She lost count of how many suns she had seen through that window. With each passing day, it became more of a cheap hope to wish for her family. It also gave her plenty of time to think.
She never told her mother where she disappeared to in her youth. The old queen of the west had passed the throne down to her brother when last she heard, but she knew they thought her dead.
The last time she saw her mother was the day she left to wed Triton. Neither of them told one another about how they were royalty, until Triton's elder brother died. Then, she told him about her own family issues. And he gave her a new name.
"Athena, for the wilds of the ocean. You will always belong to yourself, and I would hold no grudge if you left on the next wave."
He had met her at one of the shipyards. He knew of her nature, how she never wanted to stop running. For their first two years of marriage, they never even had a place to call home. But when he was crowned, Athena made a decision. She would stay with the man who gave her no leash, because of his kindness and love.
They rarely argued. But when Athena became with child, their marriage was still a secret. She was fearful of becoming queen, only because of a babe. But Triton refused to make her decision. She went to him, and asked what to do. And what did he say?
"You can have the child, or not. You can stay, or not. You could have me raise it, even. I will not bind you."
But she didn't want to admit that she wanted them to be together, with the baby. She left for a month without giving an answer, and when she returned, she was decidedly angry. Because she wanted him to admit that they could be parents together. They yelled until the waters shook and the silt rose. In a last bit of desperation, she admitted it.
"Why can't you see that I want you to say it yourself! I can't be alone in this decision, Triton. You need an opinion too."
From then on, they both had a say. And, despite her fears, Athena decided to become queen. The storm inside her was escaped by her singing, and they continued having children. Having a challenge of raising a babe warmed her, and put the storm to rest.
But now? Would Triton be able to raise them himself? She hoped he would. A small bit of her hoped that he would reach out to her family as well. Let her children know of the rest of their family.
Lost in her memories, Athena didn't notice the man until she was staring into her eyes, but everything was blurry. Blurry from tears.
She jumped back, spinning away to wipe her face. There was no need, not when she was being kept prisoner. And she couldn't tell him why she was crying, the explanation would fall on deaf ears. He would assume it was fear, and not sorrow.
There was a tap of her shoulder, and she turned to see him holding a plate of food. Unlike before, the food wasn't land-side platters of bird and brush. It was scrapped food of mer. Kelp, mostly, but a few other creatures that the mer farmed and ate. Sea cucumber, shrimp, even a pink starfish. The mer farms were ethical, mind you, but Athena wasn't sure where this food came from.
Without a sound, the man slipped the plate into her hands and left. She nibbled at the food, wrapping it together like mother used to. She could almost hear her voice.
"If you don't like it, just put it together, sharkling. It'll get the food down faster."
As a child, she wasn't the best eater. But with the nostalgic ritual, she allowed herself a little bit of joy.
The man was the only visitor allowed any longer, but she still heard the pirate's shouts through the wood. Not even a song would get through to them, though, because it seemed that the deaf man was the only one with the key to her cell.