[M] The Aquatic Kingdom { holey & lobo }

[lobo]

Although Luna was glad to hear her friends hadn't been the ones to tell about her and Jason, the mermaids relief was only temporary as the king was soon announcing the punishment of their actions. She had known he wouldn't be as cruel as executing all four culprits, but she hadn't expected him to have all three mermaids marry the knight. Her gaze went from her two friends, to Jason, then back to the king. "The three of us?" she repeated, lips parting in an attempt to form an argument. However, one stern look from her father cut those words short, and she was left in complete disbelief of the situation. She wasn't quite as upset about being banished as she was about sharing a husband, with not one, but two other women.

The princess could only watch as her two friends were lead out, followed closely by Jason. She couldn't quite find the words to respond to the knight, and instead turned back to her father. "This can't be fair, father. Why won't you just hear me out before you start making demands?" the girl pleaded, approaching the king with brief hesitation. She knew there was nothing she could say to change the man's mind, especially not after what she had done... but she figured it was well worth a try.

As the princess tried to reason with her father, the two other mermaids were being lead from the room and towards a room more suitable for Jason and his need for air. Their shameful looks had now become guilty, neither woman wanting to displease their friend. They both knew they didn't have much of a choice, however, and they didn't have the option to argue with the king the way that Luna did.

[Holeypaladin]

As Jason was escorted off to a room with two other mermaids, he was concerned not only for the plight of the beautiful Luna, but also the other girls, Rosa and Maren. Though it wasn't so bad as having to marry the prince who, to his knowledge, had at least six other wives already... it still was far from the ideal that he had originally intended, as human society favored monogamy.

There didn't seem to be any escaping it, however. The fact remained that mermaids were a mostly female race... to the point where most surface humans had never heard of the existence of males. In a sense, he supposed they were as female as dwarves were male, as a whole... maybe even more so. Still, without a princess to talk to, he instead gazed at the guilty looks of the two mermaids.

"I'm sorry to drag the two of you in to this mess," he said with a sigh. "It was always my intention to free the princess from a marriage that she didn't want which benefited neither her not your kingdom as much as the other option... but I had no idea you'd end up dragged in to this as well." Shaking his head, he allowed his armor to fade as he reached out to the two noblewomen.

"I'll make sure you're well taken care of, though..." he said to them. "And at least... Luna won't be without friends in her exile, either." The one saving grace was that these three already knew each other and got along seemingly well... so it wasn't as bad as it should be. He reached out his hands to stroke their soft hair and remove what garments they wore.

[lobo]

****

After the three mermaids had been thoroughly taken care of by Jason, and assured that their exile would not be as catastrophic as they had originally expected, it seemed everyone was much more content with the turn of events. Luna was still a bit dazed as she came down from her final release, so when the knight mentioned going to say goodbye to people, it took a moment for her to come up with a response to him.

The other two girls, however, nodded their heads at his suggestion. “I didn’t think about it... but I suppose we should let our parents know about the situation,” Rona murmured, slowly moving herself to sit up. “Would we be leaving as soon as we say goodbye?” the older mermaid asked, standing up from the bed on slightly wobbly legs. She went around and gathered the garments of each girl so they could all start getting dressed.

She brought the clothes back to the two other mermaids, handing out the garments to Luna and Maren. “Where are we going to go?” Maren’s timid voice finally spoke up, her gaze flickering between the mermaids and the knight. She started to get dressed back into her garments though, knowing they would need to go say goodbye to those important to them. “Will we go to your home?” Luna asked now, the princess still a bit sprawled out on the bed as she was too exhausted to move just yet.

[Holeypaladin]

Jason made sure to take care of the young mermaid ladies in order to reassure them that everything would be fine. During the process, he also invited Luna in to the room with him and took care of her as well, and after ensuring his new wives would be happy and content, if completely exhausted, he found himself holding them in his arms. He gave Luna a soft kiss as he looked over to Rona and Maren, giving them a nod in agreement.

"I don't expect they'll let us stick around long enough to do much else other than say goodbye," the knight said, stroking Rona's hair a bit and watching her dress herself. He always found it odd that this particular kingdom of mermaids wore garments while most others did not, but figured it was an attempt on the king's part of trying to civilize a culture often seen as savage by humans.

