Caleb and Andrina, lying in his arms, were awakened from their peaceful sleep only after hours when someone at their cave entrance tried to call attention to themselves. The alert hunter was startled out of a wonderful dream and reflexively reached for his weapon. But since it was out of his reach, he only caused his beloved to slip off his chest. The Sharkanian was just able to prevent her from hitting the ground.
"What's up?" mumbled Andrina, blinking sleepily at Caleb.
"Sorry, sea-girdle," Caleb apologised.
"It's me who needs to apologise," her alarm clock announced.
A Sharkanian, of rather stocky stature and as slight a blueness as Caleb's own skin presented, swam there in their entrance. Across his small belly of affluence were strung a number of colourful medals on a sash that signified his position as Grand Duke of the Sharkan Empire.
"Dad, what can we do for you?" turned Caleb to the visitor.
"The festivities will be starting shortly, I thought I'd come and pick you both up," the older Sharkanian explained himself.
At this, Andrina and Caleb exchanged a shocked look.
"Seahorse crap," came as if from one mouth and then chaos broke loose.
"Where did I put that fire spike necklace you gave me the other day?" the princess asked as she lifted the pillows and threw them behind her.
"I don't know, did you see the shell comb? My hair is all tousled from our nap," Caleb wanted to know, bringing stillness back to the commotion. Andrina tilted her head and looked at her friend with a raised right eyebrow.
"What?" he asked, stretching.
"I've fallen in love with one of my sisters," Andrina stated, playfully horrified.
"Which one? The pretty blonde one?" asked Caleb quickly.
"Do I have to get jealous now?" asked Andrina the counter question.
"It's you who's in love, isn't it? If I am, I get to be, right?", Caleb continued to joke with her.
A clearing of the throat made the two pause in their fun banter and their heads turn to the third person present.
"Emperor Sharga, don't keep me waiting, kids. Come on, come on hurry up you two clown fish. Caleb's shaggies are beyond good anyway. But all the coaxing you can do in this case is wasted effort. I advise you not to invest too much of your time in this futile endeavour, dear Andrina," the Grand Duke urged the two of them to hurry and could not restrain himself from making a corresponding remark to his son's hair, which was tied up in a loose braid - in his eyes, far too long for the son of a man of his standing.
"It's the latest wave and it's totally in the flow, Dad," Caleb countered, defending his hairstyle against his father's distaste.
"When I was your age, son, the other sea boys thought it would be attractive to burn patterns into your scales with lava that was just cooling. Do you see any patterns like that on me?", Caleb's father snapped.
The young Sharkanian rolled his eyes and shook his head.
"It's okay, dad. We get it. You don't like my hairstyle. But since you just mentioned it yourself, the Emperor doesn't like to wait, so let's cut this short and be on our way," he interrupted his father.
Indeed, the Grand Duke allowed himself to be persuaded by this argument, which he had made himself earlier, not to digress into one of his habitual rivers of speech. Caleb quickly hurried to the mirror and, in the absence of the comb, unceremoniously straightened his blue hair with his fingers. When the position of his ornamental strand adorned with small balls of cooled lava also met Caleb's approval, he grabbed his spear leaning beside the entrance and his father and pushed them out of the cave in front of him. Andrina quickly redid her pink lipstick, finally just put on one of her other favourite necklaces and then followed the two of them on the finch.
It wasn't long before they were greeted by the first party-hungry Sharkanians. Caleb was immediately intercepted by his three friends and was handed the first of what must have been many more goblets that evening. The fairground was decorated in the usual manner. Everywhere, steam bubbled from small valves specially installed for the purpose, which could be opened more or less wide by the inhabitants as they wished. Columns of steam rose to the surface and smaller eruptions bathed the water in the glowing red of the lava flows. In the centre of the party, the saltwater crocodile stewed finely marinated over one of the volcanic vents, spreading a tasty smell that made the mouths of many water. Andrina could not believe her eyes when she saw the special feast following her fine nose.
Caleb, delighted by her enthusiasm, excused himself briefly to his boys and hurried over to her.
"Where did you get that crocodile?" the foodie asked curiously.
"Caught it especially for you this morning, Sea Gherkin. I bet you haven't had the pleasure of such a speciality yet, have you?" said Caleb with a proud chest.
"No, they don't have anything like that in Atlantica. Oh, it smells delicious, Caleb. When can we try it?" Andrina could hardly stop herself from having a portion of the feast served up.
"I'm afraid you'll have to wait a little longer. First the work, then the pleasure," the Sharkanian replied, gesturing her to look behind him.
There, just a few strong flipper strokes away from the two of them, Caleb's father was greeting none other than Emperor Sharga himself. The dark purple-skinned ruler was accompanied by four of his guards and, as so often, seemed to be in anything but a good mood. The fact that Caleb's father had just chewed off his ear as a greeting probably contributed to this. In a clearly annoyed gesture, Sharga massaged his left temple and asked the grand duke to leave him alone.
"I think it might not be such a good idea to talk to him today after all," Andrina rowed back uncertainly.
"Andrina, the Emperor is always in a bad mood. There won't be a better time, if you really want to talk to him about it it's now," Caleb argued.
"I know, but...", Andrina tried to press on.
"Make up your mind, and make it now, otherwise you can probably tick it off for a long time. I don't want you to regret it one day because you didn't dare. No matter what you do now I'll be with you and have your back," he encouraged her and winked mischievously at her.
"Do you really think that now is the best time?", Andrina nevertheless continued to press.
"Sea pickle, what's wrong, I don't know you like this. He won't bite you," he continued to harangue her.
"Are you sure about that? He looks pretty hungry," Andrina remarked more relaxed.
