"Leira, please make sure you are safe today. I don't want you to get hurt," the woman said.
Leira sighed. "Mom, I'm only going to pick up Nautica from the palace, and then we're going to race, like we do every single Saturday."
The mother smiled. "I know, but I just couldn't bear it if you were injured," she quietly said to her daughter.
The girl rolled her eyes, a slight grin creeping up on her face. She then swished out the door, shutting it behind her.
Leira started swimming towards the sparkling gold castle to meet up with her friend so they could have a swimming race outside of the city. Nautica's mother was one of King Triton's own personal advisors, and her family lived in the palace itself, so that is where Leira knew she had to go.
In about half an hour she was in the huge network of limestone archways, paths, and crossings. The girl marveled at how pretty and magnificent this castle was, but was surprised at the few number of merpeople about. Usually at this time of day, there were millions of them, doing errands for the king and his daughters, the princesses.
As she contemplated on this peculiarity, Leira suddenly stopped to touch a beautiful silver statue of a mermaid playing the lyre. Admiring it, she did not notice the elderly merman approaching behind her.
"That's one of my favorite statues too," the man said. Startled, Leira turned around to find herself face to face with the ruler of Atlantica, King Triton.
"Your majesty. I am so sorry," the girl muttered, bowing to him in respect. She looked up to see if he was upset. Would he blast her with his trident?
"No need for that, Leira. Now, if I may ask, why are you here?" the man questioned. The girl sighed. An easy question, and no blast from his golden, looming trident.
"I'm going to pick up my friend, Nautica. She is the daughter of one of your court advisors," Leira answered fairly nervously.
The king beamed in recognition. "Ah, yes. The daughter of Corala. I know her very well. Well then, be on your way. It was nice talking to you, Leira."
"Good talking to you too, your majesty," Leira immediately replied. She watched the old man as he swam away, his blue tail trailing behind him, and his white beard swaying in the ocean. The girl, who was just about to turn so she could continue swimming on toward her friend, watched with confusion as King Triton unexpectedly turned back and stared at her.
With a saddened expression, he said, "Please, Leira, just call me Triton." Then, he turned away- this time for good.
The girl was shocked. The king hardly told anyone to call him Triton; just his close family and friends were allowed to call him by his first name. she stood there, dumbfounded, wondering why in the whole sea the king of Atlantica would ask her, a commoner, to address him by his real name. Not the man's title. His actual, real name.
Out of the corner of her eye, Leira saw a flash of yellow coming towards her. Her mind quickly warned her to jump out of the way, but, however, she was not quick enough to avoid Nautica.
"Finally, Leira! You're here! Do you know that you are like, ten minutes late? And you're usually to my apartment by then, not out in the castle gardens doing nothing!" her friend burst out.
Leira laughed. "Nice to see you too, Nautie," she giggled.
Nautica grinned back and started to swim, motioning for Leira to follow her. "C'mon Lee. Let's race. I'm tired of this stuffy palace," her friend said.
Leira just smiled, and Nautica looked at her, expecting her friend to be much more animated. "You are coming, right Lee?"
The girl looked at Nautica. "I will be right there, Nautie," Leira said. Nautica beamed and then swam off towards the white sands of the city below, the colorful coral and other plants surrounding the castle swaying as she rushed off.
Reluctantly, Leira followed in the way of her friend. As she swam slowly along to the racing grounds, she abruptly remembered the look on the king's face as he told her to call him Triton. And suddenly, the girl realized something about that face that she hadn't before. Leira realized it was a face of longing, like the king wished he could say more to her, but somehow couldn't. Like he wanted to say just one more word. One word, Something more. But what?
Leira shrugged. She simply wanted to have a fun weekend with her best friend. But in the back of her mind, Triton kept nagging at her head- his unrelenting voice, asking her to call him by his first name. The one word the king so wanted to say. But what could that one word be? Again, Leira decided that she shouldn't really worry about that. There was nothing else she could possibly do about it.
Yay updates! I'm surprised by how deep I'm actually getting into this story. I seriously can't stop thinking about it. And thank you so much to all of you who reviewed! I'm also HUGELY shocked that people like this story so much. It's definitely not one of my best writings, and I know some things probably don't make a lot of sense. If you do have any questions about my story, please feel free to ask.
Yes, I'm sorry about leaving you in so much suspense regarding Eric and Melody. In about two chapters or so, their fates shall be revealed... DUN DUN DUN!
Again and as always, thanks to everyone who is reading this story, and I hope you enjoyed it! Love you all!