"Pearl..Wake up..The King needs you." I stretched my sore limbs, baby blue tail stretching out. "What could father possibly want at this time in the morning?" Mona's red eyes were the first thing I saw once I had finally bothered to open my own. "It's urgent..The two Kingdoms are coming.." I jolted out of the kelp bed, my lavender coloured hair tangled together, floating over my face, strangling me. "Here princess." Mona giggled, it was very weak and somewhat strained, she must have been stressed, weren't we all? The infamous Shark King was coming and The Siren Queen too.. To say I was nervous was an understatement.
"Is mother up too?" I asked while pulling my white lace and shell dress over my head. Mona helped me place my golden crown on my head. Lips pulled into a tight line. "Everyone's up but you sleepy head." I screamed inwardly, father would kill me if the royal family's arrived before I did. I was around 11 at this point and was already beginning to show great beauty. All mermaids were beautiful, it was part of the package, each species of Seafolk had some special talent, Mermaid's was being captivatingly beautiful and being able to control sea life with our dazzle, It made us a real threat to the scarier races.
Siren's could freeze anything with their Siren Song, they used it to eat their prey alive..Well that is what Lord Shelldon would tell me, he was a bit of a jokester though so who knows if that was actually true or not. No one ever dared to correct him though, being my uncle and all, a prince in his own right. They definitely used it for something, I had only heard it once and it was the most fear inducing noise I had ever heard. My entire body froze, I cried for days after. The Sirens looked a fair bit like mermaids but had darker colorings and were taller than us, they could not be considered beautiful, having no life in their eyes that were always completely black, grey or white. Their skin tones were paler than ours but not much different, they always stayed on the darker or lighter side of things where as Mermaids were colourful and fun!118Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCZQRgbaX5C
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The Sharkfolk well..They looked like Sirens but with a mouth filled with rows of sharp teeth, they had shark fins and were a greyish color or completely black. Their eyes were similar to their name sake but could become golden, blue or red, however most were traditionally grey, black or white. They had the ability to swim incredibly fast and were the largest of the three races. Lord Shelldon used to tell me stories of how they would sneak into our kingdom and steal mermaid girls to have as their brides. Sharkfolk females were non existent, they didn't exist, only males had been born in the last five hundred years, again according to Uncle Shelldon who was the only one who ever told me anything. My parents were far too protective. I was their only living daughter though, the future Queen of the Mermaid Kingdom. Eek the idea of ruling caused a shudder to run down my spine.
Mermaids were the most colourful of all the races, we were fun loving and sweet, almost never going to war if we didn't need to! Some called us lazy, our Kingdom was mostly made by the sealife that worshiped us. If there is a color out there a mermaid has had is as either an eye color, tail or hair! Our skin tones also varied but were similar to humans. Lets not get started on those, we knew about them but they were pretty air headed and couldn't figure out if we existed or not. Mermaid's were almost always caught in the middle of the wars between the Sirens and the Sharkfolk, they hated each other, the Sirens being power hungry and hateful. They had bullied the Sharkfolk to near extinction. I prayed this wasn't another one of their wars that they wanted to drag us into.
Mona ran a comb through my wild lavender hair, humming an ancient Mermaid tune that always managed to calm me. She was a great nanny, a bit quiet but always kind. "There perfect, you rival your own mother for the most beautiful mermaid in this kingdom, at the young age of eleven too. Pretty girl." Her complements made me blush, It wasn't true though.. Mother was the most beautiful creature to exist..At least that's what father said. She had long white almost mint hair and a light purple tail, her eyes were exactly like mine, bright teal. Father Had dark blue hair and a dark green tail, his eyes were golden. Mona was a darker variant of mermaid, she had blood like red hair and a black tail, her skin tone tanned and eyes bright red. She scared me the first time I met her, her grandfather was a shark causing her to be darker than normal.
"Come along then Princess Pearl." I took her hand, my stomach wriggling with nerves. We swam as fast as my small tail could go and made it with a few minutes to go. "Papa! I yelled floating into his arms. "My little pearl." He chuckled his voice booming, Mother cupped my cheek, as she leaned over my father to greet me. "Darling, you are late." Mother was for sure the stricter of my parents, my father was much like a giant sealion, large and jolly, I could get away with murder, almost. "I'm sorry momma, I woke up late.. I didn't know I had to be up early. I'm super sorry." She kissed my forehead moving to sit back onto her golden throne. "It's alright my pet, at least you got here before they did." She seemed afraid, as if something was coming that she had been dreading. Moments later the pearl gates slammed open allowing hoards of Shark men to float through, all standing in a neat group to the left side of me and my parents, father's normally jolly expression held disdain.
