Chapter Two
After she was certain that everyone was gone and that everyone in the castle was asleep, Melody put on her pajama bottoms and shimmied her way down the makeshift rope she had made to get out of her balcony. She hopped off and landed neatly in the sand. This was her nightly ritual. Go out to the water to talk to Sebastian and sometimes Flounder (He was a busy father, after all.) The water calmed her and she was now doing her best to take it in as best as she could.
As Melody approached the water, she saw Sebastian and went to approach him but heard Chase talking. He sounded upset which confused her. He had done wonderfully that night! He danced better then he walked and his ability to act like he fit in with the snobby neighbor kids was impeccable. Worried and puzzled, Melody hid behind a rock and listened.
"I'm just worried that someone is gonna be better than me…" Chase explained. "I can't be on land all of the time and for all I know she might choose to live out her life primarily on land." Melody heard a quick, "Mon" from Sebastian which was cut off by Chase. "And lest we forget how good looking and put together those other guys were! I'm a wreck… She deserves someone so much better…"
The fury began to rise in her. Her hands became fists at her side and the image of beating Chase to a pulp seemed to flow through Melody's mind. She quietly stepped out from behind the rock and saw Sebastian's eyes grow wide. Chase's back was to her so she had an easy shot where her fist could collide with his skull. Sebastian's stammering and pointing snapped her out of the violent mood but still left her steaming.
"What're you looking at Sebastian…?" Chase turned around and locked eyes with Melody. His eyes grew wider then Sebastian's, though the crab had now scurried back into the sea. "Oh."
Melody shook her head at Chase. "Why? Why would you come to talk to Sebastian? Why couldn't you talk to me?" She was hurt now. Still angry but now hurt. Melody could have sworn that he trusted her with everything. She could have sworn that he knew that she wouldn't go off and have some extravagant wedding with a man from some foreign land. This place was her home. The area where the land and sea, both of her homes, met. She didn't plan on leaving anytime soon…
Chase walked towards her. "Mel, listen… I-I can explain." No he couldn't. He had no idea how to put his thoughts into words and the look on Melody's face said that she knew he couldn't explain it.
"Go back." She said sharply. Chase took a step back, startled by her statement. "If you don't trust me, then feel free to go back and start planning taking over the kingdom. I'm certain grandfather has a lot left to teach you. So go then."
Chase shook his head. "I don't want to go back… Not yet… It's not even truly your birthday yet. And I've got a day planned out for us…"
Melody laughed. "Chase, my birthday has already been planned for ages. I was born and my eighteenth birthday was set for me." She began to count on her fingers. "Another ball the day of, cake, a line of boys that I need to dance with, people discussing things with my parents in regards to how their son would be best fit for me and our kingdom, Dad getting irritated with it all, Mom worrying about my feelings on it, and by the end of next week me picking a future husband whom I'll need to live happily ever after with."
Now Chase was angry. Melody had never been one to just melt into a role. No, Melody formed the role. She pushed edges in order to make things go her way and in the end, everything seemed to turn out even better than it had to begin with. "Melody, that's stupid and you know it." He grabbed her shoulders and forced her to look at him. She was tense in his arms, something he wasn't used to, but this was the only way she would listen. "The only thing about that statement that should be true is the cake part. You don't need to spend the day dancing with a bunch of guys or need to choose your husband by next week." He let out a sigh before walking away to begin pacing. "Listen Mel, we're in the same spot. Your grandfather wants me back the day after your birthday to begin making plans for when I take the throne. He wants a queen for me right away and within the next year he'll probably be requesting a kid from said queen and I."
Chase stopped and turned back to Melody. "What they forget to think about is what we want. What you and I want. Mel, if you marry one of those guys, they're going to take you away from here. They'll take you away from me." He gently cupped her face in his hands. "And I'll be damned if I don't leave after your birthday kicking and screaming. You are who I want Mel, not anyone else. I've got no idea how we're supposed to convince your family that we could make this work but I know we can. We can split up our time, land and the sea. We might need to split up our time from each other too while you take care of land issues and I take care of sea issues, but we can do it Melody. I know we can…"
She beamed at him and went to kiss him when she heard the sound of sand moving underneath feet. She brought her finger to her lips and went to hide in between some rocks, thankful that it was nighttime because the sun would easily give her away. Chase went to the water's edge and dipped his toes inside, wondering who would possibly be out and about this late at night.
"So you're the one she's in love with, huh?" Chase turned to be confronted by a man about six feet tall with dark hair and green eyes. He greeted Chase with a smirk and straightened himself. "What was your name again? Jace or something?"
Chase frowned and tried his best to make sure he didn't glare at person standing in front of him. "Chase. And who are you? Some prince who's here to steal Melody's heart or something?"
He chuckled and shrugged. "You could say that. My name's Richard. I'm from the kingdom on the other side of this stretch of ocean." Richard rolled his shoulders and crossed his arms. "And I didn't take a nearly two week boat ride to come here and be turned down by Melody. So I believe you and I might have a problem."
Chase furrowed his eyebrows at Richard. "Are you serious? Are you threatening me because of Melody?" A clacking sound on rocks and a soft bump into the sand indicated to Chase that Sebastian was on the move. All the while, Richard shrugged and said, "I wouldn't say I'm threatening you. Merely warning you. You see, Melody is what I want and I always get what I want, understand? I won't have some measly, messy blonde child in my way of winning her heart." He scoffed. "Besides, once she falls for me and moves to my kingdom, she'll realize that the sea isn't that important after all. The only good thing that came from this land tearing down their wall was that the trade between them and my home was reopened." He shook his head and muttered to himself, "What is her strange obsession with the sea about anyways?"
Chase bit his lip to stifle a laugh. If this man only knew why Melody was obsessed with the sea. Hell, she basically was the sea. Half of it, anyways. But this man wanted to take her away from it. He wanted to keep her on dry land and away from the family and friends she loved so much below the waves. Away from him…
"Nevertheless, she will be mine, Chase. After this week, she'll remember you fondly as her taste of puppy love." He smirked and tapped Chase on the nose. "G'night." With that, he turned on his heel and began to head back to the castle. Sebastian hurried after him as Chase ducked behind the rocks to search where Melody had gone. He laughed when he heard a strangled yelp come from Richard in the distance and continued his search.
"Hey Mel, can you believe that-?" He stopped when he noticed Melody was nowhere to be found. Chase stood up and followed footsteps in the sand with his eyes that led back to the castle. His eyes trailed up to Melody's balcony, where her rope now sat in a ball near the edge and her lights were out.
She hadn't heard a thing. For all Chase knew, she hadn't even seen who it was that had approached him. Not that that was a big deal or anything. All he needed to do was point out the guy within the next week, tell Melody everything he had said to him, and it would be fine.
When Sebastian came back, Chase couldn't help but grin at the look on his face. "Happy with yourself? Going around and clamping onto random prince's ankles and all?" Sebastian smiled and nodded before giving Chase a wave and diving back into the ocean. Chase waved until Sebastian was gone and then turned his attention back to Melody's balcony. He knew that as much as he wished she would come back out and kiss him without interruption, it wouldn't happen. So instead he opted to blow a kiss towards her window and head back inside himself.
