Princess master 3, p.11
Princess Master 3, page 11
“Okay, you can do it,” I encouraged her, and I squeezed her hand tightly as we walked closer to the group. As we approached, everyone craned their necks to catch a glimpse of her, and their hands began to reach out toward her. I pulled her closer to my body for safety as she began her speech.
“H-Hello.” Ariana cleared her throat and smiled weakly at the gathered crowd. “I’m Princess Ariana, and these are other members of my royal family. We are pleased to be visiting your town today and are glad for your hospitality. Th-Thank you for your time, and I know you will respect our privacy while we’re here.”
She looked over at Ronan and nodded, and he began to lead us through the crowd.
“Coming through, coming through!” he announced. “Please make way for the royal family!”
The crowd parted in two to let us pass, and I was relieved it wasn’t going to be a bigger hassle.
“Are those humans?” I heard several whispers as we walked by, and it appeared Cienna’s assumption had been correct. Humans were clearly as unusual under the sea as Ariana would have been if she swam up onto a beach.
We followed Ronan into the building, and I was immediately impressed by a huge, kelp chandelier with glowing balls hanging from the ends of the strands. A bored-looking, teenage mermaid with long, dark blonde hair in a ponytail floated behind a desk, but she looked up and immediately brightened when we swam into the room.
“Welcome to the Sandfall Inn,” the girl greeted us with a huge smile. “Are you--”
“Vivian, we have some special guests today,” Ronan explained to his oldest daughter. “This is Princess Ariana and some of the rest of the royal family, and they will be staying here at the Sandfall. I was hoping you could prepare the honeymoon suite for them.”
“Y-Yes, of course, Father, and I’m pleased to meet you, Y-Your Highness.” Vivian swam out from behind the desk and did the mermaid version of a curtsy, but I noticed she couldn’t stop staring at our human legs. “Wow, what the heck? What’s a princess doing here?”
“Vivian, watch your mouth, and I need you to run upstairs and check on the room,” Ronan instructed, and his daughter did as he asked, but the mayor seemed a bit flustered for the first time as he turned to us and wrung his hands. “I’m going to have the porter bring in their items and have the seahorses moved to the stables. Your Highness, or, Your Highnesses, rather, if you look behind you, you’ll see a ramp leading down to a tavern where you can sit for a meal. If you’ll excuse me for just a moment, I’ll be back in to seat you, or you can head in there yourselves. I’m so sorry, I wasn’t expecting this today, and it’s a bit off-season, so we’re a little understaffed.”
“Ronan, you’ve been more than hospitable,” Ariana assured him. “We don’t have to be so formal. Joe, the other princesses, and I are more than happy to seat ourselves at the tavern, isn’t that right?”
The mermaid princess looked around at us, and we nodded.
“Of course,” Cienna agreed. “We can easily find our way to the tavern.”
“Thank you, that’s very kind of you.” The mayor nodded, and he looked toward the door that led outside. “I don’t want to leave the chariot and the seahorses out there for too long without supervision, so I’ll be right back…”
Ariana nodded again as the merman went back outside, and we were finally alone.
“Ariana, what’s the deal with the honeymoon suite?” I asked as I tried not to laugh.
“What do you mean?” My red-haired wife narrowed her eyes at me.
“It’s just… I feel like honeymoon suites are specifically for…” I snickered.
“Don’t be shy, Joe,” Cienna said and poked me in the side.
“Well, they’re for something mermaids don’t necessarily do…” I tried to explain without having to be too obvious.
“Have weddings?” Ariana asked with a furrowed brow, and she was clearly confused. “Mermaids have weddings, and that’s where you go after you have weddings, right?”
It looked like I was going to have to spell it out for her.
“Where I come from, the most… famous thing you do in the honeymoon suite is have sex,” I explained, and Cienna and Jessamine nodded with recognition.
“Oh, Joe, I feel so silly,” Ariana groaned, and she turned bright red. “Of course, I know that, from the… first time I was married to a human. I just didn’t associate the word honeymoon. I was just completely thinking about mermaid culture, where your honeymoon is after your wedding, and then, when you get back, you go to the mermaid nursery, and so on…”
I wasn’t exactly sure what “and so on” meant, but I didn’t want to stress Ariana out any further.
