Poseidon || KTH

~8~

The Queen was in a rush. She was due to give birth any day and just had to get away before she did.

Her guard didn't want to let her go alone but he knew he had no choice. He had to make sure that she was long gone before raising the alarm. He then had to leave or face death.

The Poseidon was a cruel male. He had seen her and decided that she would be his Queen no matter what.

When her family were told, they had no choice but to give her over to be joined with the Blood King of the ocean. Their species were dying out and the King could only mate with a female of royal blood.

Her family were the decedents of the old King from a far away sea. The King had no other females he was allowed to join with - not that it mattered. He wanted her.

She had honoured him by bearing him a son, a powerful male like his father. However, when the soothsayers predicted the next birth to be female, she knew she had to flee to save her daughter.

She would not let the Poseidon join her daughter to her son, no matter how endangered their species was.

Her daughter would not go through the hell she had.

She may keep the name the Poseidon gave her, but she would never know the ocean.

Thalassa would be free of the tangled net that was her destiny.

—-

Thal came awake with a start. A quick check of her phone told her that it was three in the morning and she groaned, rubbing her eyes.

Her dreams had been weird again, but this time it was more intense.

She was standing on the beach, her bare feet warm as the sand buried her up to her ankles. It was dark, and the ocean in front of her was as black as the night, slowly inching towards her as the tide came in.

With every push and retreat, the waves seemed to be whispering her name, beckoning her into the water.

Eventually the water reached her, washing the sand free of her skin and sending shivers of comfort and pleasure up her spine as a single phrase echoed around in her numbed head.

Come home.

Thal sighed and threw her feet out of the bed. Just as she opened her bedroom door, her mother walked past wrapped in a fluffy robe, her hair damp.

"What are you doing up?" She asked in a soft voice, "Go back to sleep,"

"I could say the same to you," Thal said, "Why is your hair wet?

"I was in the bath,"

"At this time?"

Her mother smiled a little, "I'm stressed. The water calms me. Thal, you really do need to get some sleep,"

Thal sighed and nodded, "I know. I've just been having some weird dreams,"

Her mother fluffed her damp hair, "About what?"

"The ocean,"

The small blonde woman froze, "The ocean?"

She nodded, "Yeah. It's weird, I keep getting different dreams but this one was really vivid and it made me feel weird. But in all of them it's like it's calling me... home?"

Thal gasped as her mothers hands reached out, gripping onto her pyjama top hard, "Stay away from the ocean, Thalassa! Tell me you haven't been to the beach!"

She was momentarily shocked by the forcefulness her mother was showing, but composed herself quickly.

"Hana's mum needed some stuff so we went-"

"Shit!" Thal had never heard her quiet, proper mother swear before, and was completely taken aback.

"I told you to stay away from there!" She cried at her daughter, "The one thing I asked and you disobeyed me!" She pulled away, "Now we have to move!"

"Wait a minute, move?" Thal said, following her mother down the hallway, "What are you talking about?"

Her mother turned to face her angrily, "You are not to leave this house. I have to work and look for somewhere new so I have no choice but to trust you to do as I say. Go back to bed, I will ask Daisy to get Hana to bring your work to you,"

Thal's mother went into her bedroom and closed the door firmly.

After staring at the wood for a beat, Thal slowly turned and went back to her own room.