The Mermaid and The Beast
Chapter 9- The Challenge
After arriving at Atlantica, Spark wasn't able to join the rest of the Sharkanians, since she had to take all of the sharks to the stables by herself, since Jake wasn't allowed to accompany her. It was a complete pain in the neck, especially since most of the sharks (minus Jessop) didn't know her. Besides, the head of the Atlantican stables, an old merman named Buck with a blue tailfin and white hair and moustache, had to help her put the sharks in a place where they would not be too close to the seahorses. After instructing her how to tie them, he left to tend to the seahorses.
After finally tying the last shark to the mast, Spark floated down to the sand to get a well-deserved rest. Most of the sharks rested to rest from their journey, but the Albino didn't; it seemed that even the sharks feared and respected him, for they all rested away from him. Spark grew irritated when she noticed the Albino was staring at her in an expectant way.
"What?" She inquired, "Don't tell me you're hungry, you ate an hour ago!"
The Albino snorted in reply, and started chewing on his mast, then attempted to pull away from it before turning to look at the mermaid. Spark realized what he wanted.
"Oh, no, no!" she immediately swam up, "No way! I'm so not letting you lose! Emperor Shaga will kill me if I do that!"
The Albino kept chewing his mast, trying to cut his reins loose to no avail. Apparently, these days he didn't get out of his cage much, and when he did he wanted to enjoy every second of it. Spark just stared as the monstrous shark pulled, chewed and even went as far to slam his tailfin against the mast to try and break free.
"Hard work, isn't it?"
Spark didn't turn around; Jake sat down next to her, having finally managed to get away from Commander Jaskket, and stared at the resting sharks.
"Why can't you guys ride seahorses?" Spark sighed in frustration, "They're much easier to handle."
Jake chuckled, "It's hard for us to handle seahorses, just like it's hard for merfolk to deal with sharks. After all, your race are related to fish, while ours is more related to sharks."
As the two spoke, a group of about five merfolk about Spark's age, all girls, approached the stables; swimming at the front was a mermaid of fifteen with an orange tailfin and matching seashells adorning her breasts. She had long straight blonde hair reaching her waist and hazel eyes. When Jake and Spark spotted, the mermaid sighed in frustration.
"Oh, great," she muttered, "Miss Big-Mouth is here."
Jake snickered at the nickname, "Who?"
"She's Mandy, the most unfriendly, show-off, spoiled girl in the ocean. Her parents are one of the richest merfolk in Atlantica, and she thinks she is better than everyone just because of that."
"What is she doing here, anyway?"
"She has a horse, and she is a good rider, but as I said, she is a show off. In fact, when we were children, she loved to tease me on the fact that I had no parents."
Soon, Mandy rode a beautiful gray stallion with blonde mane and small white spots on its back put of the stables. The four mermaid accompanying her gaped in awe and surrounded her to examine the magnificent specimen.
"His name is Shimmer," Mandy grinned with pride, "My daddy bought it especially for me, and he was the most expensive thoroughbred he could find." When she mermaid spotted Spark sitting next to the sharks and the Sharkanian, she decided to have some fun and rode Shimmer to stop in front of them, "Well, well, well, look who we have here. It's shark-girl."
Spark rolled her eyes, "Why don't you go scare the newborns, Mandy?"
The group of mermaids accompanying Mandy got closer.
"Hey, look who you are talking to!" one with yellow tailfin and brown hair snapped.
"Yeah, Mandy's the greatest rider in Atlantica!" One with a pink tailfin and platinum blonde hair added.
"As if," Jake stated sharply, making the group flinch, "A rider is nothing without a good mount."
"Excuse me?" Mandy spoke indignant as she patted her seahorse's flank, "Are you blind? Shimmer here is a good mount." When she finished, the stallion lifted his head with pride.
Jake narrowed his eyes, "A good mount is not distinguished by having pedigree or how good-looking it is; a good mount is loyal and affectionate to its rider, but I guess you wouldn't be able to understand it, since apparently all you care about is how good it looks."
"Well, seahorses are much better than sharks are!" Mandy snapped, "At least I don't have to worry about having one of those beasts snapping at my tail."
