The Suggestion Box, Vol. 4: A to Z Challenge

Letter G: "Gondu's Gamble"

This tale is a tie-in short story based on my fairy tale re-telling, Princess of Undersea, which you can find on Amazon!

The sunbeams cast rippled patterns over the seabed, broken by dark shadows darting to and fro. The kingdom of Undersea was awash with activity: the King's Army would be setting forth on a mission to conquer the monsters that had been plaguing the merfolk.

"General Gondu!" A messenger swam through the long, narrow maze of passages that served as the army garrison. "Has anyone seen the General?"

A bulky guard eyed the lithe swimmer only just over half his own size. "The General is in his quarters," he drew the name out slowly, his gills flapping in barely-concealed irritation. The soldier drew two thick bone-knives from their sheaths on his back to check their blades. "He's kind of hard to miss, if you know what I'm saying."

The scrawny young messenger popped his throat gills in terror, but scurried on his way.

"General Gondu!"

"Get outta the way!"

The messenger had to dart and twist to avoid being pushed back by an entire unit swimming toward the exit behind him. Twisting and curling his tail fluke out from among the savage blades, the messenger sighed with relief as he hovered in the empty tunnel. Wait—empty?

"General Gondu, sir?" The messenger inched forward.

"... No, no; that's not it. Why, I'd be delighted, your majesty. For me? Ah, that's quite lovely!" The messenger followed the droning, aimless voice till he came to the opening in the coral wall, draped across with a curtain of sea grass.

"And now," the voice continued, "shall we discuss that betrothal you mentioned? Your daughter is quite—"

"General Gondu?"

"WHAT?"

The messenger darted back against the far wall as the tall, grey-skinned merman lunged toward him. Bulging green eyes glared from amid a tangle of red hair as Gondu sneered at the messenger.

"How dare you sneak up on me like that?" He thundered. "Do you want to be taken for a spy? Don't you know that I could have you exiled? My mother's a gossamer, she could rot the scales right off your—"

"General Gondu, sir!"

"Do not interrupt me! I am a General in the King's Army and I will not be disrespected by meaningless little—"

"The King is ready to depart, sir!"

The messenger delivered his notice and made for the nearest exit.

Gondu ruffled his neck-gills in disgust. "Guppy," he snarled, withdrawing into his room. He emerged a few moments later, wearing a pair of golden gauntlets set with glittering garnets, his hair interwoven with a green seaweed garland. He paused to observe his reflection in a shiny slab of obsidian, flexing his long limbs and straightening his tail.

A chorus of voices outside the garrison distracted him from his musings. Gondu slipped out an opening and joined the school of soldiers swimming overhead.

The merman beside him snorted. "Took you long enough!"

"Shut your gob," Gondu jabbed him in the side, sending the merman into the current of several other soldiers.

The merman just ahead, a long, swift soldier with white hair chopped short, turned back to glance over Gondu's accessories.

"You're ridiculous, Gondu, you know that?"