Alexander pov~

I swiftly made my way back to the palace, making sure to stop by all the reefs to get that scent on me, instead of the smell of Laurens and his 'bathtub' and 'coffee'. I checked and decided I smelled adequately of reef and jellyfish and shark. I guess I'd just say that I'd spent the day in a reef. I swam towards the village, slipping through the streets like a shadow. I'd made it all the way to the door I'd left from, only to be spotted by a guard. I sighed as he came over, already deciding to give up and go with him. We were going in the same direction, only my way was less noticeable.

"Hi. How are you?" I leaned nonchalantly against the door and waved.

"Prince Alexander?" The guard gasped.

"In the flesh." I spread my arms and did unenthusiastic jazz hands, not pointing out that I'd rather he drop the 'Prince' thing.

"You've been missing for so long!"

"It's been 23 hours I think." I mentally counted the time. "Yeah, that seems about right."

"Sir we–"

I silenced him with a look. "Let's just get it done with, shall we?" I asked, gesturing towards the palace gates that most people used.

"Yes sir." The guard bowed and I sighed, rolling my eyes at the needless formality.

"Got any clue where a certain female called Maria Reynolds is?" I asked him as we swam down the halls.

"You should ask your father."

"Not my father, but why should I ask him?"

"I think he got angry at Miss Reynolds when you didn't come back, because you were last seen with her." The guard said.

"What did he do?" I snarled.

"I d-don't know sir." The guard looked pretty scared. I've been told I'm very intimidating when I'm angry, but I'm not sure how a sleep deprived male who's shorter then literally everyone else his age can be anything near intimidating.

"Well where's the king?"

"He should be in his chambers sir."

I closed my eyes, mentally preparing myself for the confrontation, then sped off, making my way up to my adoptive father's chambers. I stopped outside the door and knocked.

"Who is it?" The king's voice sounded through the coral.

"Who else would have the guts to come bother you at 2 in the morning?" I replied, knocking again.

"Alexander?" He opened the door, looking pretty tired.

"The one and only." I smiled. "Where's Maria Reynolds?"

"Dungeon."

"Care to tell me why?" I hissed, looking up at him.

"You were last seen with her, and she refused to tell us where you went." He replied, shrugging.

My heart melted at the loyalty of my friend, even though it got her in so much trouble. I looked up at the king again.

"I'm getting her out."

"Alexander don't–" He started, but I cut him off.

"Bye bye George!" I cried, speeding back down the hall.

I swam down to the dungeons as quickly as I could, knocking on the heavy coral door loudly. A tired looking prison keeper opened it.

"Hi. I'm here for Miss Maria Reynolds?" I said, peering around him to see the cells.

"I'm sorry sir, you can't just come and free the prisoners the king sends down here." The prison keeper responded, not noticing who I was.

"But you see, I can." I said, looking him in the eye and waving a hand at myself.

"Oh, Prince Alexander..." The prison keeper looked nervous. "Did the king...?"

"Yup." I squeezed past him into the dark chamber.

I made my way along the cells, searching for my friend. Most of the cells were empty, but there were one or two prisoners, all of whom looked so freaking sad. I would let them out, but I don't know why they're here. I found a cell in which a female sat proudly, blood red tail catching the dim light on it's scales.

I smiled and signaled for the prison keeper to come, I didn't have the key. He came over nervously and fumbled with the keys for a little while before opening the metal door. Maria swam out, giving the prison keeper a curt, contemptuous nod. Then we made our way out of the prison and up a few floors, into the garden.

Once Maria and I were safe in the lovely underwater garden, far away from any windows and prying eyes, she collapsed into my arms.

"Thank you." I whispered to her, hugging my friend.

"You're thanking me? You got me out of jail, I should thank you."

"Sure, but I'm the reason you got stuck in the dungeon in the first place. Plus, you didn't tell anyone where I went, which makes you an amazing friend."

"Where did you go? I know you didn't spend 24 hours on the shore." Maria pulled away from the hug and we sat next to each.

"Funny story, I got abducted by a human after passing out cause I hit my head."

"What? Are you ok? How did you get back? What did they do to you?" Maria stared at me worriedly and I chuckled.

"I'm fine. He didn't hurt me."

"Tell me everything."

"So, I went to the shore then I hit my head and went unconscious. I woke up in a thing that Laurens called a 'bathtub'. It was pretty much a smooth white hollow rock filled with stale water. Anyways, so he brought a friend over, and they made it pretty clear I wasn't leaving unless I told them what they wanted to know."

"Did they tell the other humans? Are they coming to get us?"

"No. I never told him exactly where we are. Just that the kingdom was in the ocean." I shrugged. "Also, Laurens said he wasn't going to tell the other humans, and I trust him."

"Alex, he's a human, you can't trust humans."

"Yeah, but this one is just... different." I sighed.

"Stockh--"

"Didn't spend enough time there. He just seems kinda... trustworthy." I shrugged, cutting her off.

"Well, I'm glad you came back." She smiled.

"So am I." I stretched and yawned, loving the feeling of the water all around me once again.

"You seem tired Alex, you should try and sleep." Maria told me.

"I guess." I got up and helped my friend up, because I'm a good person like that.

"Good night Alexander."