𝕾𝖊𝖆 𝖓𝖔𝖙𝖊𝖘

Sea notes

By Meg Underwood

Happy birthday! That's what the giant banner read. His name wasn't on it of course. He didn't want to much attention to himself. “Prince Vasiliάs!” He turned at his title and name. He sighed and put on a fake smile. “Joshua!” Vasiliάs slapped his said friend on the back. He had met him the day before his travels. Josh had been begging for money on the street. Vasiliάs felt sorrow for the man and ended up giving him food and clothing him. “ I have something for you.” Joshua’s voice was deep as he handed Vasiliάs the letter. Vasiliάs Grimaced.

“Josh this better not be any bad news… I don't want it to ruin my birthday, and you don't want to ruin my birthday either do you?” Vasiliάs arched an eyebrow watching the man fiddle with his fingers. He had tan skin and dark hair, a light stubble crested his chin and jaw and dark circles lined his hard eyes. 

“No your highness I don't want to ruin your celebration…” 

“ Then leave it in my bedroom and I will read it later…”

“ But don't you want to get it over with?” Josh arched his messy brow.

“ I guess you're right…” Vasiliάs huffed a sigh and snatched the letter. Running his hand through hs bleached hair he flipped open the note. 

Αγαπημένε μου γιέ.

Πρέπει να επιστρέψεις από τα γενέθλιά σου νωρίς. Ένα γράμμα προήλθε από ένα από τα γειτονικά βασίλεια. Μια πρόταση γάμου. Παντρεύεσαι την επόμενη εβδομάδα. Σε διατάζω να είσαι σπίτι μέχρι το σούρουπο τη μέρα που θα πέσει.

Βασιλιά

( My dear son

You must return from your birthday early. A letter of marriage  has come from one of the neighboring kingdoms. you need to be home by nightfall of this falling day. 

The king.) 

Vasiliάs clenched the letter tightly and put on another fake smile. “ Oh Josh you had me worried for nothing, my father was just wishing me a happy birthday.” Vasiliάs laughed throwing the note into the soft wind. The yacht traveled against the soft ocean. Leaving a white veil of bubbles in its wake. Loud music blessed Vasiliάs’s ears, and sweat covered almost every inch of his tan body. His mind had drifted, and all he wanted to do was forget he was royalty, and think he was a normal teenage boy turning eighteen.

Vasiliάs sat in the hot tub. Staring at the glistening sky his eyes began to droop. His party was still going, was still booming. Wasn't any fun. All Vasiliάs felt was pushed. He really didn't want to sneak out on the yacht. He just wanted to be a rebel for once. But his father didn't care. His father never cared. Vasiliάs finally shut his eyes and relaxed against the edge of the tub. Letting the blind noise of the jets lure him to sleep. 

“Wake up!” 

Sleep wasn't peaceful for Vasiliάs anymore. He had maybe shut his eyes for three minutes, when a cake was shoved into his face, the frosting falling into the hot water.

“ That's it.” Vasiliάs got out of the tub shoving the girl and guy that had thrown the cake at him.

“ I command you all to leave!”

“ Oh yeah under what authority rich boy?” A green eyed boy yelled.

Vasiliάs glared. He didn't think that inviting a bunch of random people from social media would be a big deal for his birthday. His mind was wrong.

“ Under the authority of Prince Vasiliάs of greece, now leave or I will have you all thrown in prison for assaulting a prince!”

Some girls swooned at his name, some finally realized who he was, others ran, others gaped. The green eyed boy who had yelled at Vasiliάs at gone fish belly white and backed up a step, then began running. His harem of women following him in toe. 

It was finally quiet. Balloons floated into the sky. Vasiliάs had ordered the yacht to be docked. After his prince speech. No more the thirty minutes later the yacht was a mess and the only people aboard was the crew and some servants Vasiliάs had taken from home. Taking a deep breathe Vasiliάs walked to his room and washed off. Clearing his body of cake, and his conscious of frustration. Morning couldn't come any sooner.

The sun shined brightly as Vasiliάs stepped onto the deck. “Of course its spotless.” Vasiliάs said to himself as he went to sit on a pool chair. A servant came over almost immediately asking what he needed. He waved her away. But she stayed put.

“ Does my signal of leave mean nothing?” 

“ Well your highness, we found this on deck and thought it looked important so we kept it.”

