Mermaids of Devonian Times

Chapter 3: Past to Present

I couldn't believe what I was seeing. She saw the bewildered look on my face. "Who gave that to you?" I asked. She replied hesitantly like a child, afraid of being scolded by her mother. "My...grandfather gave this to me." She replied. As I didn't mean to come off harsh, something so sacred being in the hands of an unfamiliar stranger, born into another clan, had caught me by complete suprise, and even if she is a potential suitor for my brother, She is not apart of my royal family; nor blood, and I for one don't like to give out my trust so easily. So, how is it possible for her to possess such a valuable piece of information? Even if it is indeed her grandfather's doing, why? and when did he decide to rip out a piece of ancient history?
Unanswered questions began to fill my mind, and before I could be consumed by the thoughts, she further explained.  She begins by saying. "From what I remembered, my grandfather told me he was friends with your grandfather." She then explains how her grandfather told her very little about the book and his reasoning for ripping out that piece. "All I know is that they had both gotten so invested in the idea of finding the beast, but that idea was short lived, as my grandfather and him both decided that the best way to not conjure up something so dangerous was to somehow hide it." I explain, "One thing I find odd is I am just now finding out about my city's history through my professor, and not from my own family. I wish I had known more about my grandpa and his stories." I started to sound a smidge envious, but only because my grandfather sadly died when I was just a newborn, and neither my mother nor father ever cared to share with me anything about him, or my family's historical background. All they ever cared about was how to prepare me to be queen of Alamantica and find someone who will take my hand in marriage. Another thing I found unusual is, if only her grandfather knew before he passed, that his own granddaughter would have some sort of strange synchronous ability to come back to our city, but as a potential bride to our well known family. She continues, "I myself didn't expect this and, when your mother and father reached out to us..." I continued her sentence.
"It felt like fate?" Yes, she calmly agreed.'
I say jokingly out of nowhere. " I apologize to you in advance that fate presented my brother."  She then begins to giggle as that tiny joke aired out most of the tension.
We entered back into the room where our two brothers didn't even notice we were gone until one of us cleared our throats. Their continuous chatting quickly turned off, as if me and Ora were not invisible anymore. I'm sure it made both me and Ora question if we were truly their suitors and not the other way around.
Haxsel is the first to get up from his seat, "Well I think it's about time we head over to the dining room, I heard your mom prepared something great for us." A dinner? I asked, trying to see if they knew anything about this surprise event my mother was having. Ora chimes in to say she didn't know much about it either, Haxsel says with a playful smirk... "Maybe they have already arranged our marriage, and this is just a part of the ceremony?" With an annoying smile, my brother believes it is his most handsome face. He continues to say back confidently, "Don't worry, my newfound brother Haxsel. I'll do my best to make her fall in love with me." To those words I about gagged. As we all headed out with the guards guiding our way, I was curious to know what Haxsel meant when he said our parents had something great set up for us? We were then taken to our parents in the dining room, with fancier meals already prepared. The feast looked amazing. Our favorite dishes were placed on the table, as well as prepped sea greens and caviar, which I'm not a big fan of. To my surprise, both Ora's and Haxsel's parents were gathered in the dining room with us. We all took a seat, and I was told by my mother to take a seat next to Haxsel. I felt odd about the whole ordeal. Both families came together, and the son of this family is seen here with his parents to visit a potential wife. It is very unusual. Usually, a suitor will travel alone  to visit his potential wife's family, as this is a part of their mature quest to become an independent Merman. Never have I seen a potential suitor travel with his parents unless they are daughters.
My mother begins with a toast, and we all lift up our golden, rimmed wine glasses. She makes a little speech about how Haxsel and Ora's mom is a childhood friend with our mom. It all starts to make a little bit of sense now. "This my children is the clan I grew up in before I married your father."