The Secrets of Pimsim Cove - 13. Chapter 13

The feel of the water suddenly changed again as soon as we stepped inside the Palace. It somehow felt thicker and heavier, as if the water had an atmosphere all of its own. The wild currents that blew my hair around my face outside, were not rushing through the dense water inside.

It felt good and my hair decided to behave as it fell around my shoulders, spilling down my back in flowing waves.

The formalities of the grand entrance weren’t actually as bad as I had imagined. A man holding a clipboard hovered at the doorway and asked for our names. After checking the list he nodded and motioned us inside the ballroom with a sweep of his arm.

I expected the man’s scales to be jet black like Grandpa’s and Rook’s, but instead they were a translucent fleshy-like color. Obviously, I had worked myself up over nothing.

The whole ‘Grand Entrance’ thing had been blown way out of proportion! I could have done this on my own. When the white stone doors swung open, we went inside and suddenly, loud trumpets blared from far below.

I gasped and scrambled backwards, but Rook held my arm tight in his massive grip. “Too late to run away now,” Rook whispered under his breath.

“King Talbot, may I present Mr. Rook McLoughlin of the Cove and tonight he is escorting Miss. Anna McLoughlin, a cousin from New Zealand. She is the Great-Niece of Rosy and Stonebrook McLoughlin.” The announcer shouted into the crowd when we entered through the doorway of the ballroom.

Gasps rippled through the room as every head turned to watch us make our grand entrance. Oh my goodness, now I’m really gonna puke, but instead of a fantastic display of intestinal disruption, my scales did something even worse and turned bright neon pink. Not just the normal ones covering my tail and boobies like all the other Triton ladies in the room, but the flesh colored scales everywhere else that I’d been trying so hard to hide, turned pink too.

Rook looked at me and muttered, “Crap!”

This really must not be good. I glanced down at the glowing pattern of swirling vines and flowers. They spanned both of my arms, across my neck and decorated the sides of my face and forehead. To an ordinary bystander they just looked like an elaborate display of tedious tattoo art, but the Tritons knew they were scales.

Their gasps were followed by murmurs as the room began to buzz when everyone began to talk at the same time. So, genius, now what? Think, Anna, think! I had to do something. I mean something was way better than nothing and I couldn’t possibly make this situation any worse now, could I?

Stepping towards the crowd’s scrutinizing eyes; I tossed my hair over my shoulder and smirked like I’ve seen Paris Hilton do a thousand times on TMZ. I gave the crowd my best fake New Zealand accent. “What, don’t tell me you’ve never seen scale-accessories?” My hott chick impression was kickass! “It’s like, totally the new fashion rage back home!”

Okay, maybe the touch of 80’s valley girl was a tad overboard, but the people in the crowd turned their attention to their neighbors, I assume to ask if they have ever heard of such a crazy thing as ‘scale-accessories.’ As long as the focus was no longer on me, I really didn’t care.

I wrapped my arm around Rook’s thick bicep and practically dragged him down the steps. His mouth was still gaping in shock, “What is wrong with you?” He stammered.

“I don’t know!” Scanning the packed room for Rosy, I spotted a familiar face and immediately wanted to die. It wasn’t just a familiar face in the crowd. The only splash of black hair in the entire room was where Sean stood in the far back corner with his father.

Michael looked just as shocked as Rook still did, but Sean had a huge grin stretching from ear to ear. “Well, I’m soooooo glad that I still know how to amuse him.” I muttered under my breath.

The center of the ballroom was filled with people, making it difficult to flick my tail with enough force to propel very far. “Excuse me…pardon me…excuse me…coming through!” I shoved my way through the crowd with Rook following closely behind.

They continued to gasp and speak to each other in hushed tones as if I couldn’t hear them talking about me and my scales. Stopping for just a moment to glance at the faces surrounding us, I noticed that the crowd was beautiful. They weren’t just an attractive bunch of people…they were all drop-dead-gorgeous!

