"I know of your works in Veruna through the Moonblood Mercies Foundation. I greatly admire your philanthropic efforts." the young princess proclaims.
She bows slightly, and her guards follow.
"Thanks." Vaela flusters as she tilts her head. "Should I—"
"No, please, there is no need to stand. I come begging for your help, I should be the one prostrated in the sand."
"My help?" Vaela asks, crossing her legs and leaning back casually. "I'm listening."
"My kingdom is dying."
Vaela sips on her cocktail before releasing a long, defeated sigh. "...and here I thought I was having a crisis."
She flicks her sunglasses off her face, straightens her posture and looks at Princess Nerina expectantly. Her blue, sparkling eyes overflowing with a warm empathy.
Nerina flinches slightly as Vaela blinks at her. She clears her throat with a regal cough and begins talking with a voice that flows like sea-song.
"Aquesteria was once a great kingdom. A sanctuary to ancient knowledge and tradition. We were secluded, yes, but we were proud. How histories span millenia, our empire spanned every ocean. But now we are being torn apart. From outside and within. My father—"
"Let me guess. Mid-life crisis?" Vaela smirks.
"Obsession." Nerina groans. "He saw what the surface world was becoming. The technology, the money, the corporate empires, the exploding wealth and luxury. He grew restless. Jealous. He felt Aquesteria was falling behind."
Vaela just sipped on her cocktail and nodded casually.
"It started with simple trade agreements, business partnerships, outreach programs and exchanges of knowledge and technology. It was almost good. Then… then he met that demon."
Nerina's brow bent with something more than anger as she clenched her fist tight.
"Virgil DuCroix."
A tingle shoots up Vaela's spine as the man's name oozes from Nerina's mouth like a spell of black magic.
Her fingers clench the glass tighter as she struggles through a gulp of her drink.
"Oh?" she asks with a feigned air of indifference. "He sounds… interesting."
"He's a snake in a billionaire's suit. Promised power, prosperity, and a restoration of our kingdom's past majesties. But all he brought was greed and corruption!"
"Mmmhmmm" Vaela nods nervously, sipping harder on her drink as her mind races with wild thoughts about her ultimate seduction target."
Nerina continued, her voice now tinged with anger and desperation as Vaela listened intently, hiding her trepidations behind a face of sophisticated disinterest.
"DuCroix convinced our people to sell pieces of our land. Prized corals, sacred reefs, ancient ruins filled with history. All privatized. Now they're stripped bare and developed into tourist attractions, underwater farms, deep-sea vaults and billionaire's bunkers."
"And nobody could stop him?"
"Kai, my brother, he fought. He fought all of it. He was the crown's brightest. A scholar, diplomat and brilliant statements. He tried to stop our father from the very beginning."
"Ah…" Vaela snorts. "So that's where he comes in."
"He tried everything." Narina says softly, her gaze softening. "But the King's authority is absolute. Our father stripped him of his influence, and it wasn't long after that he just abandoned it all. His claim. His kingdom. His family…"
"Sounds like he might've made the right choice…" Vaela scoffs as she slurps the last of her glass.
"Our father is dying."
"Oh… I'm—"
"Succession falls to our uncle. Even Virgil DuCroix keeps him at arms length. He is ruthless and corruption runs through his very veins. If we do nothing, I fear our kingdom will be swallowed whole."
"And your brooding, beach-bum brother is the one that's gonna stop that from happening?" Vaela asks.
"He might be the only one that can. The people still believe in him, they whisper his name in the courts. If he returns, if he reclaims the throne, he could stop what's coming and return Aquesteria to its rightful path. To a brighter future. A future forged for its people, not for profit."
"And I'm supposed to—"
"Help me change his mind. His heart! I've seen what you've done, Vanessa Moonblood. The orphanages in Veruna, the homes you built for the flood victims of St. Feris, the debt pardons, the medical outreach, I could go on. You have heart Vanessa, and you have the power to change hearts, to bring back lost hope."
"There goes my vacation..." Vaela sighs, muttering under her breath as she lifts to her feet.
She wraps herself in her shawl, perches her hat neatly on her head, and flicks her sunglasses onto her face with graceful elegance.
"Lady Moonbood! Please—"
"No promises." Vaela interrupts, a twinge of annoyance in her voice. "I don't do miracles."
Nerissa looked up, eyes gleaming with gratitude. She takes Vaela's hand and bows deeply.
"Thank you, Lady Moonblood!" she breathed.
"Don't get your hopes up. I'm only going to talk to him."
Nerissa nodded, bowed again and turned to leave with her guards.
Vaela slumped into a beach chair exhaling a long, heavy sigh.
Staring at the sunlight dancing across the waves, her mind tangled in thoughts of Virgil DuCroix, a man with the strength and influence to crush kingdoms. A man she had to bring under her control. A thought that felt difficult to even imagine.
"Ugh!" she moans, snapping her fingers toward a waiter as he hurries over with a tray full of cocktails.
She takes one, and another, just in case.
Her thoughts then fall to wet abs, smug smiles and salty kisses as a tendril of crimson smoke trickles along the beach toward her.
As she lay dreaming quietly under the sun, her thoughts lazily drifting through visions and fantasies about wet, sexy, Aquarian royalty, she hears a soft, sultry, thoroughly seductive whisper crawling across her ear.
"Two days to go, kitten"
"Go away, Lilith!" Vaela hisses as she tosses a towel over her face.