Dome of Atlantis

Chapter 19

The rustle of seaweed outside woke me from my slumber. I sat up from my anemone bed and quietly pushed myself in the water towards the noise. I lay low to the ground and gently pushed the seaweed to the side to look at the commotion outside of my room.

A couple of mermen were swimming outside with tridents. They stopped and started whispering to each other.

I couldn't make out what they were telling each other. I waited for them to be distracted before I pulled myself out of my room and along the rock face near where I was listening to Proteus and Maureen earlier. I swam along the wall for a bit until I found a coral nearby that I could hide behind and spy on the two mermen.

"What if Proteus finds out?" one of the mermen asked the other one.

"He's not going to if we do this right. Every important member including the royals are at the meeting now remember?"

"Yeah I remember. Do you really think she'll end up falling in love with one of us as a prisoner?"

"She'll have to."

I watched horrified as both of the mermen headed towards my room. I didn't wait to see their reactions of me not being in there. I swam towards the main part of the palace as best as I could.

I felt relief once I heard a commotion of voices.

This must be the meeting those mermen were talking about, I thought.

I swam around the corner to see Maxwell and Proteus up at the top. I saw Maureen in the crowd a little ways to the back. I started to swim towards her and stopped when I heard what came out of her mouth.

"It's pretty annoying having to be her escort. I wish I could just go out and play like the other mermaids," she told a couple of people near her.

I stopped in my tracks and backed up to hide behind a pillar. It's not like I asked you to be my escort, I thought towards Maureen.

Maxwell stood up to address the crowd. "Listen everyone. I know a lot of you are worried about having Vivian go back to the elves tomorrow, but we need to gain her trust."

"What if we can't get her to come back?" a random merman asked.

"We have a mutual friend of hers that she trusts," Proteus spoke.

Is he talking about Ben?

Maxwell put his hand up. "She's not going to trust the Prince up there. Everything's going to work out. You need to have trust in our own kind! When have mermen failed?" he asked.

All of the mermaids started to cheer.

I swam toward the direction of where Proteus had shown me his mother's jewelry room and waited there until morning.

When the sun came out I slowly brought myself back towards my room and waited outside along the nearby rock wall. It wasn't long until I Maureen swam up to it.

"Maureen!" I called out.

She looked shocked that I wasn't in my room.

"There was a couple of mermen that tried to kidnap me last night, but I hid here until the morning," I told Maureen.

Her face structure changed to a surprised look. "Are you ok?"

"Yes I'm fine. Did Proteus send you to get me? You shouldn't have to do that," I told here after remembering how snooty she was last night.

"It's what cousins do for each other," she told me.

"How are you cousins again?" I asked.

"My mom and his were sisters. Mine passed away giving childbirth," she told me.

"I'm sorry to hear that."

"No worries. I'm glad you're safe from those bad mermen. I'm glad you know that not all of us are psycho. Let's get you back on land."

I nodded and followed her to Proteus waiting for me.

Proteus smiled. "Remember we can go get you any time you want. Just make sure you stay safe and cautious with those elves. I know you want to get back to your fellow humans," Proteus said.

"Thank you Proteus and thank you Maureen,"

"I'm sure we'll see you soon," Maureen said with a smile.

Now that I'm paying a little more attention I could make out that Maureen really wasn't a fan of me. I smiled a little at her and followed Proteus all the way to the water near the broken down ship on the beach.

"I'll check on you in a couple of days Vivian. Be safe until then ok?" Proteus asked.

"Of course. Thank you," I told Proteus.

I swam closer onto the beach until I made it on land and started gagging.

Salt water poured out of my lungs onto the beach and I felt my gills seal up.

I could breathe again.

I smiled now that I was safely on land and slowly stood up. My legs collapsed beneath me and I was weak.

It took me a few more tries until I could stand up enough to wobble toward the elf palace.

I was lucky enough to see Edric walking along the beach.

When he saw me he booked it running toward me to catch me before I fell back on the beach again.

"Vivian! What did they do to you? Are you ok? Did they kidnap you? We need to get you fed and dressed," Edric stressfully said to me and himself.

Edric picked me up and jogged back to the palace. He looked paler than usual and under his eyes were darker than usual from lack of sleep.

"Clare?!!" he yelled.

A little Clare ran out to the center of the palace along with a worried Felix.

"Get her food and water right away along with a new pair of dry clothes.

Felix rushed up to me. "Are you alright Vivian?"

"I'm fine everyone. I'm just a bit cold and tired," I told them all.

"We'll get you to your room and Clare will bring you everything. When you feel like talking just ring the bell next to your bed. We'll post guards around your room so you don't get kidnapped again."

"I don't want to be a prisoner," I told Edric.

"A prisoner? I never want you to feel like a prisoner. The guards are to keep bad people out of your room. You are free to go wherever you want, just please bring Felix or a guard with you if you choose to wander. I just don't want a merman to kidnap you again."

I sighed. "I just don't want to be a prisoner."

Felix smiled and put his hand on my shoulder. "You're not. Trust me. You're in a much safer place now."

I smiled when Clare came back.

Clare helped me to my room.

I changed from wet clothes to a dry and beautiful purple silk gown. I crawled under the covers and ate the warm meal that was prepared for me.

I put the tray of food down on the bedside table along the bell they left for me.

I would be able to sleep in a warm and comfortable bed now.