The Sea Princess and The Storyteller

Chapter Six: JEWEL

Dear Jewel,

Zale and I both had such a wonderful time in Reddia! I never realized how incredibly bland Pacifican cuisine was until my tastebuds were introduced to coral hummus and sea bean falafel! We plan on visiting you again someday, with the little mer-twins in tow.

Speaking of which...as of today, we know what genders our mer-babies are! One egg turned pale pink, and the other is baby blue, which means we're having a little mermaid and a merboy! Zale and I decided that it was only fair that each of us gets to name one of them. The merboy will be named Neptune, after my late grandfather on my father's side. Zale wants to name the little mermaid Zalissa, as it's really trendy right now in Pacifica to give mer-babies names that are combinations of both of their parents' names. I personally think that trend's a little silly, to be honest, but Zalissa is a pretty name. We'll call Neptune "Nep" as a nickname, and Zalissa "Lissie".

They're due to hatch in about four months. Dr. Fishman, the royal physician, says that a mermaid mother singing to her eggs encourages healthy mer-fetal development. I'm probably the worst singer in the entire merfolk kingdom of Pacifica, so I'm not sure if that's true in my case, haha!

I promise I'll write you a longer letter next time. Your friend, Rissie

Jewel gently folded her latest letter from Crown Princess Nerissa of Pacifica. She then put it away in the pearl-covered keepsake box that she stored all of her treasured letters from her pen pal in.

On her way to the palace's library, the Crown Princess of Reddia swam into Kamilah, in the corridor. The Tailmaiden held three sand shekels in the palm of her dark hand. "Look, Jewel!" she exclaimed, her coral-colored fishtail flapping in excitement. "I'm halfway there now!". For quite a while, Kamilah had been saving up coins in a sea glass jar until she had enough to afford to purchase a small driftwood building to serve as her hair salon. Now she had apparently saved half of the amount of money that she needed.

"You see, I went out for a swim this morning, out of the palace grounds, and there was this rich mer-guy in the gaudiest golden Sea-Carriage I've ever seen, throwing lots and lots of coins out of the window! Even I must admit that this merman was kinda hot...". Kamilah never showed the slightest romantic interest in any merman, so it was unusual for her to acknowledge that somebody was attractive.

Jewel's clandestine trip to the marketplace with Timin, over a week ago, continued to weigh heavily on the Crown Princess's mind. Seeing so many beggars clothed in threadbare coverings and hungry children, their dull scales a tell-tale sign of malnourishment, made her feel a bit guilty about living in the lap of luxury at the Reddian royal palace. Even though she often felt stifled by King Bahr's overprotectiveness, she recognized that her overall quality of life was nevertheless much higher than the vast majority of her father's subjects.

It especially broke her heart to think about what kind of hard life Derin most likely led. Such a handsome and charismatic merman, with such a great talent for oral storytelling, did not deserve to live in abject poverty. She wondered if she would ever have a chance to see the young storyteller again.

The Crown Princess of Reddia lately had spent a lot of time in the library, her favorite room in the whole palace, reading anything she could find about the history of her kingdom, seeking information on past economic policies and any historical events that might have contributed to the current situation. The entire library was illuminated by bioluminescent jellyfish drifting languidly in built-in alcoves, and the polished coral floor was inlaid with intricate patterns inspired by Arabic geometric designs. Ornately framed scrolls of seaweed parchment, with passages in flowing Reddic script hung on the walls, which were adorned with boldly colored tile mosaics depicting scenes from ancient merfolk myths. Low tables carved from whalebone and driftwood were scattered around the library. Instead of the wooden bookshelves found in libraries in the human world, thousands of books were displayed on shelves carved from bleached coral branches. Because merfolk moved in three dimensions beneath the sea, there was no need for stairs or ladders.

"Marsha, Your Royal Highness!" Mistress Aysu, the librarian, greeted Jewel with a reverent bow. Marsha loosely translated to "hello" or "good day" in Reddic. The language of Reddia was derived from both Arabic and Hebrew, the respective official languages of Paleti and Elara, two human kingdoms whose coastlines bordered the merfolk kingdom.

Jewel floated over to a table, on which two thick, sea-leather-bound books laid open. She had been flipping through these two volumes for days. One of them was called "The Modern History of Reddia: A Merfolk Kingdom in Decline". It was written by the famous Pacifican historian, Dr. Shelley, and had been acquired by the Reddian Royal Library relatively recently, according to Mistress Aysu.

Luckily, the Crown Princess's level of proficiency in Pacifican Anglo was high enough that she could comprehend most of the text in the book. It described the Eleven Days' War, which happened twenty years ago, in exhaustive detail. Wars were much rarer in the merfolk world than in the human world, yet Reddia did briefly wage war against its closest neighbor, Mediterrania, over a border dispute. Jewel's paternal grandfather, King Khaza was tragically killed in battle. The war ended after only eleven days when her father agreed to marry Esther, a Mediterranian princess, cementing a lasting alliance between the two merfolk kingdoms. In spite of it being an arranged marriage for primarily political reasons, King Bahr and Queen Esther grew to deeply love each other. The book also covered the epidemic of the Rare Aquatic Virus in depth.

The other book on the table was about Reddian legends and mythology. One age-old legend that Jewel found particularly fascinating was that of the Pearl of Wonder. The magical pearl granted its owner three wishes. If I possessed the Pearl of Wonder, I'd wish to end poverty in my kingdom, thought the Crown Princess of Reddia.

Suddenly, Timin and Marion, a fellow officer in the Reddian Royal Force, swam into the library. "Your Royal Highness, your presence is requested in the throne room, at once!"