The sharks, although tied t their posts, immediately turned to look at the fancy mermaid with a repressed fury in their eyes; even the Albino was fuming with ire. Jessop, whose mast was coincidentally close to where Mandy's seahorse was floating, glanced at Jake, as if asking permission for something. The Sharkanian grinned and nodded at his shark. Jessop whipped his tailfin and smacked Shimmer's flank, making the stallion rear up, startled, and making Mandy fall off the saddle and on the sand.
The sharks seemed to be snickering at this. As her companions helped the mermaid up, she shot the Sharkanian a glare.
"You did that on purpose!"
"I don't know what you're talking about." Jake looked away with a grin.
"Alright, if you think your sharks are much better than seahorses, I challenge you to a race!"
This caught both Spark and Jake by surprise.
"A race?" Spark repeated, "You want to race against Jake?"
"Not Jake, you." Mandy replied, crossing her arms, "My seahorse against a shark of those, which I get to choose."
"I can't just ride on one of those sharks! They're not even mine!"
"Or maybe you're afraid because you know you will lose!"
Spark swam up, a determined look on her face, "You're on!"
"Fine," Mandy examined the group of sharks, and a grin appeared on her face before pointing at the Albino, "Him."
"WHAT?! He's Emperor Shaga's mount, I can't ride him! Not that the Emperor would let me, anyway!"
"Looks like someone is afraid!" Mandy's comment made her companions laugh mockingly.
Spark narrowed her eyes and crossed her arms, "Fine' I'll see what I can do! But if I win, you'll have to sleep with the sharks for one night!"
Mandy put her hands on her hips, "Alright, but if I win, you'll be my slave for a month."
Jake felt a shiver run down his spine when the two mermaids shook their hands in agreement.
"Deal."
However, when Mandy and her companions left, Spark's confident air started to fade away and she took her hands to her head, "What have I done?"
Before Jake could say something, a shout resounded through the air, "GIRL!"
The pair turned around and saw Commander Jaskket swimming towards them, not looking very happy.
"You and I still have something to discuss!" he snapped, taking Spark abruptly by the arm, but before he dragged her away, Jake took him by the arm.
"What are you doing to do, Commander?" he asked nervously, fearing for his daughter's safety.
"It's none of your business! But no harm will come to her, if she remembers her place!"
He snapped, swimming away, forcefully dragging the mermaid away towards the palace.
"What's you problem?!" Spark snapped in irritation as Jaskket closed the doors of the room shut behind him.
The Sharkanian turned around and swam menacingly towards her, "I want to know if you have something against me!"
"Me?! Why would I?!"
"Do you take me for a fool!" Jaskket snapped, "I have not forgotten what you called me when we were coming here!"
"That?" Spark recalled, "Admit it, you deserved it!"
"Me?!" Jaskket managed to calm down a little, bot only a little, "What did I ever do to you?!"
"Not me! I saw you the other day! I saw how you took your own grandson to his death! Your grandson!"
Jaskket remained silent for a while, before looking down, as if trying to contain tears; Apparently, she had added salt to a wound.
"You don't understand…" he simply said, looking away.
"I understand it perfectly!" Spark snapped in anger, "You didn't care! Your daughter begged you not to do it and you paid her no heed! I saw how she cried after you left! The only reason I didn't go after you was because Jake stopped me! But I wish I had! Who knows where you abandoned your own flesh and blood-!"
SMACK!
Spark fell to the floor when Jaskket's large hand came into contact with her cheek, leaving a red mark. She looked up at him, expecting to see his expression filled with hatred, but was shocked at what she saw.
Jaskket had tears rolling down his cheeks, and a look of great anguish and pain.
"YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND!" he screamed at her, "I DIDN'T LIKE WHAT I DID NEITHER! I KNOW I CAUSED MY DAUGHTER A LOT OF PAIN! YOU THINK THAT WOULD CAUSE ME JOY?! YOU DIDN'T SEE HOW SHE BEHAVED WITH ME AFTER THAT HAPPENED! SHE ACTED AS IF I WAS NO LONGER HER FATHER! YOU HAVE NO IDEA HOW MUCH IT PAINED ME WHEN SHE CALLED ME BY MY NAME! I LOST MY WIFE WHEN SHE WAS A PUP, AND I HAD TO BRING HER UP ON MY OWN! SHE'S MY EVERYTHING, MY BABY, BUT SHE DOESN'T CARE ANYMORE! DON'T YOU EVER SAY THAT I DON'T CARE!"
