When Kai next woke, he remained silent and kept his eyes closed for a few minutes; he listened for any movement around him that would reveal to him if he had company. From what he could tell with his eyes closed, he was no longer in the hard cage. He had silken covers thrown over him and what felt like an incredibly soft cloud beneath his head, which made him assume that he was lying on a bed. The contrast between waking up from lying on a hard metal floor to waking up to lying in possibly the softest bed he'd ever lain in was alarming.

What had changed in the time he'd spent unconscious? 

He strained his ears, waiting to hear any sound that would give away anyone in his vicinity. If he was going to wake up to another gawking crowd of merpeople, he preferred to be mentally prepared for it. Last time, they'd caught him off guard. 

If there was a crowd in close proximity, they were being awfully quiet. Only when he was absolutely sure that no one was around did he open his eyes. The first thing he realized was that he was lying inside a golden sea shell turned into a bed. The second thing was that he was no longer underwater. 

Unbelieving, his eyes scanned his surroundings. There were no bubbles in sight. He was in a small room that was completely empty except for the shell bed. He examined the walls; they were jet black. He'd read or seen somewhere that dark colored rooms absorbed the light, making rooms look smaller, yet this was not the case here. If anything, he felt so very small inside the giant shell that filled one side of the room. 

Head pounding, he gingerly sat up; half-expecting a joint or muscle to ache. The covers fell away and he looked down. He was naked, thanks to Shtara who'd ripped his clothes to shreds, and he was completely dry, meaning he'd spent some time out of the water. Unless someone had patted him dry, which, judging by the experience in the cage, was highly doubtful. 

Pink-purple, bruise-like markings covered his body wherever the damned handsy octopus had wrapped his slimy tentacles around him. He stared at them with wide eyes, feeling the pit of his stomach fill with dread. It wasn't enough that the memory of what transpired in the cage was permanently seared to his brain, he would now have to contend with perfectly-visible marks for a few days that would constantly remind him of it? 

He closed his eyes and buried his face in his hands against the onslaught of unwanted memories. Bile rose to his throat and he forced himself to swallow it back down. If it weren't for the marks on his body, a part of him would have attempted to persuade him that it had all been a surreal nightmare. A tentacle monster had attempted to rape him in front of a crowd of mermen and mermaids. Any psychiatrist he told this to would ship him off to the nearest mental hospital in a straitjacket before he finished saying it. 

Unfortunately, this was one of those incidents he would have to bury deep, deep down and hope it never found cause to resurface and tear him apart. 

Sighing, he opened his eyes and carefully poked the tentacle marks on his forearm, expecting to feel the uncomfortable pain of a day-old bruise. He was surprised when he didn't. He nudged the area a little harder, testing its tenderness yet again, yet still it did not pain him.

Relieved, he pushed the covers away, exposing himself to the air for the first time in he didn't know how many hours. Strangely, his skin wasn't wrinkled from being in the water so long. Sure enough, the markings circled his waist and thighs as well. He frowned at the sight of his nipples swollen and a furious shade of red. That piece of shit had done a number on him. 

When he couldn't bear to look at them any longer, he got off the shell bed and turned to examine it.

How cliche, he thought sourly. 

It wasn't just golden, it was made of gold. He'd seen such a grand creation only in cartoons and fantasy movies. Was gold abundant in Nostraza? 

He turned to look for a way out of the room and only then did it dawn on him.

The room had no door. 

Anxious, he approached the walls and examined them closely. He began to feel for a doorknob with his hands as he circled the room, searching for any hidden seam or line that would indicate a well-hidden door. He even peeked behind the shell bed in case it was concealed there. Nothing. 

Where the hell was he? Had he exchanged one cage for another, more elaborate one? Were the black walls just like a two-way mirror, and on the other side was the crowd laughing and mocking his vain attempts to escape? 

He stepped back from the wall until he was standing in the center of the room. Biting his lips, he slowly turned in circles as he contemplated a way out. Most likely, he would not be able to leave this room until they wanted him to leave. If there was a door, it had to open from the outside only. 

How utterly frustrating and maddening. It was clear that getting out of this place would not be easy. Not in the least. 

Was he inside the palace he'd partially seen? Or was he in a dungeon somewhere, locked away until his captor decided otherwise. 

His captor. King Marius the Conqueror himself. 

He shuddered. 

Why did he shudder? 

I guess I should be honored, he thought with a wry chuckle.  

The mighty king, slayer of kings, had opted to come get him himself instead of delegating the task to someone else. Was it because he didn't trust his own people? Or was the task so important that he couldn't give it to someone else? There was no doubt in his mind that King Marius was after his power. From the little he'd gathered, his father had hidden him away from existence to keep his power from falling into the wrong hands; Marius' hands. Technically, there were only a handful of people who knew Kai even existed, according to what his mother told him on the day he nearly drowned. So perhaps the mighty king's people knew nothing of it, considering that Kai himself had been oblivious to the power dwelling inside him all his life. 

The more he thought about it, the more he suspected that that was indeed the case. King Marius had trusted no one -or few like those mermaid siblings- with his capture, or rather securing his power. 

His power. 

He looked at the walls. Could he use his power to get himself out of here? But he didn't even begin to understand how to call upon the golden merman, let alone 'use' him. It was so frustrating; he had a power that powerful kings coveted, but did not know how to use it. 

While he was deep in thought, Kai failed to notice the fabric of space tearing until the dark blue lights emitting from the black hole in the middle of the room caught his attention. He let out a gasp and distanced himself from it, instantly on guard. His hackles rose. 

Was that a portal? It was different from the mirror in the tunnel; it floated in midair, not quite circular, but as tall as a door. He could sense the same type of magic emitting from it, not that Kai was an expert in all things magic. Nevertheless, he was certain that it had the same 'feeling' as the mirror had. 

A guy stepped through it and into the room.

Yup. Portal, he thought, taking another step back. His mind struggled to understand the images his eyes were sending; that a person could appear out of virtually thin air. 

Another person appeared, and then another. 

They were triplets! 

He didn't remember the last time he'd seen twins, let alone triplets. And these had to be by far the most beautiful triplets he'd ever seen. They were in human form and were as tall as he was. They had dark hair and gorgeous amber eyes. Kai was surprised to note that their eyes weren't shark-like like the rest of the merfolk he'd met so far. One of them had a small scar running down the side of his face.

Before he could note their strange clothing, the one who emerged out of the black hole first nodded his head to him in greeting, and then said, "We have come to take you."

Warily, Kai's eyes narrowed as he asked, "Take me where?" 

"To your bath." They replied in unison, slightly startling Kai. 

"Wait, what? A bath? All three of you are going to bathe me?" he asked incredulously. The mere thought made him sick to his stomach. 

They nodded. 

"I can bathe by myself," he snarled, immediately going on the defensive. "Besides, why do I need to bathe? I was underwater for hours!" 

"Precisely," chimed in the one in the middle. "You reek of sea water and fish," he added, wrinkling his nose slightly in disgust. 

"And mermaids don't?!" 

They leapt on him then. Even if he wasn't still weakened, he would never have been able to wrestle off three people. They made quick work of restraining him. A triplet on either side of him, their hands closed around his arms like vices, pinning his flailing hands. 

When he realized that it would be a waste of strength to fight them, he stopped struggling and allowed himself to be guided toward the portal. He instinctively closed his eyes just before he went through it.

When he emerged on the other side, he opened his eyes and gasped.