Episode 171: The Sea Kingdom (Danija)

Danija and her dad waited. They waited, and waited, and waited some more until the sun began to descend on the horizon and low tide ebbed into high tide. They waited, until Danija looked at her dad and broke the silence. “She’s not coming. He’s not going to pay you.”

She had said it. It was bittersweet to say, but it was important too. She needed to say it for herself too. She didn’t want him to pay for her, but part of her had hoped he would.

“Guess you bet on the wrong person, then.”

“I wasn’t taking bets.” She stood, her eyes cast on the door. “Can I just go talk to him?” She needed out, she needed to get away from her dad and break free.

“Of course. We just have a stop first. Then you can talk to whoever you want.”

A stop, as in breaking her bond. This wasn’t right.

“You mean Thelos.” She walked toward the door now, a plan forming in her mind. She just needed a moment away, a moment to escape. “Fine. Let’s just get this over with.”

Her dad beat her to it, and he stood looking at her a step away.

“There are plenty of eligible, nice, noblemen.”

The way he said it made it sound reasonable, like what he was doing wasn’t insane or wrong. Some of her siblings thought it wasn’t wrong; she knew better.

“Maybe I should focus on work for the time being.”

“And let you bond?”

“What are you going to do?”

Her dad showed her a travel pack. “Find you a husband willing to pay.”

Be sold, he meant. Be sold like the piece of property she was. She had been so close to freedom.

“Okay.” She looked at the door behind him. He was going to take her to the sea, marry her to someone. “Can I look outside one last time? At the sky?”

One second. One last chance to run. She wasn’t going to mess it up this time, she wasn’t going to get caught. She knew he could outrun her, but if she could find somewhere to hide…

“You’ll have to suggest it to your husband, Dani.” He smiled at her, and it sent chills down her spine. “I just don’t feel like you can be trusted right now. You’re not thinking of family, at all.”

She gritted her teeth.

“Come on,” he said.

She closed her eyes and drew her water into her hands, then she flung her fist at her dad.

Despite the magic and the force, she felt his hand clasp around her wrist before her knuckles met his skin. The next instant, she choked on water – he had transported them.

Her lungs burned as they filled, and her clothes ripped to shreds as her scales sliced through the fabric and her legs fused together. Chafing, her neck opened up to for gills and she felt the water rush across the skin.

“Will you be good now?” her dad asked.

“Leave me alone!” she screamed, bubbles flowing up toward the surface. She pulled away from him, even though there was nowhere to go; they were deep beneath the cascading tips of waves.

They were in the sea palace. Her head hurt from the transport, too deep too fast. She looked in the dark murky water and got her bearings: stone pillars that twisted up, coralline crusting the edges of the hallway and the pillars.

Her dad pulled her along, toward a large doorway. Somehow, he mattered enough to get past the guards. Somehow, he mattered here.

It took a minute, a long minute, and then Thelos, king of the sea, emerged from the room. His scales were green with hints of red, but his hair had faded to white with age.

“Hello,” King Thelos spoke.

“Your majesty,” her dad greeted with a bow. “I am here on behalf of my daughter, Danija. She needs a marriage, before she bonds to the wrong man.”

King Thelos rose his hand into the air and signaled to a guard.

“You mean, because she already bonded to the wrong man?”

“The Keshmari prince doesn’t want her.”

Danija tried not to react; it had nothing to do with how much he wanted her or not, it had to do with assigning a price tag to her.

The king’s face widened, surprised. He looked at her from head to toe and back again. Once he had scanned her, he turned his eyes just toward her dad’s. “Has he used her yet?’

“No,” her dad answered for her, like she had no voice of her own.

“Good. Why doesn’t the Keshmari prince want her? What’s wrong with her?”

“He was dating the pixie queen.”

King Thelos turned back to her. “Is this true?”

“Yes. But he was going to leave her.”

The king laughed, and so did her dad. The king meant his laugh, but her dad… he was doing it to fit in. While he laughed, her bond snapped. One moment it was there, flourishing, and the next she was vacant. She felt her body buckle, then release.

“Her bond is broken,” the king announced.

Her dad bowed again. “You see the problem, thank you.”

