The Prince

The Prince Chapter 5

    Will laughed at the ridiculous story the old man was clearly making up. The Prince of Surda? Will thought, that old man has been living in the wilderness for so long he's lost his mind! The man looked at Will like he'd just grown a third arm. He walked over to the bed and took out a large trunk from underneath. He rummaged through it until he found what he was looking for. It looked like a big old book but when he opened it Will realized it was a photo album. The man handed the album to Will.

   "These are your parents," he said pointing to a picture. Will gasped. This was the man and woman from his dreams! There was no mistaking it; he looked just like the man but had the woman's eyes. Will flipped through the album. There was the man and woman on their wedding day, honeymoon, sailing on a boat, at a masquerade ball. Then he saw a photo with them together and the woman was holding a very chubby baby. The baby was laughing and the couple looked so happy to be its parents. That's me, Will realized with shock.

"These are my parents?" The man nodded."They came to me in my dreams but each time I tried to approach them they would vanish. Now I know why. What happened to them?"

"Come sit down. I will lay some food out for you to eat;you must be hungry. I will tell you the true story of what happened." In no time there was tea, muffins, bread, butter, honey, and of course cherries on the table. Will didn't realize how hungry he was until now. Cherries only make a good snack not a meal.

"Sorry but I don't have anything else to put down on the table. You came so unexpectedly," the man laughed awkwardly.

Will smiled,"This is more than enough!"

"By the way what is your name; you certainly know mine. And I'm sure you don't want me to address you as 'Old Man'," Will joked.

The man laughed but then grew serious,"My name is Nicholas Wahlsen and I was your father's trusted advisor and good friend. He and I were like brothers. You see Surda used to mine diamonds from the caves and pearls from the Sea of Nereids. That was our main source of income. But we soon depleted our sources and our economy was declining rapidly. The only way to fix that was to get hold of the large oil reserves in the middle of the sea. The King of Anatolia, Edward, also wanted those reserves. We had been at war with them for a long time. But then your father and Edward finally settled on an agreement: each would get half of the oil. Edward came to Surda and they signed the treaty but Edward was a fraud. That night he kidnapped you and vanished. He didn't have an heir and he wanted you. Your father went to rescue you with an army of ships but they all died. Edward killed them all including my son Ryan. Your father left me in charge but there was nothing I could do. We never got the oil and the Kingdom of Surda died with your father."

"I can't believe it," Will said astonished and angry,"I have been lied to my whole life. I knew I was different but because everyone told me I came from an unknown island where my parents had been killed by a dangerous beast and King Edward took me in. But he actually kidnapped me and killed my real father! Did he kill my mother too?"

"Now your mother is a different story all together," Nicholas said," You see, your mother was a nymph. A nereid to be precise." Will stared at Nicholas with his mouth hanging wide open.

"Your joking. A nymph? But that's impossible! nymphs don't exist! They're just a myth!"

Nicholas sighed,"A moment ago you didn't believe me when I told you about your real parents and look where that got you. Do you think I would joke about such things?"

"I'm sorry but the idea just seems so...so absurd."

"You know why the Sea of Nereids was named the way it was, don't you?

Will shook his head. Everyone knew the story. Centuries ago, when this part of the world was founded by Jakob van Hel, he had said to have seen beautiful and enchanting women in the waters of the sparkling blue sea. He later realized that they were nereids and so named the sea after them. After that no one saw them and it happened so long ago that the people just dismissed it and made it a myth. They say that Jakob van Hel was probably a lunatic who drank too much and so just imagined the whole thing.

"Well, there you go. Haven't you ever felt like you had some kind of connection to the water? Like you always felt closer to it than others?"

Will's eyes went wide."Yes! I always felt that way. For some reason I just love water and when I'm around it I feel revived. It gives me this strength and I feel like I can do anything!"

"You get that from your mother. She was a nymph and she was a princess too. She was looking at your father from the water and fell in love with him. She became a human and pretended to be poor in front of your father with nothing to offer. She wanted to test your father's loyalty and love. Your father didn't care and he asked her to marry him. She was overjoyed and then told him the secret of who she really was. Then she had you and they both were so happy. But one day she vanished. She left you and your father. I don't know why but I had a feeling your father did. He never volunteered the information and I never asked. That was one thing your father never told me."

"So my mother just left me?" Will asked, hurtfully. Did she not love me, thought Will.

"I think it was much more than that. She loved you more than anything and she wouldn't just leave you if it wasn't for something serious."

"Nicholas, I have to go back. I have to confront King Edward about what he did. I can't just let this slide. He has to know how I feel and that I've found out about his dirty little secret."

Nicholas smiled wistfully,"I knew you would say that. I am coming with you. Now that I have found you I am not letting you out of my sight."