The Pearl's Conquest

Chapter 2

(The image is AI generated with the characters' description, the only thing wrong is that only Saliae has tattoos, and they're only on her neck in the relative shape of gills.)

The world came rushing back to Saliae all at once. Light flashed through her mind and she doubled over, wretching up water and kelp. She fell back, taking ragged breaths. Her body was drained from being drowned and the exhaustion creeped into her mind. "No, get up," she thought, "you were trained to deal with this." While she was never trained in drowning, under the prospect that it should be impossible, she was trained in adapting to new and dangerous situations. Saliae was suddenly grateful for her fourth sister, Glillel's, insistance that she hone her physical skills and practical knowledge.

Forcing the motivation into her aching bones, Saliae rolled onto her knees. Her hands quivered under her, revealing how weakened she was. With a heavy sigh, Saliae sat down resolved to rest, lest she overexert herself. She hadn't had a chance to observe her surroundings yet, only to discover she didn't know her surroundings. Saliae was a fish out of water, literally. She was sprawled across a grassy meadow along a cliff positioned high above the sea. From here, her beloved waters surged with anger. Waves crashed against the cliff, clawing at the rock to reclaim its stolen princess.

Saliae felt a pang of longing at the sight of the ocean. Fueled solely by emotion, she made her way down the cliff, nails digging into the chaulky rock that now coated her simple day dress. She turned to face the sea, taking a deep breath from the salty air. As she approached, the raging waters calmed, stilling enough for her to see her reflection.

Suprise overtook the unfamiliar face in front of her. It was her, but not her. Her sharp features had taken on a feminine delicacy. Her scathings of childhood washed away to reveal a mature young woman. Her hand brushed against her nose, littered with freckles. Then she felt her lips, a pink flower on her pale, sea foamed skin. Next, she ran her hands through her hair. Once at her shoulders, it now reached her waist line. Her fingers tangled into the silver waves, curious and clearly astonished at the growth.

She had not yet finished admiring her new appearance when she heard a shout from atop the cliff. A party of what looked like soldiers perched on horses peered down at her. A man then took a step forward from the group. He was clad in gold armor, shining brightly in the sea of silver that accompanied him. Saliae felt her breath involuntarily hitch at the man's beauty. His dark curls fanned out on his tanned forehead. Curls met with golden eyes and a face full of golden speckles that looked like a constellation had been plucked from the night sky. The man suddenly cleared his breath, "Um.." That's when Saliae realized she had been staring.

Flushed with embarrassment, she hid her face by admiring the smooth rocks between her toes. "Um..." the handsome man began again, "Would you happen to be in need of assistance, fair lady?" His sheepish tone caught Saliae off-guard, but this strange man had already captured her interest. Saliae nodded thoughtlessly before she could catch herself. She quickly drew her hand to her lips, surprised at her own response.

The handsome man climbed back up on his horse and jumped off the cliff- or more accurately floated down to the beach beside her. Once safely on solid ground, his leg swung back over the steed and he dropped firmly onto the sand. With an impish grin, he extended his tanned hand out to Saliae.

Shocked by the entire encounter, Saliae stood frozen, wide blue-gray eyes locked onto the man's offering. Taking her hesitancy as a response, he dropped his hand and gestured for her to get on his horse. Suddenly embarrassed, Saliae rushed to mount the horse. She caught a smirk cross the man's face out of the corner of her eye as she climbed into the saddle. Once settled, the handsome man mounted the horse behind her. Saliae practically toppled off the saddle at his boldness. His broad chest was pressed firmly against her back, his shoulders caging in her own as he reached for the reigns. The handsome man's breath fell on the back of her neck. Saliae had never felt this warm in the ocean. The continued embarrassment brought Saliae back to her senses, she was finally able to speak, "This is very heroic of you an all, I'm definitely getting damsel in distress from this situation, but for someone who hasn't even told me his name this is oddly personal." While speaking, Saliae turned to meet his eyes with her signiture sharp expression. The handsome man's jaw went slack with suprise until an amused smile quickly overtook it. "Wherever have my manners been fair lady?!" he exclaimed, "You are riding the steed of Wilden Greenbriar, High Prince of Elfhame."

