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Prince Aegon of Oceans and Seas

I ripped the bit of parchment in my hands into ribbons, glancing coolly at my first in command.

Ceto bowed low, tentacles wrapping around one another in agitation. I had selected my first in command for her cunning wit and her dominance of other sea creatures, but nothing would spare her from my wrath should any more of my nephew’s plans come to fruition.

“Tell me this news is speculation and nothing more.”

Ceto’s body contorted, growing smaller. “Would that I could, Your Majesty, but it has been confirmed. He has formally aligned with Spring.”

A current of frigid water tore through the room, unleashed by my uncouth outburst of emotion. Ceto shriveled until she was unrecognizable as a squid, favoring a sea snake more than a monstrous creature of the deep.

“And what of my marriage to the autumn princess? Have the arrangements been made?”

Ceto nodded, bobbing in the water.

A school of silvery prey fish gusted by, carried on a current of my making. Whipping out my tail, I speared several, stuffing them into my mouth. Ceto hovered before me, watching the sea floor as the tiny fish crunched loudly between my teeth.

“Call Aslik and Dagon. Our timeline has just moved up.”

Ceto’s tentacles brushed the floor, and she was gone.

In the silence of my sea castle, I slid a sharp nail between my teeth, picking them clean and awaited my two deadliest assassins. A lumbering beast cast shadows overhead and I leaned back staring up as it passed.

In the murky distance, something approached at a rapid clip. The dark, grey outline divided, splitting in two as a pair of massive bull sharks halted inches from my face. They delighted in terrorizing all the creatures of the sea.

Normally, I would punish such behavior, but the occasion called for just such creatures. Aslik and Dagon grinned, rows of sharp teeth on display.

“I need you pets,” I crooned, patting Aslik on the nose. “My nephew has grown too ambitious for my liking. It’s time we remind him of his place.”

Aslik snapped at my fingers, narrowly missing flesh and I growled at him. His black eyes widened and he backed up, fearful of the greater predator in the room.

“Go, make trouble for my freshwater kin. I have a wedding to attend.”