Not one ugly, fat, bald, short, or pimply-faced person in the bunch. Instead they were all long and lean with radiantly glowing skin, and silky fair hair flowed from almost every person. Every woman had an amazing set of full perky boobs and every man looked like he had just stepped off the front of a GQ magazine cover. Great, I’ve died and gone to cheerleader hell!

Servers passed through the crowd carrying platters filled with strange twisty glasses that were filled with a dark liquid. Even the staff was just as beautiful as the party guests, but the hired help’s scales were the same muted flesh-color as the doorman’s scales.

The gawking group parted and Rosy swam through the narrow space. She rushed forward and pulled me into her powerful embrace and softly whispered into my ear. “Are you alright?”

Afraid that my voice would only come out in a squeak, I nodded my head and gave her a weak smile. That was when I noticed that most of the crowd surrounding us was mostly composed of women. It had been a even mix just moments before. It wasn’t that the men had suddenly decided to retreat, but more like the women had suddenly decided to advance…on Uncle Rook.

Blond beauties pressed closer and closer to us. A frantic energy shimmered around the female crowd.

“Will you dance with me Rook?” One of them called out.

“No, Rook, dance with me!” Another shouted.

“You look so handsome tonight, Rook!” Compliments rose from the crowd, yet they were quickly followed by an angry confrontation that ensued.

“Hey, I saw him first!”

“Get in line, girls…behind me!”

“Rook?”

“Rook!”

Within moments, the group of women were all shouting at once and the only constant word that I could decipher was the frantic noise of them calling out Rook’s name. Goodness, how could so many beautiful women all be interested in the same man?

I shot a curious glance in his direction and suddenly saw what they were looking at. His emerald eyes beamed with his genuine smile. His ruggedly handsome face, rock hard abs and adorable strawberry hair made him one sexy package!

I shook my head at the insanity of these women closing the gap around us. Thankfully Rosy’s quick reflexes and strong arms pulled me free from the crowd before I was crushed by the raging estrogen. “Is it always that smurfing crazy whenever girls are around him?” I asked her.

“Your uncle is considered to be one of the best catches around.” Her eyes twinkled as we moved further away from the crazy mob of women. Rosy steered me towards a cluster of older, more sensible women that I assumed where her committee friends. As we swam towards them, I glanced back to where Sean and Michael had been before the hormone riot.

Their shiny black hair made them easy to spot in the overly blond-haired crowd. Those girls can lust after Rook all they want and leave dark, brooding Sean D’Gloma for me.

Michael and Sean appeared to be in a tense conversation. Sean ran his fingers through his hair and shook his head no, several times. Michael reached out to place a hand on Sean’s shoulder, but before he had the chance, Sean turned and swam out of reach.

“I wonder what that’s all about.”

“What dear?”

I hadn’t realized that I had spoken out loud, until Rosy responded to my subconscious blabber. Plastering a fake smile back on my freckled face and pushing the father-son argument out of my head, I turned back to Rosy. “Oh, nothing, are these the ladies from your Solstice Committee?”

She stopped in front of a group of ladies. Grandma Gigi would turn green with envy at Rosy’s group of friends. Assuming they were all close to Rosy’s age, then that would make each of them in their mid-sixties, but you would never guess it from looking at them. Smooth flawless skin, flat trim stomachs, and dazzlingly-perky boobs were not normal traits of the average grandmother and none of these women looked anything but perfect. Not one of them looked a day over forty!

“You must be Anna!” The first woman spoke as she smiled at me. She glanced over my unusual scales, but she didn’t say anything about them. Her pale skin was sparkly white from years of living far beneath the water where only a few rays of sunshine reach down each day.

Before I could answer the first woman, another one pulled me into a warm hug. “You are just as lovely as Rosy described you. Oh, Margie, isn’t she!”

“Why, yes dear, she is.” The woman, Margie, nodded her head as she agreed. She was just as pale as the other women. Peering at me with her bright blue eyes, she was the only one who stared at me while the rest of Grandma’s friends ignored the neon-pink elephant in the room, aka my unusual scales.