“It’s okay,” I reassured the mermaid, and I grabbed her hand. “I was just being silly. Why don’t we go sit down at the tavern and wait for Ronan to come back?”
“Yes, I’d definitely like to sit,” Ariana agreed, and she squeezed my palm and looked around at Cienna, Jessamine, and me. “Thank you so much for being here with me. I can’t even imagine having to face these big crowds all on my own. I used to do more public events a few years ago, but I suppose I’m a little out of practice.”
“It’s okay.” Jessamine smiled. “I didn’t really leave my palace for a long time, either. And while I love my citizens, I’ve always found being in large crowds a little tiring.”
Cienna nodded her agreement, and after she, Jessamine, and I flipped the switches on our leg armor, we followed Ariana down a ramp to the tavern. I’d never been inside a multi-story underwater structure before, and it seemed like they used ramps instead of stairs for ease of swimming.
The tavern was totally empty other than us. Several polished coral tables in different colors were surrounded by low stools, and each table contained a glowing green lantern. An expansive, black coral bar stretched across the back of the room, and I couldn’t wait to get my hands on some food.
“Is it dinner time yet?” I asked. I was starving, despite the huge amount of turkey I’d eaten earlier.
“Well, we’re welcome to eat at any time,” Ariana laughed. “But I’m not even sure it’s the traditional dinner hour yet. It really didn’t take us very long to get here in the chariot.”
“That was a quick trip, I have to admit,” Cienna replied, and she leaned on the table and twirled a strand of golden hair. “It was fun, and I can’t wait to ride in it again. Though I am interested in checking out that honeymoon suite…”
“I bet you are, Cienna,” Jessamine laughed, and her dark eyes sparkled with mischief. “Especially if it’s for what Joe says it’s for. I know your ways…”
I felt a delicate foot run its way up my leg, and I laughed as I played footsie with one of my wives.
“I’m not sure which one of you beautiful humans just did that, but can we change the topic?” I asked with a big grin on my face. “Ronan’s going to be back any second, and I don’t want to get too excited. Wait, I think I hear him…”
I thought I heard someone coming down the ramp, but I soon realized it was Ronan’s teenage daughter, Vivian, coming into the tavern with her long ponytail floating behind her. She had a sad look on her face, but she brightened up when she saw us, and she swam over to our table.
“Hey, Ariana, I mean Your Highness, gosh, I’m terrible at this--”
“It’s okay, Vivian,” Ariana replied, and she smiled at the girl kindly. “I’m not formal at all, and neither are Joe or Cienna or Jessamine. Not with nice people like you and your family, anyway.”
“Oh, thank you, I’m sorry I’m so awkward, I just don’t usually meet much royalty, or any royalty for that matter, and I’m supposed to be offering you food and drinks,” the teenage mermaid babbled, and she looked around at us and let out a high-pitched giggle.
“Well, we appreciate your kindness.” I grinned at the young mermaid, and she blushed bright red. The girl’s long ponytail fell halfway down her back, and she had round, hazel eyes with dark eyelashes. She was wearing a red bikini top over her small frame, and her tail was bright pink like her younger sister’s. I guessed she was about fifteen or sixteen, and she was clearly very nervous.
“Here, why don’t you sit down with us?” Ariana offered, and she patted an empty stool next to her. “I love to have the chance to speak with my people.”
“I would love to, but my father would kill me…” Vivian looked up shyly at me from under her eyelashes, but then she quickly glanced away. “Like I said, I’m supposed to be serving you.”
“Well, why don’t you bring out some food and drinks, and then we can chat?” Ariana suggested gently.
“Y-Yeah, that sounds good,” the teenager responded. “Thanks, Your Highness…”
With that, Vivian rushed off toward the bar, and Ariana smiled around at us.
“She’s sweet, isn’t she?” the redhead asked. “It seems like I was just that age. It really doesn’t feel like so long ago, and it seems crazy to think I was first married when I was practically that young. And I can certainly sympathize with being shy…”
“She is sweet!” Jessamine giggled. “I hope she talks to us more. I really like meeting the undersea citizens, Ariana. They all seem so nice.”
