiful Kingdom of XianLe..."

The prince laughed lightly, his laughter sounding like singing bowls, and said, "Please, drop the formalities. My name is Xie Lian. I'm very interested to know all about the Mortal Realm – we haven't seen mortals in centuries! I'd be most pleased if you could stay for a few days – "

"Your Highness", the Guoshi interrupted softly, "I've passed on to Lord Hua Cheng and his companions your invitation. Jun Wu wants to discuss our, hum, trading policy with them, but in the meantime, there will be plenty of opportunities for you to ask – "

Hua Cheng felt the prince's eyes on him, and felt warm. Was this part of his sea dragon magic?

"How about dinner tonight, at the great hall?", the prince replied, looking at Hua Cheng and smiling, "You're my most honoured guests!", he then turned to the Guoshi, "At xu time, please Guoshi, make the necessary preparations, send somebody to pick up our guests..."

Thank you for reading! We got to meet the crown prince of XianLe and his most trusted aides, the marlin demons Feng Xin and Mu Qing – let me know your thoughts in the comments! 😉

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