The Prisoner Princess

Nereida Gone

"She's the princess," Loch told her, eyes sweeping across the riverbank where they saw her last. "And it's Nereida we're talking about."

"But we were supposed to meet today." Sabina emphasized, shaking her head. "I think something's wrong." Dark shadows started to rise higher as Sabina wrung her hands.

"Quit that out!" Loch shook her hands at the shadows as if trying to shoo them away. She turned to her friend, whispering under her breath, "We can't let anyone know what we're feeling or that Nereida may or may not be missing. It'll send the entire kingdom into panic!"

"The princess is missing?" piped a small voice.

They looked down to see a small hermit crab with an oversized shell. "What? No!" Loch exclaimed in what she hoped was an assuring manner. "We were just looking for her, that's all."

"Well, she's not here." The hermit crab replied unhelpfully. "Hasn't been here since she spoke with that nasty bird."

"Bird?"

The hermit crab shuddered. "Some sort of hawk or something. They spoke above the water and then she swam off."

Sabina's eyes snapped to him. "Do you know where she went?"

The crab pointed a tiny claw. "That way, told a fish to send a message that she was going to the docks. Something about a prince."

"Vidarr," Loch scowled, then stopped. "But we never got a message." she realized.

"Oh, you wouldn't have." The crab shrugged, "That bird ate it." It turned and scuttled away, leaving Loch and Sabina there wondering just what had happened to their friend.

Finally Sabina said, "This can't be a coincidence."

"No," Loch agreed, shaking her head.

"What do we do?"

Loch looked at her. Sabina's brows were scrunched in uncertainty, skin seeming more translucent than normal. "We do the only thing we can do." She told her, her voice leaving no room for doubt."We search the docks, and we find her."