I glanced over at Rosy. She gave me a subtle wink of her emerald green eyes letting me know that she understood my silent plea to escape the current situation and said, “Anna dear, why don’t you go and keep Stony company while I chat with my friends for a wee bit longer?”

Freedom! “Yes ma’am,” I quickly set off to search for my grandfather, but instead decided that maybe this would be the perfect opportunity to poke around a little while and look for Talbot’s hidden dungeon. Unfortunately, before I got more than a few feet, I noticed that all of the exits were guarded by huge mammoth-like guards.

Talbot’s men stood with no-nonsense expressions frozen on their cold hard faces like ginormous stone statues. They were huge and super-scary and there was no way in this watery world that I was going to be able to slip past them unnoticed. I blew out a frustrated string of bubbles and went back to searching for Stony instead.

I found Stony just beyond the dance floor, with a cluster of older men in the far corner. Stonebrook looked content standing among his friends, watching the other guests enjoying the festivities. Grandpa was a wallflower like me and I was glad to join him.

“So, are you enjoying your first Solstice Celebration?” He asked with a playful grin when I finally reached him. I leaned over and pecked a quick kiss on his cheek, before looping my arm through his.

“No!” I beamed with fake enthusiasm. “Well, let’s see, I made a total ass out of myself with my scandalous scale-accessories, and then I was nearly mobbed by lustful lunatic ladies trying to seduce Uncle Rook, and to top it all off, look at those wretched people out there on that dance floor.”

Stony furrowed his eyebrows in confusion.

“Do you hear this music?” I asked.

He listened to the soft melodic rhythm of the band playing a dozen instruments that I’d never even seen before, let alone had ever heard of any of the songs they were playing. The music sounded like a soft sweet hum as Triton men and women glided around the dance floor with their tails swishing in unison.

“I don’t understand Anna, the music is absolutely beautiful.”

“That’s not the point, Gra—Stony,” I quickly corrected myself. I was supposed to be Great-Niece Anna and not Granddaughter Anna. “I don’t know how to dance to this--”

His laughter interrupted my self-pitying pout. “You are so much like your father. You put too much thought into everything. Just sway your tail to the rhythm.” He placed his hand on his chest and closed his brilliant blue eyes. “Do you feel that? Just let the melody lead you!”

Feeling like a fool, I closed my eyes too and held my hand against my chest filled with sparkly pink scales and listened. LA-LA-DE-DUMMMMM…LA-LA-DE-DEEEEE! He was right. I could feel the pulse of the music strumming inside my chest.

My eyes popped open to tell him that he was amazing, only to find that he was gone. Grandpa had left me… but I wasn’t all alone. Sean was standing in front of me, watching me with bright curious eyes.

“Do I even want to know?” He motioned to my hand hovering on my chest just above my virtually non-existent boobies. Just what I needed, this gorgeously hott, sexy guy to witness yet another one of my many embarrassing moments! He looked amazing shirtless, scars and all, with his midnight black scales matching his silky black hair. (Chicks dig scars…hehehe!)

“I was just…just…” Glancing down at my chest, I snatched my hand away. Mom always said that honesty was the best explanation for any situation, so I jumped right into it…fins first. “I was trying to feel the rhythm of the music.”

Sean cocked his head and listened to the soft lullaby-like sound when it suddenly changed tempo to a slightly more upbeat pace. His eyes lit up when he smiled, obviously recognizing this strange new tune. The crowd surged on the dance floor. They shouted and cheered. This must be the Triton form of the Cha-Cha Slide, because almost everyone joined in to dance.

“Come on,” he held out his hand to me, but I gave him a reluctant shake of my head. “It’s easy, Anna, and you’ll do great, now get off your tail fins and come on!”

With Sean’s not-so-gentle insisting, I reluctantly found my delicate hand wrapped in his long warm fingers as he led me out to the center of the ballroom. Sean placed his hands on my hips and gently swished his hips to the beat of the music. “Do you feel the pulsing sound of the scallop drum? Do you hear it?”

I listened for the sound as he moved my hips to the right then back to the left in sync with the alluring beat. My face lit up as I felt the warm feeling, fill my chest. I could hear it! Sean smiled. “Good,” he growled into my ear, “now hold on tight.”

