Chapter 1
Lirion's POV
I was lounging around on a rock, watching the creatures of the sea go on about their daily lives. My long pastel-pink hair swayed gently in the clear ocean water. The rays of the sun that reached us down here reflected on my teal scales and my transparent fin. My blue eyes followed a few jellyfish that floated above me, but my expression turned sour when I spotted my big sisters swimming over to find me.
I knew exactly what they wanted from me and I wasn’t about to hear it. I didn’t swim away, but I avoided their gazes.
“Lirion~ dear little brother, we were looking for you.” Althea, my oldest sister purred as she sat down beside me. Her pink scales shimmered and I watched the colorful display, rather than looking into her eyes. “I don’t care…” I mumbled, sitting up and hugging my tail. Virexa, my second oldest sister, rolled her eyes and snorted. “You aren’t cute at all when you act all stubborn, you know?”
I threw her a glare, thinking of a mean response when Althea cut in. “Now, now, don’t fight you two.” She spoke softly and pulled me closer by the shoulders. “I know you don’t want to talk about that specific topic, but father is only thinking about the future. And it is your duty as a prince-”
I cut her off, pushing myself away from her. “I don’t care! I don’t wanna marry! Especially not another prince!” I shouted, feeling the frustration grow inside my stomach. That’s right. My father was marrying his five daughters and his youngest son off to the other kingdoms of the seven seas. Our kingdom was located in the North Atlantic Ocean. It was the oldest one and the biggest.
I didn’t want to understand why I needed to marry. Yes, my oldest brother, Nereion, was the crown prince and he needed to stay in the kingdom as my father's heir, but why did I have to leave as well? I had no interest in the throne. Althea smiled softly at me. “I know it’s hard, but it is our duty… father will tell you more about it. Come on.” She took my hand and pulled me up. I struggled weakly, but ultimately let her pull me along. Virexa huffed in annoyance and followed behind us.
As we swam through the corals of the reef my eyes kept drifting off into the distance. Marrying to keep the peace between the seven kingdoms in the ocean. It was outdated if someone asked me.
I loathed everything about that concept. Who in their right mind would approve of something like this? Well, apparently my family did. My jaw clenched as I glared at our surroundings. I wasn’t even a mermaid! I was a male siren, for crying out loud! Sure male sirens were practically unheard of, but that wasn’t a reason to sell me off like some pretty shells! Though I really was prettier than most of my sisters.
My thoughts came back from their journey when my sister spoke up again. “Liri, we are here, come on, father is waiting for us.” My expression softened. My sisters always called me Liri. Only on rare occasions they called me by my full name.
In front of us the golden palace of the north atlantic shimmered in the water as if challenging the sun with how bright it looked. It was like it was shining on its own. Golden towers with round ceilings decorated the outside and ornamental bridges connected the towers. My sisters and I entered the palace and were greeted by my elder brother, Nereion. “Finally! Where have you been?!” He asked, looking directly into my azure eyes.
I looked away in annoyance. “I was out and I would have liked to stay there.” I retorted, pushing my bottom lip forward in a pout as I avoided his dark blue eyes. Nereion made a frustrated sound and pinched the tip of his nose. “When will you finally grow up, Lirion?” Nereion asked, sounding exasperated.
“Not in the near future if it annoys you…” I mumbled under my breath as I crossed my arms in front of my chest and rolled my eyes.
“What was that?” My brother asked and I immediately turned my head towards him, smiling brightly as I untangled my arms again clasping my hands together behind my back. “Nothing, dear big brother~!” I chimed as I played innocent. Nothing was more satisfying than getting on Nereion's nerves. Not for me at least.
Nereion narrowed his eyes at me, not believing a single word that left my lips. He growled and grabbed my wrist, pulling me along. His grip hurt and I had to bite my tongue to stop myself from wincing. I could guess that he was pretty happy to finally get rid of me. He practically raced me to the throne room where my three other sisters and our father, king Triton, were already waiting.
My father was watching us with his deep blue eyes and I didn’t dare to look at him. He was always so stoic and didn’t show much emotion, not even to us, his children. I could feel his eyes on me and I swallowed the lump that was forming in my throat.
Lyris and Aurelia were chatting quietly among themselves, their long dark blue hair tangling together so you couldn’t tell where Lyris ended and Aurelia began. They were twins and my youngest older sisters. When they saw me Aurelia smiled and waved at me. “Liri! We were all looking for you!” she exclaimed in her happy melodic voice and once Nereion let go of me I swam over to them. Lyris hugged me the moment I reached them, my pastel-pink hair mixing with their dark blue hair.
“Liri, listen to this! We swam into a whale on the way back and it-” she rambled on about how she and Aurelia met a whale and learned a new song from the gentle giant. I smiled, being as excited about as much as Lyris was.
“You’ll have to teach me then-” I was cut off by my father's thundering voice. “My children. It is time to discuss your fates.”
I shuddered and looked up at my father, like all my sisters and my brother. I didn’t want the next words to leave his mouth, but it was inevitable.
Lyria and Aurelia grabbed my hands, squeezing them in an attempt to comfort me.
I could only hope that the kingdom I was married off to was close to their kingdoms. That way I at least could see them from time to time. As long as it wasn’t the black sea I would be able to somehow manage it.
My father's hard eyes found me and I felt like going to my execution rather than learning about my future partner. “Lirion.” His voice filled the throne room like the ink of an octopus. “You will marry the crown prince of the Black Sea, prince Noxar.”
And there it was. My death sentence. The dread that filled my stomach threatened to make an appearance as I was nearly two seconds away from throwing up. “B-But father! The Black Sea is-” I tried to speak up but my father raised a hand.
“It has been decided.”
