Chapter 8 - Sick With Worry
Back at the underwater palace, Queen Tritannia waited anxiously for her search party, or one of her sons to come back with something, anything, about where in the world her youngest and most precious child could be. Although she always forgot to act like it, the Queen truly held a soft spot for Arron, as he was still a young boy trying to navigate the world as best he could. Tritannia wished she could join the search parties herself, but she dared not leave the throne room. She needed to stay here to guard her kingdom or wait for Arron to came back, if he did. Her back ached from sitting still for so long, and she folded her hands in prayer, pleading for Poseidon to bring back her boy.
"Please, ancestors..." she whispered under her breath. "Let my baby come home safe. Don't let him be hurt because of me..." if her guilt from before had been anything, she was now furious at every fibre of her being. How could she be so cruel to him? He was only a child who had gone against his mother's wishes because he was hurt and unhappy, and Tritannia wished that she hadn't been so quick to shut down any thought of his that wasn't hers. For years, she had been so certain that it was Arron who pushed everyone else away, who never wanted much to do with the rest of his family. But it was her. The whole time it had been her. His own mother had made herself so unapproachable that her son had ran away. How could she have been so blind?
One of the seahorses came darting into the room along with Atias and Alec, and Tritannia swam up to them eagerly.
"Did you find anything?" she asked in a voice that could only be replicated by that of a pleading mother.
"I am so sorry, your majesty" said the seahorse. "My search team has found no trace of your son, or of Stella." the Queen's face fell and she began to shake with nerves.
"Boys?"
"Sorry, Mom." said Alec.
"We couldn't find anything." Atias added.
"Well…" the Queen stammered in desperation. "Keep looking!" she exclaimed at the trio. "Leave no shell unturned, no coral unexplored. May not one of you rest until your brother is safe at home!" she boomed, and the tired looking seahorse nodded respectfully and swam out of the throne room. The Queen turned to her two eldest sons who were still there. "You have your orders." she said. The boys looked at each other and sighed.
"Mom, maybe Arron hasn't come back because... he doesn't want to come back." said Atias.
"What?" Tritannia hissed, her mind cloudy with lack of sleep, rendering her unable to keep calm.
"Listen. We haven't exactly been the most supportive of brothers" said Alec. "Every time he messed up, we gave him a hard time. Every time he wanted to share something with us, we turned him away, acted like he was weird. We thought it was fun, but..." Alec trailed off.
"Maybe we went too far. What if he thinks we hate him?" said Atias. The Queen swam back to her throne and placed her exhausted head on her hand.
"Oh lord, what if you're right. We never accepted him for who he was." the boys saw that their mother was close to tears, and swam up to place a comforting hand on her shoulder.
"Well, at least you're not alone in that mistake" Alec punched Atias in his arm. "Um, ow!" he exclaimed, but Tritannia hadn't even heard what he had said.
"Oh, what have I done?" she said to herself, burying her face in her hands. All day, Tritannia had tried her absolute best to remain composed and strong, to not let anyone fear the worst outcome for the fate of the youngest Prince. But now, after so long of having no news come her way, it suddenly became too much to bear. Finally allowing herself to cry, cascades of tears escaped the Queen's eyes. "What have I done…"