Keith was sitting and studying a book by the shore one late evening. He was just about to close his book and go home, as he wasn't likely to get a lot read with the darkening sky, when he heard the voice of a young man.

"Are you the king of the land?" The voice asked.

Keith looked at the stranger laying in the cold water.

"No, my brother is," Keith answered. He looked as closely at the stranger as he could in the twilight and saw the worryingly blue tint of his skin. "Are you okay?" Keith asked in a compassionate voice that would have made the king proud.

"Of course I am," the stranger smiled and brought unfamiliar warmth to Keith's chest.

"It's getting dark," Keith informed the boy in front of him. "You will need to leave the sea and go home before you freeze."

The boy lifted a single eyebrow in confusion but let it fall again just as he laughed out an answer, "Oh, the sea is my home. I live down at the bottom."

Keith saw something shimmer in the water behind the stranger's torso but it could have been the waves reflecting the almost full moon as well as be a tail out of the fairytales of Keith's childhood.

"Do you want to see it?" Lance asked and sent him a wide smile.

"I can't," Keith denied the request. "We don't even know each other's names-"

"The name's Lance," the stranger interrupted but Keith barely showed any signs of noticing it.

"-and I can't breathe under the water."

"Why not?" Lance asked with furrowed eyebrows and eyes shining with moonlight and curiosity.

"I need to breath and I can't do that without air," Keith responded confused why that was such a weird concept to Lance.

"There's air in the water too," Lance stated in an even and tired voice and with flat eyebrows to showcase his annoyance.

"I need more air than that," Keith informed Lance and almost didn't hold back his sigh.

"Greedy," Lance commented but Keith let it slide since it took the edge of Lance's annoyance.

Lance wanted to talk but Keith wanted to leave. The darkness had fallen even more and he was growing cold and feared that his brother was growing worried about Keith's absent in the castle.

"Will you come back?" Lance asked with wide, anxious eyes.

Lance looked so hopeful when Keith looked back at him that Keith found himself answering, "Yes, tomorrow, just as the dark has fallen."

Lance gave him a wave and Keith gave him one back as they both turned around to return to their respected kingdoms.

The visits grew in numbers as the days went on. They would meet at the edge of the sea and just talk. They talked every day about everything from their kingdoms and how they were magnificent in different ways, to their families and friends, to children's stories from each of their realms. Nothing was ever boring but it was still relaxing for both teenagers.

They were different in both biology and personality but it didn't stop the visits from both of them. They complemented each other with the ways they were different, Lance had dark skin where Keith was fair and Keith had black hair and dark eyes where Lance had brown hair and blue eyes, and they bonded in the ways they were similar. Such as their love for their kingdoms and the way they could rile each other up but never turn malicious.

"Come down to my kingdom," Lance asked as he did during almost every visit.

"I can't," Keith answered as he always did. He would have been annoyed if it had been anyone other than Lance but weirdly enough that request never caused any anger, only a resignation that Keith would never be able to answer anything differently.

"You've swum with me before, Keith," Lance remarked. "And held your breath under the water."

"I can't hold it forever," Keith grumbled more irritated than what he really was out in an attempt to make Lance understand. Lance was a smart guy. He was probably not a genius merman as he had called himself and insisted that Keith couldn't argue against since Keith had literally only met one merman in his life but a smart guy nonetheless.

The disagreement took all their attention. They eventually settled on not agreeing but Lance promising he would make Keith agree and Keith promising that that would never happen.

Neither of them had noticed the eyes following them and glaring when it was clear that this was a friendly discussion at best and a lover's quarrel at worst. The eyes belonged to a nobleman from the kingdom of the land who had followed the prince of the land going towards the deep blue sea. The man was trusted in name but not in soul.

The nobleman saw them talking and saw the prince of the sea take the other's hand. They smiled fondly but shy. This was a thing neither had ever had but craved to share.
The sight brought disgust to the nobleman. Not only had the prince found a male lover, it was also a disgusting creature. A monster of the sea.

The prince had no respect for the laws of the land and that wouldn't do. This wasn't the prince's first offence but it was the biggest one and the last one he would ever do.

The prince of the land was followed the next day. It was a sunny day and Keith wouldn't make any attempts to see Lance just yet but rather just enjoy the view of the rushing sea.

The nobleman hid deep in the shadows as they walked through the town and away from the kingdom until the prince stood in front of the sea. Keith took off one shoe at a time and walked in the warm sand with a private smile on his face. This was the royal family's beach and he didn't have to fear anything here.

