"Kazimir!"

Todal, minder of the royal children, blew into the inner gardens like a raging current, his pale skin practically like bleached seaweed as he sped through the water, eyes racing back and forth to find the one he was seeking, panic making him almost fall head over tail until he spotted the tell-tale ethereal white he was looking for.

"Kazimir, she's gone!" he shrieked, hands flying into his pale green hair. "She's gone again! And The King is looking for her!" He started pacing back and forth, his long green tail flicking up and down frantically. "I told her – I told her – I needed her here at the change of tide and she refused! She's still harping on about the full moon! If her father finds out she's gone up there again he'll have my tail! You have to get her back for me, Kazimir! She'll only listen to you!"

He whirled towards his silent audience and had to pause to check if he was even being listened to.

The slightest turn of the head told him he was.

Kazimir knelt at a flowerbed, examining a set of wilting red flowers. Holding up a finger to indicate that Todal wait a moment, he set his hand down on the bed, closed his eyes and let out a soft, barely audible, wordless song.

Only seconds long but it was enough to make Todal shiver violently at the power that rippled through the water.

And then it was over and the flowers were no longer wilting.

Kazimir straightened up and turned.

"Right," he said, looking at the small silver fish that floated by him, waiting. "Tell Doway that the problem lies in the bed itself. I've fixed it for now but the blight may spread to the rest of the garden so he needs to fix it. And when he asks you to ask me to look into it for him because I'm 'oh so very gifted,' tell him I say 'do you own damn job or I'll take your laziness straight to the king.' Did you get all that?"

The little fish bobbed and darted off.

Todal watched Kazimir as the young merman folded his arms across his toned chest, his pale skin warmed slightly in the glow of the coral lights, the silvery coiling tattoos up his left side catching the light, leading up to The Heart of The Sea.

The jewel that sat embedded in the skin three inches below his collarbone. Kazimir's was white, Todal's was green.

His streaming white hair flared out around him as he fixed his striking eyes on Todal.

A kaleidoscope of colours looked out at him from under dark lashes and Kazimir raised a pale eyebrow.

"You were saying something," he said, giving his long white tail a hard flick and drifting passed Todal to exit the Red Coral Royal Gardens, moving through the arch way and out into the main gardens – his tail shimmering with the palest of icy blue.

"I was talking about the princess," Todal said, following quickly, his long green tail rushing to keep up with Kazimir's lazy easy flicks that drove him through the water – cod's breath, he was getting too old to keep up with these young merfolk.

"Which princess?" Kazimir asked, looking at Todal and slowing his pace for the old merman – who's face, which resembled something between a green-skinned man and a tuna, was looking stressed enough without the extra effort of keeping up with a fast swimmer.

Todal gave him a disapproving pout of his fish lips and held up his webbed hands. "Who do you think?" he asked.

Kazimir sighed and rolled his multi-coloured eyes. "Fine, what do you want me to do about it?"

"Get her back, of course," Todal said.

"Agh," Kazimir moaned, pulling a sneer and ruining his handsome face. "You're the Minder. Mind her."

"My heart can't handle the strain anymore," Todal replied.

"Sure, I believe you," Kazimir said, disbelieving.

"Help me out here, Kaz. She only does as you say, certainly not me."

"Not anyone."

"... Admittedly, yes, but at least she listens to you and registers you're speaking. Please. Please, please, please. I need her here as soon as possible and I'm not even sure where to start looking for her. Please, please, please, please pl—"

"Ah stop!" Kazimir snapped, a shiver running up his spine, the small fins at the base of his tail flicking in irritation. "It unnerves me when the merman who raised me begs for anything. I'll go find her."

Todal shot him a sharp-toothed grin and Kazimir narrowed his eyes before veering away.

With another hard flick of the tail, Kazimir shot upwards, leaving the royal gardens far below, leaving the merfolk far below and the glorious palace that shimmered as if in sunlight, despite it being hundreds upon hundreds of feet below the forbidden surface of the water. 

~~~~

Next Up: In a Moment

Art By: http://doublethickcustard.deviantart.com/ - (Amaaaazing comics)