It was a bright Fall morning under the sea; the tide was just right, and the water was a perfect temperature. Schools of fish swam by merrily as their scales shone from the light of the morning sun. Coral and seaweed swayed gently to the rhythm of the water while the clams lazily filter fed. In the distance, dolphins could be heard echoing the melodic sounds of smack talk to each other. For a caravan of seahorse riders, it was a perfect day for travelling Open Ocean.
It was a small caravan, no bigger than maybe twelve merfolk of different races, and a few other sea creatures. Those with lower intelligence such as large seahorses bore the burden of riders and cargo, while more intelligent ones such as sea lions and octopi swam beside the merfolk, chatting to one another. The odd one of the group was a gigantic marlin who swam closer to the front of the group and spoke to no one; she was scarred in several places and her eyes remained vigilantly focused on what was ahead of her.
At their head was the mermaid captain. She was a tanned mermaid with a strong and well built body, who bore long ebony hair tightened together into a top knot. She wore a thick fish leather guard from her waist to her top leaving only a chest line exposed, (a stark difference from city mermaids who only wore simple bras), along with a stone trident strapped to her back. Her face was worn with both age and experience, yet still had a softness hinting to great wisdom. The mount she rode was a hard faced creature that looked more rabid than domestic. It's gaze was fierce, and every stroke it took seemed like it would split the water apart with its speed, but it obeyed it's rider without question.
To her side was a cecaelian merman, riding a smaller mount, his cephalopod tentacles wrapped around the creature as a makeshift saddle. The merman had a youthful complexion, with a face as soft as a baby and hair slicked back by a golden tiara. His body was not particularly chiseled, with signs of flab around his stomach which he would occasionally suck in. His only other attire was two golden shoulder guards in the shape of seashells. Linked to both was a long cape bearing an insignia of a giant squid perched atop a mountain as waves crashed beneath.
The merman edged closer to the caravan's captain and said, "How long will it be until we get there?"
The captain shot him a quick glance and remarked, "Should be before sundown at this rate, weather seems to be in our favor today. I guess the queen's in a friendly type mood." She giggled a bit towards her own remark, while the merman gave a fairly exaggerated sigh.
"That long? Jumping jellyfish woman, we have been on Open Ocean for days now. Surely we can make better time than this."
Her face did not change, but she made sure to let her tone speak her opinion. "I'm sorry, Mr. Representative, but this is as fast as my caravan goes. I am not a slave driver, and we are in no hurry to get there."
"Well I am," shouted the young man in a tone that seemed to plead for her attention. "The queen requested an audience with the representatives of the neighboring regencies by the 21st! I would be a laughingstock if I were to be the only one late! I am paying you all gold standard to escort me on this trip, and I expect worthwhile service!"
The mermaid turned towards him, and gave him a glance of pure befuddlement. "Maybe that would be a problem sir, if we weren't a day ahead of schedule."
His cheeks flourished in embarrassment at the sound of her words, but the words just kept coming, "You never know what may happen! For all we know a boulder may get in our path!"
"We'd just swim around it." The captain kept a dull tone.
"We may be halted by a school of tuna!" The cecaelian's face turned bright red.
"We'd just swim around them."
"We may be attacked by a shark!" He seemed to resemble a tomato more than a merman.
"We'd just swim around him."
"We may be halted by a fishing ship- NO, DON'T TELL ME! 'We'd just swim around it!'" His face was now a bright purple.
"Now you're getting the picture." She winked before turning around to face forwards.
The merman seemed about ready to implode at the sound of that last statement, but could only bring himself to angrily blow bubbles. Eventually he calmed down and resumed his riding without anymore questions. Eventually, it was the captain who broke the long silence.
"Say, Absalom. What's in it for your lord for coming together with the old kingdom of Atlantica? Last I recall, the royal family didn't care for your kind in their waters."
The youth's face flushed brightly in what could only be described as a mixture of rage and confusion, leaving his lips locked for several seconds. "T-t-t-that's Lord Absalon to you, dink!"
"Watch your mouth fancy boy," screamed the marlin. "When you're in our caravan you respect our captain, unless you want me to make squid rings out of ya!"
The merman turned towards the marlin sharply, his face flushed with fury. "How dare you! I am a Lord of the regency of Calacica, and I demand-"
The marlin slowly edged her way towards the merman, threateningly swinging her bill in his general direction, "I know where you're from, but here, you're just a fish out of water, so why don't you take all your fancy talk and shove them up your-!"
"Mildred!" The captain spoke up in a commanding voice that immediately gathered the attention of those around her. All other conversations slowly subsided as the argument had escalated, and now all were silent.
"Thank you for your concern, but I don't need any defending from petty insults, go back to your post please. And as for you, "Lord Absalon" I suggest you cool down before speaking up again."
The marlin only nodded grimly, and returned to her place in the caravan. As for Absalon, it took him several minutes of huffing a puffing before he was able to regain a semblance of composure. He then took in a deep breath, and began to speak again.
"It's true, that in the past, we cecaelia were not well regarded in the Atlantican courts, especially under the reign of that tyrant Triton, but that's all changed with the coming of the new queen. She has personally committed herself to the restructuring of bonds between all the scorned cecaelian royalties in the land and has finally opened immigration to cecaelians after being barred from setting a fin in Atlantica."
Absalon took a moment to pause in his rant and raised his chest with a sense of pride. "That is where I come in. I am representing my regent in this meeting between the queen and the provinces around her. Soon we of the cecaelian race shall carve forth a new era of peace and prosperity."
At first, the captain could only whistle and roll her eyes in response to the merman's statement. "'New era of prosperity and peace,' huh? From the rumors I've heard, the queen is a tyrant who taxes the innocent merfolk ruthlessly and transforms them into monsters."
"Hmph," scoffed the young man. "It would only be justice, after all the years of mistreatment under you flimsy fish-folk and that demon, Triton (curse his name). Whatever punishments have come your way is your own fault. As they say, 'you reap what you sow.'" The merman cockily grinned at the mermaid and placed a finger near his head mockingly.
"Well I'm not one to make judgments," sighed the captain. "I've seen kingdoms rise and fall plenty of times before, and I'm sure this won't be the last. I just don't feel like anything good will come out of this new regime, at least not for us merfolk; I've heard tales of the queen when she was still called the sea witch. She granted favors to desperate merfolk, but it always came at a price. Often it was a price that was simply too high for them to pay and she took them instead. And those who could pay often came out worse for wear."
"That is just life right there; you take chances to get what you want, and if you're unable to pay the price, you get burned for it. Weak willed fish-folk just have to learn to not let their desperation get the better of them." Absalon gave a hard glance to the captain, who he noticed resting a hand towards her stomach, her eyes seemed to grow dim looking upon the sight.
She let out a faint sigh, "Yeah. I suppose you're right."
They said nothing to each other for the rest of their journey.