Chapter 2 Start of Rae's journey
All of them finally decide that they will keep Rae in the centre while they surrounded her in such a way,that the guards will not be able to detect her presence. Megan was having some serious reservations about the way they were planning to execute Rae’s entry by her concealing her from all sides as they enter into the palace arena.
“ How do you plan to take Rae pass all the guards that are placed at various entry points from the entrance till your chamber,” she dubiously asked prince Neil. On further pondering over it, they saw the flaws in their plan of execution, so they dropped the idea of taking her to the palace.
Tray scratched the back of his head trying to come up with some better solution. By than Sil comes up with a new suggestion, “why not let her stay with me, as I stay quiet far away from the palace and I am the only one who stays with my aunt ,And my aun is mostly working during the night. After her night shift my aunt usually sleeps till dusk , and when she is sleeping it won’t be a problem sneaking in and out of my home ,she will not even notice that Rae is staying with me.
Neil likes the idea , but contemplates what if someone accidentally sees her and reports to the king. They need to be prepared with a hiding place for her as it was always going to be a risk affair for Rae’s safety while travelling in their world. They all were now together into protecting Rae, so they held each other’s hands and took a oath of keeping Rae safe in every circumstances. After taking the oath they turned around towards Rae who’s eyes were misty with tears. Peter was the only one till date who had looked out for her all these years when she was staying with her mother. Now she was surrounded with these magnanimous oceanic friends she had come across as a chance encounter,who were ready to put their lives on line for her sake. She went around hugging each of them in gratitude. They all were encaptured by beauty and pure heart. So they were going to stand with her through out her journey through their kingdom.
Megan wishfully said “ I wish we could also delve into the human world some day“.She had always been a silent spectator who was fascinated by humans, watching them and their activities from afar. Listening to the different kind of music they played in a shack near the beach. Rae’ is equally thrilled on hearing that Megan wants to explore the human world. She also wants to take them and show different places in the human world and so she puts forward her preposition that together they could possibly be able to go back to her world. Neil though excited by their innuendo knows they have to over come their limitations of getting rid of their tails and would require a pair of legs to survive in the human world. So he subtle puts it aside for now, and asks them to focus on present problem at hand and that is keeping Rae unharmed from the vices of the oceanic world. He also reminds them tomorrow his team Xiphius gladius is going to play Fin ball match with the Carassius auratus Team. He wanted Rae also to be present during the match,but in his heart he knew he had to be extra careful. He first had to fix an appointment discreetly with a seamstress, so he could get a tail stitched for Rae that will hide her legs in plain sight and also help her to navigate smoothly through the water kingdom. As planned Sil and Rae make a move towards Sil’s aunts home. Neil , Megan and Tray go in search of seamstress. As they locate the her place ,they see Mrs Guppy at counter cutting some flags for the upcoming match as it is a big event. Neil approaches Mrs Guppy with charming smile,as soon as she glances towards Neil she raises one eyebrow and inquires “ How may I help you His Royal Highness “.
“Actually my friend Megan wanted a nice tail stitched from polyester spandex today itself, as she wants to sport it tomorrow for the upcoming match as she is on the cheerleader team, please could you help us out,” he asked hopefully. “That could be definitely arranged but you have to pay 4 times extra,” he said with a crafty smile. Neil knew he would be able to manage the funds to pay the steamstress and was okay with it, what was crucial that Rae will be able to attend the match camouflaged in appearance blending amidst all of his people. If they along with her managed to pull this stunt tomorrow ,he knew Rae could than effortlessly traverse through his world. He made the payment to Mrs Guppy with a assurance from her that by tomorrow morning the tail will be ready. The trio departed from the steamstress to their respective abode. Neil started swimming through the palace gates with a grin adorning his face. He came across the king Palaemon who was trotting towards his chamber.
“Hello son “,he bellowed.
That stopped Neil in his path as he bowed his head in front of his father with due respect“ Hello Your Majesty”.
“Well son , tomorrow as ever year I want you to show the world the power of the Palaemonian’s” he stated.
“Your word is my command, your majesty”, he obliges.
“Rest well for now ,see you tomorrow during the practice session at day break”, king Palaemonian informs him.
Neil tilted his head , nodding slightly in affirmation. The king turned to return to his chamber taking his sons leave. Neil retired to his chamber with Rae’s ethereal smile imprinted in his heart.He knew that first thing in the morning as per his bidding Megan would pick the polyester spandex tail from steamstress and deliver it to Sil’s home. With all these thought’s passing through his head ,he closed his eyes as sleep took over after a very exhilarating day.
Sil and Rae hiding from the onlooker’s eyes were able to make it to her aunt’s house. When she creeps inside slowly opening the door her aunt is standing near the kitchen platform with her back towards them, cooking dinner.
” Sil is it you , I have prepared a nice grilled fish and weed curry ,“her aunt calls out.
Sil slowly progresses in her aunt’s direction, while propelling Rae towards her room. “Hi Aunty , you are awake , wow! grilled fish and weed curry ,” she exclaims cheerfully. She hugs her aunt from behind dropping a kiss on her cheek before she scurries to her room instantly closing the door. She shows Rae the washroom and informs her to hide in there till her aunt leaves for work, which should be in an hour or so. Rae enters the washroom, admiring the small glass mirror with beautiful carving on it. There is a fish shaped bath tub placed on the left hand side with folded towels placed neatly on the rack next to it on one side and shower curtain on the other side to separate it from the flush toilet and wash basin giving some privacy. She turns to move out of the washroom, when she hears some one knocking at the door, she immediately steps inside the bathtub pulling over the curtain and staying hidden behind it. Sil glances at the washroom before she opens the door. Her aunt in standing in front of the door with a plumber, asking her to move aside as the washroom mirror placed over the wash basin needs to be fixed properly as it is coming off it’s Hinges. Sil immediately stands in front of her aunt informing her that she has already fixed it day before yesterday. “ Okay, are you quite sure about the repair work,” her aunt inquires. Sil nods her head in confirmation,so aunt and the plumber make way out of her room towards the main door. Sil slowly leaves the breath she is holding, walking towards her rooms door and latching it from inside behind them. She quickly goes to the washroom to check on Rae ,she sees her hiding behind the bath curtain standing inside the bathtub. She reassuringly holds Rae’s hand to comfort her and tells her to move underneath the bed. As soon as Rae moves safely hidden under the bed, Sil cries out“ Aunty the mirror is off it’s Hinges again”. Her aunt and plumber hearing her shout once again turn towards her room to have a look at the mirror. Meanwhile Rae is silently watching the interlude between them hidden below the bed as she does not understand their language .
