Adin's curses were getting more creative by the minute as the evening went on. Not only did Ariel seem uncomfortable with her suitor, he could see the desperate glances she cast around the crowd as she was forced to dine, talk, and then dance with him. No one, not even her own siblings, seemed to notice her discomfort. What was worse, was that he couldn't move from his post on the wall without witnessing some kind of true emergency.
It was killing him.
As he watched the Eel prince lead the princess into the dances, pushing her far closer than what propriety demanded, he ground his teeth, flexing and unflexing his tail. Then, after what felt like hours, he saw the eel lead her through one of the balcony curtains, and his suspicion spiked.
That balcony led to a servants' corridor—hardly a place for a princess. Adin swallowed hard, and discreetly leaned away from his post. Flitting along the side of the dessert tables, the chief of the guard, and leader for the security contingents that night was deep in conversation with King Ezra, gesticulating somewhat angrily toward one of the cecaelian guards. To Adin's view, Ezra's contingent hadn't yet stepped out of line, but it was well-known how nervous their presence made the chief.
The timing was terrible. Adin knew he was risking his tailfins, and perhaps having barrack-cleaning duty for the next month, but the princess's disappearance was making him nervous—and no one else in the room knew her like he did. With a deep breath, and a panicked glance toward the corridor where she'd disappeared, he abandoned his post.
"Chief," he muttered quietly, once he'd reached the tables.
"King Ezra, I must protest," Chief Pastian was saying. "If you could keep your guard on a tighter leash. I've seen at least three—no, four of them out of bounds in the corridors. If this persists, I'll be forced to make a report—"
"Pastian, Pastian." Ezra smiled nastily, and threw an arm around the Chief's shoulders. All the color from the chief's face drained into his tail, and Adin didn't envy his position. "Please, just relax! Your soldiers have done….marvelously. Not a suspicious soul in sight! Eat a crab cake. Take one of these lovely mermaids to the dance floor. No need to be so….stiff."
Chief Pastian could have been carved from marble, stoically avoiding flinching when Ezra patted his shoulder with one long, black tentacle.
Adin suppressed a shudder, and cleared his throat.
"Ah, Chief?" he said, trying his best to be discreet. "A word?"
The chief gave him an irritated grunt, but all the same used Adin's approach as an excuse to pull away from King Ezra's grip.
"King Ezra, if you would please reign in your men," the chief said in parting. "Ah, yes. Asher, was it? Appen?"
"Adin, sir," Adin rushed. "Sir, I've just seen the princess being escorted out of the room. I believe she may be in trouble?"
"Escorted? By whom," the chief ordered. He drew further away from the dessert tables, where Ezra turned away with a sly smirk that Adin did not like at all. He kept his voice low, trying his best to avoid being overheard.
"The Eel prince, sir," Adin all but whispered.
"Tsk," the Chief huffed, folding his arms down at Adin in a way that communicated things like disapproval, and the burdens of discipline. "Young Adin, I recognize you are…new to the guard; however, I must insist you keep up with the movements of the palace. The Eel Prince of the Red Sea is Princess Ariel's suitor. It's only normal that he might want to have a word with her to make his suit."
"The princess was highly uncomfortable, and it looked coerced—" Adin protested.
"The Prince has done nothing untoward the whole evening," Pastian scolded, looking more stern by the minute, and Adin could tell the chief thought he was wasting his time. It was all he could do to keep his fins from curling under him and scuttling back to his post.
"Sir—" Adin tried to explain.
"Did the princess call for a guard? Did she give any order at all?" Pastian demanded.
Adin shook his head slowly. "No, sir. But—"
"Then we wait for an order! The royal family will summon us when needed. That's basic training, guard Adin! You'll need to know this if you ever want to be promoted to full rank. Back to your post! Dismissed."
Ariel and the prince hadn't returned, and Adin's worry was worse than ever, but there was no arguing with the chief. All he could do was return to his post, though as he swam closer to his post, he couldn't help but pass it, and take the wall closer to the corridor, where perhaps, if an order came, he could hear it.
Why haven't you called, Ariel? He thought desperately. I'm right here!
But, even though he'd sacrificed his free evening to be on this post, Adin realized that he'd effectively bound himself to the same spot the whole night. Even though he was close, there was nothing he could do to really move.
Call for me, he pleaded again, silently.
But, her call never came.
When at last a summons did come for guards, Adin wasn't the first to hear it.
"Algae! There's a summons! This way!" One of the other guards in Adin's contingent swam past him as the rest of the guards near the corridor assembled, and the movement happened so fast, he didn't bother to correct his name.
It didn't surprise him as much as it should to see Joe at the end of the hallway, but what did surprise him, was that the Eel Prince seemed to have made some sort of effective apology, because Ariel seemed entirely comfortable with him now, even….even in love.
Adin couldn't remember the last time he'd seen Ariel so relaxed and happy as she sank onto Prince Ellian's arm. In fact, she seemed so swept away by the happiness of the moment that she could barely look at him, or any of the other guards.
His breath hitched at the dreamy, content expression on her face. He had never made her look like that, and, he realized with a sinking heart, he never would.
Sebastian had been right, perhaps Ariel wasn't right for him. This Eel had only had one evening with her, and while he'd been able to see her most of the evening, he hadn't been able to hear what they'd been saying. Ariel could be headstrong in her first impressions, but whatever the Eel had said or done, she was genuinely and truly happy. Adin had already made up his mind to support her, and he would, no matter what story Joe came up with to interrupt the evening.
