Somewhere in the Sea

Chapter 05

Deep down several meters below sea level underneath Astola Island lies a kingdom unlike no other. Tall limestone buildings mimicking the coral reefs above are scattered across the city. Sea creatures as small as the jellyfish to large shoals of fish are also seen swimming peacefully.

In the center of the kingdom lies the castle of the King Fadel who lived with his wife, Queen Durre and his two daughters Marjan and Sanho. 

Legend has it that the Haft Talar Kingdom was formed after the tsunami wiped out their homes in Maldives. So as to prevent any further damage and exposure to the human world, the King decided to take his people and move to the nearest uninhabited sea, Pakistan, where they moved to Astola Island. They named the kingdom Haft Talar for what the locals called the island.

The king was moving around nervously as if he was waiting for someone. Fear was etched upon his face as he floated from one end to the other end of the room. The Queen sat on the throne deep in her thoughts looking depressed. When the door opened and the King's advisor came in. "Any news of her, Stephen?", asked the King. The advisor lowered his head, "No, My Lord. The search party is looking everywhere but so far, nothing. We went as far as the neighboring lands but no luck." 

The Queen burst into tears, "Oh my poor Sanho! Where is she? What could have happened to her? We should have never let her leave the castle!". "Calm down Durre. We'll find her", the king reassured her but deep down even he knew that there was no hope. It's been almost a month now since their elder daughter Sanho went missing. They looked everywhere but still couldn't find her. 

"My Lord if I may say something. Do you think it's because of the hum--", "NO!" bellowed the king and Stephen went silent. "My daughter is not irresponsible. She could not have wandered into the human world on her own. You hear me?!", "Yes sire" Stephen bowed his head down and left. But the king could not help but think about the other possibility. Merfolk of royalty, when they reach a certain age, are given what is called "The Power of the Seas' ', an amulet that helps them to control the forces of the underwater world. It's a sacred privilege given to a chosen few. The ones who do receive this power have to swear never to misuse these powers as great destruction lies with those who abuse it. What if she went and never came back? What if something bad happened to her or she got kidnapped? The king shook his head and went back to sit on his throne alongside the queen who was still weeping. He comforted her,  "She's gonna be fine Durre. She'll be back soon. I'll make sure of it".

Several floors above, the youngest daughter of the king and queen Princess Marjan was sitting in her room and lost in thoughts and worried just like her mother. "Where is she? She said she would be back but, where is she?" She floated through her room and looked at the family portraits. Sanho smiled brightly in the picture along with Marjan and her parents. She always had that positive energy around her and attracted everyone. Marjan touched the picture sadly lamenting, "I am gonna find you, no matter what!". 

The meeting with the advisory council was held later the next day to discuss the current situation. Princess Marjan was behind the door trying to listen in on the conversation, "...numerous sightings have been reported of a girl walking on water and hypnotizing and killing the humans", Stephen read out. "This is peculiar", thought the king, though he was dreading what could it be. "Any news who it was?". "No sire", "Where did the attack took place?", asked one of the councilman. "Near the village of fishermen not too far from here." "Fishermen? Don't you mean killermen?", interjected another. "Sir Orius, please! Now is not the time", Stephen replied. "Your Majesty, if I may speak on behalf of the community. I think whoever is doing this is putting these filth in their place. For years, these people come and mercilessly kill our fellows, polluted our waters and destroy everything we hold dear. I think we should thank this person for their grateful services", spited Orius. "That's enough, Orius", replied the king. "We are not merciless killers. Whoever is doing this is putting our community at risk. If we are exposed to the human world, that will be the end of the entire merfolk civilization. These attacks will anger the humans and they are bound to take revenge against whatever they find underwater. We have to find out whoever it is doing this and find an end to it." The councilmen agreed. "Hmm", Orius looked away. Just then, the messenger eel arrived "Sire! We just received news of another attack. This time it was near the island. Our men managed to get a good look of the culprit and...", his voice tailed off. "And?", inquired the king. "Who was it?". "Sire, it was... it was...", stammered the messenger, "WHO WAS IT?", shouted the king. "It was Princess Sanho!", replied the messenger with his head down.

The entire council went quiet. Everyone looked at the king and then the messenger in disbelief. "How dare you accuse the missing princess?", Stephen shouted. "Are you really sure about this?", asked a councilman. "Yes sir!, we had several eyewitnesses of this occasion. I wouldn't not have brought this news if I had not been sure." "Huh, the child was in the armpit and the chaos was in the lane", replied Orius in disgust. "Well, in this case, the child was the chaos. King Fadel, what do you think about this?". The king was dumbfounded and could not utter a single word. He just stood there, a broken man who longed to protect his people but in the end, his own daughter was the reason they all needed protection from.