It wasn’t until I noticed the other couples on the dance floor twisting and swaying in perfect harmony that I realized that we weren’t going to just sway back and forth to the drum.

Sean lifted me up and pulled my hips to his as we started to pulse through the frenzied crowd. My heartbeat kept time with the tempo of the large drum made out of colorful scallop shells. I felt like I was flying. Sean’s arms were strong, yet gentle, as he held me tight against him.

People around us cheered and clapped to the music. Dancing with Sean was like a fairytale come true. He stared down into my eyes and smiled. That was it! I completely melted in his arms. There was no denying it. I was totally in love with this guy.

The song continued as he led and I followed his seductive moves. My spine tingled, my heart raced, while my stomach fluttered, then the music came to a crashing crescendo. The people around us cheered the end of the song, but Sean held me to him as we continued to sway to the beat of our singing hearts.

I panted trying to catch my breath. Sean reached out and snagged a tall twisty glass off a young server’s platter, as she passed through the cheering crowd. He took a quick sip before offering the glass to me. I eyed the mysterious liquid inside.

“Drink it,” Sean said, “it’s jimva juice!”

“It’s what?” I scrunched up my nose when I asked him about the dark drink that incredibly, somehow was staying inside the glass in a room full of water. It must have something to do with the change in pressure that I felt coming into the City.

“Jimva is a plant that grows deep in the darkest corners of the ocean. The berries are used to make jimva juice.” He said and laughed when I was still hesitant to try it, so he took the glass from me and he drank another sip.

“Ahhhhh!” Sean exaggerated after he drank. I was still reluctant, but decided to give it a try. The juice was thick as it swirled around the glass. Sniffing at it didn’t give me any hint of the flavor, so I tipped my head back and took a reluctant swallow. It was amazing!

Jimva tasted sweet. “Wow!” I said before downing the entire glass in one swift gulp. It was kind of like mixing up grapes, strawberries and a little bit of watermelon, but even better. Sean shook his dark head and smiled. His hair, like everyone else’s, hung down normally and not in the wild messy array in the water outside.

“If you like that, then you’re gonna love this.” He said as he grabbed my hand, threading his fingers through mine, and led me over to a long buffet table filled with strange new foods.

I couldn’t distinguish what anything was just by its looks. Crazy colors and shapes filled the platters. Sean handed me a plate that felt heavier than the normal dishes back on land. “How does all of this stay on the table and not float away?”

He thought for a second about how to explain. “Changes in the water’s chemical composition affect the water’s density--”

“Like the Dead Sea. The salt makes things float to the top.”

“Something like that, only in reverse. Down here, things are heavier than they would be in shallow water.” His explanation made me remember a similar egg experiment back in 6th grade. Sean steered me towards the food and translated the assortment of delectables.

“This is very, very sweet.” He said as he placed a slice of something red on my plate.

“What’s this?” I pointed to a thick hunk of what looked like bright blue meat.

“That’s Pasric meat, it’s good, but it’s really spicy.”

“Pasric? What the smurf is a ‘Pasric’?”

“Pasric,” he laughed, “is just like everything you see down here, Anna, it all comes from the ocean. Humans have only explored about ten percent of our world down here. There’s so much that they don’t know about.”

I never thought about that and pulled a small piece of meat away from the display and placed it on my plate beside the red stuff. The next dish was black and smelly, so I playfully pushed him along the buffet table past the stinky dish. He picked out a few more things to add to my plate.

Sean held onto my elbow before steering me towards an empty table in ballroom. I’ve never been one of those girls who was afraid to actually eat in front of a boy. You know the type. Blond bimbos who eat one piece of lettuce then spend the rest of dinner pushing the rest of her salad around the plate with her fork claiming that she was full.

