Under the Sea

Fear

'Harmony pov.'
I hum as I shift through the sand looking for sea shell's to decorate my maturity necklace. I wince when a piece of glass pierces my skin and pull my hands out. Mother warned me but I don't listen. I look up to ask my sister for a cloth to wrap it but my eyes meet emptiness. I whirl around trying to find someone. Anyone.

"Mother!" I scream. Silence. This is Roan's fault. I told mother not to make him my watcher after I rejected his mating offer. Now he's abandoned me and I'll never get home. I sink to the sea floor and start crying.

"What do we have here?" A slimy voice says. I look up and meet eyes with an octopus merman.

"Oh. Are these your rocks? I'll just-" I squeak when a tentacle wraps around my fin.

"I haven't eaten royalty in a while." He leers. I stare at him with wide eyes. I open my mouth and start singing.

"Help me please oh help me now-" He clamps a tentacle over my mouth and I start screaming.

"None of that obnoxious screeching my little siren." He tuts. I scratch at the tentacles but he ignores me as he starts dragging me across the ocean floor.

"Bered." A deep voice calls. My captor freezes and tries to hide me.

"H-hello Seirus." Bered stutters.

"What do you have in your disgusting tentacles you little thief." Seirus asks.

"Uh...a gift! For you my prince." Bered is a terrible liar. He lifts me out into the light and I gasp. A handsome Great White merman is blocking our path into Bered's cave. His eyes widen when he sees me.

"You idiot. That's the Princess of the shallow dwellers." He hisses.

"Is she? I-I had no idea my prince!" Bered lies as he releases me.

"Yes you did! When you grabbed me you said you hadn't eaten royalty in a while." I say as I rub my tail.

"Bered. I suggest you leave very quickly." Seirus snarls before turning to me. His hair is crimson red and his eyes are completely black. He has more scars than me which is almost a miracle.

"I apologize. Let me escort you back to your pod." He acts like apologizing is literally hurting him.

"I...I don't know where they are. My guard allowed me to get lost because I refused to be his mate." I tell him as my gills wiggle. Breathing down here is hard, I'm used to swimming up where the ocean is less dense.

"He let the crown princess get lost because she refused to mate him?" He asks in shock.

"Yes. He's an asshole." At that Seirus laughs.

"I'll ask my guards to locate your Pod and we'll get you back to them. Until then you can stay with me." He says. I nod and go to follow him. I cry out when my tail twinges and he grabs me to keep me from sinking.

"Bered's tentacles are strong, it's possible that he bruised your fins. I'll carry you if that alright?" He asks. I nod and he pulls me to his chest with one arm before taking off. I'm much smaller than he is so I barely slow him down. We stop before a large manor that's decorated with glowing purple crystals. They form a path to the large doors which are enforced with iron.

"Deep dwellers don't like living in the castle very much. My parents gave my siblings and I a piece of land each to rule over until I become king." He tells me as we enter through the imposing doors. He carefully let's go and I flick my tail experimentally.

"I think I can swim by myself now. Thank you for carrying me." I thank with a small bow.

"No trouble. I used to carry my little brother when we were younger. Now he has a mate to do that." Seirus says wistfully.

"Does he have Persailis? My older cousin Marta has that. She trained a couple of dolphins to carry her everywhere like a spoiled princess." I giggle.

"Yes. Though he hates asking for help. You always had to assume he needed help or he would have died." Seirus says as he leads me through the manor. We stop in a large kitchen and he digs through the pantry for a moment before handing me a star shaped fruit.

"Thank you." I mumble before taking a bite. I moan at the sweet yet tangy flavor. I look at Seirus and he's blushing bright red. I flush before smiling sheepishly and taking another bite.

"So why isn't anyone else here?" I ask after a moment.

"My younger brother, the one I told you about, he used to but he has a mate now. Deep dwellers usually only get together for important events or family reasons. Other wise we barely see eachother unless we live together." He tells me.

"That sounds amazing! For us, our family is always there! We barely get enough privacy to mate and we're constantly moving from the north palace to the south palace." I complain.

"That would be horrible. How do you protect your weakest if you're constantly moving?" He asks.

"We place them in the center of the Pod and the strongest on the outside. We're only supposed to leave the Pod with a guard present and you saw how that turned out. I swam down to collect a few shell's for a maturity necklace and they up and left me." I huff.

"How old are you?" He asks in surprise.

"I'm 18. I know that Deep Dwellers make their necklaces at 15 but Shallow Dwellers make theirs when they start seeking a mate." I tell him as I pull the materials I collected out of my knapsack. A long golden thread, several sea shell's, and a small crystal.

"The problem is I don't know which shell's to use." I mumble as I move them around.

"Well these match your tail and the crystal matches you eyes. You could put that in the center and two shell's on each side." He suggests.

"Oh that would be wonderful. I should have thought to ask you, your maturity necklace is so cool." I say as I reach out to touch it. It has a purple crystal in the center and shark teeth surrounding it.

"You wouldn't believe how many great whites I had to kill to get these. The shark kind! Not the merman kind." He says nervously.

"I guessed that. While shark mermen and mermaids have the same teeth as their wild counterparts, their teeth are smaller." I say with a smile.

"You sure know a lot about the creatures of the ocean." He notes.

"Well...I think The Deep/Shallow divide is stupid. We could be so much stronger against the land dwellers and other dangers if we banded together. Did you know that both of our territories are shrinking because of the Ice Dwellers?" I ask him.

"Really?" He asks with anger in his voice.

"Yes, Shallow more so than Deep." I tell him with a nod.

"Perhaps when we reunite you with your family we can talk about some sort of agreement." He suggests.

"Yes, a mating truce would be the best option. Ocean knows anything else would be questioned relentlessly." I say as I rub my face.

"Yes, but who?" He contemplates.

"Perhaps this is a conversation for tomorrow. I hadn't realized how late it is." I say as I tilt my head towards the clock on the wall.

"Of course. Let me show you to your room." He says as he offers me his arm. I take it and he gently pulls me down the hall. We stop at a large door and he opens it.

"This is perfect. Thank you." I say as I swim into the large room.

"I'm right next door if you need me." He says before closing the door and leaving me alone. I pull myself into the sleep cocoon and close the warm material around me. I rest my head on the pillow and drift off to sleep thinking of my family and my coronation.