Sleeping Nightmare

Chapter 11: lost at sea | Tyler

The inside of the cave was surprisingly wider than it appeared on the outside. Tiny alcoves in the cave wall were used as shelves, containing rows and rows of potion bottles and various ingredients. Some of the bottles were transparent, allowing me to see a rather luminescent liquid, bubbling slightly.

As I swept a quick glance around the interior of the cave, I caught sight of a seaweed-padded area on the seabed where he probably slept, and noted that although this was his home, it appeared to be more of the merman's laboratory.

I'd never pictured Prince Bob to be an alchemist, but apparently he was.

"Can we come in?" Kye-Ann asked, and he swam aside, gesturing for us to enter.

The Prince wasn't alone, either - as soon as we entered, a brown sea lion had curiously approached Queen Arya, and was sniffing her ginger hair with thinly veiled curiosity. Behind her, Harley eyed the sea creature with distrust, casually reaching for the hilt of his broadsword.

"Behave," Prince Bob warned the sea lion. The creature appeared to huff and swim away, retreating towards the back of the cave.

"He's adorable," Arya said, but I caught a wobble in her voice. She looked calm, but her hands were trembling. Her green eyes were fixated on her brother.

He glanced away.

She swam forward, reaching out to touch his cheek. She didn't speak. Neither did he.

The unmistakable signs of a bond formed between siblings, a connection that ran deeper than blood. When she gazed at him, it was with sorrow. When he looked at her, pain and regret flashed in his features. But he leaned ever so slightly into her touch, and she smiled softly.

"H-how are you?" she whispered, unable to take her eyes off him.

"I'm alright," he responded, just as quietly.

"Thank you for the potion," she continued, and he slowly dragged his eyes from the ground to meet hers. "It's very good," she tried, when he didn't reply, her tone verging on desperation - the fear that she was losing him. "It works really well."

He nodded, before pulling away, leaving her arm outstretched, grasping at nothing. Arya's face fell, but Prince Bob had already turned away. "May I ask why you're here?"

Sreya swam forward, intertwining her hands with Arya's.

"Queen Arya is visiting Delmitii for official royal business," Kye-Ann explained. "She expressed a keen wish to visit you in the meantime, so here we are."

"I see." Prince Bob's voice was clipped, and Arya's expression became more crestfallen. The merman halted as his gaze fell on his sister, and something like hurt appeared on his face and disappeared as quickly as it had come.

Kye-Ann lightly touched my arm before leaning over to whisper something into the Queen's ear. She nodded, and the garnet eyed siren began to turn towards the exit.

The brown sea lion, who had hovered by the back, swam up to the Prince and not-so-gently butted the side of his head with his own.

He let out a small sigh. "Arya," he began, "would you like to stay for lunch?"

Kye-Ann paused, frowning, but Arya's smile could have lit up the world. "Yes, please. What are you planning to have for lunch? I'll help you."

As the Queen busied herself with the fish that her brother had caught earlier in the day, Harley officially introduced the garnet eyed siren and I to the merman Prince, sweeping a dramatic bow in our direction that was meant to amuse, but Kye-Ann's lips only twitched slightly. I knew that expression. A twitch of her lips meant that she really didn't find it all that funny, but she was trying to, for their sake.