Lilophea-3: Queen of the Sea and Princess of the Ocean

She’ll have to watch her lodge in the observer mirror later. It wasn’t right to peek unceremoniously into someone else’s private affairs, but Lilophea was curious. Besides, she was still holding the amulet. It was the same as her uncle the King’s. It had more feathers. It seemed to be intertwined with strands of someone else’s hair.

«Throw it away or burn it.»

The painfully familiar voice, alternating with a bird’s croak, seemed almost like an obsession at the bottom of the sea.

Lilophea had never expected to see Seneschal here. The peacock swam in a dignified manner, fluttering the tips of its wings. His paws did not resemble those of a fish. He wasn’t an underwater bird, that’s for sure.

«You’re here, aren’t you?» It seemed like a dream to Lilophea. She touched his luxurious tail to be sure.

«I ate a nasty weed that grows on the beach, and gained the ability to breathe underwater for hours,» he boasted. «I am clever. I know how to find such grass. It often grows in the sand. All you have to do is pick it up with your beak. It tastes disgusting. But I did the heroic thing for you. I ate the whole bundle. Now I won’t suffocate.»

«So you missed me?» She petted his crest happily. «Wouldn’t you think so?»

«Well, I haven’t got a heart of stone,» said Seneschal proudly. «I am capable of love and longing, just as humans are.»

«And the watcher’s mirror told me you were happy with Baldwin. I must have agreed. One mermaid says they sometimes lie.»

«No, they don’t!» Seneschal grunted. «I needed someone to take care of me while you were away. So I tried to make myself useful to everyone I could. But I’ll betray them all when you get back to Aquilanía.»

She didn’t want to disappoint Seneschal right away and tell him she wasn’t likely to come back.

«By the way, how did you find me at the bottom of the sea? It’s a big bottom, and I’m not at the palace where I should be.»

«Well, you know, I’m an unusual bird,» boasted the peacock. «And I sing like a siren, and I speak like a man, and I know all the languages of the animals. And also…»

«It is a stone in your forehead!» Lilophea guessed. It glowed in a way that made everything clear. «It’s imbued with some kind of magic.»

«That’s right! You’ve gotten a lot smarter since we parted,» Seneschal flapped his wings, creating fountains of spittle. «It was sad to see you kidnapped by a waterman. I’d say it was the most tragic day of my life when my mistress was taken from me. Now I’ve even begun to understand how grooms feel when a bride is taken away from them right at the altar.»

«Don’t be so dramatic.»

«I didn’t mean to be. There’s a silver lining to everything. I used to be your favorite. Since you’ve been gone, all the attention has been on me as the princess’ only friend. I am spoiled!»

Seneschal breathed underwater, not thinking of the time when the effects of the wonderful herb would wear off.

«It’s a good thing I’ve managed to get a foothold in Aquilanía. I can’t go back to my former benefactors,» Seneschal admitted.

«And who are these former benefactors?»

«They are the White Fairy and the Sea King. At first Ariana was my mistress, and then she lost me to Seal. They played shells (it’s a dice kind of game). I like a chump, watched and gave advice to both of them. Mistress Ariana got mad and purposely lost me to Seal. And he sent me to you with a portion of gifts from the sea. He didn’t need me underwater anyway. I’m not even a water bird, but I’m beautiful. I was a fine gift for a princess.»

Seneschal fluffed up his tail with importance.

«So you were sent here from the start to persuade me to be with the water man, not the Sultan! And you, on the contrary, warned me.»

She thought the opposite.

«I’m honest! I didn’t like being soaked in Seal’s claws, either. My former Mistress, the Sea Fairy, had been nicer to me, and she never sent me to dangerous tasks. She should have lost me to him! And it’s not the first time it’s happened to me. My first mistress also lost me to Ariana. I fly from hand to hand like a bargaining chip!»

«How unlucky you are.»

«That’s right!»

«I certainly wouldn’t have betrayed you to pirates or sold you to merchants, but I was lured under the water myself.»

«It is bad luck to have a foolish mistress,» he agreed. «Your carelessness is reprehensible.»

«You talk like a governess.»

«I could be your tutor and lecture you every day instead of singing songs,» Seneschal eagerly volunteered.

«You don’t have to do that.»

«But you’ve got to be saved from the next mistakes. You will surely make them. That’s why I came back. You can’t leave a naive girl alone.»

«I’m not a girl anymore. I’m the wife of the Sea King now.»

«It won’t be for long. I’ve made arrangements with Morrin. He’ll help you escape to the nearest island. He has a plan.»

«No, you don’t understand! I like him.»

«Who is it? Is it Morrin?»

«No. It is the Water King.»

«Are you joking? He is a tyrant!»

«He…» «Lilophea felt herself blushing, and the water did not cool her flushed cheeks. «Sometimes he’s so gallant. And I find him handsome.»

The peacock almost fainted.

«Don’t joke about that! He has blue skin and coral gills and webbing and pearls growing right in his forehead and a trident that can strike lightning.»

«His eyes are the color of the sea. The features of his face are beautiful. Even the sculptures in the galleries of Aquilania have no such exquisite beauty. He has the golden eyebrows, and the lashes, and the skin the color of ice…»

«Darling, he has bewitched you.»

The peacock was really worried.

«Wake up, Lilophea! He’s the water king! Do you know how many naive girls like you he’s sunk? He’s not a sultan. He doesn’t recruit beauties for his harem. He drags them into the abyss and drowns them by seducing them with sweet talk, like you.»

«But he didn’t drown me.»

«Sweetheart, you live underwater. The fact that you can, as it turns out, breathe in the water is your fault, not his. I swear he didn’t know when he dragged you out to sea that you wouldn’t die in the deep.»

«He said he did.»

«All watermen are big liars and cheats.»