Danija held back a cry. Her body hurt, ached for what had been taken. Her dad rose from his bow. “Do you have anyone who can control her better than this?”

This was the part where he sold her. If the king didn’t buy, she knew her future would be bleak. He wouldn’t be patient looking for a third sale; she’d be no more than auctioned off.

She tried to focus. Her head was spinning and her stomach hurt. He was looking at her again. Not just looking at her, he was swimming around her and all but touching her.

He stopped in front of her. “I am willing to take her in. I have a son who needs a wife still.”

“Thank you,” her dad said.

She tried to focus on a brittle starfish. If this was where her life was, a prince was not the worst outcome.

Her being still hurt. She didn’t want this.

“Is that all?” the king asked.

No, now she would find out her value.

Yet, her dad was silent.

She gaped at him. “What you’re going to just give me to him?”

“It’s a valuable connection to have. You should be more grateful.”

She closed her eyes and counted back from three. He could have had a tie to Keshmar. He was getting nothing in  exchange for her. He was taking everything away.

King Thelos turned to the guard he had summoned earlier. “Bring me Eedhos.”

The guard replied and swam off through the hallways.

“Are you staying for the marriage?” King Thelos asked.

“Yes, to be sure she obeys.”

Danija wasn’t sure what he expected, with guards everywhere and the king in front of her. She stood there, and the three waited in silence.

It only took a minute for the prince to swim in. He had short dark hair and skin a warmer shade of brown than hers. He looked royal in a way that made her feel more like she belonged back at her job, working in the musky seaport basement than here.

If her dad had sold her, but… here she wasn’t worth anything. She could see that. Things were different at the bottom of the sea.

“You wanted me?” the prince said.

“This girl,” Thelos sad, his eyes grazing her body again. “She needs a marriage. She’s garnered the attention of the Keshmari Prince, but is untouched. She requires a firm hand.”

For some reason, Prince Eedhos was someone who could have a firm hand. A prince was better than many options, but she didn’t think it would be much better as a whole.

Prince Eedhos studied her body, but only for a second.

“Are you a virgin?” the prince asked her.

“No,” she stated.

Her dad’s eyes widened and his tail twitched.

“Lying won’t serve you well,” the king reminded her.

Right, because no matter what she was out of luck and this was a decent prospect. Even if she was being thrown away to him, no prize to her dad except the release of being burdened by her.

That was crap. She was only a burden because he had insisted on selling her, and her siblings.

“Maybe. Yes.” Danija kneaded her hands together. “Yes, I’m a virgin.”

The prince looked at the king. “I’ll take care of it.”

It? She was an it to be taken care of? It didn’t sound like the comforting sort of care, but the …

Wow. A wall of bond hit her, a tie between her and Prince Eedhos. The prince swam over to her and pressed his lips to hers, just enough that others would see a kiss. It felt nothing like the kiss of marriage.

Her heart rate raised in worry, fear, of what taking care of meant.

“Now,” the king stated. “If you would like to join me, you’re welcome. Or, you can return home. She’ll be taken care of here.”

Again, with the taking care of talk.

“I’m afraid my wife is expecting me. Another time?” her dad said.

“Another time,” the king said. She knew that tone – it meant never.

“Enjoy your bride,” the king said to Prince Eedhos.

“I will.” The prince glanced at her. “Are you coming?”

“Yes,” Danija agreed. She didn’t have a choice, and being reasonable might be her only chance at survival. She followed him down a hallway, out of sight of the king and her dad.

She watched the pillars pass, aware of the bond in a way that felt gross to her. She hadn’t chosen this, but she wanted him. It was frustrating.

And she didn’t know him, she didn’t know Telek either, it was the same thing, except one was by choice and one was by force.

She let a trail of bubbles float to the surface. She didn’t have many choices, and she was going to have to get used to Eedhos.

“Why are they punishing you?” Eedhos asked.

“The Keshmari Prince wouldn’t pay for me.” The way she said it made it sound like she was mad at Telek.

“That’s your fault?” Eedhos asked.

“It’s my fault for bonding to him. My parents sell us, that’s why they have us: money.”

