A Mermaid Tale - Book 1 (IN EDITING)

Chapter 10

            "Tara. My name is Tara." I snapped.

            "Well, until you continue to address me as Taiven instead of Majesty, I shall call you Tarabelle." Taiven responded, again with his stupid victory grin. "Now that we've swam for a little while" A little while? Seriously! This was what we called little. "I think it is time that I get to know you a little better."

              "Fine, go ahead." I said with a sigh. There was nothing for me to sit down on. There was water, only water. Ugh, stupid fish world.

            "What happened to you mother?" Was the first question that came of out his mouth with no hesitation, what so ever.  

            My body tensed. This was an extremely sore subjected for me. Sure, Mom had been dead since I was nine, but unlike Taiven, I didn't really move on so quickly. I blamed Mom's death on everything that's happened to me. Her death is the reason why Dad started taking advantage of me, the reason why Ridge slowly started becoming a punk and eventually ran away,  the reason why my life to turned to hell, and of course the reason why I ended up down here. There is not one day now that doesn't go by when I think about hw my life would have been if my mother would have still been alive.

            "Cancer" I finally managed to say, trying to shut my thoughts up. "She died from cancer when I was nine." I couldn't look at Taiven in the eyes, even though I was sure he was watching me. I really felt like crying, but didn't. What the heck was with me? I've cried more in the past three days then I have in the past three years. Maybe it's mermaid hormones.

            There was a silence between the both of us. Still, he eventually broke the moment. "Would you care to start swimming again?" He asked.

            "No. Unless if it's to go back and sleep." I answered. Well more like mumbled.

            "I apologise for bringing the subject up Tara." He said, clearly meaning it. I instantly noticed when he called me Tara, but didn't comment on it. "I know what it is like to lose a mother." I nodded, but still refused to look at him. "My mother only died a few months ago, and I am being forced to keep my head up high for the sake of my kingdom. If I could, I would cry each moment I should have, instead of ignoring my pain." 

            I shot my head up. "What are you even doing here Taiven?" I asked suddenly changing the subject. "You have an entire kingdom to run, a wedding to plan and merpeople to look after, and here you are, with me."

            "Like I told you yesterday, I would like to get to know you bet—" He attempted to say, before I interrupted him.

            "That's total bullshit Taiven." I snapped. "I seriously don't like being lied to, and I think it's really low that a Prince would try to get away with that. So again, what the fuck are you doing here?" It felt so go to swear. I just hope that I don't get my head chopped off for that.

            He sighed. "Do really think that I want to be here?" He snapped back. Good, now we were getting somewhere. "Do you honestly think that I want to waste my time with a silly little wannabe mermaid? No, of course I don't. But it is either this or planning my wedding which I do not even want to attend." He called me a silly little wannabe mermaid! The bastard! "At least I have an excuse to get away from my fiancé, my demanding father, my ignorant staff and guards, my contradicting sisters, and of course my paranoid kingdom." He sighed again loudly. "I barely just passed 300 years old, and this is way too much for me to handle."

            My jaw dropped at his age. If he was like 300, how old was his Dad? Crap, was I going to have to live that long now? For the next thousand and some odd years will I always be known as the silly little wannabe mermaid? I don't know what was more humiliating. The fact that Taiven was insulting me, or the fact that what he was saying wasn't true. For one thing I wasn't little, and I certainly wasn't a wannabe. Personally I just want to know the basics so I that can get through the next God knows how many years to come. But he was right about one thing. I was a mermaid. Well, as close to one as I can possibly be anyway.