A few moments later, Vivian returned with a tray of bottles expertly balanced on one hand, and she placed one in front of each of us.
“Okay, so this is the seaberry wine,” the young mermaid explained. “It’s made by a local farmer, and it’s really good. Uh, I don’t actually get to drink it too much, but, you know, I’ve, um, had a sip here and there…”
“We understand, Vivian,” Cienna said with a gentle smile, and she winked one of her blue eyes at the stuttering teen. “I remember what it was like to be your age. It wasn’t always easy, that’s for sure.”
“Yeah, being a teenager sucks sometimes.” I nodded my head at Vivian, who shot me a shy smile before quickly glancing away.
“I used to sneak drinks of my father’s wine when I was younger,” Jessamine laughed. “I, too, remember those days well.”
“Heh,” Vivian laughed weakly and scratched at her head. “Yeah, I guess… Well, let me get you some food. If my father comes back here and you haven’t eaten, he won’t think I’m doing my job right.”
“You’re doing just fine,” I reassured her.
“U-Uh, yeah, thanks.” The young mermaid was the color of a fire engine. “I just want to make sure my dad--”
“Did I hear someone talking about me?” Ronan called out in a loud voice as he turned the corner to enter the tavern.
“Daddy, I was just saying I was going to get the princesses, and… him… their food,” the teenage mermaid explained, and she looked briefly at me again for a moment before she flipped her ponytail over her shoulder and swam back toward the bar with the tray under her arm.
“Thank you, Vivian!” her father called after her, and then he looked around at us and smiled sadly. “Vivian is a very good girl, but I’m afraid I don’t know what to do for her sometimes since we lost her mother. It’s hard for a man to raise a teenage girl alone, and her siblings keep me so busy. But it seems like she’s having boy problems, and…”
Ronan shrugged and looked around at the princesses, who each nodded sympathetically.
“Ronan, please tell me, what happened to your wife?” Ariana asked, and she reached out to clasp both his hands in her own.
“Oh, Your Highness, it was a hell of a thing that happened,” the mustached man sighed, and he gritted his teeth for a moment. “Mako, my little one, he’s three now, but when he was just about a year old, my wife, Pearl, disappeared. She went out to go food shopping down the street one day, and she… she never came back.”
“Oh, how tragic,” my mermaid wife gasped as tears welled up in her aqua eyes. “Do you have any idea what happened?”
“Well, I wasn’t there to see it,” he replied, and I saw him blink back a tear of his own. “But you’ve heard of Eudora, obviously…”
“Of course, and I’m so very sorry,” Ariana apologized, and her chin quivered a little. “Morgar, her minion, had been attacking citizens closer to the palace, but it’s been a while since I’ve heard any reports from this far out, I’m afraid. I understand this is hard for you, but can you tell me--”
“Hi, Vivian!” Cienna interjected loudly as the young mermaid approached our table, and Ronan shot the blonde princess a grateful look. “What did you bring us to eat?”
“Why don’t you let me explain the food to our guests?” the mayor asked, and he began to take plates off Vivian’s tray and place them on our table. “These are all local specialties, and I hope you enjoy them. On this side of the table we have our fish eggs, which I believe you call caviar above the surface. That’s the orange dish over here. We like to eat it on shark fins, which are on this blue plate. And of course, this is the kingdom’s traditional octopus salad, which I’m sure you’ve had before. Served alongside kelp puree, of course.”
I casually tried to catch a glimpse of my wives’ faces, and I immediately could tell they were doing their best to be polite. Even Ariana’s eyes were a little too wide as she looked at the food selection. She’d said octopus was delicious, but it appeared to be floating in its own blue blood. The caviar was the only thing that seemed edible to me, though I wasn’t sure about serving it with shark fins.
“Thank you so much for this delicious meal, Ronan,” the red-haired princess told him. “We were just offering Vivian a place at the table with us. Would you care to stay and eat as well?”
