“Tighter,” Attina demanded as I forced my tired hands to tightly wrap her hair around the fourth cone. It's been six days and she had turned me into her hairdresser, organizer, and footman. I have had to follow her around all day. Sometimes I wished to be put back in my tube sooner.

 But I was honestly relieved every time Attina called for me, or made some wild complaint about how I did her hair. These were good signs. Signs that she still had her mind and will.

 As I pulled her hair tightly again for the fifth and final cone, I watched her hold herself impatiently. I was spying the ring on her finger. It seemed like she didn't notice it there. Which she most likely didn't among the other rings and bangles weighing down her hands.

 King Poseidon was still absent. No one seemed to mention when he would be expected to arrive. I decided that worrying about it would be unnecessary for me. But I wondered what exactly he was off doing. I was sure that if my sister could stop acting so bitter, she could tell Father I'm here. And then that would stop this war from happening. Right?

 “The artic mermaids are coming today.”

 I wrapped her hair once more before dropping my hands in surprise.

 “They are bringing us treats to show there aliance.”

 My heart dropped. Aliance? More mermaids here to fight the humans? There are already so many of us. Attina, that is not fair.

 “Our sisters are going to be out of the castle until the meeting is over. But since you already know so much about the war, I assume, will you stay with me?”

 I could not understand why she was asking. I have to do whatever she says. She was also wrong about me knowing much about the war. I hadn't lived with Eric for over a month now. I knew no more than anyone else. But her offer was the perfect opportunity for me to learn. So out of both force and will, I nodded.

 “Good. I would hate to be alone. Entertaining guests. Without Father.”

 It was a little amusing to notice her nervousness. Attina always seemed so perfect as if she knew exactly what to do no matter what. But right now, she wasn't trying to punish me by telling me to stay. Well, not completely. She actually wanted me.

 I lightly patted her shoulder to comfort her. She let out a sigh. What can I say? It feels good to be needed whatever the circumstances.

 Evander soon came into the chamber, bowing. “Princess, if I may escort you to the throne room.”

 “No thank you, sir. I know the way.” She swam over to him. The closer she got, the weaker the strong officer's tail became. “Should you not be gaurding prisoners right now?”

 Evander kept his composure, lowering his eyes at her from a straight neck. “I have many of my soldiers there already. Not that any trouble would even come to Prisoner Passing. And besides that, I don't think it's fair that criminals should have more protection than you, princess.”

 “Ha, ha!” she laughed incredulously. It only added to her beauty. “Well, I...” she stopped herself before continuing to argue with the officer. “You know what? Follow behind me if you choose. But when the arctic mermaids get here, I want you to be as silent as Ariel.”

 The officer nodded, moving his pinched fingers across his lips to show that they are sealed.

 Attina turned to me, “Are you coming?”

 I went to her. And all three of us left out of the opening of her chamber, descending from the edge of the tower. We floated across the bridge curving downward toward the other side of the castle, easing our way through the decorated arches above. Our skin shimmered under the golden light haloing our path. I used to wonder if it was some kind of royal right to have the Sun’s light penetrate its way to our castle. The Sun must have thought so as well.

 Swimming toward the next opening, we ended inside the second level. Attina continued to lead to way through the corridors to the throne room. Once in, she went to hover by the throne again. I noticed a loose strand of her hair and tried to fix it but she slapped my hand.

 A few minutes later, a guard who wasn't Evander entered the room. “Someone is here to see you, Princess.”

 Attina’s back straightened. “Ariel. Go admit the guests.”

 I met with the guard, and he escorted me to the entrance of the palace, where I came to meet a bald merman with a lean but strong build, and brown skin that gave off a blubbery sheen. He worn the tusks of some animal around his neck. Two others holding spears were at his sides. Behind him, two mermen with sleek dark braids were holding each end on the large chest they brought.

 The chest had strange and foreign ingravings all over it that looked like a pattern square eyes creating the background of a scary-looking face, and two smaller faces. The chest wore a colorful theme of blue, white, red, and green.

 All Attina wanted was for me to welcome them silently. But what I had kept from her for a while now was that I had been doing my jaw stretches and the looseness was already improving. I was ready now to try it out. “Welcome, all of you.”

 “I am most honored,” said the old man.

