Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
5
"Ailanna, time to get up dear." Her eldest sister, Elizabeth, called while fixing her long, wavy hair.
"I'm already up, Elizabeth." Ailanna mumbled, sitting up from her bed, hiding the small, hardback book underneath her pillow.
"Good," Elizabeth chirped, motioning her arms, beckoning for Ailanna to come forward. "Now come here so I can fix your hair. You know for a fact that father wouldn't be pleased that his most ravishing daughter was not looking like the goddess she is."
The young girl didn't say anything, but sat still while her sister braided her long brown hair into a flowy fishtail braid. Ailanna silently admired her hair in the mirror as her other sister, Ava, entered the room.
"Oh, you won't believe what happened!" Ava said in a high-pitched voice, one that Ailanna swore busted her eardrums, as she jumped on her bed.
"Let me guess," Elizabeth said with a smirk, "you saw another handsome merman, didn't you?" Elizabeth said mocking the girls voice with a smile on her face.
"Why, yes I did." Ava said, her cheeks brighter than the sun. "You know, humans have quite handsome men in their world," Ava said dreamily, but sighed when reality checked back in. "Too bad they're dangerous, like father said." Ava mumbled.
"I don't see how they're dangerous," Ailanna quietly said, dropping her hands from her hair as Elizabeth shooed them away. She began to fumble with them in her lap, quite nervously.
"Ailanna, sit straight up while I do your hair." Elizabeth uttered, completely ignoring her little sister's comment. Ailanna sighed.
"Ailanna, they are! Father told us this from a very, very young age. He forbids us ever going near them and you know that." Ava said looking at her sister sternly.
"Just because father said it doesn't mean it's true." Ailanna argued. She had read nothing but good things about these humans, in her book that she had found on the outskirts of the kingdom. It was called "If I Stay," written by Gayle Forman. It told a tale of true love amongst good people, good humans, and that was what she wished for.
"Ailanna, don't ever question father's reasoning!" Elizabeth yelled, her sternness pulling Ailanna from her trance. Elizabeth was always the mother of them all.
"Ailanna, humans were made to worship us. We are not supposed to befriend them. Besides, you should know this. After all, father made sure that we knew this at a young age." Ava said
The three sat in silence while Ailanna ignored her sister's comments on the human world. She didn't care what her father had said. After all, what could be so bad that their father could forbid them from ever stepping foot onto the salty shores of the Overworld?
"Let's not focus on the human world, okay?" Elizabeth said, clearing her throat. "How about we discuss the merman father wants Ailanna to marry." Elizabeth said, smiling widely. If Ailanna had the chance to have thrown up in her mouth, she would have.
"He is quite handsome," Ava said dreamily, placing her hand under her jaw while looking off into space.
"Don't get any ideas, Ava." Elizabeth uttered.
Ailanna continued ignoring them both, not paying attention to what she was saying.
"I'm not marrying him," Ailanna firmly replied, causing her two sisters to stare at her as if she were insane.
"But father likes him, and that says a lot." Elizabeth said, finishing braiding Ailanna's hair. Ailanna sighed, turning to face her two sisters.
"There isn't anything interesting about him," Ailanna argued. "Every time I try to strike up a conversation with him, he always rambles on about himself. Selfish imbeciles, I do not tolerate it. I will not marry him." Ailanna finished.
"Give him a chance, Ailanna. You may like him more than you think." Elizabeth said facing her youngest sister.
Ailanna rolled her eyes, standing up from her seat in front of the vanity. "I highly doubt it, Elizabeth. At this point, Ava would be his perfect match." Before her two sisters could protest, she left the room.
