Wherever the waves would take her

Preparing to dive

They had finished the food in no time at all and found themselves walking up one of the smaller hills of the island to a private cove now surrounded by the royal family's personal bodyguards.

The merfolk had places like this all over the world designed to be used by the different royal families and political dignitaries around the regions. They were handy if a quick escape was needed. Even more so with the recent influx of human activities creeping closer to the Merfolk's territories.

"We've been around the region with similar reports, Ev. But we will figure it out, I promise." Cas seemed to have read her thoughts as he materialised next to her to touch her arm.

Slight tingles could be felt where he had touched her, which seemed to help calm her frantic thoughts.

"Something doesn't feel right." Evie subtly rubbed the spot where Cas had touched her previously as she lowered her voice. "I can't explain it, but I don't want to alarm your parents. Or mine."

She took a cursory sweep around the place in as she always did.

This cove had been designed as a wide-open space hollowed out over time by the sea and hidden from anyone approaching from land. A set of stairs were usually located at the mouth of the cove, leading downwards to the open sea.

Only accessible during high tides, the cove's natural defences helped to keep humans away and allowed for the merfolk a place to go through their shifts.

As the King and Queen started their descent down the set of stairs, Evie's parents and sisters followed. Everyone had finished adjusting their hair and clothes to ensure nothing held them back in the water as Evie stood back and watched Rowena's outwardly impassive face.

From the slight tilt of her cheeks and the corners of her mouth beginning to draw up slightly, she noticed everything.

Rowena was brimming with excitement.

Evie smiled as she checked to see if her phone had enough battery to last the night. She was thankful for the merfolk's own technological advancements.

Wifi was ironically a bitch until Irma, Cas's younger sister, the youngest daughter of the Oceania King and Queen and a genius in her own right managed to solve that little problem for the merfolk. The mermaid could not live without Netflix.

"Ladies first." Cas made a slight bow from his waist, holding out his hand for Evie to take.

As she took his hand, she felt the tingles again radiating from his on hers as Evie's gaze fell to the tattoo on his inner right forearm about the size of his palm. She bit her lip to muffle any noises.

It was his personal coat of arms as the Oceania crown prince. The shield with the royal house of Oceania emblem in green and blue, a whale's tail disappearing into the water. They represented the choice made by Cas's ancestor to lead their people back into their seas that created their societies and Oceania itself.

This was supported by a set of weapons crossed together, a trident on the right and a sword on the left. Cas' personal reminder of the merfolk's shared history with their human brethren. Forsaken but not forgotten.

They served as a sobering lesson of greed and power, the crown prince's burden to bear as Cas prepared himself to ascend the throne. The future Queen's personal coat of arms would also bear those same markings once Ula selected a successor.

Evie didn't want to think of a nameless and faceless mermaid sitting on the Oceania throne next to Cas. She quickly retracted her hand from Cas, feeling colder with the absence on his hand on hers.