Saliae snapped her head forward, attempting to conceal the emotions she felt at his words. Her mind flashed from suprise to worry, to most dangerously excitement at the man's confession. He was Wilden Greenbriar, son of Jude and Cardan Greenbriar, the most infamous rulers in faerie history. The scandal surrounding their rise to power and High Queen Jude's trait of mortality had given the current Greenbriars quite the reputation, even beneath the waves. In fact, especially beneath the waves after stories of Jude stealing Cardan from Narcissica had spread many years ago.

Saliae was snapped from her crashing waves of a tangent by Wilden, who leaned over into her ear and said, "Pardon the interuption fair lady, but I would be delighted to learn your name as well." Caught off-guard by the feeling of his words, warm against her hair, Saliae stuttered out, "I- I am Saliae, seventh princess of the Undersea your highness." In response Wilden's eyebrows raised and he shouted out, "We've saved ourselves a princess today!" to the surrounding company. The folk cheered, raising swords and bashing on shields in response. Wilden wore a wicked grin that coaxed out a shy smile from Saliae.

Saliae wasn't sure why, but she was grateful for the silence Wilden offered her on the ride to Elfhame's palace. She began to organize her thoughts. She had been punished by the old seahag, tossed into discovering her fate. That part was confirmed by her sudden maturity. This is how she would look years into the future. But how many years exactly she didn't know, she would need a subtle way to find out. Saliae then wondered what her fate had to do with being washed up in Elfhame, discovered by the prince of all folk. She supposed in time she would understand, given she was meant to discover her fate from the spell. And although the idea of seeing her fate was dreadful, Saliae found it difficult to suppress the rising waves of curiosity Wilden brought out in her. With his golden freckles to match his golden armor, she found it difficult to stop imagining what he looked like smiling. "Must be pleasing to look at," she thought to herself.

Content with her conclusion, Saliae started to take in her surroundings. The fae horse rode so smoothly, barely touching the ground before springing off once more. It's steps were more like flying leaps across the lush feild they were crossing. The open grass quickly turned to thick woods with how swift the fae horse was moving. Doing her best to avoid causing unnecessary suspicion, Saliae handed herself over to the character of a distraught, clearly delirious girl. "Why prince Wilden, my head is spinning. What day is it that you have found me on those cliffs?"

"Do not fret," Wilden said chivalrously, "It is only 3 full moons into the year of Sylph."

"The year of Sylph!" exclaimed Saliae. Wilden's head cocked, picking up on her suprise. "I mean, I can't believe I missed the new year," Saliae said, stumbling to recover her slip-up. She would need to work on masking when things suprised her.

"Well you have been rolling in sea-foam for quite some time then Princess Saliae," Wilden said warmly, "I believe your skin has even taken on the hue." Saliae's cheeks flushed at his comment, her sea-foam skin was very subtly painted, she was flustered that he had noticed. "No it's always been this color," she managed to say. Suddenly very aware of their proximity Saliae felt her body go rigid with awkward tension. She could have sworn she heard a chuckle behind her, but it was lost in the wind as the horse barreled on.

Luckily, Saliae was saved from their awkward silence as the High Court came into view. She looked in awe, taking in the scenery. Bright colors littered the woodlands leading up to the palace, a mix between building and nature that strained to reach the clouds. Despite the dazzling scene, anxiety seeped through Saliae at the sight of the palace. Would she meet her fate here?

I had a lot of fun writing chapter 2! I felt inspired to do it just a day later because I was shocked to already have a couple views from just 1 chapter. As always, I would love to hear feedback like where your hoping this story will lead! -K