King

The Day of Preparations

When you stepped inside the room and heard Proteus closing the door in silence at your back, you thought your loneliness has reached the worst point: the only human in that colossal building, stuck inside a room, trapped in the deepest of the seas. However, looking at your surroundings with attention, you soon had the first good surprise since you left your father's house.

The room, with dimensions as wide as its high door suggested, had dozens of empty beds placed side by side, from one edge to the other, all of them made with bluish sheets of something similar to satin and big, soft pillows. At your left, you saw some doors that probably led to bathing and changing rooms, while at your right there was a wall with aligned gothic windows through which a smooth light entered. In front of one of these windows, observing the outsides with her hands on the parapet in an anxious attitude, a woman in a turquoise dress and golden sandals was standing. When the door was opened, she turned to it and you noticed, with a sigh of relief, that she was a human being.

As you took a few steps to the middle of the room, the woman came to meet to you as quick as her condition allowed her: looking down to her belly, you saw the rounded salience of a pregnancy. She was a bit shorter than you and seemed to be one or two years younger, with brown curls that framed her face and fell around her shoulders and her swollen breasts, a pair of chubby cheeks and a tiny mouth that opened in a cheerful smile when she spotted you.

In the glimmer of her almond eyes, you recognized a sensation of relief similar to the one you carried in your own heart. The reason for this you could already guess, but it was good to hear it in her words.

– During this last week, I've heard rumors that a human girl was going to arrive this day, but I refused to believe in them until now – she spoke in a rushed, excited tone – You have no idea of how happy I am to see you here!

If the circumstances were different, you'd certainly be annoyed by this reception, but after the things you've been through before arriving there, you replied with equal contentment.

– And I can only say the same now that I see you here.

The girl's smile widened and she rubbed her belly, inviting you to sit with her in one of the beds near the windows. You thought she was acting too recklessly for someone at that stage of pregnancy, but didn't make any comments.

– So – she sat and started the conversation – What's your name?

– Y/n. – you took the spot by her side – I came from the ... region, from a family of merchants. And you?

– I'm Alyssa. I grew up without knowing who my parents were. I was actually found at the doors of a sanctuary dedicated to Poseidon-sama at my town when I was a baby. The local priests raised me to be one of them and, when I became an adult, they decided to send me here as an offer. Human offers are rarely sent to the Emperor of the Seas nowadays, but I'm glad I was accepted.

Alyssa sighed. You didn't want to think of what could have happened in case she was rejected. Her tone was a bit lower – and sadder – when she spoke again.

– I haven't interacted with any humans since then – she shrugged – Of course, there are people here who treat me with kindness, but it's not the same, you understand?

You agreed without thinking twice.

– Yes, I do – and, after a pause, – So... How long you've been here?

– I arrived last year – she looked down to her belly – This is my second child. It's my sixth month now.

You couldn't help raising your eyebrows in surprise: if she was carrying her second baby, she might have conceived them shortly after giving birth to the first.