 “And may I ask who you are?”

 The merman grimaced in offense. “I am Nanuq, king of the arctic mermaids. I thought you were expecting me.”

 Oh, no. First time I open my mouth, and I've already made a stupid mistake. “Of, course we are. Please forgive my ignorance, your highness. I am merely the maidservent.”

 “Well then, I should think you impertinent to even inquire upon me.”

 I bowed my head. “Yes, sir. Well, the princess Attina is inside. If you would follow me...”

 “The princess? Where is the King?”

 Did he not know? Immediately I felt like I was being put in a stressful position, having to explain something I hardly understood. “I can not presume to know. But I am sure that she may be able to explain. Please, your highness.”

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 His face seem to harden just slightly. “This is very unprofessional. But I'll allow it. Lead the way.”

 I led the way to the throne room. As we came in, Attina was already red as a crab when turning her face away from Evander as if she had been arguing with him again. She saw the king behind me and bowed.

 We stopped in front of her. The king returned the bow.

 “King Nanuq, it is an honor to be in your presence.”

 “And I in yours.” With a foreign command, “Ilagek kanani”, his servants to came forth and let the chest down on the sand.

 Attina placed a hand on her heart, pretending to be surprised. “I see you have carried this across the seas. What a pleasant gift, King Nanuq. For this trouble, you have my highest gratitude.”

 He gave a nod. “Now, where is the King?” he said plainly.

 “The king? Uh, yes, the king. Apologies, your highness. The king is not here at present. He has been away to speak with the Matron.”

 “The Matron?”

 “Yes. The second eldest of our blue whales.”

 “I see. So he is having a spiritual session. And I believe I am here also because of this Matron?”

 “Yes, King Nanuq. Our Matron was recently found wounded.”

 “By whom?”

 “By the eldest blue whale. The Patron.” She swam closer to him. And I went over to Evander’s side to watch the interaction.

 “And what does a whale wounding a whale have to do with me being here for a war.”

 “I understand that it may seem unrelated. But the Matron has told us that her wounding is a sign of imbalance in the world. By father has done his best to seek out this imbalance peacefully by withholding the fish from the humans in order to garner the attention of Prince Eric. He has spoken with the prince twice, proposing a treaty be made. But the Prince as refused to make any bonds with us.”

 “So, as I understand, your king has blamed the humans for the imbalance.” The way he put it seemed to have a hint of disbelief.

 Attina was silent.

 “Forgive me for still not understanding,” King Nanuq said. “But all this sounds very odd to me as someone who has made peace with humans where I come from.”

 His statment was not only appalling. It was music to my ears and hope for my heart. So much so that I tried to not believe it. His kingdom had accomplished something I had thought impossible my whole life. I wondered what Attina’s answer would be to that.

 She put her hands together in their signature downward prayer position, sighing through her nose. “That is impressive, King Nanuq. And highly commendable. I only wish the humans here were not as stubborn as yours.”

 King Nanuq considered her words. He then motioned to his servants, saying, “Ammak.”

 The servants obeyed the command, opening up the chest. I floated further up to get a better view of what was inside.

 Attina smiled while nearing the chest. She reached in and pulled out handfuls of pearls. Then some beaded necklaces with wooden pendants. She then pulled out little stone-carved statues. Some where shaped like mermaids and others were shaped like men. Attina seemed to disregard the ones that looked like men. There was also a long ivory horn she pulled out. It was so long that when she held it vertically, it was as tall as her. “What is this made of?”

 “From the tooth of a narwhal.”

 “Interesting,” she said with awe, placing it back in the chest. “Very interesting. And for your generous gifts, I would like to return the favor. You may have whatever you wish here. The king will not mind at all.”

 He nodded slowly. “Then I have only one request.”

 “Wonderful. What is your request?”

 His eyes drew downward for a moment before regarding her again. “For some time now, I have been in want of a wife.”

 All was quiet. Attina’s bangles shook with the subtle trembling of there wrists. I started to feel a contemptuous wave of heat coming from behind me. I realized it was Evander.

 “Of course,” Attina answered to my surprise. “And if you would give me some time to consider it—”

 “Not you,” King Nanuq said. “I will have my pick of one of your sisters.”