The Shark King stood at the front his almost teenage son standing next to him, a look of hatred in his bright golden eyes. They fell on me and his expression dropped away returning with a look of adoration. I shrunk back onto my fathers lap, before being handed to Mona who took me to the side. "Settle down Pet, I know the Sharks are scary but they wont hurt you I promise, go sit with Mona." My mother whispered before I was seated. Horns began blaring in my ears as the next army came through, the Sirens. The Queen and her twin son and daughter stood on both of her sides, the boy also looked over me with interest. What on earth was going on here? The girl? Well she.. I..I guess I was the one to be looking on in adoration, she was stunning, expressionless but amazing to look at. I don't know what it was that made my heart explode, something deeper within me told me that she would be important to my story.
Her white eyed gaze flickered over to me, my heart fell out of my chest as she twisted her lips into a hateful and soundless hiss. Her mother grabbed her by her long black hair pulling her back and whispering something into her ear, she held back tears as she looked at me again, a lifeless smile overtaking her frown. Mona rubbed my back, noticing that something was wrong. "Don't worry about it. Everything will be ok, It wont be for a while anyway." What? What wouldn't be for a while?? What was she talking about. "King Alantic we the two great nations have come to greet your daughter who is soon to be of age. We demand.. We suggest that you choose a husband for her out of our nations heirs.. You must stick to the agreement that you made at the last Mermadic war and marry your first daughter to one of our clans. As stated in the agreement the choice to refuse a marriage between our clans will end in war. What say you King Atlantic? Queen Silvina? We are prepared for war, but are you?
My stomach dropped, but..But..I was to rule this nation..I was to be the Queen of the Mermaids.. How could I..How could I marry into another clan? How could they feed me such a lie and expect me not to be crushed? "Please!" Father called. "She is our only heir, I knew this day would come but I thought.. I thought you would leave it be. After everything our clan has done for yours, everything we have been through as a family. Our first daughter was meant to marry into one of your clans but she sadly passed away young." My mind filled with painful memories, Aqautica was such a passionate mermaid, why did she have to be so brave! So stupid! She died trying to save a school of guppies from an orca attack. "Have mercy and at least wait for us to give birth to a second heir. We have been trying for years to have another child, we have only been blessed with our two daughters." My eyes flooded with tears, earning looks of concern from the two princes. Both clearly vying for my attention.
Mona tried to console me as hiccups and sobs left my body. "It's ok princess. It will be ok." My mother's eyes flickered towards me, a painful look in her expression. "Noo It won't! You told me I'd be Queen! I don't want to leave my Kingdom Papa please!" Father's face filled with heartbreak, to the point that he could no longer look at me. "Princess Pearl, behave. We didn't think this day would come but now that it has things must change. You shall be a Queen none the less. Calm yourself darling, nothing good can come from your tears." The Siren Queen grinned, her smile filled with fake kindness, she reminded me of a sea snake, ready to bite at any time. "As her highness gracefully pointed out, things must change, and you must choose who your future son in law will be." Both princes straightened out, one was scary looking but seemed to be the kinder of the two and the other looked like his mother, he looked like a liar, someone I couldn't trust, I didn't want to marry either of them!
The Three Siren's turned to look at me, wondering who I'd choose, the sight of their deathly white eyes staring back at me was traumatising. They had no other colour except the black slit like pupil in the middle. "Who will you choose?" Queen Vivian asked, looking between me, my parents and the Shark King. King Silas and his son Prince Drake starred at me too, all awaiting my answer, or at least my fathers answer. "Who do you like the most sweet princess?" King Silas asked, his son smiled at me, it was a true smile, one of a boy who truly cared for me, the would treat me with kindness. "I don't know... I don't want to marry anyone! I WON'T CHOOSE! I WON'T GO PAPA DON'T MAKE ME!!" My father stood up, slamming his fist down. "Mona get her out of here! We can deal with this alone. Leave your armies outside, we will take this to my study, the Kings and Queens only!" My eyes landed on the other princess, I understood why she didn't like me now.. She was afraid I would push her out.
My mind filled with them all staring at me, telling me to choose. You must choose!
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