I only had a chance to sample the spicy blue meat when suddenly trumpets blared. The ballroom immediately grew silent as everyone stared up at the balcony towering overhead. It appeared to be carved out of the rock wall itself; everyone looked up except me, like a doof, I glanced over at the grand entrance. I expected to see a latecomer straggling into the party

A hush of whispers racing through the crowd when a tall sinister looking man appeared at the edge of the majestic balcony and glared down at his people below.

Sean and I had been having such a wonderful time, that until now I hadn’t noticed the people gathered above us. A chill ran down my spine when the man looked directly at me and I knew that I was staring into the eyes of the evil tyrant who had kidnapped my father.

“Ladies and gentlemen, I would like to thank you for joining us on this special and most festive occasion.” Talbot smiled at the crowd, “the Summer Solstices Committee has outdone themselves, once again.” Anyone with half a brain could see that his creepy smile was fake.

His face stayed fixed in that phony smile as he continued, “I want to extend a warm welcome to the Indian Kingdom and the Jamaican Kingdom who have both sent representative here, to Ireland, to make a request for Princess Rahuna’s hand in marriage.”

Murmurs raced through the crowd. Curious about what the Tritons from the other Kingdoms looked like, my eyes scanned over the other people on the balcony. The Indian’s and Jamaican’s were both darker skinned than the Irish, but not much tanner than myself. The biggest difference was their hair and eyes.

Long black silky hair was compliment by their bold red scales of the Indian Tritons, but the Jamaican’s wore their thick rope-like dreadlocks pulled back at the nape of their necks. Tropical blue colored their scales making their complexions almost pop, and they were all just as beautiful as the pale blond Irish people.

“My advisors and I,” Talbot said, “are considering both Kingdoms’…generous offers,” He almost spit out the last two words as his icy gaze suddenly narrowed in on Sean. “And I’ve assured them that I will give them my answer by the end of this lunar phase.” He finished his speech through slightly clenched teeth.

What the heck was that about? I turned to Sean to ask him what was going on, but his seat was empty. I caught a glimpse of his dark head disappearing into the crowd as he rushed away. Starting to chase after him, I only got as far as one flick of my tail before a powerful hand shot out of the crowd and wrapped around my arm.

Gasping at the abrupt halt, I relaxed when I looked up into the face of my captor, who happened to be Uncle Rook. “Let him go!”

“But--”

“Some things are better left alone.” Rook said and gave me a weak smile. He obviously knew what was going on and I wanted to get to the bottom of it. I was tired of being the last person in the loop. I glanced around, waiting to be mobbed again by a swarm of crazy women, and would have almost welcomed the irrupting at this moment, because it would have given me an opportunity to go after Sean.

“But I don’t understand! Who is Rahuna and why do India and Jamaica both want to marry her?”

Rook carefully contemplated my questions before explaining. “Princess Rahuna is Talbot’s oldest daughter. If she marries a Prince from either Kingdom, and produces a male child…that child will become the rightful heir to Talbot’s throne. That’s why Talbot is stalling. He’s not going to give up his Kingdom that easy. As a King, there is always the threat of being overthrown when there isn’t a legitimate heir to the throne. He probably never expected a political play for his Kingdom so soon after the Queen’s death, but now that she has passed away, he must produce a male son as his seventh child or be forced to start accepting proposals for his six daughters…starting with Rahuna. ”

I gasped when I suddenly realized why Talbot had been glaring at Sean. The old geezer wants his stupid Ring back to guarantee him a son. Talbot was tired of waiting around and now that India and Jamaica were circling his Kingdom like sharks looking for a quick kill, he wanted the Ring back and he wanted it back now! “How long do we have to stop it?” The phases of the moon were never my best topic in science class. I bit at my lower lip waiting for Rook’s answer.

“Three days…there are three more days until the end of the current lunar phase, but believe me, Anna, Talbot is going to do everything in his power to hold on to his throne and keep it in his bloodline and nobody else’s!”

Okay, three more days. I had to find Sean and ask him where he and Michael left off during their search since I could now help them in the hunt for Talbot’s Ring, but before I had a chance to complete that thought or even rush off to find Sean, I was pulled backwards into someone’s warm embrace.