Spark was speechless. Not because of the burning feeling on her cheek, but because of Jaskket's reaction. She had never imagined on seeing him crying in front of anyone, especially her, but hey, appearances can be deceiving. Jaskket calmed down and sat down on one of the coral chairs to regain his breath, with tears still on the corners of his eyes.
"Look, I'm sorry," Spark said, softly this time, as she swam up, "I did not mean to hit your sore spot. I was just… disgusted by that stupid Sharkanian law."
"And I apologize for leaving that mark on you, "the Commander apologized, wiping his tears away, "Did I hurt you?"
"Not at all, I've had worse," Spark replied, sitting down next to him, "I was the one who deserved it this time."
"I just… don't know what to do. Sapphire is very upset with me, she is not as loving as she used to be. I think I did go too far."
"That day, I heard you say that she had given herself to a boy or something…"
Jaskket sighed, "I never liked that boy in the least, and I'm glad to say I took care of him. He got my daughter pregnant, and that's how all of this mess started."
"I think I don't want to know what 'took care of' means in Sharkanian terms," Spark commented, making the Sharkanian chuckle humorlessly.
"Yeah, you don't," he spoke, "But the worst thing is that my daughter was dishonored. Now none of the males will take her seriously, and it won't be easy for her to find a husband when she becomes eligible for marriage."
"Sorry to hear that, but…" Spark grinned lightly, "I think I can help you to earn your daughter's forgiveness."
Jaskket looked at her in disbelief, "You're kidding."
"No, I can help you. I've seen situations like this, its not that hard."
"Wait a second, there's something I need to tell you."
"What is it?"
Jaskket leaned in closer to her, "Tell someone I cried and you'll wake up above the surface."
Sky and Bluetail found Jake in the palace, waiting for Spark in worry; he was pacing around the throne room. The palace had been off-limits while the first peace-talks took place, but when they were done for the day, civilians were allowed back into the palace. After introducing Jake to Sky, Bluetail was shocked to learn Jake's intention of revealing the truth to Spark.
"Are you certain of that?!" Bluetail said in a low tone, but still sounded astonished, "What about the stuff you told me about her despising you if she ever found out?!"
"I can't stand it any longer!" Jake replied in anguish, "I can't stand seeing her suffering and not being able to comfort her!"
"At least something knocked sense into you," Sky commented, "When will you tell her?"
"I still don't know…" the Sharkanian sighed, "I have to pick the right moment, when she is in a good mood. Right now's not the time, considering the just made a bet-"
"Wait, wait, wait!" Bluetail interrupted him, "What bet?"
"She bet with a mermaid named Mandy about sharks being better than seahorses, they will race in three days to see who's fastest. But the catch is…" Jake gulped, "… Mandy told Spark she had to ride the Albino."
"What?!"
Sky tapped Bluetail's back, "Sorry to interrupt you, but who is the Albino?"
"Did you see the giant, white-skinned shark Emperor Shaga was riding when they arrived?"
"Yes."
"That's the Albino."
Sky gasped and took a hand to her lips, "But it's a monster! How is she supposed to ride it?!"
"That's not the only problem," Jake sighed, "The problem also involves asking Emperor Shaga for permission, but it won't be easy. The Albino only accepts him to ride on his back, and Artemisia if he's with her, no one else."
Before Bluetail or Sky could say something, Spark swam into the throne room, and dashed towards the trio when she spotted Bluetail.
"Blue!" she wrapped her arms around the swordfish's neck, "I'm so glad to see you!"
"Me too, Spark." Bluetail replied with a smile, "I'm happy you got to come."
"How did it go with Commander Jaskket?" Jake asked her expectantly.
"Let's say we made a truce," Spark grinned, "And I gave him a little advice to reconcile with Sapphire."
"Spark, Jake here told us about the bet," Sky spoke up with worry, "Are you really going to race?"
Spark's smile vanished, "I have to, I never go back on a challenge. All I need to worry about right now is to ask Shaga for permission."
"Permission for what?" a new voice joined them.
Jake bowed then Artemisia swam into the room, a curious glint on her eyes. Spark froze in place, but she thought maybe the Sharkanian princess could help her.
Trembling, he replied, "It's a long story."