The servant handed Vasiliάs a soiled note. His father's writing smudged and wet on the outside. Vasiliάs took the note waving away the servant. She finally understood his signals. Vasiliάs studied outside of the note before opening it. A small seashell fell onto his chest and he picked it up questionaly. Bad handwriting littered the page. The only words he could make out were Happy birthday. Vasiliάs smiled. He looked at the small shell. Someone had actually given him a present… and a card. Well… sort of. 

Vasiliάs asked around his crew to try and find who the note was from. The name was unreadable, and every servant had legible handwriting. Vasiliάs frowned… had somebody actually cared to give him something last night and he had simply dismissed them. Vasiliάs’s thoughts clouded him throughout the entire day. His thoughts drilling him late into the night. He sat in the cleaned hot tub and watched the stars when footsteps approached him. He looked up to find the servant from before. She didn't speak. She just set a letter down beside Vasiliάs and left. A puzzled look was set on his face as he looked over at the slip of paper.  He opened it. The bad handwriting and the wet paper. “What in the world…” Vasiliάs flipped the paper gently and found some words and pieced them together. 

 Im happy you enjoyed the note I gave you, It made me very happy. 

Vasiliάs read the note over and over again. He smiled at the words but then his mind haunted him once more. Who was giving him the letters?

Many nights passed, more days. And more notes appeared. They always complimented him 

And they always asked how he was. But never mentioned who they were. The same servant always would bring him the letters and would always say nothing. As if she were hypnotized.

It confused him. Ran him over the edge. He wanted to know who sent them. He needed to know his secret admirer. 

Nightfall couldn't have come sooner. Vasiliάs watched as the moon finally settled and watched for any strange signs. Finally one appeared. The servant that always gave him the notes was walking slowly and unblinking. Her face unreadable in the moonlight. Vasiliάs watched her cautiously making sure he wouldn't be seen by her eyes. She walked to the stern of the ship and stood there for a moment before walking down the small stairs to the water deck. Vasiliάs walked to the opposite side and waited for her to go back of the stairs. After maybe ten minutes he heard the crack of her footsteps and the splash of water. The prince slowly walked down the stairs to see how the sound was caused and stood unblinking when he came across it.

It was a woman… A strange looking women… Her skin was a light blue compared to Vasiliάs’s tanned chest, and her eyes shone a bright violet like a blooming pansies. Vasiliάs’s brown eyes finally blinked slowly and he got closer to her. She played with her long raven hair, brushing her webbed fingers through it. Her face seemed to be freckled and her lips were plump. Vasiliάs finally got his tongue. He finally spoke. And watched as the women turned toward him. 

“ Are you the one?” 

The women backed up, flipping a large fish tail into the air, her face frightened. 

A mermaid!

The prince dropped to his knees watching the mermaid carefully. She watched him just as eagerly. 

“ Are you the one… the one that has been giving me letters?” 

The mermaid’s face sunk lower into the water but she nodded slowly. 

Vasiliάs smiled, falling onto his backside. He smiled though.

“ Thank you…”

The mermaid smiled and came closer, propping herself onto her arms in front of the prince. Her face was pleasant looking… calming… and it wasn't because she was blue.Vasiliάs laughed and smiled.“ What shall I call you pretty thing?” The mermaid giggled and a light blush flooded her cheeks.She scratched her webbed hands and thought deeply before moving her lips.

“ A… amberly.”

Vasiliάs smiled. Amberly’s english was broken, and he could tell she struggled, but she was a mermaid. 

“ Beautiful…”

Amberly and Vasiliάs talked till morning. They talked about the letters. And each other's feelings. The prince discovered that amberly had been hypnotizing the servant to give him the letters and that's why she always looked so strange. He also connected why the handwriting was bad and the letters were wet. Amberly had webbed hands. Vasiliάs and Amberly had much in common. She was a runaway princess being forced to marry. She felt like her mom didn't care. The prince could relate, he understood her struggles. He understood her. Vasiliάs stayed on the yacht for another whole week. And every night he would go to the stern of the yacht to talk to Amberly. They would talk till the sun crested the waves and summoned Amberly back into the water. On the final day of there meeting. They promised something to each other. Every year on Vasiliάs’s birthday, he would take the yacht to sea and wait for Amberly. So every year he did. And every year Amberly was there… waiting for her prince to return.

Fin