A/N: Yikes! I certainly did not intend to go this far without updating, but I lost my tablet while on vacation and it had all of my story notes :( So I'm trying to remember certain details that I had already planned out and making sure I put them in the proper places story wise. Thank you all in advance for your understanding, and I will do my best to update more regularly until this story is finished. On with the story! *UPDATE* I highly recommend listening to the song "I Dream of You" by Ye Banished Privateers while you read ;)
The shore was alive with activity as the Rising Tide finally docked in Arlington's marina. Servants from the castle scurried about, transporting luggage and cargo from the ship to the castle nearby as crew members disembarked.
Melody strode down the ramp from the ship carefully, followed closely by Jim. She was still weary from her fretful night of sleep, though the coffee and pastry she had for breakfast gave her a much needed energy boost. So this was Arlington...
"Ah, Princess Melody! Welcome to our humble kingdom," a middle-aged butler who reminded her of Grimsby addressed her with a deep bow, to which she curtsied.
"It is a pleasure to visit, please accept these gifts from my parents' kingdom as tokens of appreciation," Melody vaguely gestured to some crates to her left that were being pried open.
"Arlington thanks you kindly, your highness. The Duke himself would be here to greet you, but he insisted on overseeing preparations for the ball personally to ensure that everything goes perfectly. He sends his apologies, but also offers warm greetings at your safe arrival."
"That is very kind of him. When will the ball be taking place? I am afraid we hit some rather rough seas on our journey and I cannot seem to recall what the date is."
"It will be held tomorrow night, miss. Please take full advantage of the amenities in your guest suite and get as much rest as you need to before then," the butler then stepped aside and gestured to a middle-aged woman with strawberry blonde hair and freckles. "This is Constance. She will serve as your lady in waiting during your stay and will make sure you are comfortable and have everything you need."
Constance stepped forward and curtsied. "Tis my pleasure Princess, now if you'll allow me to show you the way?" Melody detected the slightest hint of an Irish accent in her warm, friendly tone.
"Thank you Constance," Melody shifted her gaze back at Jim. "What of my bodyguard? Will his quarters be close by?"
"Oh yes miss, just you both follow me and we'll get you both settled."
Melody and Jim followed Constance at a far enough distance to carry on their own conversation.
"I take it Silver is staying on the ship?" Melody asked.
"Yeah, at least for now. We do have a special watch that can disguise someone's appearance, but that's in the captain's quarters. And I doubt Howell would just let Silver borrow it."
"That makes sense," Melody nodded, completely accepting of the fact that they had this fancy technology that could change someone's appearance on a whim. It was honestly not the strangest thing she'd heard of over the last week.
"So are you nervous about the ball?" Jim glanced down at her. She stiffened.
"No, why should I be? It's just routine pleasantries as far as I'm concerned," she lied. Large formal gatherings were not her idea of a good time. Although she was a member of royalty, she had yet to grow accustomed to these staples of high society, and she didn't much care to try either.
"You're such a liar!" Jim spoke a little louder than he intended, drawing the attention of Constance up ahead.
"Is everything alright back there?" she glanced over her shoulder at the two of them.
"Yes Constance! Sorry, just making fun," Melody flashed her most innocent of smiles, all the while jabbing at Jim's ribcage with her elbow. "Keep it down, Jim!" It was all Jim could do to keep from laughing.
They soon arrived on the third floor of the castle's interior, and Constance showed Jim to his room first.
"I do hope this room will suit your needs, Sir?" Constance asked Jim as he tried not to openly gape at the unexpected opulence of his "room" - it was more like a small apartment! The floor was white marble and the walls were covered in tapestries sewn with rich, bold colors. There in the middle was the largest bed Jim had ever seen. It had four posters gilded in gold and looked like it could have been stuffed with feathers from dozens of geese. He couldn't wait to try it out.
"Yes, uhm, this will do just fine," he said in his most formal tone. "Thank you ma'am."
"Excellent. The Princess will be right down the hall, for your peace of mind," the lady in waiting then left him alone in his room to show Melody go her suite. Did Constance just wink at him?
