The prince and the mermaidprincess Chapter 8

The doors to the throne room almost flew up as Jaden walked in, still very upset about the timing the servant had to interup him.

“Okay here I am, what is it?” He asked rather sharp and rushed. The king and the queen did not like the rushed and rude intro their son had made, but had to look through the fingers.

“We have an announcement to make son, we have found a princess there will make you a good wife,” said the king.

“WHAT!” Jaden Yelled, he was almost speechless. “Why have you arranged me a marriage with someone I don’t even know? When I already have found someone I love!” It all flew out of his mouth without thinking.

“I am sorry Jaden but you are a little too late, but it is non-negotiable,” Jaden groaned and knotted his brows.

“Yes it does, it is my life you are controlling and I had enough of it,” he snapped at his parents.

“Jaden! Though you may have found love now, it’s a bit too late. Since the princess is already on her way. You will be marrying her no matter what,” said the Queen heartless. It felt like a cold spine went down on Jaden’s back. ,,No way I am letting them get away with this!” he thought.

“Listing, no matter what you are saying, I will not marry that princess!” The king sighed heavily, as if he had a headache, while the queen looked angrily at Jaden.

“For the last time son, you will marry her no matter what. Listing, it’s not only for your own good, but the kingdom needs it too. Beside, we also want to watch our grandchildren grow up as you are taking care of the kingdom,” said the queen strictly and gave him a cold glare. Jaden knew when his mother was giving him that look, there was nothing he could do about it, whether he liked it or not.

“As you wish…” he almost whispered, but loud enough for his parents to hear it. He bowed then walked out of the throne room.

“I really hate to see him like this, do you really think it was a good decision?” The king asked tired. The queen looked at him as if he had said something that didn’t please her.


“You have become too soft over the years my dear, he is a grown up now and need a wife. So therefor, it’s the best thing we can do. Beside, it’s politic and that king is so desperate to get his daughter married that we have to help and form an alliance.” The king nodded in agreement, but still didn’t feel alright with upsetting his son.

,,I cannot believe it! This time they have really crossed the line, but what can I do?” he thought as he walked into the library to get some alone time. However, he didn’t get that since both Johan and Alexis sat and read a book. Jaden tried to walk as soundless as possible pas them, so they wouldn’t notices him, but Johan looked up from his book and caught him.

“Hey Jay, what is the matter?” he asked him cheerfully. Jaden sighed and closed his eyes, he really didn’t want to talk to anyone, but Johan was his best friend and they were close as brothers. Alexis looked up from her book and could see that Jaden was not feeling too well.

“Yo Johan, have you seen Jaden… There you are what’s up?” asked Syrus as he and Hassleberry walked to them. Jaden sat down on a chair beside Johan, rested his elbows on his knees, and sighed.


“My parents have forced me into a marriage with a princess I don’t know. She should arrive tomorrow.” Alexis laid her book on a table beside her, completely in shock.
“They what!?” Hassleberry almost yelled.

“Are you kidding, that is not cool,” said Syrus, Johan nodded while Alexis’ eyes was wide open, she couldn’t believe her ears.

“I’ve tried everything, but they are both stubborn as a donkey,” Johan laid a hand on his shoulder as support.

“Try to look at the bright side serge, maybe you will like this girl” said Hassleberry and tried to sound optimistic.

“I don’t think so… I don’t want to be forced into a marriage, but apparently they don’t understand that. They came up with all this, ”it’s best for the country,” and “we want to see our grand childrend grow up,” and all that crap…” he learned back into his chair and sighed deeply.

“Is there anything we can do?” Syrus asked.

“Beside making my parents stop this…then no…I need a little time to think,” he said as he again sighed deep. The boys and Alexis took the hint and left the library, so he could get some peace.


The next morning, Alexis woke up to the sound of many servants there ran up and down the hallway. ,, All that noise, just because a princess is coming…Then again, I am a princess as well and they don’t know it.” She thought as she got up and got ready for the day. ,,But I better step up my game, or I’ll lose everything.” She walked out of her room and started to look for Jaden. However, she found him sooner than she expected. He sat outside on a chair and rested his head on his hand. It was easy to see that he was not in the greatest mood. She walked a bit closer and Jaden snapped out of his thoughts and looked up at her.

“Good morning Alexis, slept well?” he tried to sound happy, but couldn’t hide how concerned and mad he was. Alexis nodded, even though it was a lie. She had been sleepless most of the night, afraid, sad and despairing. Thinking about what she could do, to help herself away from death. She sat down on a chair beside him. She was worried. For both him and herself. She had to do something, but she had no idea of what to do.

“You are worried aren’t you?” Jaden said calmly, Alexis looked in wonder at him, how did he know that? Jaden chuckled at her reaction, as if it was obvious what he meant.

“I can see it in your eyes. I can read you like a book, I don’t know how but I can. Even though you can’t speak, I know what you are thinking. Well…almost everything…” he looked in her eyes and slightly blushed. Suddenly trumpeter interrupted them and Jaden sighed heavily.

