𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑜𝑛𝑔𝑠 𝑜𝑓 𝑤𝑎𝑟

Chapter one

ashore kingdom - village

The ashore kingdom was quiet as the siren swam by, but children were ushered inside their homes by worried parents, and merfolk stopped working to get a better look at the species they so feared. Queen Elowyn swam by peacefully, no guards or servants in tow, just her and her black tail with fluorescent red fins. The young queen looked ahead in fear that if she looked at the mer-men and women they would shun her before she got the chance to see their king and queen. As she swam past the village behind her became alive again, everyone speculating as to why a siren would come here, much less the siren queen. The swim to the kingdom was tuff, but she told the castle guards she had a very important appointment, and was let in fairly quickly. "Ah yes, queen Elowyn I would say it's a pleasure to meet you but I'm not sure if it is." The kings adviser says, swimming up to the queen. "No need to fret, I'm here with a proposal to the king, queen, and princess. I mean absolutely no harm." She says, staring at the middle aged merman. His hair is dark brown and his face is freshly shaved, he looks as if he would wear a kind smile, but Elowyn doesn't get the pleasure of seeing it.

He sighs and nods before a small frown meets his face. "The princess as well? No matter, they are just this way." They swim down the royal blue hallway and wait for the guards to open the large double doors. As the door opens it reveals a tactical room filled with a grand table and bookshelves stacked with magic water-proof books. The king and queen are front and center in the room while young princess Elora stands off to the side of her parents. The king is a stoic man he shares the same face as the siren queen, a look of uncertainty but curiosity and courage. He has black hair but it's graying on the sides, his beard is almost similar. The queen standing next to her husband, her tan skin a drastic contrast to her husbands pale tone. Her red hair and green eyes sparkling in the sunlight, and finally the princess. The princess was a beautiful mix of her parents, she had a mix of both their skin tones. She had her mothers red hair and her fathers blue eyes, her body was plump and she shared both aspects of her mother's and father's tails. Her father had a white tail, a rare color but not completely uncommon, while her mother had the rarest color of all for merfolk, gold. Like how queen Elowyn had inherited her colors from her parents, the princess had done the same. Her tail was white with lines of gold running up it. The family was a sight to see, especially the princess. The Haran kingdom had never seen the princess and nether had the ashore, thanks to Haran's past queen's actions. Something Elowyn was here to rectify.

The siren queen bowed in show of respect, not that it was needed. "Hello, I'm sure you're aware but I was made queen of the Haran kingdom by the queen before me, but I am not her. I do not wish to continue fighting. In fact, I'm here to stop it once and for all." King Merrik looks at the young siren puzzled as she continues. "I come asking for the kingdom to unite. I grew up in the midst of war, I don't want the same for my children." Elowyn says, stopping to gauge their reactions. Queen Tiana gasps, looking up to the queen. "You understand that uniting the kingdoms means you'd have to wed our daughter." The princess looks at her father with a pleading face, one he ignores. "You may court our daughter, under one condition. She has to agree and accept it. I cannot in good conscience hand my daughter off to someone she does not love." Elowyn nods before speaking. "I understand, I would not want to force her either. This is a big commitment, it's only right that she gets a say as well." The group turns to look at the princess, her face is red with anger.

"I am not something to be sold father! I refuse, I will wed when I'm ready, and it won't be to an evil siren!" The mermaid finish's her speech before swimming away, to what Elowyn assumes is her room. "I apologize for our daughter, I will g-" The queen is cut-off by the siren. "If you don't mind, may I give it a try? Not all us siren are like the old-ones." The king and queen nod, Elowyn swims off to find the upset princess.

ashore kingdom - princess' quarters

Elowyn's pov

"Princess, may I come in?" I ask knocking on the heavy brown door. A soft groan is heard from the other side but I hear the clicking of the doors lock, then it opens. "Hello, princess. I'm sorry to bother you, but can I please come in?" I ask, and she steps away from the door leaving it open. I smile softly, and close the door behind me after I enter. The red-head mermaid is sitting on her bed, her gorgeous tail is placed under her. I swim towards the bed and sit down two feet away from her. "Princess, I don't want to make you uncomfortable but I want you to understand. Our kingdom's having been fighting for centuries, so much bloodshed for no real purpose, and if ending that cycle means I get married to a beautiful woman then, I'm okay with that. But you have to be okay with it too, I won't force you to be with me, and if you say yes to this I will court you, we won't wed tomorrow." I pause to get a look at her, her eyes are red and a bit swollen.

"I had no intention on making you cry princess, but please consider this. Not for your family or me, but our kingdoms and the children who might grow up in meaningless war. My intention isn't to guilt you into marriage, but I'm not as bad as some merfolk may believe. If we do get married, I will cherish you, and respect you like every other merfolk or sirens marriage." Elora looks up at me, her face flush and tear's running down her face and they quickly join the ocean, she takes a deep breath before speaking. "If we do this you need to stay here. For now. I will not commute everyday to see my fiancé. If we get married I will have a say in what happens to our kingdom my mother and father always consult each other, and I would like to do the same. I will give you a chance, don't break my heart siren." I smile wide and nod, she joins me with a small smile of her own. "Looks like this castle going to be quite full for some time." I say, smiling at the now confused princess. "What do you mean?" She asks, her tail wiggling a bit in anticipation. "My adviser, servants, and guards will have to join me here."

I apologize for any grammar mistakes.