AN: Shhh, just let this muse run until It can't.
2
Alarmed, Sha'lain'a turned and saw a rather handsome man dressed in finery that befits one of a high station. The one piece suit was colored a deep sapphire blue on tope, an elaborate golden belt with the buckle of an A, hung from his waist with the lower half black. Around his brow, he wore the golden crown with uneven peaks that seemed to go in a pattern of sorts. The crown set on top of his black long hair which had a shock of silver in on one side. That and his somewhat short black beard- also streaked with silver and gray- plus the wrinkles around his very blue eyes, made him both seem young and very old at the same time. It was a weird conflict to Sha'lain'a as it was obvious he was old enough to be her own father as well. It didn't click in her mind until moments had passed that this must be the king. For only a king would wear such an attire like that!
"I.." She began but seemed to lose her words. Her heart raced for a moment, what if she offended him? What if he becomes upset that she was here when no one was allowed? "
He chuckled, "No need to be frightened, I am only curious as to who would wander around at this time of day in my home. That is not much to ask for, is it?"
She blushed somewhat, "I..am Sha'lain'a of Shayeris. I..I came to visit my brother here."
"Ah, so your brother is a guard, I would guess?"
"Yes." Wait, how was she supposed to address him? "You-your majesty."
Smiling, the king moved closer to her, " You seem rather interested in the archiect here. Is it your passion?"
She looked away, trying to keep herself from fidgeting, "Yes-well no. I mean to say, I find things from the old world interesting." She glanced up at the ceiling, "I also find the surface tempting as well, though I have never been there."
"Why is that?"
"Because," She breathed out and tried to think of a suitable answer here before giving up on that endeavor, "I think there are many things that could be learned there- things that one cannot have here. Perhaps some traces of our own history is recorded there."
"Though you know," Why does his voice sound closer than before? Sha'lain'a forced herself to keep staring up at the ceiling for now, even though she became extremely aware of the man's proximity, " we are but a myth to them and their own history. There is nothing for us there."
"But, that does not mean we cannot learn from them." She's not even sure when her voice became almost a whisper, "A person can always learn more from anyone." At least that's what her father, Bar'nic'al had often told them all when they were younger. She turned to look at the king and was surprised by how close he was to her. Suddenly the atmosphere of the situation seemed to have changed drastically. There's something there she couldn't decipher completely, but was equally astonished by her own reaction to him. A mixture of fear yet...
"Sha'lain'a!"
The sound of Gob'lane's voice broke the moment and she felt she could breathe easier now. "I.. I must go." She looked away and wanted to swim off right that second but didn't want the king to think her rude. "My brother-"
"Come back again,tomorrow." He said suddenly.
She's stunned, what in the name of Neptune would the king of atlantis want with her? Not to mention he was married still and- she didn't know how to react to this at all. "Tomorrow, your majesty?"
"Yes, I think around mid-day shall suffice." He told her with faint amusement.
She shook her head, but her brother's voice sounded closer, "I cannot. I have schooling and-"
"Never mind it." The king was one not to be denied, that was for certain. Everything about his posture was almost as if to dare her to do so. Even if he hadn't moved or said anything that would cause her to think such at thing. "If you fall behind, I know of someone that could be of help to you in this."
Inwardly, the golden haired teen bristled at his casual dismissal-and her valid excuse to not come- of her concerns. She hated that, her elder sibilings and parents were often fond of doing such a thing. Unlike them, however, the king didn't know her or was fond of her as they were. She found she had little to no choice in the matter when it came down to it.
"Then I shall be here as requested." Sha'lain'a reluctantly promised. "If I may?"
"Hm? Oh, of course." The king smiled, watching the girl salute him before she swam off.
As she swam off, another beautiful blond woman with a golden cornet circling her head, swam up to the king and frowned slightly watching the girl as well. "Atlan," Queen Atlanna began, "Who was that?"
"A consideration." He replied to her and looked at her, "I would take it that both Orin and Orm have settled down for sleep?"
Dark green eyes inspected his before she sighed softly, "Indeed they have. Now, I must speak with you on the selection for tomorrow for your...companions."
Atlan snorted, turning from the rosy pink clad woman and swam leisurely away from her, "Just say it, royal consorts. It is not unheard of."
"It is when one has successfully produced two heirs." She replied annoyed as she followed him, "What more could you have of these women?"
"One can never have too many heirs, you know that." He commented but looked over at her, placing his hands at his back pondering for a moment, "It is not only that, Atlanna, and you know it. You know what they-"
"I know what they have said, Atlan." Interrupting him, she looked away with a mixed expression. Somewhere between anger and shame at this, "Orin was hard and Orm.."
"It nearly killed you."
"I was fine." She replied stiffly, "But if you insist on it, I will at least select ones that are of interest!"
He smiled slightly, "Can I suggest one for consideration then?"
Eyeing him, the queen only nodded once, "You may, but I make no promises on such a thing. I find it all taxing and completely horrid."
"Duly noted, my love. " He told her and moved closer to her, slipping an arm around her waist as they had stopped swimming now, "Know that none of these girls would ever mean to me what you do. You are my heart, Atlanna, I am certain you know this."
"I do." She sighed softly, "But it does not mean I feel better about it."
"I know and I am forever grateful that you are generous enough to allow such a thing." He brushes her cheek, "If you wish, you-"
"Speak no more." She finally pushed him off gently, "I know of what you are to say but trust I have no desire for such a thing. We will speak of this more later, Atlan. For now, let us retire and you can make your suggestion."
"Sha'lain'a?"