“Sounds like she is here, we better head to the throne room. We are supposed to meet her there.” He said and rose up, Alexis followed him and found Johan, Syrus and Hassleberry inside the throne room.

“I guess it’s time to meet this princess now…” murmured Jaden, the rest of the boys nodded and said nothing, and watched Jaden as he walked up to his parents and sat beside them, though he didn’t want to. In a couple of minutes, the throne room was filled with people, who wanted to see the princess and to see what was going to happen.
Suddenly the crowd stopped to talk. The door to the throne room opened and only one girl walked in. the crowd made way for her, as she elegantly walked up to the royal pair and Jaden, who sat beside his mother.

The princess looked like to bee nineteen, she had gold long hair and sky blue eyes, and to make one long story short, she was beautiful.

“Princess Mathilde, what an honour it is for us, for you to be here,” the queen said cheerfully, but respectfully as well.

“Oh my queen, the honour is all mine. Prince Jaden,” Mathilde looked at Jaden and curtseyed to him.” I have been very excited to meet you.”
Jaden only nodded without any expression on his face. The king rose from his throne with a smile on his face, looked at his wife, then at the crowd.

“My dear friends and subjects, today we have gattered because we have a wonderful announcement to make. With the arrival of princess Mathilde, it’s then official that my son, prince Jaden and princess Mathilde are engaged!”
The whole throne room was celebrating, everyone except Alexis, Johan, Hassleberry and Syrus. They stood speechless.

“So it was not just a threat, they really meant it this time,” Hassleberry murmured.

“Unbelievable, how can they do it to him?” Syrus asked himself. Alexis was the only one to remain in silence, because not only she was mute, but she won’t have spoken no matter what. She was heartbroken. It was bright as day that Jaden didn’t want anything to do with the marriage, but he had no choice, it was by orders from his parents, and Alexis knew that. She had to do something, to help him, to help herself away from death, but most so, he could be happy.
However, what could she do? She could not take him with her down to her kingdom and turn him into a merman. How would she be able to turn into a mermaid and avoid Camula’s curse anyway?

“The wedding shall be held in two weeks!” people was cheering on the wedding announcement and of the date.

“Two week…that was fast,” Johan said speechless. Alexis nodded in agreement, and how she couldn’t wait to get out, she felt sick in her stomach and dizzy.

“A ball will be held tonight to celebrate the engagement, everyone is welcome,” the king added and people cheered even more. Then they were allowed to leave, Alexis almost ran out of the throne room. She had to get away. She had to get away from Jaden, her heart would break even more of she saw him, if it was even possible.

“Alexis wait!” Syrus exclaimed, but Alexis was long gone. She could feel tears in her eyes as she ran, but they would not run down her cheeks. She wouldn’t let them do, not it public. She ran down to the beach and to the rocks, sat down and allowed herself to cry. What she didn’t know though, was that a certain seagull was flying right above her, then out to the ocean as fast as it could.


The same evening a party was held in the castle, to celebrate the engagement between Jaden and Mathilde. The sun had set and the stars had appeared, inside the ballroom people was laughing, dancing and having a good time. Alexis however, stood all alone outside on the balcony. She was saddened by the fate she had to face. The wind blew gently as she looked out at the garden and the clear night sky. She sighed and thought.

,,The night is beautiful, but what can I do so I can stay here? Jaden is getting married and with that, my soul is Camula’s…”she thought sorrowfully. She looked back at the party, then wuick back at the nature. She didn’t want to go in, she was afraid of making a scene, but also it would make her more sad to see Jaden with the princess. She was so deep in thought that she didn’t notice Syrus there was walking up to her.

“Alexis?” she turned around to see him, she didn’t know if she was hoping it was Jaden there would have come, because it would have made her both happy and sad.

“I was thinking if you would like to come in and join us, I mean, it is not good to be alone at a time like this.” It actually made Alexis a little happy inside that Jaden’s friends cared for her. She thought about it for a moment, she was afraid that she would make a fool out of herself, because of Jaden and Mathilde. She then looked at Syrus, nodded and tried to smile.

“Awesome, come on. Johan and Hassleberry are waiting for us.” He took her hand and walked in the ballroom. People were dancing and talking, it made Alexis smile a bit to see people happy, thankfully, she cound’t see Jaden or princess Mathilde as she followed Syrus.

“Hello Alexis, nice to see you,” Hassleberry greeted her.

“Yeah, we were a bit worried about you since we couldn’t find you,” Johan continued.
,,To think they don’t know much about me, yet they care for me. I don’t know if anyone would have done that.” She though and smiled a bit more.

“We understand that you are heartbroken. Jaden is so too, because he doesn’t love princess Mathilde. He loves you.” Johan get to say.

,,He may do that, but we don’t know if it’s romantic or as a friend.” She thought, making herself sad and looked down at the floor for a few seconds.

“You okay Alexis?” Hassleberry asked. Alexis quick looked up at them questioning and a bit worried that she already had made a mistake, since the human culture was a bit different to Atlantis. When she had perceived the question, she nodded and made a sign to show she was okay. The boys looked at each other, whether to believe it or not. Johan saw a better way to make her smile at an evening like the one there was tonight, and it was something he really enjoyed when he had the opportunity. He walked right up to Alexis, slightly bowed and reached his hand out to her.

