Seabound-SKZ

Chapter Twenty

The boat had docked on time, each of the girls' waiting on the dock were wearing their nicest dresses, Violetta kicking around a rock uninterestedly. Chan waited next to his mother, head held high, crown sitting proudly atop his curls, and arms behind his back. The prince walked down the gangplank first, Chan knew his name to be Namjoon, the two of them were around the same age, Namjoon being a few years older, and Chan remembered the boy from when they were small, he was much bigger now, muscular and taller then Chan was. Chan recognized his six bodyguards, they were famously known to travel with the prince, who never left his castle without them. There were rumors that Namjoon was dating them, but most people laughed off the thought of the prince dating not only a man but six of them. 

The rest of the royal family followed the oldest son, his sister, Sunhi, and his much younger brother and sister, Jongsu and Chunja, who couldn't be much older then Violetta. the King and Queen walked down last, surrounded by guards, his mother stepped forward to greet them and that was when Chan noticed the red and sunset glints in the water, the two young Mers' hovered just below the surface, hoping that the sunlight was doing a good enough job at hiding them, which for the most part it was but Chan had by now figured out how to spot the irregularity in the water. he hoped they would have some sense and swim away soon, he didn't want to know what his mother would do if she saw Merfolk near her kingdom, much less with her son. 

Felix and Jeongin had decided to come up to the surface alone, the other's not wanting to risk traveling in such a large group, plus the two of them were more familiar with the shallower areas of the sea. Seungmin had fought to come with them but was shut down quickly by Minho when the oldest reminded everyone about how easily distracted the boy was. the two reef-dwellers sunk lower in the water to hide more while they swam closer to the dock, carefully surfacing behind the same rocks the had hidden behind the day they had saved Chan to watch better without the rippling water blurring their vision. 

Chan watched the glinting scales move towards the rocks, no one else had noticed yet, thank god, but he still wanted them to move faster just in case someone did. He zoned back into the conversation going on around him, just in time for his mother to say "And Chan will bring you to your rooms when we get to the palace," She placed a hand on his shoulder "After you are settled we will eat dinner, then sleep early so we may have enough rest for the ball tomorrow." The others nodded, the princesses curtseying gracefully to Chan, who bowed in return but he was certain he wasn't as smooth as they had been. He kept one eye on Violetta as she wandered closer to the edge of the dock, grabbing her hand right as she teetered dangerously on the edge while she kicked her rock right off the end, She hadn't seemed to notice how close she was to falling, shaking slightly from how fast Chan had reacted and pulled her back. Her father taking her out of Chan's arms carefully, thanking him profusely while the rest of the royalty on the dock watched the scene unfold, Chunja gasping loudly when the other little girl almost fell. 

Felix had been ready to dart out and catch the little girl, he didn't recognize her but Chan seemed protective of her so he assumed she might've been related to him, despite bearing no resemblance to the prince. Jeongin had grabbed his arm just in case the older tried to swim toward the dock, not wanting to be revealed to the queen. the people on the dock soon left, the young girl who had almost fallen still in her father's arms, Chan still looking concerned and completely ignoring the praise coming from the other royals from pulling her back while they walked off the dock, opening the carriage doors for everyone before mounting his own horse. the two Mers' watched them leave, diving back into the water to swim to the royal beach and to see if they could see anything there. 

The carriages pulled up to the palace, gates opening, and civilians crowding to try and get a glimpse of the royals, pushing up against the gates once they closed and watching the princesses get out of their carriage in their stunning dresses and jewelry. The youngest three being crowded by their family just in case they did something unsightly. Chan dismounted his horse and handed the reins to a stable boy standing close by, smiling and thanking the boy before joining his mother at her side again, who shot him a look, probably for being 'too friendly' with one of the peasant boys who worked for them, he ignored the look and instead glanced longingly toward the docks, half hoping to catch a glance of a Mer. He wasn't disappointed when he saw who he thought to be Jeongin poke up in the water, thanking the Lord for his good eyesight quietly as the Mer quickly dove under again. 

Chan had lead everyone around the palace and to their rooms, Violetta insisting on following him the whole way 'for the adventure' she had said, which Chan couldn't say no to when she gave him the same deadly puppy eyes as she had the day before. When they had finished dropping everyone off at their own rooms he had tried to shake her off the find her father but she grabbed his hand and pouted, "But I wanna explore Channie!" she whined, Chan couldn't help but think it cute when she did and gave in quickly, and with the little girl dragging him about the palace, he almost forgot about the knife still laying bloody under his bed.