[M] The Aquatic Kingdom { holey & lobo }

[lobo]

Luna blinked at the man as he confirmed her assumption, her eyes continuing to search along the knight in wondrous fascination. "This is unbelievable," she mumbled quietly, giving his armor another gentle tap. She fell silent afterwards, listening to the man explain the chances of more knights being able to travel down and stay under the water as well. She wondered what it would be like then...having all the different Arcane Knights swimming around as if they were merfolk. How many different kinds of families would form. Or maybe the opposite would happen, and the merfolk wouldn't enjoy having the humans plague their city. It was an interesting way to consider things.

"Oh! I'm Rona, and this is Meran," the noblewoman spoke, motioning to the girl next to her. "We're good friends of Luna's," she added, swimming forward now to join the princess that was closer to the knight. "So what brings you down here, then?" the girl asked, earning a look from Luna.

"Don't ask him so many questions. I'm sure he's not down here to be flirted with by mermaids. He's probably very busy," Luna murmured, shooing her friend back a little ways. "F-flirting? I'm not flirting!" Rona immediately insisted, the mermaids cheeks darkening a few shades. "I just wanted to get to know more about...Jason," the noblewoman added, peeking at the knight with a little smile. Luna only sighed then, turning to Jason. "I'm sorry. We're genuinely just curious," she murmured, feeling the need to apologize on behalf of her friend.

[Holeypaladin]

Jason wasn't exactly surprised by the mermaid princess' reaction. It was a fairly common reaction among many of the more remote kingdoms that made up the Empire... though her kingdom was not part of the Empire. At least, not yet. Who knew what the future held, after all? "Yeah..." he remarked. "It's amazing what sort of wonders you can accomplish when you gather the greatest minds in the field of Arcane Magic into one location in order to focus on research."

Like most fae societies, the underwater kingdom was mostly stagnant when it came to technology and magical development. While he had no doubt that they had plenty of their own forms of magic, most of them were likely passed on along family lines in the more traditional sense, rather than actively researched. One of humanity's greatest strengths was their ability to be industrious and accomplish great things in their relatively short lifespan.

He smirked somewhat at the way the girl who had called herself Rona blushed, somewhat glad that his helmet hid his facial expressions. Well, Luna was wrong about one thing... one of the reasons he had chosen this assignment was indeed to meet some cute young mermaid girls, though he wasn't about to say so out loud. "You have no reason to apologize," he remarked. "The king has extended his hospitality to me and prepared a room full of air for me to stay, but I'm not sure where it is. I'm willing to answer any questions, or just... talk... if any of you three lovely ladies are willing to show me to wherever it is that I'm supposed to stay." Effective though his helmet was, it wasn't very comfortable, and a room full of air would give him an opportunity to take it off without drowning.

[lobo]

The three girls went quiet when Jason mentioned having a room prepared for him, and they all seemed to exchange silent glances. Before Rona could even open her mouth to make the offer, Luna was swimming froward to take ahold of Jason's arm. "They won't know where it is. I'll just show you," she explained, quickly pulling the knight back in the direction of the castle. The princess could faintly hear her friend's objection from behind them, but she didn't pause long enough to try and decipher what had been said. She instead took the knight back inside the castle, nodding to the guards as she passed by them.

The mermaid didn't slow even after they had gotten into the safety of the castle, continuing to quickly guide him through the halls and to his awaiting room. Once they got close enough, she finally slowed down and released the man from her grasp. "There you are. Everything you need should be inside. I'm sure there's also a way for you to contact one of the guards or maids if you need anything more," she spoke up now, motioning towards the doors that would lead to where he would be staying. The princess didn't actually intend to stay, having assumed his offer to talk and answer questions was merely an act of kindness towards the three girls. And no matter how curious she was about the man, she was sure her father wouldn't be pleased to see her hanging around the knight. Especially not after her argument with the king.

[Holeypaladin]

Though Jason actually appreciated the attention that the mermaid girls were giving him, he at least knew that the princess' intentions were good when she drove off her friends in order to show him the room herself. Well, she was the prettiest of the three anyway, so he didn't exactly mind her company. Nodding to her, he said, "Appreciate it," and allowed the mermaid princess to show him through the palace. He supposed he could have had one of the maids show him... but Luna was prettier than any of the maids he had seen, as well.