Melody's room was was slightly larger than Jim's, with decor much the same, except her walls were made of an aquamarine marble, with a few paintings depicting Poseidon and Neptune hanging from the walls.
"Will these accommodations suit your needs, my lady?"
"Oh yes, this is absolutely beautiful." And it really was. Melody noted the large window across the room that opened to a white marble balcony overlooking the sea. She felt instantly drawn to it.
"Perfect, might I draw a bath to help you unwind from your long journey?" Constance offered.
"That would be lovely, thank you," Melody followed her to the on-suite bathroom, and almost gasped at how elegant the bath itself was. It was shaped like a large oyster shell and plated with abalone, so the inside walls of the tub shimmered with iridescent silvers, blues, purples, and greens.
"It's nice, isn't it?" chimed in Constance.
"I've never seen anything so beautiful. It's like I'm in the middle of the sea right now," Melody responded. As much as she had been dreading the thought of coming to Arlington, she had to appreciate their nautical decor.
"Why don't you go enjoy the view from the balcony while I prepare your bath?"
Melody nodded and headed back into the bedroom towards the large bay window. Once she was out on the balcony, she leaned against the solid marble railing to take in her surroundings. The sun was more than halfway across the sky, and it casted bright yellow rays of light down onto the waves below. There was a soft, balmy breeze that rustled her hair, tickling her neck.
For the first time in days, she felt calm and peaceful, and even started to drift off to sleep as she leaned on the cool marble. She thought she dreamed that a woman was singing, far away, with a strong accent that sounded much like Silver's...
"But I dream o' you, my darlin'.
When the nights are long.
Where the river meets the ocean banks, that's where I belong..."
Before she knew it, she was being shaken gently awake.
"Princess, your bath is ready now. Here, let me help ya, poor thing. You must really be worn out from your journey!" Constance was helping her to the bathroom and unlacing her dress, but Melody was still half asleep and hardly noticed. She could swear that it was Constance's voice she had heard singing that song.
The next thing she knew, she was sitting in the shell tub, practically melting into the hot water and sighing in pleasure. There were mountains of bubbles surrounding her, and they smelled like fresh lavender.
"How's the temperature Miss?"
"Oh it's perfect, thank you Constance," Melody murmured.
"You just let me know when you're finished, and I'll bring you a fresh nightgown. I took the liberty of instructing your dinner to be brought up to your room."
"You're the best, Constance." Melody felt so relaxed that she could have taken another nap, until a familiar tingle in her legs jolted her wide awake.
Oh no. Water - the transformation is triggered by water! Of course!
How could she not have pieced that together sooner? Every transformation had been immediately preceded by being submerged in water for extended periods of time. Her face twisted as she felt her legs draw together and melt into one another.
She glanced towards the open doorway and saw Constance putting away her things, humming to herself. Now her legs were gone, replaced with her strong, flexible tail. The bubbles would hide her secret for now, but how was she going to get out? She needed to somehow get a message to Jim. But how?
Ugh, even if I could, there's no way Constance would let him in, and who could blame her?
Maybe she could get Constance to deliver a fake message to Jim? Just long enough for her to get out of the tub and dry herself off? It was worth a try.
"Constance?" she called out to her.
"Finished with your bath, Princess?" She could hear her footsteps getting closer.
"Not quite, would you do me a favor please?"
"Anything Miss."
"Is there pen and paper in here that I could use? I need you to deliver a message to Jim - er, Mr Hawkins."
"Certainly your highness, give me one moment," she left the doorway and reappeared seconds later with a pad of paper, a quill, and a small towel to dry her hands with. Melody thanked her and scribbled a quick note, folding it up and handing it back to Constance.
"Please deliver this only to Jim, and right away. It's very important."
"As you wish, your highness," she curtsied and hurried off to Jim's suite.
Relieved, Melody knew she had a limited amount of time before Constance returned. Grabbing the edge of the tub, she pulled herself up to a sitting position and carefully swung her heavy tail over towards the steps leading up to the bath. Now she was out, she just needed to make it to the floor and somehow get over to that low couch in front of the bed.
