Tails of My Life

Tails of My Life Chapter 6

Chapter 6

When Pierce and I reached the doors, my parents, Brooke and her parents, and a few other noble families were gathered.  Pierce and I started to head for Brooke until my father waved for us to go sit by him and mother.  Ornate chairs made of coral and seashells had been brought into the welcome hall.  There were four of them, one for each of my family and one for Pierce.  When his family arrived, we would all stand to greet them, maybe except for Pierce.  And by stand, I mean float in an upright position.

My father sat in one chair with me and mother on either side of him.  Pierce sat on my other side.  None of the chairs, not even my father’s, was any higher than the others.  That is a way of saying that we are on equal footing with Pierce.

Our guards had seen the other royal family about an hour away, just inside our kingdom’s main borders.  The guards had went to bring them the rest of the way to our castle, so they wouldn’t get lost or anything.  It had already been about forty minutes since then.  We had about twenty minutes before they arrived, and it would be a very long and boring twenty minutes.  We would all have to sit there and do absolutely nothing until they were here.  We couldn’t leave in case they got here early.

Pierce and I settled back into our chairs for a long wait.  When his family arrived, we would have to sit up straight and poised, but until then we were going to slouch and be comfortable.  My dad, the entertaining and fun man that he is, tried as hard as he could to keep everyone busy.  He kept cracking jokes that weren’t actually funny, but we laughed because they were so ridiculous and stupid.  It actually kept us busy for about ten minutes.  For the remaining ten minutes, we bothered Mother; even Dad joined in.  We did everything that we could to get on her nerves. 

When the twenty minutes were up, we all quickly sat up straight in our chairs.  Well, except for mother.  She had already been sitting as stiff as a board, so there was no need for her to sit up straighter.  Pierce, Dad and I had all been slouched down into our chairs though.  Not a minute after we had all sat up straight, the doors were thrown open.

The first one to come through the door was a tall beautiful woman who was probably in her mid or low forties.  She had beautiful auburn colored hair with a dark purple stripe that stopped at her shoulders.  There was a smile on her face, but I knew that it had to have been forced, experience had taught me how to tell.  I knew because the smile didn’t quite reach her eyes.  She wore an elegant gown that was a dark red color.  It was plain, yet it looked very beautiful on her.  She also had a delicate-looking crown placed on her head, matching my mother’s and marking her as their queen.

A merman with blonde hair came next.  He was tall, and had a tail of a deep rust color, making him look very regal.  A large crown adorned his head, and he wore a coat just like Pierce’s.  It was the same color, yet it had more medals hanging from it.  He also wore a wide grin on his face that made him look like a very happy person.  I couldn’t help but grin back at his happiness.

I settled back into my seat a little, relaxing a bit since the other royal family was all here.  Their nobles didn’t bother me as much, so I didn’t worry about them.  Then I noticed that Pierce was sitting entirely rigid in his seat.  I started to look at him, expecting him to calm when they finally shut the doors.  But what I didn’t expect was for a really hot guy to come through after the king and queen.  I suddenly sat up straighter in my chair, hoping that my parents hadn’t noticed my slouch.

He had shaggy light brown hair that fell just right on his forehead with a dark blue stripe that matched his tail.  It was just a few shades darker than my own tail.  It also matched his beautiful dark blue eyes.  He was strikingly beautiful, I would even consider his sexy had it not been for the sulking frown on his face.  It was completely obvious that he didn’t want to be here to meet my family and I.  Who was he?  Some young noble who had just come along for the ride?

‘Good day King Naida, and hello to you all!  First might I thank your family for treating my son Pierce so well?  Also, I want to thank your kingdom for inviting us here.  This is an opportunity for our families to meet that neither of us could afford to pass up on.’  King Finn spoke eloquently, weaving a speech that was paid rapt attention.  I could tell that he had the same talents in speaking that my father had.  I already could tell that I liked the man, he seemed to have the same kind demeanor that my father did.

‘You and your family are very welcome!  We are all very happy to have you here.  I’m sure that we will enjoy having you here, as I’m sure you’ll enjoy being here.  Our kingdom would love to welcome you with a ball this evening, after you have all settled in of course.’  My father said with a soft diplomatic smile.  ‘Now I should introduce my family.  My name is Jack if you didn’t already know.  That is my wife, our queen Elsa.’  He said, pointing a finger to my mother who stood and curtsied gracefully.

Then he turned to me.  ‘This is my lovely daughter Marina.’  He said, motioning to me.  I had to blush deeply at his comment as I stood and curtsied as my mother had.  ‘Would you like to introduce your family to mine now King Finn?’

The other king smiled widely.  ‘Of course!  My name is Jonathan Finn, and my love and queen is the beautiful Talia.  You have all already met our youngest son Pierce, so I need not introduce him.  This handsome man beside me is my oldest son and heir to the throne, Tyson.’  My mouth almost dropped open at hi words.  I though Pierce was heir to the crown; I didn’t think that he had a brother!  At least now I knew who had the better bedroom.  The older, heir to the crown brother definitely ranked higher.

The boy was still frowning; he looked like he had the personality of my mother.  I knew I probably wouldn’t like him.  He seemed like a boring stick in the mud.  I guess that all of the fun, nice genes went to Pierce and completely skipped his brother over.

‘Well, welcome to our kingdom.  The nobles with you will be introduced tonight at the ball, as well as our nobles.  I will have someone show you all to your rooms.  We will have dinner promptly at six, followed directly by the ball.  I hope you enjoy your stay here.’  My father said as way of dismissal.  Pierce and his family went to leave as they were shown to their rooms.  I started to leave as well until my father called me back.

‘Yes Dad?’  I asked curiously, wondering why he called me back when I should be getting ready for the dinner and ball.

‘I wanted to ask for you to please just be nice while they’re here.  Don’t pull any pranks, don’t get on your mother’s nerves, and please don’t leave the city without asking me first.  We have to make a good impression on them, the kingdom might depend on it.  Will you please do this for me Marina?’  My father asked softly.

I knew that he was serious, so I nodded slowly.  ‘Of course I will daddy.  Brooke can still hang out with me while they’re here right?’  I asked softly.  ‘I promise we’ll be good.’

He sighed.  ‘Ok dear, as long as you girls do not get into much trouble. While you’re at it, why not ask the princes to spend time with you two?’  He asked with a slight twinkle in his eyes.  He seemed happy, but I was close enough to him to see the sadness hidden deep within them.

‘Pierce is one thing, he’s fun.  But that Tyson guy already seems like a jerk.  I don’t want to spend any more time with him than I have to dad.’  I said with a grimace.

‘Marina, please do this for me as well.  I have a feeling that you will be spending a lot of time with young Tyson.  You might as well get to know him, maybe he’ll surprise you after all.’  My father said softly.  I felt like he was hiding something from me, only I didn’t know what it was just yet.

‘Ok daddy, I’ll try and spend some time with him.  But I really need to go get ready for dinner and the ball, you know how mother is when I’m not ready.’  I said softly, changing the subject.

‘Thank you sweetie.  Run along now so you can get ready before your mother notices you.’  My father said with a  soft smile.

‘Thanks daddy!  See you in a little while!’  I said, swimming off to my bedroom.  I hoped that mother had actually gotten me another dress like the one I was currently wearing, it was comfortable!  But, now I had to get ready for the dinner, and ultimately, the ball.  Too bad I can’t dance!