I am highborn, actually, (does it surprise you? I can see that it does.) by way of my father’s seventh cousin’s wife’s mother. She was the wife of Hilu Ka. (If you’ve forgotten already, he was our king.) She becomes important later on, but it doesn’t do to bring certain people into the story too quickly, so you shall hear about her later.
Here I pause to tell you a tale of our old and respected king. If you ever visit Giuliao you will be certain to hear many tales of both Hilu Ka and Yita Ka, so I have decided to intersperse these through the story. This one is about Hilu Ka, and the way he met his future wife, although he certainly didn’t know it at the time. I’m not certain how much of it is true, though, so don’t hold me to anything.

Hilu Ka began his princely training when he was just a boy, and then known as Hilu Kati. He had listened to hours of lecture, speeches, and tidbits of advice that day, and was frankly quite tired of it all, and longing to misbehave. He was thirteen at this time, just beginning to question why we should do things the way they were done, and often disagreeing with his parents simply to be contrary. (I will admit to this myself, thinking of all the times I tease and harass my own mother.) Tired of all this fuss, he sneaked out before the last lecture started, and escaped out the side door.
He made his way to the swimming hole. The swimming hole was a secret; no one else had discovered it. It was surrounded by young saplings, and these were flanked on either side by grassy hills, so that the total effect was that no one could see unless they knew what they were looking for. And since no one knew about the swimming hole, they couldn’t see it, and consequently there was no one there when he shed his clothes and dived in.
The water was cool, but not cold, and so clear that he could see everything from one end to the other. Brightly colored fish wiggled along in their hurry to get somewhere, anywhere, and nowhere at all. One particularly large one with turquoise markings stopped in its tracks (that is, if fish leave tracks of any kind) and gaped at him. Hilu opened his mouth wide in return and blew a few bubbles at it. The fish turned tail and hurriedly swam away. Hilu laughed aloud, and pushed his way to the top for more air, then dove back under. The underwater ferns waved at him from where they were nestled between the rocks on the river bottom. He did not see the young girl that entered the circle of trees the moment after he slipped in.
This swimming hole was part of a river that ran through the kingdom, and people often fished in other areas. This girl was blond, with smiling brown eyes, long and slim and tanned from the sunshine. A large fisherman’s hat cast a shadow over her face. She carried a long fishing rod with her, and a basket. She sat down and plunked her fishing basket down beside her. Out came a handful of sparkly red and orange beads. She hooked one on the end of her fishing line and dropped it into the water. Hilu saw the hook drop in, and thinking it was boy fishing on the bank (although he wondered a little, for he thought nobody knew of this place), he had no qualms about going up to get his clothes. He blinked a little, to clear the water from his eyes, and stared. A girl sat on the far bank, fishing pole in hand. She stared back. “Are those your clothes over there?” she asked.
“No, they belong to the merman who lives here.” answered Hilu.
“You’re playing with me. If you want to get your clothes, go ahead. I certainly won’t look.” She turned her head, and Hilu pulled himself out of the water with a great deal of splashing. After he struggled into his clothes, he turned around. Her head was still turned. Her hat covered her blond hair, but it rippled softly down her back. “You can turn your head now. I’m safe to look at.”
She peeked out with one eye first, as though making sure that it was okay. Then she turned all the way around. “Are there really mermaids here?” she asked.
“Oh, no, not here. Only the mermen live here. The mermaids live in the ocean.”
“Stop joking with me. I was serious.” And she did seem serious. Her eyes were a warm brown, he noticed, friendly, laughing, and open. “I don’t know. I was only kidding. I suppose there might as well be.”
“My ma told me a story about their great war once, so there must be. By the way, my name is Ariel.”
“I’m Hilu.” He saw her eyes widen. “The prince?” she asked, mouth open, every feature portraying shock.
“Yes.” he said, barely able to contain his smile. Then he added, “And for goodness’ sake, don’t call me ‘Your Highness’. I’ve been called that all day and it’s driving me mad. Suppose you tell me that story you mentioned, about the mermen’s great war or something.”
And it went from there. Ariel, as it turned out, was not a commoner, even though she was dressed like one, and fishing like a boy. Her father was one of the advisors at court.
Knowing this, it may have seemed strange that she had never seen the prince, but neither of them thought of this, and by the time they left for home, it was just before twilight, and I assume both got quite a scolding by their parents. That, however, is not part of this, and this tale is done.