Blinking, the blonde turned her head towards the auburn haired mermaid beside her. Tori wasn't a student at the Conservatory, but she was apprenticing at the tailors some ways from there along with a few others. She had became Sha'lain'a's friend when Sha'lain'a first arrived almost two months back and had to get better attire for her life in the city here. They had hit it off rather well, becoming fast friends and bonding over similar frustrations and experiences. Right now, Tori's looking at her worriedly and she realized she hadn't noticed anything in the past few minutes. Realizing this, Sha'lain'a offered an apologetic smile to her.
"I apologize, my friend." She said and laid back on the rock that over looked the school and palace. "I have been lost in thought this morning."
"Is something the matter?" Tori leaned closer, her tail swayed a bit, "You know you can tell me."
Sha'lain'a considered this for a moment before finally nodding, "My brother came by to visit the other day." She began, "And he invited me to dine with him and his lover, who is a cook in the royal palace-"
"You went into the palace?" Tori gasped, "Oh how I envy you! What was it like? Did you see the royal family? How was it? You must tell me everything!"
"I.. well, I supposed it was quite wonderful.." She said coyly, "I mean, it was just the royal palace and the kitchens.."
Tori shoved her playfully off the rock, "You know what I mean, Sha'lain'a. Truly, though, is it as beautiful as imagined?" She leaned over the edge, looking down at her. "I do not think I would ever have such a chance."
"It is." Sha'lain'a replied floating for the time being, "As beautiful as any tale would have it. There are so many things there- however my adventure there was cut short."
"How so?"
That's when Sha'lain'a lost her playful mood but became rather pensive instead, "I was wandering about, since Gob was talking to his lover-"
"You wandered around alone?"
"Well.. yes."
With a disapproving tone, Tori shook her head a little, "That was madness, you could have been jailed as a prowler or something like that."
"I thought I would be." She confessed, "A man came up to me when I was wandering down a particular hallway. He was rather handsome for his age, I suppose. I did not know until the moment I saw his ornaments that he was the king."
"No!" Her friend gasped, "The king? Was he furious? Oh, Sha'lain'a how did you get out without being hurt?"
"that is the odd thing about it." She tapped her chin, "He was not mad at all, rather he was curious. He wanted to know who i was and some silly things.. He wants me to come back again."
When Sha'lain'a looked at her friend, she wasn't sure what to make of Tori's expression. Astonished, for certain, maybe a dash of fear-but she could see that something else was there. Jealousy? She's not sure, but in truth, if she had her way, she would've gladly have traded the king's interest in her with Tori in a heartbeat. She wasn't that..interested in him at all and it unnerved her a bit that he was.
"I think he may have forgotten." She hurried on with her explanation. "I am not that important to remember over other things. Surely it was all a mistake and it will never happen again."
Something in her eased a bit seeing her friend take that explanation. Thank Neptune. Relaxing now, she and Tori turned their conversation to other things- such as the nomination for a lady-in-waiting to the Queen. It had many powerful families in a rush to push their females to the forefront of being chosen by Queen Atlanna. In this speculation, Tori had said that Pearl, Oy'Ria and Coral had more political clout and not to mention looks in their favor. Sha'lain'a speculated that E'line would be more likely.
In either case, their conversation wandered from that and onto many other subjects until a loud sound went off, signaling that mid-day class would start soon. Sha'lain'a bid her friend goodbye before she moved toward the Conservatory when she was intercepted by a strange blue octopus headed male. He was dressed in black, with a white sash and a gold brooch pinned on the right shoulder. He looked older than most people Sha'lain'a's ever seen. Thinking he was a teacher, here to scold her for being late, she swam a little closer to him to offer some kind of an excuse for it.
Neptune's beard, she wished she could just go off and swim the currents but instead, she smiled her most charming and hopefully disarming, smile, " Elder, I do apologize. I was just about to head to class now."
"Are you Sha'lain'a of Shayeris?" He asked her, disregarding her excuse. "I have a message for you from his majesty, King Atlan."
"King Atlan?" She blinked once, her eyes widened a bit more, "What would he want with a person like myself?"
He only shrugged, "I ask nothing of the king, for his counsel is his own. However, he requested that you should present yourself now. I shall lead the way, if you would be as so kind to follow me."
Swallowing, Sha'lain'a nodded but hesitated to go after the old one for a moment. She couldn't help but wonder- exactly what did the kid want with her?
AN:
First:
AHARD- I didn't mention it in the first chapter, but it's a mental health facility that's part of the Atlantis Health and Rehabilitation Department. Which is also part of a hospital. In the comics (older version) when Mera suffered a mental breakdown over the death of her son, she was admitted to the AHARD for treatment. It also functioned as a hospital during wars and such.
Second- Ages
Sha'lain'a is 16
Orin- 11
Orm- 10
This is based on how I calculated Sha'lain'a's age, using Kaldur as a fixed point. In order for Kaldur to be 16 in 2010, he would've been born in 1994. So, considering how old Manta is In season one (Greg says he's 37), it would mean in 1994, he was 21. So, I figured, that most DC couples are within the 2-3 age gap with 5 being the max for most. So, applying that to Sha'lain'a, I figured she'd be 35 in 2010 and 40 in 2015. Meaning she would've been at least 20yrs old when she had Kaldur in 1994. So the year of her birth would've been 1976.
Which means she's 5 years older than Orin/Aquaman (who's two years older than Mera. Orin was born in 1981, meaning Orm was born in 1982 and Mera in 1983).
So this is all taking place in: 1992.
(sidenote: Black Manta was born in 1973, therefore at this point he'd be 19)
However for my purposes, I'm saying she was born in 1975, at the tail end of that year (so the following month became 1976.
((though if my math is off, it's because it's three am and i should be asleep.))