Thread: Siren Songs and Black Market Sails ~ Roses & RippledStatic

The moon was full, hanging high in a starless sky over the large coastal city. Silver tendrils danced on the calm waves as the moon's distorted reflection was carried out in all directions. A cool breeze blew in off the water, cooling the city down from the heat of the summer day but most of the people were asleep by now. And those that weren't were busy packing up their shops, preparing for their bright and early openings in the morning. The city was the stronghold of the Donagall Kingdom. It was peaceful prosperous kingdom, not really involved in many wars or rebellions but like any place they had their fair share of thieves and black market scoundrels. King Hector ruled with a kind and merciful hand, alongside him was his wife, Queen Hannah. Their kindom survived on mostly trading and fishing, being on the cost, it was a great asset. It was also great tactically, but they never really had a need for it. For years The king and queen ruled happily, but something was missing from their life. An heir. The queen, unable to conceive grew desperate. She knew if anyone found out a child not of their blood were to take the thrown, it could cause chaos, but they needed an heir Thats when they found Lile. With their keep situated on the beach, it was easy to spot the shipwrecked woman on their shore. When the guard came to them, the king and queen rushed to the woman only to discover a horrifying secret. She was no survivor, but some creature, half human half fish, and the babe in her arms was just like her. The Queen begged her husband to spare the child so he did and Lile survived but her mother was slaughtered and returned to the sea. For the next twenty years the king and queen raised the baby as their own. They discovered a way to hide her secret and raise her as a human. But still they kept her secluded from most of the world. At last they had an heir. Now the only problem would be finding someone they could trust enough with her secret. They had already killed numerous people who had gotten too close to finding out. Lile took a deep breath of the cool night air as she stepped out onto the private beach beside her familys keep. It was a small secluded place that once had walls and fences but during her teenage tantrum years she convinced her parents to tear them down. Unknown to her, the consequences of removing those barriers resulted in more then a few passersby catching a glimpse of the bathing princess and therefore the king had them executed. It was the same ritual she did every night though, to keep her body calm and what her parents referred to as normal. Her guards knew better than to disturb her so once she was alone, the young woman stripped off her dress and let it fall to the almost white sand around her feet. Golden hair almost glowed in the moonlight as she stepped into the cold water. She shivered, goosebumps breaking out across her pale skin but she smiled before she dove in the whole way. Thats when something miraculous happened beneath the water. Scales ruptured from her skin along her wrist and elbows. More showed up along her spine and hips as her legs fused together and created one strong thick muscle coated in shimmering blue-green scales. Every night the princess bathed in the ocean. It rejuvenated her, rehydrated her. If she failed to do so her body would start to show her scales and revert back to this, its natural state, on dry land. Lile never knew she was any different from the rest of the world. Her parents didnt let her have friends so she just assumed that everyone had to do what she did to survive. It was the only life she knew so she didn't know any better. The woman broke the surface of the water and smoothed her long locks out of her face, grinning a pearly white smile. She loved the water and loved swimming, but another rule, she wasnt aloud to stray too far. Bright sapphire eyes scanned the ocean as she floated, just enjoying her respite from her parents. She longed to swim out further, deeper into the black abyss but she loved her parents so she obeyed. She only pushed the boundaries a little bit every night, swimming just a few extra yards out, diving just a bit deeper than before.