"Bastian!" Melodia called out as she relaxed into her favorite seat. Gently, she massaged her tail fin as it throbbed. Too much swimming had worn her down, but her day was finally nearing its end.

"Yes?" Her son peeked his dark head around the doorway that connected their sleeping chambers, his warm golden eyes looking curious. Melodia couldn't help the smile that spread over her face.

"What's this? Have you forgotten how doorways work, son of mine?"

Bastian's eyes closed a fraction as he smiled. "No, mother." He assured her. "I just thought you might want to be alone. Militum said you have been swimming about all day, hardly pausing for a break."

Melodia lifted one dark eyebrow in quiet skepticism. It took less than a minute for her son to break under her silence. He sighed and pulled himself through the doorway, revealing the greenish tint that was spread all over his magnificent tail and in his hair.

She sighed softly. "You've been hanging out with Zareb and Lachlan again, haven't you?"

Bastian's tail wiggled with guilt. "I don't understand why you don't like them, Mother."

No. He wouldn't.

"That Lachlan boy isn't so bad." It was an evasion of sorts.

"Zareb is a good friend, Mother. And his mom is very kind." Bastian was too young to understand the intricacies of the clans. Or maybe he simply felt compassion for Zareb, as only a boy without a father could. He was not too young to notice his mother's careful evasion.

Melodia noted his observance and inwardly sighed. Bastian was only thirty years old, still twenty years from adulthood and the weight of the crown, yet sometimes he seemed much older.

Despite his apparent maturity, she didn't have the heart to explain that the Wata clan only lived in Nereus when they were exiled from their homeland. Their revered goddess was very particular about her followers. Zareb's mother had done something unforgivable. Though the specifics were unavailable to Melodia, she knew enough to be wary.

As if that weren't reason enough to dislike the child, there was the matter of his missing father. Those details were available to everyone who saw the boy's muddied tail. The muted color had very little to do with his mother and everything to do with his father. Melodia shuddered just thinking about it. Zareb's father was no longer part of the picture, but he was a source of constant discomfort for the former queen.

"Bastian, I don't doubt you. I just..." Melodia hesitated a moment and decided neither she nor Bastian were ready for that conversation. "Never mind that for now. What, in the gods' name, are you covered in?"

The young prince smiled sheepishly and folded his hands in front of himself as though they could shield him from his mother's gaze. "Poseidonia." He muttered.

Melodia blinked. "You've been rolling about ...on the rooftops? Whatever for?"

"We were playing warriors and mages, mother." He straightened his back and lifted his chin, eyes bright. "I won."

He had won. Her son was covered in the smashed remains of a bright green plant that grew all over the tops of their homes, and he would probably be tinted green for days. Yet all he could say in his defense was that he had won a silly little child's game.

Melodia lifted a hand to cover the smile that threatened to break free of her control. Never in all her life had she imagined she could be so full of love for any person as she was for her son. Her beautiful little boy.

She cleared her throat gently. "Well." When she was reasonably sure she wasn't going to smile, she lowered her hand and laid it on her tail. "I called you for a reason, Bastian. Do you know what will begin during tomorrow's day cycle?"

Sensing that his mother had forgiven him, Bastian swam to her side and settled on the floor, wrapping one arm around Melodia's silver tail and rubbing his face against the soft feathers that sprouted between her scales. Only the Undine had such feathers, and Bastian loved the feel of them. He often wished he had inherited that trait from his mother, but alas his tail was only covered in scales.

"I am to begin training with the warriors tomorrow, mother."

Melodia laid a hand on his head, gently petting his soft locks. "Yes, my son, you are. That means you will be taking instruction from Prince Arsenius beginning tomorrow."

For Bastian, Arsenius had only ever been a politely distant Uncle. Though they saw each other from a distance as they passed through the palace, they very rarely exchanged words. Melodia wish with all her heart that it could remain so.

Bastian looked up and tilted his head a little. "Because he is the leader of our warriors, right? Zareb says he is the strongest Naiad warrior."

His mother bared her fangs to the water, though her touch on his head remained gentle. "Your...friend is not wrong about that. Prince Arsenius has powerful magic and he is well trained in combat. I want you to learn all that you can from him, Bastian. Listen to every word he says."

That had been the prince's plan anyways so he wasn't sure why his mother was telling him this, but he felt sure there was a reason. Melodia never did anything without a reason. Bastian nodded.

"Good." Melodia leaned back in the seat and her hand slid off of his head, returning to rest on her tail. "Militum will also be present for your lessons with Prince Arsenius. As a warrior of the Undine, I think you can learn a good deal from him as well."

Immediately, Bastian brightened up. "Militum is coming with me?" He bounced on the floor excitedly, mouth already watering at the thought of what snacks his Carrier would bring with him. "That is wonderful news!" He squeezed his mother's tail in a hug.

Melodia watched her son in amusement. It still surprised her that her son had bonded so well with Militum, and she wondered briefly what it would have been like for Bastian if his father had been able to carry him.

Very briefly. Thinking of Augustus only made her upset about all the lost possibilities. If he had not died, if he had succeeded in his mission of peace, if he had been here to further her own goals. She shook her head to clear away her thoughts.

"Do you want to know why I was swimming about all day?"

"If you want to tell me, I would like to listen."

Melodia's little diplomat.

"You will find the reason in that chest." She waved her arm at the wall across from her seat. Though it was not nearly as ornate as a hatching chest, it was made of intricate coral and embedded with pearls. A real treasure chest.

Bastian made his way across the room and carefully lifted the lid so as not to damage the chest. Inside lay a gleaming chest plate of gold. It was small, clearly not for a grown merman. The little prince ran his fingers over the smooth surface of the plate and smiled. There were straps to the side, made out of woven algae that he would be able to use to put the plate on by himself.

He looked back to his mother and smiled so hard his cheeks hurt. "Thank you Mother! I promise I'll wear it for practice." He swam back to her side and put his arms around her shoulders, burying his face in her neck.

Melodia wrapped her arms around him and held him close. "I just want you to be safe, Bastian. Promise me that you will be careful?"

"I promise, mother. I will be careful."

Bastian was the first to pull away from the hug. "I'm going to put it on right now!" And then he was gone from her arms and across the room in a second. Melodia wondered if he knew how sad his leaving always made her. Motherhood was not what she had expected after all, but as she watched her son dive through the water with his new armor on, she smiled.

Nothing was going to harm her child.

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Author's Note:

Dear readers, thank you for coming this far with me on Bastian's journey! This chapter is another mark in his childhood that I am using to set the groundwork for later conflicts so I wanted to know your opinions so far on how the story is progressing.

Do you think I need a little more action/conflict? How do you like the characters so far? Is there anything you'd like to see more or less of?

Thank you again for your time and attention! I appreciate you all very much. <3