The High Seas Queen

Chapter Ten: First Wave

The next few days were a blur of meetings and trying to sneak in naps when I could. After hearing that Wren’s hometown had been destroyed, it was all hands on deck to learn more about the land dwellers' plans. Although Grandmother had already sent out some of her spies, I sent out some handpicked spies to watch over some of the closer islands and rulers and report on what they found as well, and while we waited we had endless meetings. Sebastian, Gale, Wren, Korrin, Leon, and I took turns in the war meetings, allowing others time to rest.

One afternoon, Leon came to switch out with me. After a quick rundown of what I had learned during my meeting, I left the room. Exhausted, I wandered towards my room to try and get a quick rest, barely even aware of my surroundings. I turned to enter my room and ran into a wall. Groaning, I raised my head and looked at the wall in front of me, the grayish-blue color mocking me as I backed up until I hit the other side of the hallway and drifted toward the ground. My purple tail was tucked under me, and I took a minute to take in exactly where I was,

“Princess?” The voice came from the left of me and swam in one ear and out the other as I looked over to scold the merfolk who dared intrude on this moment.

“I believe you meant to say…” I stopped talking the moment I met those glowing green eyes which were now filled with worry. He floated down to me on the floor and watched me. I suppose I looked a little crazy at the moment, a Queen sitting on the floor just outside my room, with a crown slightly askew on my head. “How long have you been there?” I asked, hoping he hadn't seen me run into the wall. When he looked up and over at the wall, I had my answer.

“Not long. Come on now, let’s get you to bed.” He looked back at me, his smile warm and light. It brightened my mood and I felt something heal within my heart, just a little. I nodded and allowed him to pull him up towards him. When we entered my room, I released the water to create an air bubble. Our tails changed to legs, and we rested on the floor. A portrait I had never finished sat there, a picture of Wren. I stared at it, and that's when I realized I wasn’t in my room but in the room, he was currently residing in.

I couldn't even count the number of times I looked at him. 'How many times have I stared at the siren ruler since his arrival?' I was once again staring at the side of his profile, taking in his golden scales catching the light, the warmth in his hazel eyes causing my breath to stop somewhere in my throat. I couldn’t breathe, and it wasn't because of how handsome this merfolk was, but because he was no siren but Wren. I threw myself at him, a strange laugh heaving from my lungs. He didn't look all that shocked at my outrage, although he did seem surprised that I was lying on top of him.

“What the hell? Wren your scales and eyes, they’ve changed back. What… Wren, it's you.” I was pretty sure that I wasn’t hallucinating, but with what we’d been going through and how tired I was, I couldn't be a hundred percent sure that what I was seeing was real. “I know I am tired and literally hit the wall, but I'm not hallucinating am I?” I had to ask the male in front of me if he was true, and I knew I could still have been sitting in the hallway staring at that grayish-blue wall. He scoffed, shook his head at me, and reached for me, his warm hand brushing my cheek. I couldn't help but lean into his hand and be mesmerized by the color of his eyes. Even when we were young, it beat out anything else I looked upon.

“Don’t you recognize me, Ash? I haven’t changed that much, I am a bit taller I suppose.” He was still holding me as I lay across him, one hand at my waist, the other still stroking my cheek fondly. I didn’t know what to do, so I did nothing. Laying my head on his chest, I relaxed into his hold. It was so peaceful that when I woke up, and there was knocking at my door, and I was in bed, I determined it had to have been a dream. Sighing, I got up to answer the door.

“I’m on my way. Just a moment…” I swung open the door and Leon was there. “Hey Leon, are you doing okay? Shouldn't you be resting, Korrin should have taken over for you by now." He nodded, but the look on his face was contradicting the movement. I opened the door wider and gestured for him to enter. His eyes widened a fraction when he took in the fact that I was dressed in the same outfit he had last seen me in. “I was so tired I don't even remember getting to bed.”

He didn’t even smirk when I commented on my state, something was wrong. While I waited for him to tell me, I floated over to my closet and changed into a cleaner, less wrinkled shirt. He shouted at me from where he stood, and I jumped a little, startled, as he told me he needed me to meet them in the war room. I responded that I would be right with them, throwing my long purple hair up and readjusting the crown on my head. I took a meditative breath and watched myself in the mirror. ‘Whatever he has to tell me is bad, we will figure this out.’ I kept this thought in my head as I rushed to the meeting room.

The room was quiet, the kind that sends a chill down your spine. Everyone was solemn as they raised their heads and all looked at me. It was then that I realized we had some extra faces, ones that I recognized but had not seen since our days in school.

“Tori, Collin? What are you guys doing here?” The two rulers live in the nearest towns outside Oki. They looked quite the pair as they stood in front of me then. Looking sullen as their brightly colored scales flashed in the light. Tori of the syngnathiformes (seahorses) order has a pink tail and Collin of the semaeostomeae (jellyfish) order has a yellow tail. Confused as I was to see them, I knew I had to remain steadfast when they answered. It was Tori who stepped forward and told me their story.

“Queen Ashera, thank you for seeing us and for the spies you sent a while back. Without them and the news they brought us, I very much doubt we would have survived at all.” Her voice wavered as she spoke. Gale stepped up to her and held out her hand for comfort. My brows furrowed as I became even more confused, but I asked nothing and waited for her to regain her composure. “The humans have started attacking the smaller rulers around the area. We came straight here with what was left of our people in hopes of safety but also to help. I am afraid that some of the more skeptical rulers who sent your spies home were also attacked and some even captured.”