“Your Highness, I would love to, but, as I’m sure you know well, a leader’s work is never done.” The merman cleared his throat and turned faintly pink when he realized he’d compared himself to the princess. “Yes, well, in any case, I do need to head out for a while, but you’re in good hands with Vivian here. And Vivian--be good.”
“Yes, Daddy, I will,” the teenage mermaid said, and she gave her father a kiss on his forehead. “I can take care of everything while you’re gone. If Lily and the boys come back, I’ll feed them a meal, too.”
“Thank you, Vivian,” Ronan replied, and then he bowed. “Your Highnesses, Joe, I’ll be back in a bit to see how everything is going.”
“Wonderful.” Ariana nodded, and then she scooped some of the octopus salad onto her plate. “Everything looks delicious, and I’m sure Vivian will be happy to help us if we need anything.”
“I will,” the teenager agreed, and I caught her eyes darting to and away from me again.
“Thank you again!” Cienna called out as Ronan swam away.
Vivian bobbed in the water beside the table with a nervous expression, and she didn’t speak again until her father was out of earshot.
“Uh, hey, so if this stuff looks gross, I can get you something else,” the teenager said, and she nervously twirled a piece of hair around her finger. “These are our ‘specialties,’ but, you know, I just prefer plain fish. My dad likes to show off a little, I guess… gods, he would kill me if he heard me say that.”
“We won’t tell him,” Ariana laughed. “Vivian, don’t worry so much. I was serious before when I asked you to sit with us. The food looks absolutely wonderful, and I want you to rest for a minute. It seems like you’ve been working hard.”
“Um, okay, if you’re sure I can sit down,” the young mermaid muttered, and she perched her tail gingerly on the edge of the stool Ariana had patted earlier. “I’m sorry I said that about the food. I’ve been feeling a little weird lately…”
“Listen, I hope this isn’t too forward, but your dad, well, he told us about what happened to your mom,” Cienna said to Vivian, and the blonde leaned toward the mermaid from across the table. “And I’m so sorry that happened to you, honey. But we, well, the princesses, we all lost our moms early, too. So, if there’s anyone who understands what it’s like to not have a woman to talk to, it’s us.”
Vivian’s eyes filled with tears, and she looked like she was about to speak, but then she glanced at me for a moment.
“It’s okay, Joe is very kind, and very smart, too,” Jessamine told the girl. “You can trust him. And if, well, if this has anything to do with boys, he can give you that perspective.”
“Yeah, I used to be a boy your age once, so I know a few things.” I nodded at Vivian, who had started to blush again, and then I averted my eyes from the girl and took a big gulp of wine from my bottle in the hopes of looking more casual. Unfortunately, I nearly choked. The wine was simultaneously fruity, extremely sweet, and a little salty, and, other than the salt, I realized it reminded me of nothing so much as the wine coolers I’d drunk when I’d been a teen.
“W-Well, okay,” the young mermaid sighed, and she lowered her eyes. “How’d you know it had to do with a boy?”
“Just a lucky guess,” Jessamine said with a gentle smile. “Boys can cause a lot of problems, which I’m sure we all know.”
Even I couldn’t deny that.
“Well, there’s this merboy, his name is Wes…” Vivian began as she pulled the ponytail out of her hair, and long strands immediately drifted into her face. Then the young mermaid swiped the locks away from her eyes before she began to speak again. “Yeah, so, my dad really hates him, so please don’t say anything about this. He’d be so pissed--I mean mad--sorry, Your Highnesses.”
“It’s okay, Vivian,” Ariana encouraged her. “Please go on, if you want to.”
“Well, I guess Wes kind of used to be my boyfriend, or something like that--wait, is he your boyfriend?” the young mermaid asked as she gestured to me.
“Like you said, something like that,” Ariana laughed. “Actually, he’s my husband--”
“You’re married… to a human?” Vivian gasped, and her eyes grew so wide they nearly took up her entire face.
“Hey, some humans are pretty nice,” I laughed.
“O-Oh, no, I’m so sorry, I just meant--”
“Vivian, I’m just joking,” I told the blushing young mermaid. “It’s totally okay.”
“In any case, yes, I’m married to a human,” Ariana confirmed. “Anyway, why does your father hate Wes?”
