Disclaimer: Poignantly not mine.
A/N: Written for KH Drabble Challenge #263 'bad guys'. Precanon and needs a little anagram skill at the end.
Music in Silence
© Scribbler, May 2011.
Triton found his eldest daughter bent almost double over the balcony. She flopped backwards when he cleared his throat.
"What are you doing?"
"Just… um…" Attina bit her lip. She turned, but halted halfway through, making her brown ponytail waft prettily.
All his daughters were pretty. It was their mother's influence, he thought, when he could bear to think of his late wife. Likewise, their habit of keeping secrets. Athena always tried to settle issues with their children before he knew about them. When he asked, she'd shrug and say running a kingdom was stressful enough.
Triton was reminded of this now. Attina was hiding something, he was sure. He folded his arms and eyeballed her. She was twenty-one, an adult, but he still knew all his daughters' weaknesses: Arista gave away all secrets if he threatened her make-up; Alana would die without storybooks; Andrina loved seahorses and would do anything to ride them – the list went on. Attina's weakness was definitely her conscience.
She twisted her fingers. "It's Ariel. She's been… weird lately. Not herself."
Triton frowned. "I haven't noticed any change."
"You've been busy, setting up more border patrols after those monsters appeared near the coral reef."
He had been busy. Ariel was fine. Although maybe it'd be good to clarify Attina's misgivings…
"She never smiles when people aren't looking. And she keeps going off and not telling anybody. She stays away for hours and comes back even more miserable. It's not healthy."
Over Attina's shoulder, Triton spotted a hurrying border guard. His mood darkened. More reports of yellow-eyed monsters? What did they want?
Triton beckoned the two guards at the door. "Ensure none of the princesses leave the castle until I say otherwise."
"Daddy!"
"Go round them up. It's not safe outside until this matter is solved. And the less they know about its true seriousness, the better." He met Attina's eyes. "No point in panicking people unnecessarily. If we're together, maybe Ariel will have more reason to smile."
Attina wasn't convinced, but didn't speak until he was gone. "Yeah. Maybe."
Ariel checked over her shoulder before shifting the rock with the star-shaped lichen. As ever, the handle released the pulley to open the hidden entrance. She swam inside. Every time she came here, she felt the same flare of hope. It died when she looked and saw nothing had been disturbed since her last visit.
She sank to the floor. A week had passed with no word; not so much as a note to say he was okay, or a single blue scale to show it. She fisted her hands on her tail, squashing the thought that he wasn't okay. He'd said he'd meet her here. That was the only reason she swam away when he ordered her to. He'd told her to leave. She was frightened and he'd said he could handle things. He always had before. You couldn't live alone, practising music right under the nose of her father's ban, without learning the tricks of survival. True, black wriggly monsters, like drops of living squid ink, weren't exactly normal, but he'd promised he would come back. He always kept his promises.
He'd promised to show her music when her father was intent on keeping the castle silent. He'd promised to show her beauty, and brought her the spectacle of the reef lit by glowfish. He'd promised not to tell her father when she started visiting. He'd promised it wasn't wrong to want more than you had. He'd promised her happiness, and for the short time they had spent together, she'd believed him.
She settled for another long wait, absently touching her lips; remembering the hesitant touch of his right before the monsters found them.
"Where are you, Myde?"
Fin.
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