"You're her guard, Adin. Where were you?" Joe demanded.
It was then that Adin had had enough. They had both lost, and he didn't seem ready to accept that, yet. Joe had no idea the sort of night Adin had had, but he was thoroughly sick of being second-guessed—even if he had evidently been wrong about the Eel's character.
For the second time that night, he stuck his neck out for a friend.
"Look, Joe, I won't be able to get you out of trouble like this again. Call it…call it payback for the squid last week," Adin said quietly. "But really, Ariel needs support! Not….not whatever tonight was!"
With that, Adin rounded them to face a scullery door at the end of the corridor. If Joe was smart, he could make it off the palace grounds in a matter of minutes—Adin of all people knew how fast Joe could be, but Joe wouldn't just go!
"When Ariel makes her choice, I'll happily respect it, but Adin, she sure as barnacles didn't choose that eel! He's potioned her!" Joe said, staying stubbornly where he was.
Didn't he see? There was nothing else either of them could do!
"Really, Joe?" Adin popped the visor of his helmet. "You think I wouldn't like to believe that, too? But hey, I can take it like a man. He's a prince! He's what she'd been waiting for. It isn't right to interfere."
Joe protested again, but the stress of the night was too much for Adin, and he had heard enough of Joe's excuses. This was the palace, and in the palace, Joe didn't have the experience he did. He and Joe would be the ones in real trouble if he didn't leave, and soon.
"You know, Joe," Adin huffed, snapping his visor shut. "You really should go. If I'm caught out here letting you go, I'll lose my job. Here's the back door, and the sunset shift-changes should still be happening, so you can get out through the kelp-beds. Poseidon's toes, Joe! Just…just don't make me regret this. We probably won't see each other so much anymore now Ariel won't even be in the kingdom. Think of this as a goodbye favor. I really…I really will miss you and Krill."
Then, thank Poseidon, Joe went.
Adin waited until he could see Joe swimming off in the direction of his creepy cavern—Poseidon's beard, how he hated that place!—and made it back to the ballroom in time to cheer with the rest when it was announced:
"Announcing the formal betrothal of Princess Ariel of Atlantis, and Prince Ellian of the Red Sea!"
Adin passed the rest of the evening ushering over-excited guests out of the palace, and when footmen were in short supply, assisting well-to-dos into their carriages. By the time he returned to the bunks, he'd had quite enough of being mistaken for a foot-servant, or a fetcher.
I can't wait until I get that rank promotion, he thought to himself, hanging his uniform by his bunk. Then at least the duties will be more predictable.
In his distraction, he almost didn't see one of his fellow guardsmen come bursting into the shared quarters.
"Abalone! There's a skirmish by the outer wall! Potential suspicious character entering the west gardens. Probably just a guest who got lost, but your contingent is assigned to investigate."
With a groan, Adin suited back up, wondering when his own fellows would bother to learn who he was.
"West garden?" he asked. "That's nowhere near where the guests come in."
"That's all I know," said the guard, already turning to go. "Best hurry, the rest are already out the gate. Not sure why you're in here."
Adin knew better than to waste time explaining the other assignments he'd been given, and rushed off toward the west garden. He had a bad feeling about this. Joe's cavern was toward the west, and though Joe was usually more prudent than this, if he was causing trouble again, he was going to personally strangle the cecaelia.
It took nearly an hour to search the west gardens. With all of their exotic flora, there were plenty of places to hide. While they didn't find any suspicious characters, they certainly did find a lot of couples who had paired off in the caulerpa bushes.
After many encounters that began with him swimming in on some scenes that made his heartache worse, and others that he really would rather have not seen, the gardens were cleared of guests, and his contingent called the false alarm back to report to the chief. Adin could only hope that his extra work that evening would assuage any ire Chief Pastian still held toward him for the earlier scene with Ezra.
"All clear, men?" Pastian barked, when they'd assembled near the far gate.
"Yes sir!" Adin responded in a chorus with the other guards. The night had long gone dark, and the shadows cast by the glowing jellyfish over the quiet gardens were making him sleepy. He was long ready to retire.
"Alright then, men! Dismiss—!"
But something had caught the chief's eye. Adin followed his gaze, and over the wall, he saw it, too.
Of all nights, why in the oceans did Joe have to choose this one to be such a pain?
"Stop! The Princess!" Chief Pastian yelled, though the guards were right before him. "The princess is being kidnapped!"
Adin sighed. Ariel was likely swimming off for one of her nightly chartings, although having Joe accompany her was new—and terrible timing. Adin fully expected Ariel to turn around and explain everything to the guards—and hopefully dismiss them so they could all go and sleep, but she didn't.
Instead, Ariel sped up and Adin could see from the way Joe grabbed her, that he had no intention of letting her turn around.
No.
Joe might be cecaelian, but Adin never would have expected this from him. The years of friendship they shared were sporadic, and brief in many ways, but this? This was the sort of thing that had long-lasting consequences. It wasn't the kind of thing that Adin could get him out of—and he'd just stuck his neck out for Joe, too! He felt…so utterly betrayed!
The two sped off, and as though in slow-motion, Ariel turned back, a look of panic on her face that pulled Adin toward her faster. Though Joe pulled her into the citadel where he knew the chief would have no chance of catching them, he had a feeling he knew where to find them, and, breaking off from the rest of the guards, set off in another direction.