Post by seaking89 on Apr 9, 2008 16:30:35 GMT -5
The New Seaking, Part 2
The next morning, I was awaken by the loud knocking on our shell door of the king's bedroom. The knock was loud that it shook the room and knocked me out of bed. I hit my head on the nearby coral dresser and slumped to the floor just as Sebastian peered in. I was surprised. For a little crab, he definitely could make his presence known. "Good morning your new majesty,," he said with a sweeping bow, "I hope I'm not disturbing you." "Oh no, Sebastian," I groaned, "I always give myself a headache in the morning." Sebastian rubbed his chin and then said, "Well, there's no time for sleeping. You are Ariel are to meet the Royal Counsel in the Grand Hall in 10 minutes. Don't be late." "This early?", Ariel yawned, sitting up. "Yup," Sebastian answered, "now hurry up. You know how crabby the counsel gets when they're kept waiting. They get crabbier than me." He chuckled at his joke and then left the room. I got up and swam over to the display case where I put the crown and trident. Ariel swam over to place it on my head and put the king's bracelets on my wrists. I have to admit, they were a bit too big for me but they had to do. "Now is there anything I should know before I meet the counsel?" "Well, they are a bit stuffy so you may want to let them do most of the talking.", Ariel replied. "Works for me." I helped Ariel fasten her purple robe on and then placed a tiara on her head. "It was my mother's," she said softly. I hugged her and replied, "She would be very proud of you." She touched my cheek gently and we left the room. Sometimes I think the castle should've been built with a map in the hallway to direct people because although I'd spent a good two tides trying to learn my way around, there were time when I still found myself going in the wrong direction. Fortunately, Ariel knew exactly where we were going and in 10 minutes flat, we arrived in the Grand Hall, greeted by 20 sea creatures composed of mermen, mermaids, and fish of every kind. Each of them had their white hair tied up in a ponytail, except for the fish (they wore white wigs). It was at this moment that I knew I was in for a rough time. I'd never seen that many sour faces in my life. Thankfully, Ariel took my hand in her and held it tightly. "You'll be fine.", she whispered sweetly. I took a seat at the far left of the long rock table. "So...uh ... let's get started.", I said nervously. A large, blue and purple blowfish raised her eye glasses to her eyes and remarked, "Young merman, the king always sits in the chair on the far right of the table.", she said in a deep dry, stuffy voice. "Such is tradition." "Oh, of course. I knew that," I answered sheepishly. I swam over to a large chair and sat down. Ariel sat in a chair beside me. "Why didn't you tell me that?", I asked. "I didn't know.", Ariel answered. "I've never been in here before." We sat there for 5 minutes, me wondering how to sneak of this torture session unseen and the counsel sizing me up like a shark does its next meal. Finally, Sebastian walked along the table and handling me a long scroll. "What's this?", I asked in a whisper. "The Daily Seamen Stock Reports," he hissed back. I wrapped the scroll and beheld a long list of numbers, figures, and graphics that looked as though they were written in a foreign language (which as far I was concerned, they were). I was never very good at graphs and figures in the human world so this was really going to be difficult. "Let's see," I said, beginning to read down the list of names, "the Davy Jones is down 70%, the Nasdock is down 90%, the-" "Young merman!", Mrs. Blow snapped, "We don't have time to read everything on that list!" "Well, why didn't you say so?" I huffed. "You would've known that had you taken the time to read your seaking handbook." "What seaking handbook?" I asked. "The one that doesn't exist.", Sebastian answered. "Mrs. Blow, the boy is doing the best he can. Please don't blow a tidal wave." I looked at Sebastian surprised, as did Ariel. He never stood up for me before. The crab winked and said, "Keep going Your Majesty." I nodded and continued to read down the list. "I see we still have to settle the matter of a peace treaty with Atlantis. " Immediately, the counsel rose from their seats and began to shout. "Never!", Mrs. Blow shrieked. "The Atlantians have been our an enemy since the time of Poseidon and it's going to remain that way." "But why?" Ariel asked confused. "Daddy was Great Grandpa's grandson and from what I've always heard, he and the King of Atlantis were very close friends." "Oh they used to be,", Mrs. Blow went on, "that