She used a nearby towel to start drying herself off, particularly her tail, so as to avoid leaving a trail of water across the marble. She pushed herself off of the top step, slowly, then the next step, then the next. Finally she was on the floor, so she rolled onto her stomach and used her arms to pull her body towards the couch. She was thankful that her lungs had not yet transitioned to tiny mermaid lungs, perhaps because she hadn't had the need to breathe underwater? Maybe the Sea Stone was actually working with her for once? She didn't know, but she counted her blessings and continued to haul her tail across the room.
After what seemed like hours, she had finally made it to the couch. Fortunately it was low enough for her to pull herself up onto from the floor. She quickly slipped on the nightgown that had been neatly folded on the bed, then heard the door click as Constance returned so she frantically grabbed a large blanket from the foot of the bed and threw it over her tail.
"Ah, Miss! I wasn't expecting you to be out already. I hope I didn't keep you waiting?"
"Not at all! I was just getting hungry and figured I would get out and take care of myself," Melody put on her best innocent smile. "Did Jim get my message?"
"Yes, I delivered it personally," Constance came closer, looking unsure about what she should say next. "I think I know what's going on here. Ye have a secret, don't ye?"
Oh no, did I leave water on the floor? Are my fins sticking out? How could she know?
"Constance, it's not what it seems like, I -" Melody started.
"You hold a torch for your bodyguard, don't ye?" Constance winked at her, completely throwing Melody off.
"Wha...y-yes, yes! That's it, that's my secret."
Oh, smooth, Mel! Very smooth. She mentally face palmed.
"Not to worry, yer secret's safe with me. Though I must ask, did this happen before or after you accepted the Duke's invitation?"
"After," Melody sighed and patted the seat next to her. "It's a long story, might as well get comfortable." Constance obliged, seating herself at a close but respectful distance.
"My parents hired him to be my bodyguard on this trip, since they couldn't come themselves. My mother would have loved to accompany me, but she is pregnant so the doctor wouldn't let her travel. There was a really bad storm the first night that we were out, and I ended up having to save his sorry skin when he fell overboard."
"You saved your own bodyguard? Well now I've certainly heard everything!" Constance chuckled warmly.
"Tell me about it. He's the easiest person to talk to, and I feel like he understands me. But, I don't know what to do, to be honest. I'm not sure if my parents would ever allow me to marry someone without a title. I also don't want to be perceived as ungracious by the Duke if I turn him down, but, I want to be with Jim. It's crazy, I know..." Melody trailed off.
"Aye, lass, I know the feelin," she was letting more of her accent slip. "Sometimes, ye jus' 'ave to follow yer heart in these cases. Otherwise, ye'll regret it for the rest of yer life."
She looks so sad...
"Constance, why did you hide your accent at first? It's so pretty," Melody redirected the conversation to try to lift the mood.
"Well, in my line o' work, it helps if ye don't stand out too much. Besides, I didn't want people asking where I came from."
"Where are you from? I have a friend who has a very similar accent."
"Aye, I opened mahself up to that one, didn't I?" she chuckled and turned to look out the window. "I ran away from home, a long, long time ago. Looking for someone who didn't want to be found. I didn't want to return home, so I traveled a bit, before finally ending up here."
Melody noted that she didn't answer the question, but didn't press further. She deserved the right to having secrets as much as she herself did. She did wonder though, the similarities between her story and Silver's were uncanny. That wasn't possible though; Constance was definitely not an alien.
"Well, I suppose yer supper should be arriving shortly, I'll go check on it," Constance stood up abruptly and was gone in a matter of seconds.
This was as good a time as any to practice controlling the Sea Stone, Melody figured. She closed her eyes tight, concentrating hard. She imagined her tail splitting into two, imagined her scales shedding to reveal fresh pink skin, and imagined her feet taking shape from her long, translucent fins. She thought she could feel a glowing warmth beneath the blanket, but she didn't want to get her hopes up just yet. She didn't have the luxury of time though, so she decided to rip off the blanket and see for herself.
My legs! I - I did it!