Thinking it over for a moment, he wasn't surprised that some of the living quarters for the merfolk were bell-shaped rooms full of air. After all, they did reproduce in much the same way that humans did, from what he recalled, as their fins turned to legs when exposed to air. The males of their kind tended to be quite a bit smaller than humans, for some reason, but Jason didn't really worry about it as the princess showed him to his room.

Climbing up into the dry air, he removed his helmet and gazed back at the girl. "You sure you don't want to stay for awhile?" he asked, finally able to speak without the aid of his helmet and still be heard and understood. He offered her a hand in order to help her up the ledge and into the room, should she choose to stay for awhile and talk.

[lobo]

Luna briefly hung around to watch the knight climb up into the air filled room, curiosity getting the best of her. She watched as he removed the helmet as well, and she was finally able to see his facial features more clearly. He was actually quite handsome, and the mermaid caught herself staring for just a moment too long. As soon as he looked to her, she averted her gaze, biting down on her bottom lip. Stay? Of course she wanted to stay. She wanted to learn more about the Empire that she would soon be wed into. She wanted to know why the knight would be hanging around undersea for some time. There were so many unanswered questions that she was curious about.

The princess glanced around for a moment then, clearly contemplating the offer for a few moments. She eventually let out a little sigh, slowly swimming up to the ledge where his hand was offered. She slowly reached out to take it, accepting his help in getting her up onto the ledge. As soon as her legs were free from the water, the fin slowly separated into two human legs, with feet and toes. She had grown used to people seeing her bare lower half, since it happened every time she got out of the water... but this time she felt oddly shy about it. She drew her knees to her chest in order to hide herself a little, cheeks turning a light shade of pink. "I forgot I was going to need some clothes," the girl mumbled, keeping her gaze anywhere but on the knight.

[Holeypaladin]

Gazing at the mermaid as he helped her into the open air room, Jason's eyes were instantly drawn to her lower body as her fins began to shift into... some rather beautiful, sensual looking fleshy legs. He barely registered the fact that she as blushing as he found it hard not to stare at her body. The very first thing to note was that she was, indeed, a fae... human women tended to have some degree of body hair, while fae had very little aside from on the top of their head. Nothing made this fact more apparent than the almost completely bare body of the princess in her two-legged form.

"Oh uh..." he said, trying to think of some words. "It's ok... I'm also... curious. We don't see many mermaids in the Empire... and it's extremely rare for any human to see them on dry land. Do you mind?" Thinking for a moment, he decided to even the playing field a bit by dismissing his own armor, allowing it to fade away into nothingness to reveal his own body hair which contrasted quite a bit with the smooth skin of a fae. As he squeezed her hand and pulled the princess closer, his hands began to glide over her legs, feeling her soft, warm skin. "Fascinating..." he remarked. "They're very similar to the legs of an elf or nymph..."

[lobo]

---

After having been invited into the room, where the knight and mermaid got to spend some time getting to know each other, Luna was not curled up in his arms, sated and happy. Being praised with compliments from the man had the younger woman blushing, a little laugh managing to slip from her lips. "The most beautiful?" she repeated, blinking at him with a look of disagreement and humor.

"What about my friends, hm? Those who have met them, often say they're beautiful as well," the princess pointed out, pursing her lips together slightly. Not that she was jealous, necessarily, she just wondered what his thoughts were on the two other noblewoman. She also knew the two of them should discuss what they should do about her father, and how he may react to the situation, but she wasn't quite ready to give up the comfortable, pleasant atmosphere surrounding them. She figured it could be brought up at a later time.

[Holeypaladin]

After spending quite a good bit of time getting to know some rather amazing things about the young princess, Jason eventually found himself holding the naked girl close to him and answering a few more questions that she had. He stroked her hair and gazed at her, squeezing her a bit closer at her question. He gave her a nod at her question, kissing her gently. "Your friends aren't bad lookers themselves..." he remarked. "They're just not quite as beautiful as you are... Luna."

