CHAPTER 1

Everyone in the kingdom was excited, the queen was about to give birth. The whole kingdom loved the queen and they waited with great anticipation for this new arrival.

King Aegean paced nervously. He was not excited. The Kind did not know how his wife had talked him into having another child he had six this would be his seventh. Aegean had a son to take over as king; in fact he had two sons and four daughters. They did not need another child.

Adolphina, the Queen Mother was with Queen Daphne as she gave birth. It was a girl. The announcement was made to the kingdom and everyone cheered at the birth of the new princess. Queen Daphne and Queen Mother Adolphina exchanged glances. Would she be the one?

The tiny princess was named Skye. When she was a week old Queen Daphne and Queen Mother Adolphina took the baby into Adolphina's private throne room where they closed and locked the door. They placed the baby girl in the pool located in the middle of the room and watched. They exchanged glances and smiles as Adolphina said, "We have found our next queen."

Bruce had finally talked Gene and Paul into going out on his new yacht. Well, he had not actually bought the yacht yet; this was a test run to see if he liked it. He was going out for a cruise and he convinced his old band members to go with him. He could spend time with his friends and find out what Gene and Paul were planning for the future.

They took off, intending to spend a few uneventful hours at sea.

"Mother." Skye called. "Marshmallow and I are going to go for a swim."

The Queen looked at her youngest daughter and smiled. Skye had grown into a beautiful young woman. Daphne was very proud of her daughter.

"Don't go too far my dear."

"Oh no Mother we won't."

Skye's world was a beautiful city under the sea called Aquatica. A protective barrier surrounded the city keeping the water out. No one could remember how long the city had been there or what the protective barrier was made of, it had just always been there.

The Queen smiled at her young daughter and sent her on her way. Skye reached the entrance to the bubble that surrounded her world. Marshmallow was waiting for her as she exited out through the portal. Her brothers and sisters along with some of the other children were also at the portal watching. Some gasped as she exited and they saw her tail form. Skye looked at her siblings as they laughed and pointed at her, children were running from her in fear. It hurt Skye when they did this. How could her brothers and sisters be so cruel?

Aquatica was made up of two races of people. Aquaticans and the Merpeople. These two races had not always gotten along and were often at war with each other. Many centuries ago a truce had been called and the two peoples now existed together. Many had intermarried but for some there was still great animosity.

The Kings of both worlds had decided that for peace to rein someone from both races must rule as King and Queen thus keeping a balance of power. This arrangement worked for many years until the Merpeople realized that they did the majority of work. The Merpeople were the ones who gathered the food, as they were the only ones who could stay out for the city long enough to go to the surface and gather food. Long ago the Aquaticans decided it was beneath their status to go out swimming for long periods and so had lost the ability of long distance travel under water. Yes, they could still swim but not for long periods of time.

Because of this, the Merpeople had developed an advantage and it was ordered that if there were ever a disagreement between the King and Queen, the Merperson would be the decision maker.

"It is okay Skye." Marshmallow said. Marshmallow was her pet dolphin. Marshmallow had been with Skye all her life, in fact, Skye could not remember where Mallow came from only that one day she followed her home and stayed.

The Merpeople had a unique ability, which enabled them to talk to any of the sea creatures. Skye used this ability with Marshmallow and the two enjoyed a unique friendship.

"Come on Skye, let's go." Marshmallow encouraged.

Skye and Marshmallow swam away. Skye was quiet reliving the earlier scene over and over in her head. Marshmallow swam circles around her and tried to take her mind off it.

Skye was so engrossed in her own thoughts that she did not notice the shadow that crossed their path. Marshmallow tensed and immediately Skye knew something was wrong. She turned around, there he was, it was Hunter. Hunter was bearing down on them. He was the shark that had been chasing Skye for as long as she could remember.

"Run Marshmallow." Skye yelled as she swam away.

Skye swam away from Hunter darting in and out of the reef and around the rocks trying to go where Hunter could not go.

Hunter was the biggest, meanest shark in the ocean. He was far bigger than any other shark and he was on a mission. He wanted Skye.

Skye swam as fast as she could. She surfaced thinking she could climb up on the rocks. When she surfaced she discovered it was not rocks that she had seen but it was a boat. A man yelled out to her as they all saw Hunter surface.

"Hurry, swim faster." The man called out.

Skye swam to the boat where two men grabbed her arms and pulled her in. When Hunter reached her he opened his mouth and bit down finding nothing but air. He had missed, but not completely. Hunter did not get the bite he wanted but he grazed her side. Skye was pulled onto the boat just in time. Hunter was not satisfied. He rammed the boat many times and Skye was afraid Hunter would cause damage to the boat hurting the people who had saved her.

Skye looked out across the ocean and saw a pod of killer whales. She stood at the side of the boat and called out to them. "I am Skye, Princess of Aquatica. I need your help please."

The pod of killer whales swam closer to the boat.

Skye again called out, "I need your help please. Hunter the shark is after me."

The killer whales came even closer. One swam underneath Hunter and hit him in the stomach. The whales batted him around until Hunter could take no more and swam away. There were too many of them, he would get Skye another day. The killer whales surfaced and looked at Skye.

"I thank you for your help. I will tell my mother and my grandmother of your help this day. Thank you."

The killer whales bowed and then disappeared beneath the waves. The three men on the ship watched in disbelief. They had just seen killer whales bow to this girl.

"You’re bleeding." Bruce was concerned.

Skye looked down and saw where Hunter had scrapped her side. She did not realize he had hurt her. Gene came up from the cabin with the first aid kit.

"Let me clean that for you. What were you doing in the water?" Gene asked.

"We were just out for a swim. I did not realize he was there. I thank you for helping me. I am lucky you were here." Skye was trying to avoid any more questions.

Gene looked suspiciously at the girl. "Where did you come from? There are no boats around here and there is no sign of land."

"Oh, my home is just out there." Skye motioned out to sea.

Again he looked, "There is no land out there."

Skye quickly changed the subject. "I want to thank you again for helping me."

"How did you get dry so quickly?" Paul questioned her. "Even your hair is dry."

These were questions Skye did not know how to answer so she avoided them.

"Thank you very much for your help but I really should be going now."

With that she jumped over the side of the boat. She surfaced as Marshmallow came to her side. She waved once more to the men on the boat, "Thank you again." With that she disappeared under the water.

"Did you see that?" asked Paul.

"Please tell me she did not have a tail." Gene said.

"You’re seeing things." Said Bruce

"Where is she? She’s disappeared." Paul said still looking out over the water. "Who was she?"

Gene smiled, "Maybe she was a mermaid."

They all laughed at his remark but each looked out where Skye had disappeared.

Maybe.