The Cursed Mermaid

Chapter 12: an ideal ruler | Arya

Last night, when Tristan and I had searched the castle for Bob, he was nowhere to be found, so we'd had to ask Tom and Vic to help. They had both been reluctant to, but I'd managed to coerce them into doing so, telling them that Bob could be seriously hurt.

It had been Victoria who'd eventually found our brother, dragging him inside by the collar and dumping him on the floor. As he lay there, sprawled on the ground, things spilled out from his bag - sea anemone, seaweed, pearls...basically a lot of various objects and plants.

"This idiot was out gathering ingredients for his potions," she hissed, glaring at him. "I can't believe I wasted my time searching for a fool like you."

Tom reached out a hand to help Bob up, purposely not looking at Victoria.

"Vic, it's okay," I gave her a small sideways hug to calm her. Her posture relaxed slightly.

"Do not trouble me again," she warned Bob. "Or you will face the consequences." With a small huff, she swam away, vanishing quickly around the corner.

Tom shook his head at Bob. "You are an idiot. We thought you'd died or something."

"I apologise for making you worry," Bob gathered the ingredients back up from the floor and placed them delicately back into his bag. Tom rolled his eyes, but - to our shock - reached out to ruffle Bob's hair almost affectionately. Bob stiffened, but allowed himself to lean against his brother, only for a moment.

"You don't want to be on Vic's bad side even more than you already are. Later, Arya," Tom motioned for Tristan to follow him, and he did, leaving me alone with Bob.

In my opinion, I still found our father scarier. He'd leered over me when he'd scolded me in the throne room, and I hadn't been able to stop my entire body from shaking, pathetic as it was. I shouldn't have been frightened of my own father. I knew he wouldn't ever physically hurt me. But he'd done a hell lot of yelling, finally ending with a threat that I would pay for any wrongdoing from the land dwellers.

I'd gone to Nam straight after. I didn't know why. I was suddenly filled with the urge to talk to him. With all the tension brewing between my family members, chatting to Nam was almost like stress relief.

Now Sreya and I were leading the others out of the dining room to the front gates of the kingdom, where my mother had told us to meet her. And true to her word, the current Queen of Narmia was waiting for us, her gown billowing around her like one of those clouds I'd seen in what the land dwellers called the sky.

"Mother," I greeted her. Sreya bowed at the Queen, and the others followed hastily.

She waved a hand. "No, no! No need for such formalities. Just call me Cass. I've gone through the trouble of being your tour guide, after all." I groaned under my breath, slightly embarrassed by my mother's casual behaviour, quite unlike any other royal member in the palace.

Nam and the others exchanged award looks before Kameron spoke, smiling at the Queen. "It is an honour to meet you, Queen Cassidy. I trust you know your way around the kingdom well?" I noticed that she avoided referring to the Queen by her preferred nickname.   

My mother beamed. "Even more than the guards." At this, Sreya made a face at me, and I bit my bottom lip to keep myself from laughing.

We began our descent to the marketplace not long after, with the Queen and Sreya as our tour guides, and Tristan and Harley to keep us out of trouble (and because someone had to protect the Queen and Princess, just in case).

"This is the capital of Narmia. It is named Casabella, after the first Queen." I was astonished that my mother remembered the history of our people, since she'd never been one to be interested in reading textbooks like Bob was. "Most of the market is located at the capital province, purely because of its location in the northern regions, which is the richest sector of Narmia."