After a few hours, dinner began to wind down. Eating became less of a focus as dessert and more drinks began to be passed around.
And then as the night wore on, the little cute umbrella drinks were replaced by the harder drinks as someone brought out a bottle of liquor with shot glasses which began to be passed around from man to man.
The women decided to take a walk around the gardens to take advantage of the cool evening air. It also gave the men a chance to be slightly raucous and tipsy in the comfort and safety of the barbecue grounds with attendants all around them.
Poppy and Candace, along with the rest of the Emperor's wives and girls began their walk around the pond, following the lights of the lanterns that were lit along the stone paths.
Daisy and Ariana ran on ahead, laughing and giggling at the various statues and stone animals along the way.
They were heading towards the red bridge which crossed the pond midway and had begun to climb on the bridge by the time the women were able to make it to the foot of the bridge.
Daisy was laughing at something Ariana pointed at in the water and she swung her body over the edge of the handrail to better take a look at whatever it was Ariana was pointing at.
Suddenly, the handrail detached from the bridge and splintered, causing Daisy to lose her balance.
"AAAAAAHHHHH!!!" Daisy screamed as she pitched into the water, headfirst.
SPLASSSHHH!!!
The women heard the cry and began running towards the bridge.
SPLASSSHHHH!!!
There was a second splash as Ariana jumped into the pond following her little sister.
All the men jumped up from where they sat and ran to the area where the women and girls were.
As the women reached the midsection where the girls had entered the water, they could see two small heads bobbing in the water.
Ariana was holding onto little Daisy and swimming towards the shoreline. As she reached shore, the men were the first to make it to the water's edge.
"Daisy! Ariana!" Their brothers cried out. The men reached down and lifted both the girls up out of the water.
The little blonde Daisy was soaked and covered in some kind of seaweed kelp which clung to her dress in long blackish green strands.
Nothing clung to Ariana at all.
Nothing clung because from the waist down, she had turned into a mermaid!
"Oh my God," someone whispered.
"Here, put this over her."
One of the men pulled off his royal robe and they covered her with it—but nothing could cover up the long fish tail of the little mermaid Ariana.
The women ran back towards shore, crying with distress.
"Oh my poor girls!" Royal Consort Theodora ran to a soaking wet Daisy and picked her up, but then she turned to Ariana and reached out to touch her wet green hair.
"You're such a great older sister. Thank you for saving Daisy!"
Ariana pressed her lips together. Her face looked scared.
She was in big trouble and she knew it. She didn't dare look at her mother.
Candace and Poppy had reached the girls by then and were trying to console them.
Jason picked her up and held onto her body in a protective stance, even as Jared held onto her hand.
The silvery greenish-blue fish tail stuck out from under Jared's robe, looking more and more out of place.
Ashwyn gestured once. "Please follow me into one of the chambers so we can get the girls dry."
Lucas reached down and picked Daisy up.
"I'll carry her, Mother." He reassured Theodora as he and the twins followed Ashwyn. The rest of the women flocked along, looking worried and unnerved.
Emperor Rex remained standing, fixed in one spot with his other sons. He could not believe that his little daughter had turned into a mermaid.
He had never tested any of his children for royal lineage. Why would he? He had been confident that they were all his children.
But Ariana had turned into a mermaid!
Rex had no idea what to think. Was she his child or does she belong to another man?
Byron clapped him on the shoulder.
"Don't be too worried Father. The girls seem none the worse for wear."
Emperor Rex stared at him, unable to say a word.
"It's a lucky thing Ariana swims like a fish and was able to rescue Daisy so quickly!" Byron tried to reassure the Emperor.
"Like? Like a fish?" The Emperor stuttered. "She IS a fish!"
"Father, it's not as if it's all that strange." Dante turned to the Emperor and tried to reason with him.
"It's not strange, no." Emperor Rex muttered. "Not if you're a mermaid."
"But Father," Slate grimaced. "Mother Fatima is a mermaid."
"Yes but her boys, the twins, are bats! I didn't expect Ariana to be—to be—"
"To be like her mother?" Leonardo shook his head.
The Emperor turned to Leonardo. "You are a doctor. You, more than anyone know that we blood bats breed true!"
"Until we don't." Leonardo shrugged.
"What are you talking about?" Emperor Rex huffed. "The blood bats have bred true for thousands and thousands of years!"
"Father," Lucas shook his head. "What does it matter? It's not as if she is any less your child."
"I don't know that." Rex spat. "What if her mother…her mother…"
Rex paused. He could barely even think the thoughts.
Slate turned to him, appalled. "You've held Ariana as a newborn, cared for her as a toddler, and raised her as a young girl. Now that she's reaching puberty, you suddenly decide that she's no longer your child?"
"She's not a bat." Rex pointed out.
"She's still your flesh-and-blood." Byron reached out for his father but the Emperor yanked his arm away.
"I don't know that! I need to talk to Fatima." The Emperor's eyes were intense.
"Talk to me about what?" The diminutive mermaid with long greenish brown hair came back out, her soft brown eyes were filled with disappointment.
"Fatima." The Emperor turned to her. "Come with me.. We need to talk."
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