Chapter 6: First day at the Sea Realm

• NOELLE'S POV,
• I wake up to a knocking sound on the door. It takes me a minute to remember where I am. It seems surreal that only 2 days ago I was still at the orphanage and now I am in a strange castle somewhere on the bottom of the Sea. 
• "Come in," I say when I hear the knocking again. 
• Maya walks in with a plate full of delicious breakfast. 
• "I hope there is something in there that you like," Maya smiles.
• "I will start a bath for you and afterward I can give you a tour if you like?" she asks. 
• I smile at Maya and say, "That would be nice." 
• After Maya leaves, I dig into the bacon and eggs and eat until my stomach can take no more. Then I walk into the bathroom to the big round bathtub. The bath smells like lilacs and roses. I take a long relaxing bath and put on the clothes Maya laid down for me. 
• It's a simple brown dress that feels very comfortable. I decide I am ready and walk out of my room. In the hallway, Maya is waiting. 
• "Let's go I have a lot to show you," she says. 
• While we are walking, I decide to ask Maya some questions. 
• "You have been very helpful so far, but I am not sure why? Do you live in the castle?" 
• Maya answers, "Well I'm helping you because I want to but also because the King gave me the task of taking care of the new girls and making them feel comfortable. I live in the castle, and I assist the King wherever he needs to. The King took me in and gave me a job when my parents were no longer able to do so. I have been living in the castle for 10 years now."
• I hesitate, "Ow okay, do you like it here? And how old are you if I may ask?"
• "You can ask me anything I am 26 years old, and I love living here. It is beautiful, the work is fun, and we have the most amazing parties in the castle," she answers. 
• I walk a bit closer to Maya and ask, "And what about the King? Is he always so rude and what happens to the girls that come here every year?"
• Maya stands still, "He definitely is not rude to his people, and he has always been good to me. It is not my place to talk about what happens to the girls. That is a conversation you should have with the King. It will be good if you get to know him better."
• I grunt and say a bit heated, "Well that's fucking hard if he just throws me in a tower without saying a word."
• Maya sighs, "I understand everything is new and confusing at the moment. Maybe it will help if you read a bit about our history in the library?"
• My face lights up, "I love reading so that would be great." 
• We start walking again and Maya shows me the flower garden, the dining hall, the ballroom, the living room, and finally the library. 
• "There are more rooms in the castle but that's the King's private terrain, so we won't go there today," Maya says.
• We go into the library which must be at least as big as 5 bedrooms. I have never seen so many books before. I love reading but I didn't get the chance to read much at the orphanage. Maya picks 2 books and brings them to me. 
• "These will give you some more information about historic events and about how the world looks like today. I will leave you to it."
• I take the books and begin reading in a red book first:
• In our world there exist 4 Realms. The Sky Realm, the Mortal Realm, the Sea Realm, and the Under Realm. Each Realm is a home to different species. In the Sky Realm there live angels kind, they are ruled by King Gabriel. The angel kind has the magic of air and light. They can control the weather and the King is famous for his lightning power. Some angels also have healing powers. In the Mortal Realm, live mortals, and there used to live witches. With the witches gone there is no more magic in the Mortal Realm. Since the last witch queen died no one has sat on the throne of the Mortal Realm. In the Sea Realm there live merman, mermaids, and shark men. They can choose between mortal and magic forms. Besides that, they have water magic. The Kingdom of the Sea is ruled by King Roan. The Under Realm is ruled by princess Hella. She lives in the Under Realm with demons and dark humans. Dark humans are humans that have so much darkness in their hearts that they feel more comfortable around other cruel creatures. Creatures of the Under Realm have fire magic and some are gifted with mind magic.
• My mind is already fuzzy from all this new information, so I take a look at the second book. I open it at a page that says the battle of the Realms. It's dated in the year 2050 so it must be around 3000 years ago. In the year 2050, the Under Realm was ruled by Hades the King of hell. Hades was hungry for power and wanted to take over the other Realms. The witch queen Fiona learned of his plans and tricked Hades. She made him believe that she wanted to make a deal but instead banished the King of hell. His daughter Hella was furious and started a war against the other Realms. The Sky Realm fought together with the Mortal Realm against Hella. But in the end, the witches together with their queen and King got murdered. I want to read further but the next page is torn out. "Mmm strange," I think. I continue on the next page which says that Hella now rules the 4 Realms with one King as her subject and the other King as her assassin.
• I stop reading when I hear footsteps. It is Maya, 
• "The King has requested you for dinner so it's time to freshen up."
• I didn't know that so much time had passed. I also don't really want to eat with the King, to be honest, but I walk with Maya to my room to put on other clothes.
• I decide to put on a green silk dress with spaghetti straps. It takes out the green in my eyes and shows my curves. I brush my hair and let it hang loose and curly over my back.
• I walk with Maya to the dining room. There the King sits at a table full of food. When he sees me coming in, he wants to stand up so quickly that his whole plate falls on the ground. He looks at my body from head to toe and forgets to shut his mouth in the process. 
• I lift an eyebrow when his gaze returns to my face and the King quickly looks away. He is wearing black pants and a purple blouse.
• "He does look good for a jerk," I think.
• He stands up and holds out my chair while he says, "Thank you for joining me."
• I look at him strangely and think, "What the hell happened to him, he seems to have learned manners all of the sudden." 
• As soon as I sit servants come to put food on my plate. I am getting potatoes, steamed vegetables, and smoked salmon. It looks delicious and just when I want to take a bite a man storms in. I look up and see a man with blond hair, brown eyes, and a friendly face walking towards me. 
• He takes my hand and puts a kiss on it. "You must be Noelle, my name is Julias."
• He continues, "Well I must say that you are as beautiful as Roan described you." 
• The King drops his fork with food on the floor when Julias speaks. 
• "Julias please behave for once in your life," he grunts. 
• Julias looks at the mess on the floor and replies, "Interesting words coming from a man that behaves like a pig." 
• His eyes twinkle and he gives the King a mischievous smile. I can't help but laugh. After that, the ice is broken, and we have some nice conversations.
• When we have finished the food the King asks, 
• "Noelle, would you give me the pleasure of giving you a tour through the city tomorrow?" 
• I have not forgotten how he treated me yesterday, so I say, "No thank you maybe another time, I wanted to ask Julias if he wants to show me the water gardens tomorrow. Would you Julias?" 
• Julias looks a bit guilty at the King when he replies, "Yes of course it would be my pleasure." 
• "Okay great see you tomorrow then,'' I say.
• ''I am going to go get some sleep now. Good night Julias and good night my King," I say while I do a curtesy with a challenging look in my eyes. 
• I look into the King's eyes for a while and then walk away swaying my hips.