“My dad didn’t buy you.”

“He’s a connection, apparently.”

He laughed at her response, which caught her off guard. Was he laughing at her or was he laughing because of what she said?

She hated this. She was going to have to breed with him, and she wasn’t sure how to go about that. He looked almost like a statue in his perfection.

“Can I explore the kingdom?” she asked. No, he was laughing at her. Yes, he was laughing with her.

“Right now?”

She stopped swimming and her hair caught up with her. She was going to need to figure that out soon.

“Or whenever,” she tried to shrug. She moved over toward the edge of one of the railings and looked out at the kingdom. “I haven’t been here in years.”

“I can give you a tour. Are you hungry?”

He was being sort of nice, but she was still annoyed, so she said what she was feeling: “Not for fish.”

“You’ve lived on shore. I can take you there, you know.”

Her heart patterned in her chest, which was a miracle because she had almost thought it had frozen in the cold waters. Not that she could feel cold in that way, but she knew it was cold.

“You’d let me go to shore? What do you expect in return?”

“Why do I have to want something in return?”

So he was nice.

“Okay.”

“Come on.” He began swimming away, over the edge of the palace and out in to the sea. She caught up with him in a moment. He had a nice body, actually. He was strong. Maybe a bit on the perfect side, and awkwardly tan for being a fish, but nice to look at anyway.

“You should at least have a chance to say goodbye,” he said once she caught up. “Where were you?”

“I was…” she fell back so she could study him and think while they swam, then returned to his side. “I’m sorry I’ve been difficult. I don’t need to say goodbye, this is my home now. I’m sure this isn’t ideal for you either.”

“So? I go to shore all the time. I don’t mind going.”

“I was at the Dells Festival.” Then, because she doubted her dad had gone there and delivered the news with her mom missing, she added, “I have a pet, at my work on the coast.” Maybe he was still alive.

“Okay. Let’s get you something to eat, find your pet, do what we can.”

And husband of the hour award went to Eedhos, who didn’t try to sleep with someone who didn’t want to marry him right away, and instead took her to save her pet and say goodbye to the other guy she had met that day.

Not that he knew she had just met Telek.

“Thank you,” she said. It was simple, it got her back to shore. She couldn’t run after this, though. He was being too giving and if she wanted to have any say in her life this was as good of a chance as ever.

“You don’t have to keep thanking me, it’s just the decent thing to do.”

Maybe he hadn’t heard: undines weren’t decent. She couldn’t believe he didn’t have chunks missing from his body or something.

“What kind of pet?” he asked.

“A dog,” she replied. A found-it-on-the-streets kind of dog.

“Maybe the queen will humor you and give it water magic.”

Her dog would die in the ocean. In five minutes. Even with water magic. He was scrawny and more like a whale’s toothpick than anything substantial.

“Maybe,” she said anyway. She was trying to be polite, because he was being nice.

Her dog would die in the ocean, but the Dells seemed to have tons of healthy animals. Pixies too. She could just leave him there.

“Or take it in,” she added. “They have barns.”

They continued to swim, which took a long time. She wished they had a travel pack but she wasn’t sure they held up at sea very well. They talked about the sea, and her parents and her life and a few general other things like how she didn’t know many nice men apparently. Not that she knew that many nice women either, Eedhos just fell into the male category.

They talked about the marriage, and she kind of wondered if he didn’t like girls or if he had lost someone. There wasn’t much of a reason to agree to a marriage and then not care.

Eventually, she asked him what he would have wanted.

“To bond naturally, eventually, with someone who bonded naturally back. But I can be happy with this. What would you have wanted? The Keshmari prince?”

“I think so. I just met him a few hours ago. The queen bonded him to me.”

He might have been dead. Had they kissed? She was too tired from swimming to remember if their marriage had been se…

Her stomach flipped and she felt nauseous.

He could be dead.

He kept asking questions but eventually gave up, since she wasn’t answering them. She wasn’t even sure what he had asked, her mind was too wrapped up in the idea that she had killed Telek.

And she was going back. She didn’t know if she wanted to go back, but she couldn’t tell him that. She had a dog to take care of.

She felt sick. Incredibly sick.

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