He was considering doing a few more things to her, when a sudden pounding at the door interrupted them. "Your Highness!" came the very demanding voice of the mermaid in charge of the King's personal guard, "We know you're in there! Open up, by order of His Majesty the King, or we'll force this door down!" While Jason couldn't understand these sonic impulses as he wasn't wearing his helmet, he knew very well what the meaning behind the words was.

Sighing, the knight shook his head. "I was hoping we'd have a bit more time..." he remarked. "This may be... difficult..." As the guards prepared to break down the door, he conjured forth his armor, which appeared on him seemingly from nowhere before he went over to the door and opened it, only to have three guards enter quickly and push them to the side of the room. The worst part was that they wore armor which concealed their soft flesh as it turned into legs. Another guard instantly noticed Luna and the mess between her legs which told all that needed to be said.

"Take them to the King," the lead mermaid commanded. Deciding not to kill them for the time being, Jason heard the familiar voices of Rona and Maren apologizing profusely to Luna for failing her as they, too, were shackled up for delivery before King Delmar of Tethys.

[lobo]

Before Luna could respond to Jason's words, the princess was being cut off by loud knocking at the door. The sound made her jump in surprise, and the words that followed had her eyes widening. She had figured the two would get caught at some point, but she hadn't realized it was going to be this soon. She had no idea how anyone would have found out in the first place. She was sure no one saw them on the way to the room...

And then she remembered her friends.

The princess didn't even have time to be angry, since Jason was getting up to go open the door for the guards to get in. She attempted to quickly cover herself with the blanket, but she wasn't as successful as she had hoped to be. The room was soon swarmed with guards, and the mermaid instantly knew that they had been caught. There was no way to avoid the consequences, or even start an attempt at lying about what had gone on. The evidence was too clear against them.

Luna willingly moved to her feet then, offering her hands to get shackled just like the three other people in the room. She wanted to accept the apologies of her friends, but she knew that this situation would have been avoided had they not been tattle tails. She knew better than to resist the guards, however, and allowed herself to be lead to the door She gave an apologetic look to Jason as she passed, before she was stepping down into the water. Her soft human legs were quickly scaly fins again, and the guard behind her quickly followed.

The knight and the three mermaids were all taken through the castle and to the king's chambers, where the royal man had already been informed of the actions between his daughter and the knight. The king was furious, which could be seen the moment the four culprits entered the room. "Disobedience just to get what you want," the king started his long spiel, eyeing each person in front of him as he went passed. "No poor choice goes unpunished."

[Holeypaladin]

Jason tried to remain calm as the guards carried him somewhat forcefully before the king. Gazing at the face of the beautiful princess he seemed to detect a somewhat accusatory look from her, directed towards her friends... but the looks that Rona and Maren displayed were looks of pure shame, and as they, too, were being treated like prisoners... Jason had a difficult time believing that they were the ones who had ratted her out.

More likely, the reputations of the Arcane Knights had simply preceded him, and the guards had been examining his movements carefully to see just what he would do. He knew it would likely end this way, and yet... well, if everything worked out well, it would prove to be a blessing in disguise. After all, there was no way the king would find it in his heart to execute his precious daughter... and Jason himself was too important to kill.

He was permitted to conjure forth his armor yet again, as he wouldn't be able to survive his trial without wearing it. Eventually being put in front of the very displeased looking king, the knight listened as he went on and on about how disappointed he was with all three of the mermaids. From what the king hinted at, the two ladies had apparently attempted to mislead the guards and protect Luna herself, but they were being punished for being more loyal to her than they were to the kingdom.

"And therefore," the king concluded his spiel, "I sentence the four of you to be banished from the kingdom of Tethys, never to return. However... before you will be permitted to leave, you three will first be married to this knight in order to seal our kingdom's alliance with the Empire... as the option to marry our neighboring kingdom has been taken away from us."

He then ordered that Rona and Maren be taken to an air-filled room with Jason in order to consummate their marriage, figuring that the knight had already consummated his marriage with Luna, after all. Jason gave Luna an apologetic look as he was carried past. "It'll be alright..." he said to her. "You no longer have to marry that prince, after all..."