War of the Ocean

Chapter 21

Reidan kept his promise of returning the following day. The one thing she did not expect was for him to bring another visitor with him. It was her maid and in her arms was a bundle of golden fabric. The prince left them, promising to return once more when they were finished. Arelena had been confused until the maid had laid out the fabric, revealing it to be a dress. One thing was clear, the older prince intended for her to wear it. But why? Was she not a prisoner? Or maybe Reidan was the human version of her brother, dressing her up just to parade her around like some object. Her maid helped her out of the dress she wore and into the new one, slid golden slippers on her feet, quickly braided a golden tiara into her hair and pulling out a makeup box. Shimmering gold powder was dusted onto her eyelid and her lips were painted once more, only with golden paint this time. Though there was no mirror, Arelena knew that she looked like a bar of gold.

'Good, you're ready,' Reidan had returned. He dismissed the maid and offered her his arm. 'Come on darling Arelena, our guests await us.'

Guests? What did Reidan have planned for her this time? She linked her arm through his, knowing she hadn't much choice. It didn't matter what he wanted, she was his prisoner and he would make her do whatever he wished. He swept her from the room, leading her towards the grand dining room. She had mere seconds to prepare herself before she was thrust into the room before at least a hundred people. They all stared up at her with unblinking eyes, examining her. Arelena froze, unable to take another step forward until Reidan dug his fingers into her arm, reminding her to act the part. She turned her eyes to look at him and slowly obeyed, taking a step forward to follow him as he lead her to one end of the massive table where the royal family sat. The King was at the head, his brown eyes lit with fiery rage. He was furious, his oldest son had gone against his wishes and kept her on land instead of returning her to her brother. His left hand was curled around his glass of dark red liquid, knuckles turning white as he refrained from lunging at his insolent son. Reidan ignored his father, instead pulling out a chair for Arelena before seating himself.

As they sat, she kept her head bowed and staring at the empty plate before her. She could feel a pair of eyes on her, watching her intently. Out the corned of her eye, she could see the King still shooting daggers at Reidan who was calmly serving himself a portion of some brown, watery substance with chunks of brown flesh and white lumps in it. Moving her gaze on to the man who sat on the other side of the King and opposite Reidan, Arelena found the one who was watching her. Lifting her head, she met Kaiser's eyes for a brief moment as she tried to interpret the emotion in them. Before she could, he glanced back down to focus on his own meal. Shoulders slumping, she turned away to look down the table. Everyone in the long line of people seated down the table was either eating, gossiping or even both. From the ladies in their brightly coloured gowns to the men in their dark outfits, everyone was happy. Or at least, they appeared to be happy. She would never know for certain, but from the way some people smiled too hard or the way their eyes hid raging storms. To anyone else, these small signs would go unnoticed, but to her as someone who had experience with such suffering, these signs were confrontingly obvious.

Turning back to see what Reidan was doing, she found herself staring into his brown eyes for a moment before he looked away again. She frowned to herself, wondering if he had been watching her. Pushing the thought away, she glanced at Kaiser again, hoping to catch his eye. But the younger prince seemed far too interested in his meal to do so much as think about her. She knew deep down that he probably was thinking about her but didn't let it show. People were like that, shoving their deepest thoughts down inside them, so far from the world that no one even knew that they were there. Kaiser was likely to be thinking of her but she would never know for sure.

Another pair of eyes scraped across her skin and she darted her eyes away from Kaiser, searching for the offending eyes. Her entire world froze when she saw the King staring at her, a darkness in his eyes. She gulped nervously, her palms beginning to sweat where they lay in her lap. No one would ever know how badly she wished that she could read minds in that moment. It was killing her that the King was watching and she had no idea why. Was he plotting how to bring her back to her brother? Or was he trying to imagine what would happen when the sea witch's magic ran out?

He doesn't know about that, she reminded herself. The King, Reidan and Tristien may know about the sea witch but only she knew of her conditions.

Suddenly his eyes narrowed and she had to keep from squirming beneath his gaze. What was wrong? She realised that she was looking into his eyes and quickly averted her eyes. Tristien would have punished her for showing such disrespect, but would this king do the same? Both seemed so alike to her and yet this king bowed before her brother. Why would a creature with such power bow down to the king of the sea? Or were humans too weak to defend themselves? Eventually, she felt the King's eyes move on, probably refocusing on his dinner. She left out a breath of relief she didn't even know she was holding and leaned back in her chair, waiting for the meal to be over.

Three courses later, the guests and royal family were picking the last crumbs of their meals from their plates. Servants had already begun to clear everything away and yet Arelena had still not eaten. Her stomach was beginning to growl but she refused to snatch even the tiniest morsel from the platters set before her as they were carried away. She would not accept anything from the people who held her captive, even if very few of them even knew she was a captive. The guests began to rise from their seats one by one and trickle from the room. She remained seated, even as Kaiser left, leaving her alone in the room with Reidan and the King.

'I told you to return her to the sea,' the King ground out, breaking the silence. 'Why do you disobey my direct orders?'

Reidan snorted, much to Arelena's surprise. 'You may rule this kingdom for the moment, father,' he said, toeing a dangerous line. 'But it will be mine soon. Besides, why must we fulfil the wishes of a fish? We are the humans, the dominant race, are we not? We should not bow down to anyone!'

The King's eyes narrowed down on his son. 'You will obey me,' he ordered. 'Or do you want me to name your brother my heir instead?'

The golden-haired prince scowled, the only reaction to show that the King had hit a nerve. She wondered, did the King threaten him with that often? 'We both know that Kaiser will never be fit to rule,' he told his father. 'He is too soft, too young and innocent. He knows nothing of how the world works.'

'And clearly, neither do you,' the King said, pushing his chair back and standing up. 'For you still do not understand that a son must obey his father and a prince must obey his king. You are both and yet you never listen to me. Perhaps I should name Kaiser my heir instead for even that naive fool would make a better king than you.' With that, the King swept out of the room, leaving Arelena with a very, very angry Reidan.

'He has no right!' The prince called to the room, almost as though he had forgotten she was there. 'I am the eldest, not Kaiser. That little bastard, always getting everything handed to him while I have to work so damn hard!' He banged his fist on the table, the sound echoing as he slumped back down in his chair, looking rather defeated. Sighing, he ran a hand through his hair and turned to Arelena at last. 'Come,' he ordered, standing. 'Let me take you back.'

At first, she was unsure of where he meant. He could be taking her back to a few different places; the sea, her original room or the empty room he'd collected her from a few hours earlier. After a few turns into different passages, she realised that he meant none of them. He probably never should have used the word "back" at all for the room he took her to was one she had never even been near until now. It was a cell, one that reminded her of where Soren had been resided last time she saw him. Soren. She hoped that he was still alive, she had never gotten the chance to say goodbye before.

'You'll have to stay in here for a while,' Reidan told her. 'If you were placed anywhere else my father would find you and put you in the ocean. I suppose you belong there, but something tells me you'd rather never return. Consider this place a mercy.'

He locked her inside and spun on his heel before walking away. She looked around the cell, taking in its iron bars and stone walls. This was her "mercy" as he'd described it but to her, it was more than that. To her, this place was her grave. For when the sun rose not the next morning but the one after, that is what it would be.

Sorry I haven't updated the last two weeks, I've been trying to write ahead incase I get caught up with school work.