 A cloud of concern grew in Attina’s eyes. “Alright then. Well, they are not here right now. But I can send for them.”

 “I’ll wait.”

 Attina waved to one of the guards, and so he left to retrieve the princesses.

 While we waited, Attina offered to give King Nanuq a tour of the palace which he did accept. I began to follow them out of the throne room when I felt a hand catch my shoulder.

 “Hold it.” Evander spoke from behind his helmet. I wasn't sure when he placed it on his head but it looked silly to me. “She doesn't need you anymore.”

 I don't know why I almost hated him for saying that the way he did.

 “Back to the tube with you.”

...

 I was just starting to become immersed in my own thoughts again, as I always do in my solitary confinement, when the iron doors opened again. Two guards came up to me and took me by the arms. They said nothing which scared me.

 “What’s happening? Where are you taking me?” Of course, neither of them were going to answer me.

 I was taken to the garden where all my sisters hovered in a line. Their faces were full of guilt as they looked up at me.

 “There she is,” Attina announced to my right. King Nanuq was beside her. “It’s her.”

 Just as I began to assess what I was here for, the king pointed to me with dissatisfaction in his eyes. “She is your maid. Do you take me for a fool?”

 “She is our sister, I swear it,” Attina said, almost in desperation. “I punished her for... going to the surface. It's against one of our most important rules. But I promise you, she is of royal blood.”

 Now I became even more confused. What was Attina trying to do with me?

 “What are her gifts?” King Nanuq asked while side-eyeing me with the most unsettling intrigue.

 “She can sing. And tell stories.”

 King Nanuq scratched his chin at that. “Hmm, Stories. I do love stories. And her name?”

 “Ariel.”

 “Ariel. Pretty.”

 I desperately wished I could leave the garden.

 King Nanuq let out a breath, addressing everyone around. “May I speak with her alone?”

 I looked Attina straight in the eye. No!

 “Certainly. However, you won’t find her very chatty.”

 He eyed me again, “I have my ways.”

 Attina waved gestured toward the entrance, and slowly my sisters followed her. Some looked back at me for a second. The rest just hung their heads.

 Here I was. Completely alone with him. The golden walls, seeming to close in on us as he approached me.

 “Look at me,” he demanded.

 I don’t look at him.

 “Ah, so you are stubborn.”

 “No. Just confused.”

 “Confused?” He came closer. “What confuses you?”

 “Why I was brought to you.”

 “Perhaps because your sisters find you expendable.”

 His hand slowly came up to my chin, turning my face to his. As he studied me, I became incredibly stiff.

 “Tell me, Ariel. Are you tame enough to be the wife of a king?”

 I gave him the honest truth. “No, sir. I can be forced to do anything, but I cannot be tamed.”

 He scoffed. “Strange. I never thought there was a difference.”

 “Oh, there is. Force is a bending of will. Taming is bending the soul.”

 I should have remained quiet. For, my words seemed to amuse him more than scare him. And his small eyes began to stare intently at mine.

 “I promise that I don't intend to bend your soul. But I can grant you freedom from this place.”

 “Why would you want to? I would make hell for you.”

 He chuckled, sounding a little less like the old man he was. “I’m old and little scares me, Ariel. If it's hell you'll bring, then douse me in the fire.” He opened his arms for emphasis.

 I moved away, shaking my head. “I can’t.”

 He met me again, taking my hand and kissing it once. “Your hand is rough.”

 “Very,” I added.

 “Like the women in my kingdom. I abhor soft hands. They are a sign of laziness and incompetence.”

 Perfect.

 “Although, I may have to fatten you up. Your skin is not tough enough for the artic. You'll freeze.”

 I took back my hand. “Your Highness, instead of assessing whether I would make a good wife, why not take me at my word that I won't?”

 He didn't frown at me, still grinning. “It’s either you or one of your sisters. I’m not picky. But I will get my gift as promised. Once the war is over.”

 I heard his threat and immediately thought of how terrible I had been to my sisters. And the worst thing about it was that I didn't blame them for wanting to get rid of me. I could not imagine any one of them leaving with King Nanuq. It would not be right or fair. Oh, how I wished Father was here. He would know how to settle all of this.

 “Please, King Nanuq. Allow me a chance to consider it.”