[A/N] First proper chapter of this story. Mhm.

I do not own the characters in this story... with the exception of Mzuri, Ava and Averell. I do own this story line, also. *thumbs up*

tell me what you think.. should i keep writing it?

Update on "The thrill of the kill" will be coming shortly, by the way.

Also.. chapters will get longer than this.. i'd just like to get everything started first.

Read on.

[A/N]

Chapter 1 - The Council

BPOV

"Queen!" Ava, and Averell all called as then ran up to me and Amora.

"Hello Ava. Averell. How may i help you today?" I asked gently as i looked at two of some of my closest companions.

Ava and Averell were brother and sister, children of my parents best friends, Claudia and Alec. Claudia and Alec were also my parents cousins, therefore they had a small amount of royal blood. Oddly enough, people of the royal bloodline have immortal lives. It is said that the mermaids with royal blood are descendants from the first mermaids, who were supposedly related to angels. People of the royal bloodline are very hard to kill, there are only two ways for royals to die and that to digest a forbidden plant that is very rare or mating with a human.

Mating with a human doesn't kill a mermaid but it does take away their immortality, therefore making them vulnerable to be killed. People that had some royal blood in them but were not full bloods, lived longer than most mermaid by a few decades but still died eventually. Most mermaids lived to be around 150 years old, give or take. Mermaid with royal blood usually lived to around 200 years old, depending on how much royal blood they had, they more they had the longer they lived.

Ava and Averell were both 130 years old now and we had been friends for just as long. They were twins and probably two of the most upbeat, cheerful and friendly mermen you could ever meet, which was why the panicked expressions on their faces worried me.

"The council wants to see you, your majesty." Averell said. This new piece of information worried me.

"How many times have i told you to call me Bella, Averell? Surely 130 years of solid friendship is long enough to be on a first name basis?" I asked rhetorically. I walked over to Averell, who still had the panicked expression on his face, and placed my hand against his right cheek as i smiled at him comfortingly. "Im sure all is well and even if it isn't, it will be. No need to worry my dear friend."

"You a too king, my queen." He said, relaxing into my hand.

"Nonsense. Now, i must be leaving if those old fools want to see me." I said, chuckling at my friends. "I shall see you as soon as I'm done, just to ease your unnecessary worries." I smiled gently at them both as well as bidding goodbye to Amora, my assistant and another close friend, before swimming towards the eastern end of my kingdom to meet the council. The council were a small group of 10 members of my people. They were old and wise helped me maintain order in my kingdom, and although they had power, there were very few things that they could go over me in.

When i got to the main hall, people bowing as i passed, i headed straight for the meeting room in which the council has their meetings.

"My queen." They said in unison as they all bowed.

"My people." I greeted back with a nod of my head. I had become queen when i was just 16 years of age, Claudia and Alec ruling at my request with the help of the council until i was of age. I had learned during my ruling that although it is very good to be pleasant and friendly, that you cannot go past a certain point otherwise people will not recognize that your a figure of authority and will not abide by all the rules, thinking that they will not be enforced. I learned that sometimes you have to show that you rules, that you have to be the queen instead of their friend in certain situation, this situation was one.

After we all say and ran through a few customary things, Mzuri, the council leader, cut to the chase.

"Queen, with all do respect, the council have decided that it is time for you to find a king." Mzuri announced. This was the one thing that i HAD to listen to, everything else i got to make a decision in, and i had to agree. It was time to find myself a king.

Finding a king was not as simple as you would expect it to be.'

When a king and queen have a child, they can only have one. Never more. When that child is old enough, they council tell them its time to find a king or queen in which case they have to go onto land. Only royalty can stay on land for any longer than a few hours. Normal mermaids can only get rid of their tails long enough to mate, then they came back otherwise they'll die. Royalty aren't allowed to mate within the kingdom.

When we are ready to marry, we are sent onto land. When we have found a mate, which usually takes anywhere between 5 years to 20 years, we have to take some of our blood and inject it into a the human we will marry. Only royal blood works, when it is put into the human they transform into a mermaid. The royal blood eats the humans blood and then multiplies until there is enough to keep the body running. Although royalty is immortal, our hearts still beat.

"we have organized for you to work at a company called Cullen. Inc. as a CEO..." The meeting droned on as Mzuri went over the details of where i was living, where i was working and such. Because i could be on surface for up to 20 years, which in comparison to the 350 years i've already lived, it isn't very long, i would work to pass the time plus find ways to find more men. The meeting went on for another hour with specifics and then finishing up with a few normal matters. After the meeting was finished i went straight to my guest quarters in my palace, where Ava and Averell lived.

"What happened?" They both questioned as soon as i swam in.

"Its time for me to find myself a king." I announced calmly.

"WHAT!" They shouted. Sometimes twins were a little bit annoying, always talking at the same time and all.

"Im leaving tomorrow morning." the rest of the night was spent talking and planning for them to visit me. Because they had royal blood, they could stay on land for up to 10 hours, whereas normal mermaids could only spend about 4 hours on land. We laughed and hugged and went on a nightly swim. I went to bed fairly early. I don't sleep, one of the hardships of being the queen is that being full blood.. you couldn't sleep, but being in a bed was just as relaxing. As i lay there, i thought of what was to come and couldn't stop the smile from spreading across my face.

[A/N]

Random little question..

Does anybody seem to know why all dogs eyes are brown?

And

Why emoticons never have hair unless they're custom made?

:)

Anyway... drop a review and let me know what you think... or the answer to my Q! I'm curious.

[A/N]