Arthur pov

As we arrive at the palace, I decide to wake up the sleeping bundle of joy in my arms. I go to first wake up Monty so he could open he door. He wakes up quickly and gets out of the carriage. I stroke her hair for a few more minutes then I start to shake her awake gently.

"Daphne. It's time to rise my dear." I whisper in her ear.

"Where am I?" She asks while waking up slightly with fear in her eyes.

"We are at the palace. Come along dear. We have much to do." I tell her while helping her out of the carriage.

We walk through the palace to the balcony where Mera should be there waiting for us.

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Daphne pov

I follow Arthur down the painted halls and to the balcony to meet the queen. When we reach the balcony I see a beautiful white woman with a tiara and formal royalty outfit. She turns to us and I hide behind Arthur's leg. I hear him "aw" lightly while patting my head.

"Welcome home my love." The queen greets him while hugging him.

"Hello to you too my darling. My queen, meet our new daughter. Diphina, but she wishes to be called Daphne. Daphne, this is my wife and queen Mera."

"Hello Daphne." She says while kneeling down to me.

"Hello my queen." I greet as I bow to her.

"So respectful at a young age. How old are you?" She asks.

"I am 6 years of age." I answer formally.

"My heavens, your practically a lady. Do you want to see your new room?" She asks.

"I get a room?" I ask in pure shock.

"Of course you do. I would give up my room to make sure you have one." She says while holding out her hand to me.

"Where are we going?" I ask taking her hand.

"To your room. It maybe a little big for now but you will grow into it. Do you want anything special in your room." She asks.

"Do you have any books?" I ask a little worried I am asking for too much.

"We have plenty of books. There should be some in your room. It is not a picture book but I could teach you how to read." She explains.

"Momma taught me to read. I know most words but not all of them." I explain smiling at the memory of the lessons momma gave me when the Manta left.

"Good. Here it is." Mera says while opening the door.

In the room, it is painted blue with a small desk and lamp, and a twin maybe a queen size bed. There is a shelve full of old books. I go to the books as fast as I can. I read the title of them and some I have already read, others I have not. I go to the balcony and I can see the whole city. I almost cry at the site. I look back at the queen with tears in my eyes. She looks surprised at me and rushes to me.

"My child are you alright?" She ask her voice filled with worry.

"Of course my queen, but is this all for me?" I could not resist to ask while wiping my tears.

"Absolutely my dear. Why do tears fall from your eyes? I have never seen anyone in Atlantis shed tears." She asks while looking worried.

"I have always been able to cry. My mother says that she was not able to know if I was alive if I did not." I explain with fear lacing my voice.

"Alright then. I only worry because you are now my daughter and is it not a mother's job to worry about her children?" She explain while laughing lightly.

"Yes it is." I answer.

"Good. Now come with me to get something eat. You look very thin." She says while holding her hand for me to take.

I nod while taking her hand. She leads me into the dinning hall and sit me down next to her. I see a guard pass by us and look at me. I put my head down to avoid his eyes. I look up to see a plate of food in front of me. I look at the queen to see her already eating. She moves her hand to my fork motion me to eat. I pick up my fork and start to eat. I quickly eat my food but remind myself not to eat it all. When the queen leaves the room I accidentally eat all my food. I look at plate fearing what would happen. When the king and queen walk in together I look at Arthur with pure terror in my eyes.

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Arthur pov

Mera comes to get me when she is dinning with Daphne so she would not feel so alone. When we get to the dinning hall, I see Daphne in tears. I rush to her side and look at her.

"What is wrong my child?" I ask wiping her tears.

"I'm sorry." She sniffles to me while more tears fall.

"Daphne what did you do?" Mera ask.

She shakes her head slowly. I look at her and then at the plate in front of her. The plate is clean. I am glad that she is eating but I want her to stop crying.

"Daphne calm down." Mera says while touching her shoulder.

Daphne screams when Mera raises her hand and rushes out of the room in tears.

"Is she alright. I was not going to harm her." Mera rushes out in fear and worry.

"It is fine my dear. It is not you but her mind. I believe she was trained to be submissive. And I also think that it was done by force of hand." I explain while standing up.

"Who on this earth would someone forcefully train a little girl to be submissive?" Mera asks in shock.

"I hope I find out. What did you do before you came to me?" I ask quickly so I can find Daphne faster.