"We might head to my homeland..." the knight said in response to the questions of the princess and the youngest mermaid, "But we should probably spend some time on the shore somewhere while you girls adapt to solid land." Though they did have legs when they were out of the water, the ability to walk for extended periods of time on land wasn't easily learned and would require proper conditioning of their leg muscles.

Reaching out to stroke the exhausted princess, Jason gave her a tender kiss and handed her garments to her. "Need me to carry you?" he teased her, chuckling and imagining the idea of carrying the exhausted princess while she made her goodbyes to friends and family.

[lobo]

When Jason reminded the girls that they would most likely be forced to leave as soon as their farewells had been said, the mermaids nodded as they realized he was right. The king wouldn't be too fond of them staying in the kingdom for longer than necessary, and even saying goodbyes was a stretch. "I suppose it would be best to leave as soon as we finish. There's nothing more for us to do here, anyway," Rona decided, leaning towards Jason's gentle touch as she got her garments back on. Although it was a time which the girls should be disappointed to leave their friends and family, they each couldn't help but feel a bit of excitement for the new experiences that were to come.

The two mermaids were a bit disappointed to find that they wouldn't be going directly to Jason's home, but they both also understood that it would be best for them to remain close to the water until they were all able to walk properly on the land. "Do you know of a place where we can stay that's close to shore then?" Maren asked, hoping that they wouldn't have to wander aimlessly until they could find a place to stay. The youngest was a bit worried about having to leave the kingdom for the first time, but she did trust Jason to take care of all of them and keep them safe until they were permanently settled somewhere.

The princess wasn't as concerned about finding somewhere to stay, as she was sure there had to be places along the shoreline that they could use until the girls got used to living on land. She did know that they needed to get to leaving rather soon, so she finally sat herself up despite her exhaustion. Feeling Jason's touch as he stroked her, the princess turned to look his way and return the kiss that he gave to her. She accepted the garments from him and started to put them back on when he spoke. His words brought a blush to her cheeks, and a shy laugh fell from her lips. "I might be alright...but you should stay close, just in case" she giggled, the color on her cheeks only brightening further.

Standing up from the bed, the oldest of the mermaids started to make her way towards the exit of the room. "We should go make our rounds. I don't want to find out what happens if we stay around for too long," Rona said, motioning for the other three to follow her.

[Holeypaladin]

Jason didn't know what to say to the girls as they got dressed and ready to leave. He had done and would continue to do the best he could to ensure they remained happy in their new life together, but there was no denying the fact that they might never see their friends and family again. As Rona finished getting dressed, he simply held her for a time, squeezing her in his arms. "We'll be fine," he said. "We have me, after all."

He listened to the words of the shy mermaid, stroking her hair softly a bit as he thought. "Well..." he said, "There's a fishing town on the coast that conducts a lot of trade with some of the mermaid tribes. Sounds like a reasonable enough place to start, as you won't be drawing as much attention there as you would be at some of the other villages that have never seen a mermaid before." Looking at her exposed lower body, he remarked, "We'll need to get you girls a bit more clothing, though."

He chuckled at the words of Luna, giving her another soft kiss. "I'll be sure to take care of my princess if she needs it, then," he said to her, stroking her hair a bit more. He watched as Rona made her way back towards the water, thinking over some supplies that they might need for the journey. Helping Luna and Maren to their feet, he led them after Rona towards the water, summoning his armor once again so that he would be able to swim.

"Is there anyone in town that can make clothing for you girls?" he asked. "I'd prefer to be the only man to see what's between your legs once we get to shore," he teased somewhat, caressing them a bit as he waited for someone to respond.

[lobo]

As Jason explained a potential place on shore for them to stay at, the youngest mermaid was beginning to relax once again. She was pleased to know that there was at least one option for them to stay at until the mermaids got used to walking rather than swimming. However, the mention of clothing had all of the mermaids looking down towards their bare legs. "What's so wrong with going like this?" Maren asked, looking to Jason with a confused expression. The young mermaid didn't realize that it wasn't proper for people to walk on land without being fully clothed. That was another thing of many that the mermaids would have to get accustomed to.

