Chapter Ten- Legend

Marina watched as her son led Seto further into the palace, most likely to a guest room. She found Seto to be respectful, polite, and confident; a lot like a royal, but of course he wasn't a royal. He would be well-suited to being a prince when he marries Joey and then a king when Joey is crowned. He found a special merman, very special. A gold tail is highly unusual, almost non-existent. Marina mused over those last two words before getting up and swimming for the library."

"I think Mother likes you," Joey said as they floated in a spare room, the door closed.

"You think so? She seemed friendly, but not as warm as Father is with you."

"True, but she believes that a queen or king should be restrained in her or his emotions. Believe me, a smile is a major accomplishment."

Seto nodded. He didn't really like the queen, but knew to earn her favor he needed to put his best foot forward…or rather his best fin forward. Not a problem, he thought. I have a knack for charming people and I'm sure merpeople are no exception.

"Seto, Yugi brought up a really good point a while back. How are we going to rule two different kingdoms when we marry? I mean, I have been considering telling your family my secret."

"Oh, that will be easy. I'll rule mine and you rule yours. Maybe our marriage will bring our races together and we can live peacefully with one another."

Joey smiled. "I like that idea. Okay, we'll rule separately." He stuck out a hand, Seto took it, and they shook on it.

"Our first royal agreement and we're not even married or kings yet," Seto commented.

"But princes can make plans prior to ruling. This could be one of them," Joey pointed out.

"Right. You definitely know the rules of leading a kingdom."

"Well, I do pay strict attention in my classes."

The next day, Joey went back to class with his sister. Seto decided to do some studying of his own. He ventured into the library and hunted through the shelves before selecting the history book Joey had read several days ago and found it as fascinating as his fiancée did. He put it aside later in favor of exploring the nearby open water. This is truly a wonderful place, he thought as he swam. I'll enjoy each time I trade my legs for a tail. I'm doing what most people only dream about: I'm underwater and I can breathe. Joey is so lucky to be able to live in the sea and I'll be sure to let him know.

"You think I'm lucky?" Joey laughed. "I think you're lucky."

"Me? How do you figure that?"

"You get to visit other kingdoms and see more than merpeople can see from the water or the shore. Plus, you can travel using ships and animals instead of your legs. You get to wear clothes, experience different season-,"

Seto held up a hand, chuckling. "Okay, I get the point. I guess we find one another's world better than our own."

"Sure looks that way."

"So, what's Serenity doing?"

"Homework. I'm thinking she may not turn siren while you're here, though it's been awhile."

"Good. No offense, but it sounds scary to see."

"It saddens me actually. I've been thinking of urging mermaids to resist turning siren when I'm king. I figure if a past king can get mermen to stop being human, I can get mermaids to stop sinking ships."

Seto nodded. "That fits into our idea of peaceful co-existence. So, since you don't seem to have homework, how about exploring sunken ships, maybe race each other?"

"Sounds like fun. I'll show you where some ships are and we could race around them."

"Excellent. Lead the way." Joey darted out a window and Seto followed, looking forward to exploring with Joey and enjoy it more than his solo one that morning.

Marina watched as the two boys swam out of the kingdom. She had read up on her race and found that those with gold, silver, or black tails were ones that could pose a threat to their race, though the threat was unclear. I like Seto, but his gold tail tells me he might cause trouble. I just wish I knew what kind of trouble. She shook her head. Then again, that is an old legend. Joey is deeply in love with Seto and vice versa. There's no real reason to be suspicious of Seto just because his tail is gold.

There was a flurry of bubbles and Serenity appeared beside her. "What's wrong, Mother?" she asked, seeing the expression on Marina's face.

"It's nothing, sweetheart. I just can't believe I was suspicious of Seto because of his tail."

Serenity stared out the window at the kingdom below, thinking. She like Seto and was a little jealous that her brother had met someone so handsome. She had been entranced by his gold tail until she remembered the old legend: Gold, silver, and black-tailed merpeople had a reputation for causing trouble and those were usually put to death once it was revealed that they were the cause of the kingdom's problems. Others ended up dying early in life. Maybe Seto is different from the others. I could follow him and if he is trouble, I'll tell Mother. On second thought, I'll just kill him. Serenity felt the familiar feelings sadistic torture and cruelty starting to surface. I'm starting to turn siren again. I think I'll be sinking a ship after tomorrow.

"Seto, I'm a bit worried and I should have told you yesterday."

"What's that?"

"It's your tail. There's an old legend or superstition really. Merpeople who have gold, silver, or black tails are viewed as troublemakers. Most die at an early age. Those who survived are accused when problems arise. If it turns out that they did cause the problems, they were put to death."

"Funny. None of the citizens seemed fearful of my tail; more envious."

"Well, it is an old legend. Most citizens don't put much stock in the legend. Plus, I think your personality and charm won them over."

"That's good to know."

"Yeah, but I'm afraid that Mother and Serenity may hold to the legend even though they like you."

Seto sighed as he looked behind him at his tail that was moving up and down as they headed for the sunken ships. He had loved the color when he first saw it and even Joey loved it, but now it seemed as if the color made the queen and princess suspicious.

"Hey, don't worry about it," Joey said. "You know you're not a troublemaker and after tomorrow, Mother and Serenity will know it as well."

"You're right. I don't plan on doing anything beyond reading and spending time with you. After everyone's gone to sleep tomorrow night, that's when I'll head for my boat and wait for dawn."

"Sounds like a plan."

"It does. Now," Seto grinned as a ship came into view and pointed at it. "First one to make a full lap around the ship gets to go in first."

"You're on," Joey said and both boys sped toward the ship for their first race.