"Hmm, I suppose so. Maybe we should take a bite of your welcome surprise as a bargaining chip, just to be sure," he joked further.
"My delicious crocodile! Before I've had a taste of it? Never," Andrina was indignant.
Caleb laughed uproariously and then let his beloved princess drag him along to the ruler.
They came to a halt again just before the emperor, when the crossed spears blocked their further way.
Andrina took another deep breath and then looked resolutely at her partner.
"We wish to speak to the Emperor," she said firmly, addressing the two guards.
"Let them through. Go ahead!" the Emperor ordered in his usual disinterested manner.
"Emperor Sharga, my father, King Triton requests assistance in hunting the sea witch Morgana," Andrina spoke up straight, knowing that the Emperor detested every unnecessary word directed at him.
"Why should I care about this request, Princess?" he asked, while seemingly devoting his attention entirely to a pearl-studded weapon he was swaying back and forth in his hands.
"Sharkania has sworn allegiance to Atlantica," Andrina tried to remain steadfast, masking the uncertainty that continued to spread through her with each passing second. Caleb, sensing this, unobtrusively squeezed her hand.
"Allegiance?" the Sharkanian repeated, now turning to face his interlocutor for the first time, "does Atlantica not even manage to deal with a would-be witch on her own?"
"You yourselves signed the agreement," Andrina clarified.
"I signed a truce, not an alliance, Princess," the Emperor corrected her bitingly, flashing his pointed teeth.
"Sharkania's position among the seas would still benefit from cooperation with Atlantica, Emperor Sharga," Caleb now interjected, strengthening.
"I've heard you're a contrarian, lad. Better leave such considerations to those who have experience in running an empire," the Emperor rebuked him.
"You yourself said Sharkania needed to strengthen alliances with the other empires. So why not take advantage of such an opportunity?" questioned Caleb.
The Emperor then gave him a thoughtful look for a moment.
"An opportunity. Yes, it would probably be foolish to let it pass," the Emperor suddenly relented, to the surprise of both of them.
"Thank you, Emperor Sharga," Andrina thanked him and then turned contentedly to Caleb, who also gave her a happy smile.
"Tell me, how is your family, Princess? Your father, your sisters and your adorable nieces, not to mention your nephew? After all, this celebration of your return had been scheduled earlier. I hope everyone is well and the delay is only due to the matter we have just discussed," Sharga asked eloquently.
"Well..." faltered Andrina and Caleb shook his head slightly, hoping the Emperor would not notice their silent discord.
"Morgana's appearance and threats made big waves in Atlantica, but the dust settled after the initial storm. The equally generous offers of support, like yours, from the other realms, Emperor Sharga, also helped," Andrina replied, praising herself for her diplomatic choice of words. The boring lessons in this regard actually seemed to be paying off for once.
"That is gratifying. No telling what would have happened if someone had come to harm," the Emperor followed up, sounding concerned, but something entirely different resonated behind his words.
"Enough of the affairs of state. After all, we are here to celebrate," the ruler finally shooed the two away.
The two did not need to be told twice and hurried away after a frantic bow. When Andrina glanced over her shoulder once more, she saw the emperor call one of his men to him and whisper something in his ear.
The crocodile could have been so delicious at that moment, at that moment she would not have been able to get a bite down.
"Caleb," she demanded the other's attention before they were back with their friends.
"Yes, Sea Pickle?" he asked, turning to her.
"He knows, doesn't he?" she looked to him for confirmation of her gut feeling.
"I'm not sure, but he definitely wanted to get information from you. I've become convinced that it was absolutely the right thing not to tell him," Caleb answered her.
"Me too," Andrina affirmed.
"But we shouldn't spoil our evening over it now. It's enough if we keep worrying about it tomorrow. Come on, let's celebrate your homecoming properly," Caleb convinced her to leave the matter alone for now. He smiled broadly at her and Andrina's heart was instantly sucked into the current of the feast. Her hunger surged again and she let it. Maybe it was her youthful naivety, but tonight was a celebration in her honour and she would not let anything or anyone spoil it.
So the two rejoined their truly wet and merry celebrating friends. Andrina finally got her longed-for first bite of the delicious roast. Caleb and his hunting companions were right, the explosion of taste in her mouth outshone anything she had tasted before. So the first plate was immediately joined by the second and, as so often, Caleb was amazed at what his sweetheart could devour in a very short time.
After Andrina's palate had been sufficiently pampered, she let Caleb lead her into the close hustle and bustle of the dance area and they wildly swung their fins to the rhythm of the music. The sounds were produced by a peculiar device that functioned much like an organ. A resourceful Sharkanian had once discovered that the columns of steam rising from the thousands and thousands of small volcanic vents scattered throughout the empire, in combination with some tubes of varying length and thickness, were perfectly suited to produce wonderful melodious sounds all by themselves. Since then, it had no longer been necessary in Sharkania to hire an orchestra or a band to provide the background music. It was probably better that way, because no Sharkanian stayed in his seat for long as soon as the volcanic laier, as its inventor had named the self-playing instrument, sounded and one of the tasty lava spirits was passed around. Today's festivity was no different and the sea dwellers danced and drank as if there were no tomorrow. Until late at night, the loud music, the laughter and the hooting of the celebrating Sharkanians resounded through the waves. Night gave way to day again as the last of the hardy revelers swam drunkenly away.
A veritable battlefield revealed itself to the hosts as they set about cleaning up. But even though the unpleasant aftermath of the party was a lot of work, they agreed that the fun they had outweighed it all and so they were happy to put up with it, already planning the next, but perhaps not quite as big, party in their minds.