"If she has to be in public she would at least wear a scarf or something. If she opens her mouth, all male humans within a mile will go crazy. They jump out of their pathetic boats and drown themselves trying to get to her. She is too dangerous to be allowed out."
"I totally agree, She should be put in a cage."
That was the last straw, I swam in the opposite direction. I was used to the mean comments but they still hurt. Even today on the prince's birthday, people still talked about me. They talked about my voice mostly, but sometimes they mixed it up and talking about my coloring. Either way, mer never had nice things to say about me. All I had to do was open my ears and I could hear how ugly my tail color was, or how dangerous I am and that I should be locked up. I shouldn't care about their hurtful comments, I know the truth. And my voice isn't even that bad, but no one would ever be able to hear it.
The two girls that had been talking, Linda and Coral, were maids to the princess. Their position added to their sense of self-importance, and they were more often than not, rude and spiteful. I knew better than to let their comments get to me, but my self-esteem was low today.
Still swimming hard to get away from the cruel voices, I swam around the corner towards the long alley, and right into the crown prince. My breath caught. His dark hair was tousled as if he had been swimming fast, and his eyes were brightest seaweed green with small flecks of the sun hiding behind his long lashes. Despite his unusual gray coloring that made him stand out in any swarm, the prince's tail was longer and more muscled than mine.
I had known the prince my whole life thanks to my brother, but every time I see him I swear he just gets more handsome.
He smiled at me with perfectly white teeth and began to gesture with his hands. I quickly realized what he was doing and my heart beat a little faster. He was using sign language. I could hear just fine but talking was hard without songcasting. My family and I learned sign language to make it easier for all of us. As far as I knew no one else knew how to sign except my family, and my best friend Suzie who is the only mer I know who had been born deaf.
While I had been marveling about his "knowledge of sign language", I hadn't picked up what he was trying to say.
I signed, When did you learn to sign?
I wanted to learn, so Anton taught me.
Anton (my brother) and the prince were best friends.
Typical Anton, he never tells me anything important.
Why did you suddenly want to learn?
So I could talk to you.
I'm not a very talkative person, and I didn't think you were allowed to talk to common mer.
One, I love your voice and two, there is something really important I need to tell- He was cut off by the sound of conchs.
"Shoot" he muttered under his breath. That is my signal, I have to go meet the royal courts now, some big birthday thing.
Well, 18 is a big day for the prince, the day one must complete the three Trials or they cannot become king.
He merely gave me half a smile, he actually looked really stressed, but I think that is normal considering what he will have to do today.
I really do have something very important to tell you, but it will have to wait. Promise you will come find me after the Trials.
Okay, but are you sure you can't give me more than that? My parents won't be too pleased for me to rush off while there are so many people around.
Trust me, everything will be okay. he signed before shooting off in the direction I came from.
I just sat there in the alley for a couple of minutes trying to catch my breath. Whenever I had a conversation with the prince, my heart skipped and danced with joy. The fact that he learned sign language just to talk to me didn't help. I still wasn't sure what was happening. I didn't even know his name. It was for the royal family's protection that they didn't just tell anyone their names. Anton knew all their names but had taken a vow of silence, as to never repeat it in the company of anyone other than the royal family, and a few other close mer. And why did he say he loved my voice? No one had heard me sing, except my brother. All of these thoughts were running through my head as I tried to calm my heart.