"I took her into the dinning hall for her to eat since she looks thin. I mean really thin, like unhealthy thin. She was eating her food quickly but I did not think much of it. When I left to get you she was still eating." She explains further.

"Ok. I will go look for her. Can you please check the library?" I ask.

"I will have the guards check outside. Please find her." She begs me.

"I will." I promise while I leave the room.

I look in the bathroom, kitchen, even the healing room but I can not find her. I stand in the middle of the hall and focus on my ears. I hear small whimpers from behind the door. I go to open the door and she is hiding under the bed. I kneel down and look to see her tiny form curl up in a ball in the corner.

"Hello sweetheart." I whisper to her

"Hi." She says while curling back in the corner.

"Can you come out please?" I ask gently.

"Am I in trouble?" She ask with tears in her eyes.

"No you are not. I promise. Why did you leave the table?" I ask.

"I did not save any food on my plate." She says with a small sob.

"Why is that a bad thing sweet heart?" I ask confused.

"Because no one else can have the food. I was suppose to share the food, not eat it all. I am sorry." She says crying.

"Daphne we have plenty of food here. You do not have to share. You could even ask for more. Can you come out please? Mera is very worried about you." I coax her.

"Really?" She asks.

"Of course. Come on." I tell her while making room for her.

She comes out of the bed and curls close to me. She stuffs her face in my neck as I cradle her. I stand up and walk to the dinning room. I rub her back slowly while humming to her. I hear her stomach growl as I sit down at the table. I take a piece of food on a fork and hold it to her lips. She takes a small bite of it. I feed her slowly not wanting to rush her and she finishes her second plate. I get a new plate in front of me and start to feed her again. She finishes her third plate before falling asleep.

"She is so precious." Mera says while moving the hair out of Daphne's face.

"I know. I found her under the bed hiding from me." I explain while rubbing her back.

"Who ever put their hands on this child deserves to die." Mera says with venom in her voice.

"I know." I agree while tightening my hold on her.

Daphne starts to moan and whimper in my arms. I rub her back and start to rock her. After a few minutes she stops and stuffs her face deeper in my neck. I feel her warm breath on my neck as she moves her head. She looks at me with wide reddish grey eyes.

"Hello angel." I whisper to her.

"Hello my king." She says with her head down.

"Someone wants to talk to you." I explain while pulling her away so Mera could see her.

"Hello Daphne. I am so sorry that I frightened you before. I had no idea that what I did would scare you." Mera says sincerely.

"It is alright my queen. You could not have known." Daphne says while tightening her grip on me.

"My king, Orm has returned." One of the guard says from the door.

"Thank you. Would you like to meet him?" I ask smiling at her.

She nods with a shy smile as I place her on the floor. We go to the front of the palace to see Orm my brother walking out of the carriage.

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Daphne pov

We walk outside of the palace to see a man getting out of the carriage. Arthur walks up to hug him but stop when I attach myself to his leg. He looks to see me on his leg and my tiny fingers clinging to his pants leg. Orm laughs as he walks to Arthur and hugs him lightly.

"It is good to see you again my brother." Orm says while smiling at him.

"As well brother. I want you meet our new house guest. It's ok my dear. You can come out now." He says while looking down at me.

I step aside from his leg and look at the ground. They laugh lightly as Orm bends down to my level.

"Hello darling. Can you look at me please?" Orm asks.

I look up at him slowly and bow in respect.

"Much better. What is your name dear girl?" Orm asks smiling more.

"Daphne, Prince Orm." I answer respectfully.

"For a mere child you are very proper." He says.

"Thank you." I reply with a smile.

"You are absolutely adorable." Orm says placing a hand in her shoulder.

I fight the urge to flinch at his touch.

"Come on brother you must be hungry." Arthur says while motioning for us to follow him.

I hesitantly goes with them and attach myself to Arthur's leg. He doesn't stop walking as I hug his leg. I feel safe like this. Like he is going to protect me at all cost. I have honestly never felt like this in a long time. As we make our way to the dinning hall we pass by a few guards with their weapons in hand. They scare me slightly and I whimper while stuffing my face in his leg, squeezing him tighter. He pats me head lightly while stroking my hair. We get to a chair and he picks me up to sit me in his lap. He uses his thumb to stroke my cheek lightly to sooth me as I bury myself in his chest. I listen to them talk about politics and other things but I tune them out over the beating of Arthur's heart. I fall asleep to his heart beat.