Strong arms wrapped around my waist from behind, eagerly pulling me towards the dance floor. The look of surprise that flashed across Rook’s face was peculiar. He had to know by now that I had feelings for Sean. I giggled as I turned within the strong arms and came face to face with a stranger.

Letting out a startled yelp, I struggled to pull myself free from the tall handsome young man, but his grip grew tighter around my waist. I was surprised to see him and assumed that he must have just grabbed me by mistake. “I’m sorry,” I muttered. “You must have thought that I was someone else--”

“Oh, there was no mistake, Anna!” His face was very attractive, yet he seemed so cold and calculating. Again, I tried to pull away from him, but he just smiled and shook his blond head as he continued to pull me towards the dance floor.

“I’m flattered… really I am, but I was just waiting for my date and he should be back at any moment now--”

His smile curled into a cruel smirk. “No, Anna, I don’t think D’Gloma is going to be back anytime soon.” He said as he leaned in, whispering against my ear.

I gasped and pushed against him, but the more I struggled, the tighter his grip grew. The couples dancing nearby paid no attention to us and I shot a frantic glance over my shoulder searching for Uncle Rook, but he was gone too.

Trying to control my trembling voice, I held my head up and looked him right in his frigid blue eyes. “Let go of me!” I ordered him, but kept my voice low to prevent us from causing a scene. I already had one too many embarrassing scenes tonight, but this only humored the guy and his face suddenly twisted into an ugly snarl.

“Sean found someone else to fill his evening, so your dance card is now open for the rest of the night.” He sneered.

“You’re a liar!” I shouted at him.

That was the reaction that he wanted. He motioned his blond head towards the back of the ballroom. He was very tall and lean and could easily spy overtop of the crowded room with his height, which left me at a disadvantage being so much shorter than everyone else.

The sudden movement of him dropping his hands and grasping below my hips brought a terrified gasp to my throat. He hoisted me up to his narrow shoulder giving me an unobstructed view of the entire ballroom. My doubting eyes searched every darkened corner of the back of the ballroom. That’s was then I suddenly saw him…I saw Sean…I saw both of them.

Pain exploded inside my chest. Sean’s hands were nestled in the palms of a radiant beauty. She was more beautiful than anyone I’d ever seen! She wasn’t an awkward girl, she was a glorious woman. Her long golden hair glowed, her skin sparkled, and she had the most perfect curves and shapes that every man desired. Even Sean couldn’t pull his adoring eyes away from her, she was so captivating.

But her eyes nervously darted around the room. She watched the crowd and waited for the right opportunity and when she was sure nobody was watching them, they slipped out of the darkened corner and dashed for an unguarded door. Canary yellow scales emphasized her round hips as she disappeared into another other part of the Palace with Sean eagerly following behind her.

I’d seen enough. Thrashing around, Mr. Evil Smile let go of his grip, plopping me back into his arms.

“Looks like Rahuna is going to do some private celebrating--”

“Rahuna? As in Princess Rahuna?” I gasped. It felt like I was going to puke.

He smiled as he immensely enjoyed my discomfort. “Well, what would you expect from a Greenie? They are nothing, but cowardly scoundrels--”

“I’m a Greenie!” I exploded.

He jerked my arm, pulling me so close to his face that we were almost nose to nose. It didn’t matter how attractive he was, he was an arrogant puss-bag. “And I am a Royal!” He roared. “That means that I can have anything and anyone that I want! Greenie or not, you should be flattered to just be standing in my presence!”

That was it. I had enough of this crap for one night. Royal or not, I punched him in his stomach, as hard as I could, catching him more by surprise than actually hurting him. His abs might be tight and lean, but they were nowhere near the hard sculpted muscles that Sean has.

UMFFFF! He gurgled, letting out a string of bubbles and releasing his grip on my arms. I immediately flicked my tail and rushed towards the grand staircase. I had to get out of there, get as far away from everyone as possible.

The trumpet players standing beside the bottom steps watched me charge towards them, but no one tried to stop me. I swam out the door and disappeared into the crowded streets still filled with Tritons celebrating in Pimsim City.