Monsoon, {h.s}

001.

I sat next to my half-sister, Eleanor, watching her fingers move gracefully against the stark white piano keys with passion. It was something I always saw when she was lost in the sound of her instruments. She played the cello, violin, piano and some guitar. It was one of the many things I admired her for. She was always challenging herself; something she got from her mother. It was also something I envied her for. Well one of the things.

I was the eldest of four girls. It was me - Cordelia, Maeve, Anita and Eleanor. My mother, Queen Andromeda disappeared a few months before my tenth birthday. By then Eleanor was six. My mother treated her as her own, ignoring the fact that my father, King Adonis Gregos, had a drunken affair with one of our maids.

He ruled the Kingdom of Phanagoria for many years before conquering the island we live on now. Technically, he had conquered the other three surrounding islands but because he needed allies, he sold them to other rulers. If only they knew my father was more powerful than they thought.

As for my sisters and I, we were all born before that time. We were born when the ocean was our home. I recall the times we would swim around as fast as we could, chasing each other until my mother made us sit still, our fins whipping back and forth playfully. I recall a time my father said humans were demons. I remember my mother arguing with him for hours until she stormed out of their bedroom.

Then when my mother disappeared, he honored her request to let us live in the human world. Thus, conquering the islands. All four of us girls weren't exactly steady on our feet the first time, but after a time, we got the hang of it. Little by little, my father, let a select group of merpeople join us. They were mostly our maids, guardians and trusted housekeepers. Then over time, our population grew attracting many humans. And with that grew jobs and trading, making us the most successful island.

.

.

"How was that?" Eleanor had stopped playing - her fingers stilling as she opened her eyes, snapping me out of my dazed thoughts. Her smile was big and excited, as if my opinion was the only one that mattered.

"Beautiful as always, sister," I smiled back, wrapping my arm around her to give her a squeeze.

For a moment, she laid her head on my shoulder. It was nice and quiet, but just as quickly as the gesture came, it was gone.

"I have to go meet Louis," she jumped up, kissing my cheek before practically bouncing out the door of our music room with immense joy. I smiled softly at her and turned back around to close the little latch of the piano. I was just about to scoot down the bench when I felt a hand on my shoulder.

Startled, I turned around only to find Sam, the captain of my royal guard. And to my delight, my boyfriend.

"Zeus, Sam!" I smacked his arm, laughing lightly at the embarrassment.

"Sorry, I thought you saw me coming in right after Eleanor left," he circled the bench and sat, tugging me down before leaning in to kiss my forehead. As much as I hated to, I jumped off the bench giving him a warning look.

"The guards!" I hissed as quietly as I could, making him laugh. "You know they'll tell my father, you idiot!"

"Shh, calm down. I told them to go and check something outside of the castle walls. Something about suspicious behavior. You're safe from their eyes," he said it in a way that made me automatically think of how I wasn't safe from his eyes.

"One of these days you're going to get in trouble. We're going to get in trouble."

"Actually, I'll probably be killed and you'll be locked up somewhere."