is, before...her." "Her?", I repeated. "I'm not going deaf.", Mrs., Blow said indignantly. "I know what I said." "But who is her?" I asked. "You don't know about the Sea-Sorceress of the Cave?", an elderly merman questioned. "No." I replied. The merman took a deep breath and then began. "A long time ago, back when Neptune still ruled this kingdom, he made a deal with the king of Atlantis, Valix. The agreement was that a special gift would be delivered to Atlantica on the eve of the kingdom's 50th anniversary. The gift was a magic crystal that was said to a star that fell from the sky and was once owned by humans. However, a week before the gift was to be presented, the king fell in love with a mysterious mermaid who vowed to become his queen. Valix was so captivated by her that he promised her anything as a wedding gift. She desired the crystal for she too, had heard of its power. Forgetting his promise to Neptune, Valix complied with her request. What the king wasn't aware of was that this mermaid was an evil sorceress whose only love was power. She used the crystal to drive Atlantis into a fierce war with Atlantica, convince Valix that Neptune was his enemy. Both side lost sight of the truth as the battle raged on and our king lost his life defending this kingdom. As punishment for the sorceress' actions, King Triton's first order of business was to banish her to a cave on the outskirts of Atlantica forever. To this day, our king and Valix still haven't spoken to each other and we are forbidden to have any contact with them." The merman sat down and the room became deathly quiet. "Wow, that's awful. Don't you think it's time to heal the rift though?" "No", the merman replied, "that rift can only be healed by the king and his majesty King Triton still harbors hatred for the people of Atlantis." "I seem to remember him doing the same thing for the human world.", I muttered to myself. Ariel, seeing that the mood was getting too gloomy, decided to end the meeting and just in time because my next order of business was going to be even more challenging- over seeing choir practice.
I have to tell you, I've met a lot of fussy performers but Ariel's sisters are the fussiest of them all. Ariel, Sebastian, and I waited 20 minutes for them to finish fixing their hair and then getting them to the Concert Hall was no piece of kelp cake either. On the way there, they did nothing but gossip about friends I've never heard of and the latest trends. I felt like I was leading a high school drama class. Once we got there, I asked the girls to take their places. "Why should we listen to you?", Alana snapped. "You're not Father." "Yeah", Andrina added, "he's taller and has a beard." That comment sent the rest of the girls into fits of laughter. I blushed and wished I had a shell like a snail. Much to my surprised, Sebastian bailed me out yet again. "Girls, please," Sebastian pleaded, "we only have a short amount of time before the big night. Let's take our positions and get started." "Very well, Sebastian," Alana replied, "well do it for you, not him." She stuck her tongue out at me and I did the same. Ariel took my hand and led me to the balcony where the king usually sat during the performances. "Oh, what did I ever do to deserve such snotty in-laws?", I moaned. "Just be happy you didn't have to grow up with them." said Ariel, rolling her eyes at Andrina who was staring up at us. At first the lesson went well and then I heard Aquata scream. "What is it?", asked Sebastian. "I broke a nail." Aquata whined. Sebastian put his claw on his forehead. "Aquata, no one in that audience is going to give a seahorse's behind about your nails! Now can we please get on with this?" "Oh alright." Aquata moaned. "Thank you" I said. As overbearing as Sebastian can be, there are time when I love it when he puts his foot down, no matter which foot it is....
That night, as Ariel and I settled in to bed, I couldn't stop thinking about the story the elderly merman had told me. "Ariel, do you think it's possible for that sorceress to get out?" "Nope." she answered. "Then why don't your father just make peace with the king of Atlantis? I'm sure Neptune feels terribly about what happened." "I'm sure he does too," Ariel agreed, "but you know how stubborn Daddy is. He and Great Grandpa Neptune were very close." "I understand that", I continued, "but's not as though that war was entirely Valix's fault." "I agree with you wholeheartedly, Marc", Ariel said, "but I don't see how peace between our kingdoms is possible." With that, she signed and fell asleep. I lay awake for hours thinking. Little did I know my biggest task was ahead of me.
To be continued...