The princess chuckled at Maren's question, but left it to Jason to answer the younger girl. She returned his kiss instead, smiling at the kindness of his words to her. "I have no doubt about that," she whispered, leaning into the gentle strokes of her hair. Her attention then turned to Rona as the eldest went for the water, knowing that was their signal to get up and start the process of leaving the kingdom. She reluctantly stood with Jason's help, sticking close to the man since her legs weren't the most reliable after the earlier events.

Rona waited near the water for the other three to reach her, and listened to Jason as he brought up clothes again. The remark made each of the girls smile, and Maren was the only one of the three to blush at his words. "I may actually have a few outfits, if we want to just take them until we get other clothes to wear. They were supposed to be for visiting the land with my father but... we can take them with us instead," the princess suggested, looking to Jason for approval, "If not, I'm positive there's someone in town that could give us something to wear."

[Holeypaladin]

Jason chuckled at the question that the youngest mermaid asked, stroking her hair somewhat and giving her a tender kiss. "Difference in culture," he said, figuring it would be an adequate enough explanation. "Since humans are used to more variations in temperature and surface winds, they aren't used to seeing pretty girls without clothing." Well, a lot of it would likely be revealed once they got to the surface, he figured. The knight doubted Maren had ever been to the surface before, considering her youth.

As he helped the princess after Rona, the knight listened to her words, thinking for a moment. "That's... actually perfect, probably," he said. "If you don't mind sharing your outfits, we should be good to go. We can collect them when you say your farewells to your father... though we might need to alter them slightly to make sure they fit on everyone."

They didn't need a whole lot of clothing to bring with them, after all, as they could simply acquire more once they reached a proper settlement. All the girls really needed was something to wear the first time they stepped onto the shore. "Alright then..." he said, "Let's get moving!" Holding Luna in his arms, he jumped back into the water, feeling her legs and stroking them as they turned back into fins. "Let's stop by Rona's place first, then," he said, his voice now being converted to the sonic impulses of the underwater mermaid language, thanks to his helmet.

[lobo]

Maren's blush only seemed to darken as Jason chuckled, but she still returned his gentle kiss nonetheless. She listened to him as he explained the reasoning behind wearing clothes, slowly nodding her head as she decided that it did make a bit of sense. She had never been to the land before, and her knowledge of it was quite limited as well. This helped explain why she was more concerned than the other two mermaids. Although Rona had also never been to the surface, she at least had more knowledge of the area out of the water. Luna was the only one of the three that had actually been on land, but even that had only been a brief time.

When Jason agreed to her suggestion of clothes for all the girls, Luna smiled at the knight and nodded her head. "I don't mind at all. Altering them shouldn't be too difficult, and I know a woman in the palace that should be able to do it quickly for us," she assured, hoping that would make their departure come sooner to avoid any sort of conflict.

Once the clothing issue seemed to be solved, the three mermaids followed Jason's lead into the water. The three pairs of legs all morphed back into tails as the girls were submerged in the water, and Luna smiled as she felt the knight's hands running along her fin. Her and Maren both stayed close to Jason when he suggested they go to Rona's home first, and the older mermaid swam ahead to guide them out of the palace and towards her house.

Rona's home wasn't a long distance from the palace, and the mermaid was soon swimming up to the entrance of her family's house. "You can all come in, if you'd like. Or you can wait out here until I'm finished," she said, looking back at the two mermaids and the knight. She then entered her home, leaving them to decide whether or not they followed her inside.

[Holeypaladin]

Jason swam alongside the three mermaids, able to keep up with them thanks to the swift swim enchantment in his armor. He reached out to stroke them on occasion when they were within arms reach, doing his best to continue to reassure him as they began to make their way through the underwater kingdom in order to collect everything they needed and make their goodbyes.

The first stop was Rona's home, and the knight gave her a nod at her invitation. "I should at least meet your mother in order to assure her that you'll be taken care of," he said to the oldest of the mermaids, following her into her home and looking around. It was his first time inside a mermaid house, and he had very little idea of what the decorations and furnishings really meant.

"Pardon the intrusion," he announced to whoever else might be in the house at the time. He wasn't sure if Rona's father lived with her mother, with another wife, or even what species he was, as he hadn't had much time to learn of her family situation so far. From what he knew of mermaids, there weren't many males, and most of them had at least four wives. The gender ratio was to the point where many women instead chose human sailors to sire their offspring, which could have easily been the situation with either Rona or Maren for all Jason knew.