“Alexis, may I have this dance?” he asked with a smile so charming, or cute, that it could melt any girls heart. Alexis didn’t know what to do, not because of his smile or his act as a gentleman. She simply didn’t want to, or didn’t know how to dance.
But she accepted, most because she didn’t wanted to be rude.
As she walked out on the dancefloor, she noticed that Jaden was looking at both of them like a judge to a dance competition. When Johan held her hand and got closer, she almost panicked, what was she supposed to do? She laid her one hand on his shoulder as a support, thought without knowing, she was doing the right thing. She had got used to the pain in her feet when she was walking, but now she was going to dance, how was she going to reach to the pain? A new pain!

“I take the look on your means you have never danced before, correct?” Alexis looked startled at him, the slightly blushes as she nodded.

“Ha ha, don’t worry, I’ll take the lead and teach ya,” he said and slowly started to dance. Johan completely took Alexis by surprise, and if she could speak, she would had asked him to wait, but she had to learn it one way or another. Slowly, they danced together, Alexis was concentrating very hard on doing it right, and she looked down multiple times to avoid stepping on him. Johan was trying his best to help her, though eventually it was too much for him to see her concentrate while dancing. He stopped and made Alexis confused of his actions.

“Okay, okay, Alexis listing. Dancing, is not about doing it as right as possible. It’s about having fun and be happy. Listing to the music… I know the melody, but I absolutely don’t know the dance, none of us there is out here on the dancefloor knows the dance. What we are doing is following the rhythm. Screw that you might step on my feet a couple of times. Now…” Johan hold gentle and carefully Alexis on her chin and made her look into his eyes.

“Don’t look down, look everywhere else but down.” Alexis used a couple of seconds to understand what Johan had told her, she nodded nervously and started to dance again with him. ,,Don’t look down, follow the rhythm, try to be happy, follow his lead…”.

”Alexis...Stop thinking and follow the rhythm. Relax and just enjoy yourself.” Johan told her with a sigh, his patience was about to slip up. ,,Relax he said…and enjoy the moment…Maybe…I should do it.” Alexis thought and considered what to do. In less than a minute, she began to follow Johan’s lead better and her smile became even wider. It was not long before she laughed, without a sound slipping through her mouth, and she and Johan began to dance faster and more fun. However, after some time, they left the dancefloor, exhausted but happy. Had Alexis had her voice, she would have laughed her heart out. Because of not only the dance, but Johan began to come up with some jokes and parodies of a couple of people, including Hassleberry.

“Ha ha, see, I told ya dancing is the best medicine against a bad mood,” Johan said as he hold his arm around Alexis, afraid that she might fall thanks to be exhausted, and he remembered that she wasn’t the best walker. Alexis nodded with a smile so bright, that you could think that she had forgotten every bad thing there is coming her way.
They stood and talked a bit more, trying to gain energy to go out and dance once more. Johan most of all did it to make her happy. He knew that Alexis and Jaden was in love with each other, but now that Jaden was engaged, he would do anything to make both of them happy. Originally, he would do almost anything for Jaden, because to Johan, Jaden was like that brother he never had and loved him like a brother. Alexis on the other hand. He was first a bit suspicious about her, but later on as he saw how much Jaden had fallen for her, he could see that she meant no harm, and that it was true love there was in the air.

“So Alexis…Ready for…” Johan was cut as he saw Jaden was walking towards both of them. Almost rushing towards them.

“Well, well. I am glad to see you here your highness,” Johan said, making the last part a joke. He knew that Jaden didn’t like to be formal with his friends, but now that he was engaged with that girl, he had to try to be a little optimistic, which usually was Jaden’s job.

“I am glad to see you too, stupid Dane…” Jaden said with a smile. Alexis looked confused at Johan, there just was called a Dane. What was a Dane? An idiot?

“I actually came to ask you for a dance Alexis.” Jaden said as he suddenly changed the topic, “I saw how much fun you and Johan had, so if you will. Will you have this dance with me?”
Alexis didn’t know whether to accept or not. She loved him with all her heart, but now that he was engaged, she was afraid of doing something very stupid or humiliating to herself, because of her broken heart. However, as she remembered that Jaden didn’t want anything to do with the marriage, and all the good time they had spent with each other and that she was told by his friends, that he loved her. She nodded with a little smile and walked out on the dancefloor with Jaden.

“You did that very well private Andersen,” Hassleberry said as he walked up to Johan and watched Jaden and Alexis dance happily and dreamingly together.

“Did what?” Johan asked slightly confused.

“You made Alexis happy and gave them a slight of hope.”

“Hope…” Johan said as if he was tasting the word.

“And I think it was a good idea that you gave her a small lesion in dancing…” Hassleberry added with a little laugh. To that, Johan didn’t respond. He only watched Jaden and Alexis as they slowly danced together, looking dreamingly into each other’s eyes.