Noelle’s POV

Pressed to the King’s chest I can feel all his powerful muscles. It is a nice distraction from the fact that I am about to be drowned.

The water is closing in on us, so I close my eyes and wait to feel the water on my face. But nothing seems to happen, I open my eyes and see an air bubble around my head.

Another strange thing is that the King suddenly seems to have a tail instead of legs. “He must have used his magic,” I think.

We are swimming for a short while when a gigantic air bubble seems to emerge. In the air bubble, there is a city as far as the eye can see.

Caves are made into cozy houses and everywhere I look there is coral in the most beautiful colors. In the bubble, everyone seems to have legs but outside the bubble, I find the most extraordinary creatures. Mermaids, Seahorses, and turtles but also men that look like they are half-shark, half-man. We swim over the city for a while when I start to see a large castle in the middle.

The King swims to the highest tower of the castle and puts his upper half including me into the air bubble. He drops me in front of the tower door and seems to be about to leave.

“Wait,” I shout. “Where are you going? What is going to happen to me? You can’t just leave me here!”

The King just looks at me with a dead look in his eyes and then leaves without saying a word.

I watch the King swim away and I think to myself, “What an asshole!”

The high tower gives me an excellent view of the city. The view exceeds all my fantasies about what the outside world would look like.

After a while, I feel that I am getting tired from the adventurous day. I hope I can find a place to sleep behind the tower door. I open the door which leads to a big round room. The walls are painted with flowers and on the floor lays a soft pink rug. In the middle of the room is a massive waterbed with silver satin sheets.

On the bed sits a petite woman with brown hair and blue eyes. She has a round and kind face. I immediately decide that I like this woman.

“Hi, my name is Maya and I’m here to help you with anything you need. I left some food at the table, but I understand if you just want to sleep. I will leave you alone for now but tomorrow morning I will come back to give you a tour and answer any questions you might have,” she says.

I feel relieved to hear a kind voice after this awful day.

So, I reply, “Thank you.”

When Maya leaves the only thing that I can hear is the sound of streaming water. This makes me even more sleepy, so I decide to leave the food and immediately curl into bed. As soon as my head touches the pillow, I fall asleep. That night I dream of a big handsome man dancing with me in a cave filled with stars.

***

I wake up to a knocking sound on the door. It takes me a minute to remember where I am. It seems surreal that only two days ago I was still at the orphanage and now I am in a strange castle somewhere on the bottom of the Sea.

“Come in,” I say when I hear the knocking again.

Maya walks in with a plate full of delicious breakfast.

“I hope there is something in there that you like,” Maya smiles.

“I will start a bath for you and afterward I can give you a tour if you like?” she asks.

I smile at Maya and say, “That would be nice.”

After Maya leaves, I dig into the bacon and eggs and eat until my stomach can take no more. Then I walk into the bathroom to the big round bathtub. The bath smells like lilacs and roses. I take a long relaxing bath and put on the clothes Maya laid down for me.

It’s a simple brown dress that feels very comfortable. I decide I am ready and walk out of my room. In the hallway, Maya is waiting.

“Let’s go I have a lot to show you,” she says.

While we are walking, I decide to ask Maya some questions.

“You have been very helpful so far, but I am not sure why? Do you live in the castle?”

Maya answers, “Well I’m helping you because I want to but also because the King gave me the task of taking care of the new girls and making them feel comfortable. I live in the castle, and I assist the King wherever he needs to. The King took me in and gave me a job when my parents were no longer able to do so. I have been living in the castle for 10 years now.”

I hesitate, “Ow okay, do you like it here? And how old are you if I may ask?”

“You can ask me anything I am 26 years old, and I love living here. It is beautiful, the work is fun, and we have the most amazing parties in the castle,” she answers.

I walk a bit closer to Maya and ask, “And what about the King? Is he always so rude and what happens to the girls that come here every year?”

Maya stands still, “He definitely is not rude to his people, and he has always been good to me. It is not my place to talk about what happens to the girls. That is a conversation you should have with the King. It will be good if you get to know him better.”

I grunt and say a bit heated, “Well that’s fucking hard if he just throws me in a tower without saying a word.”

Maya sighs, “I understand everything is new and confusing at the moment. Maybe it will help if you read a bit about our history in the library?”

My face lights up, “I love reading so that would be great.”