He spread his arms and closed eyes as he enjoyed the gentle breeze, the sound of the waves and the sand under his unclad feet. The smell of salt was strong but pleasant and he could have stood there forever.

He didn't see the knife in his back. On felt the sharpness and fell as the weight of the nobleman pushed him down.

The prince struggled but the man was much bigger than he was. Attempts to escape and hurt his attacker grew more and more desperate until they turned weak and died down.

He was left with his head in the sea he had fallen in love with. Deep blue and holding his breath away from him as he bled into the sand. He had not been given a mortal wound and he had been left alive but he was already doomed before the nobleman had left him.

Keith laid by the shore until the night had fallen and Lance swam towards the shore. The stars were shining down on him from their place up high in the cloudless sky and the rush of the waves were leading Lance towards his beloved.

"Are you sleeping?" Lance asked when he saw Keith lay in the sand. "Are you trying to breathe under the water?"

Keith didn't answer, he didn't even react to Lance's questions but Lance didn't take it to heart and swam closer to Keith, excited that he would finally be able to see Keith waking up. Whether he would be instantly alert, Lance wouldn't be the least bit surprised if that was the case, or if he would slowly wake. Would Keith awaken prettily like a fairytale princess or like the roughest of men? Lance was curious but he knew that he would have found the answer adorable or hot regardless if it was about Keith.

Lance turned Keith on his back and saw Keith's eyes already open. Lance was disappointed but Keith was stoic and quiet and Lance comforted himself with the fact that Keith was not totally awake if he was this quiet.

Lance let his eyes search every detail on Keith's face. It had looked handsome the last time Lance had seen him but he put the blame on the water. Even if Keith tended to get pruney when exposed to water for long enough, not swollen. However, Lance could live with Keith being temporarily less handsome.

Lance looked away from Keith's faraway look and down at him blue tinted lips. Lance took in a deep breath when he saw that Keith wasn't breathing.

"You gave up your breath away for me?" Lance asked and felt how his chest filled with lightness. He didn't know what Keith had meant when he said he needed his breath and the breath needed the dry air, but he knew that it had been important to Keith. "That's the best present you've ever given me."

Keith still didn't talk but Lance was too occupied by the possibility to show Keith his kingdom. Lance wanted to see Keith's kingdom too of course, but finding a way to do that would just have to wait until Keith had seen his.

He took a firm grip of Keith's arms and pulled him towards the deeper end of the sea. Lance was smiling all the way down to his home while Keith kept quiet as if he knew that Lance didn't need to hear anything from him to know that Keith was excited too.

Keith came along with no complains no matter where they were going. Lance would have a talk to him about making Lance literally drag him anywhere but for now, it was fine. Besides, Lance swam far faster than Keith did when they had swum up near the shore, and Lance had too much to show Keith to wait for Keith to move his lazy ass.

Lance asked Keith if he wanted to go back ashore again after the first day together but Keith didn't give any answer.

Lance pulled Keith forward a little and asked, "Want to go down deeper?"

Keith's head fell into a single nod and then Lance was pulled him down with him. His hair followed him like the softest looking seaweed and his limps moved in the current and Lance's movements.

Lance hugged and kissed his lover every night. Keith grew fluffier in the sea but he didn't want to leave when Lance asked him and Lance almost had a mind to just leave him on the shore in the hopes of Keith getting better on land but then the sharks grew interested his the bloated corpse of the prince of the land.

Lance knew of Keith's will and he feared Keith would jump in the sea again and to find Lance's kingdom again but not reach his destination.

It was those thoughts that left Lance willing to let Keith stay another day and sleep with his arms and tail wrapped tightly around Keith.

Lance woke up cold. Not just in temperature but as in alone without his prince. He swam around looking for Keith but found nothing. His lover wouldn't have just left. He had been quiet but Lance knew that Keith wouldn't just leave him without saying a word. No matter what, Lance needed to find him before any of the interested predators did.

Keith was lost to all who held him dear. The prince of the sea looked for him in every coral reef and on the bottom of the sea in all directions and the king of the land looked for his brother in every house and in every forest.

Neither found him. Only a lone shark knew the answer and thanked the prince for satisfying the sharks hunger.

I didn't even reread any Emily Caroll's comics. Instead, I just randomly remembered it and thought I would write something in the same theme as her comic called "The Prince & The Sea (and very similar in some ways).br /
This story's short but I hope people liked it anyway