Chapter 27

Triton resisted the urge to roll his eyes at the obnoxious mermaid. She had been bugging him all morning about who knows what, he had stopped listening at the " My father is your father's advisor! I'll have him advise your father to get Athena fired for skipping work today! "

"Athena is a sweet girl and all, but she shouldn't skip so much work, especially when it's with the Prince, it makes for unnecessary and inexcusable attention."

Exclaimed Marina, then continued,

"I dislike attention and avoid it all costs! Oh, you know me! Marina Del Rey, opresor of all things attention and drama!"

Once again Triton ignored her, taking the opportunity to go into the nearest door.

Should have taken the longer way

Triton sulked mentally, but knew that it was just a hall which wasn't endless, thankfully. As he entered the restroom and waited for her mindless blabber to fade, he couldn't help but wonder if she would really go to her father.

Athena had spent only one day with him and regretted it when she remembered she promised to help cook on her rest day. She had felt awful and dreaded the lecture which Marina would be bestowing upon her. True, Marina was the head of the Staff for the servants and assigned them jobs and ran the schedules. Triton had to admit that she did her job well and was ambitious, but sometimes she could be a real drama queen, acting as if though she were ruler of Atlantica. Being 27 and acting 50 years older really wasn't appealing to others who happened to have a little slip up.

Moving on, Triton couldn't help but be excited for his upcoming 17th birthday, knowing Athena would be there with him. He planned to ask Athena to allow him to court her and be his date for the celebration. Assuming there would be one. Triton understood that even after the incident, his subjects were still recovering. More than 200 mer had been kidnapped, after all.  Any celebration associated with the 12th of February could wait.  So Triton would be speaking to his father about not holding a celebration anytime soon. 

I should ask him today.  I have three days to ask him.  No procrastination. 

Waiting a few moments after Marina's blabber was gone, Triton swung open the door and changed the course, heading to his father's throne instead of the playing arena; he had decided that he needed some time with his fellow men, but because of this new obstacle bugging his mind, Triton took two rights and a long left before finally entering the wide place that was King Alastair's Throne room.  His father was listening with an intent gaze, giving the orange seahorse all the attention needed to hear the latest report on the Kingdom's renewed prosperity. 

Triton waited for a moment after his father was finished speaking, and approached him with his head held high.

"Father."  Triton began.  "I would like to discuss the matter of my upcoming birthday.  I believe it is best to-"

"Postpone it?"  The king interrupted.

"Yes."  Triton said firmly.

The king stroked his beard while regarding his son.

At last he said,

"That is a wise decision, my boy.  However, it was not yours to make.  I have already postponed it until the 18th of March.  I believe we are on the same terms regarding our kingdom's welfare?"

"Yes, sir.  I will be helping out the servants with their many chores.  They really deserve more credit and a break.  They are such hard workers, and they don't complain or make a fuss, or-". Triton stopped himself, realizing he was pointedly thinking about one particularly beautiful redhead with a gorgeous voice.

"You were about to say something, my boy?"  The King waggled his eyebrows with a smile.

"Has my son gotten himself a bride already?  It's about fine time, I was surprised when you didn't come home with a bride the first time you went out at 4 months old."

"I...". Triton's eyes widened nervously, then cleared his throat and answered.

"No, but I am  currently in the process of wading towards that route."

Go on..  The King's face said.

Triton cleared his throat again and said,

"I am planning to ask Athena for her permission to allow me to court her."

"And when is that, my boy?" Alastair inquired. 

Triton blinked.  He had not thought about when. 

His father noticed, and chuckled while saying,

"Well Prince Triton, it appears Poseidon's son has some planning to do.  You have 3 days, my boy.  Now  go, I should be getting a report on the Kingdom's trade any moment now."

And so Triton turned and nearly ran over a small red crab with tiny claws and a squeaky Jamaican accent.

"Pardon me, sir.  I'm just busting my shell carrying these tons of seaweed."

And indeed, the crab was clearly busting his shell, though with not tons of seaweed.  Trailing behind and being trampled over under fiercely scuttling legs was a name tag with the name, 'Sebastian' written in slightly messy claw writing. 

And so Triton decided to hang with his fellow men to ask advice on when was best to ask Athena.  Triton arrived at the arena in no time, where his friends were wrestling with each other.  Of course, his friends insisted as soon as possible, and Triton decided he would ask her while helping her do chores. 

Later on Triton joined the game, then searched for Athena as a gaggle of servants passed by carrying laundry and baskets.  He spotted her and waved with a smile, then caught a slight blush before being  thrown to the floor by one of his wrestling buddies.