King Marshall and Oscar the Blue Ringed Octopus.

The king strolled benevolently towards the stable. Feeling adventurous and bold, the king decided to go for a ride on his favorite seahorse, Liko. His happiness cascaded around him like the vibrant, flowing, pink sea anemone flowers that surrounded the castle. The sea was calm as he climbed deliberately onto his seahorse. The sandy path led the king towards the castle gates; from there, he could see the sandy dunes stretching for miles. It had been stormy recently, and King Marshall noticed many upturned coral beds and different colored plastic littering the seafloor. On his return to the palace, he would organize the head gardener—Funafuti—to clean up the mess with Tango and Solamn, the greatest gardener of all time.

Today, Liko was being partially frisky. Tossing his strong black head and taking the bit from the king's control. King Marshall was at first amused by his seahorse at the strength and vigor he displayed, but it became tiresome to the king as he pulled on the reins relentlessly. Unassumingly he was sent on a wild ride into the depth of the ocean’s currents. He was pulled past large outcrops of bristle worms and crown-of-thorns starfish that were growing immense, their vibrant orange-red skin vibrant against the deep green of the sea. The further Liko swam, pulling the king into this unknown world, the more distant the king became from his kingdom. Liko swam fast, gathering speed with momentum, as he swam past large outcrops of sea kelp and mountainous sandy plains heading towards a large sea cave dwelling. The entrance revealed an archway that looked like an ancient Roman temple.

The king was not enjoying his morning ride on Liko, as he stared at the entrance way. “Woooh boy,” said the king to Liko. We cannot enter this unknown sea cave; furthermore, it is the area beyond the forbidden zone. I have given my allegiance to Poseidon, not to cross his restricted boundaries, thought the king. A school of dolphins swam past the king, gliding, propelling themselves forcefully like torpedos navigating their way through the deep water. Small, red crabs dug holes in the sand as the king approached, while pink jellyfish jetted through the natural currents gracefully. It made the king happy to see his kingdom thriving.

“Woooh,” the king said again to Liko. Unfortunately, the seahorse was not responding to the king’s demands; it was as if he was being summoned by some supernatural force. With great intention and purpose, yet unknown to the king, Liko headed straight down, entering inside the underground cave. The king held tightly onto the seaweed reins. Deeper and deeper Liko swam, holding the king a prisoner on his back. He paused to feel the cool of the sea cave and to stare at the inhabitants. Small creatures hid inside the crevices and fissures or clung to the dark volcanic rock: yellow sea stars, mollusks, and multicolored urchins. When returning to the palace, the king would warn the sable boy and staff about overfeeding his seahorse. As he pulled desperately on the reins of his marine seafish. He would personally check their food: amphipods, crustacea, shrimp, and krill. And command his army of dolphins to find the sand tilefish, which clean the fireworms, and the giant-triton snail to eat the crown-of-thorns starfish, which colored the rocks in even shades of pink, purple, blue, and red. Deeper inside the cave, many unknown species of toxic coral grew, yet spectacular in color, the king sighed. As simultaneously a plastic bag brushed over his face. The king tutted. Human stuff he thought, pulling the bag from his face. He stuffed it into his tote bag. My sea will never be clean, he muttered. Tutting to himself about arranging for the sea turtles (who drive the garbage trucks) to come and vacuum-clean the area. Suddenly Liko reared, lurching forwards along the sandy sea cave track. Pulling the king farther downwards into the underground cave. Until finally, they arrived in the center of a very large chamber where stalactites and stalagmites had once been growing. Frozen in time, these ancient masterpieces were fixed like tornadoes hailing from the clouds above to the sea floor. The battle with Liko ended in the large chamber, a throne room, where the seahorse suddenly came to a halt. On a large larimar throne sat Oscar, a giant, blue-ringed octopus. He was wearing a necklace of triton and snail shells, and his eight large arms were warped around a bowsprit. The throne room was full of colorful corals, treasures, plastic bottles, plastic caps, and Oscar. He looked disagreeable, with a plastic crown on his head, commanding his malicious army of sea creatures. His servants gathered around him, waiting patiently for his orders. They were to organize music and tables of food for their commander. The scorpionfish and sea spiders held spears made from soft, pink, conch shells, while the moray eels were holding shiny, scallop-shell trays full of sargassum seaweed and clams. They rushed about enthusiastically, excited by the new visitor.

“Welcome!” roared Oscar, with a mouthful of clams, “lovely to see you again.”

This excited the gobies as they scrounged for tiny morsels that fell from Oscar’s mouth.

“Where are my manners?" said Oscar, appearing shameful.

He stood up and bowed, extending his eight arms in all directions, as the king approached slowly on his seahorse. Concurrently, Oscar summoned the sea stars to bring a vial of yellow potion to him. (A mixture of fish guts and kina row). The yellow potion would bestow on him vital power and control. He quaffed the potion slowly, viewing King Marshal with suspicion as he approached the throne.

“That is close enough,” ordered Oscar, holding up one of his eight arms. Oscar's giant, googly eyes and rectangular pupils looked at King Marshall full of intrigue.

King Marshall opened his mouth in surprise, recognizing Oscar as the orphan he had once cared for. The shy-baby octopus that the kind king had once shown great benevolence towards. The king dismounted his seahorse, standing courageously before the malevolent octopus. His sword at his side and his head held high.

"Aha, so you remember me,” Oscar remarked.

“What do you want from me?” questioned the king.

“I have brought you here today,” said Oscar, “because we don’t want a Christmas day or a king to rule over us!”

Suddenly, the throne room was alive with evil-sea creatures: box jellyfish, zoanthid corals, sea slugs, moray eels, and lionfish. All laughing maliciously at the fate of the proud king.

“Long may Oscar reign,” the evil-sea creatures cheered.

“Without King Marshall to rule over the five oceans there will be no Christmas day,” barked Oscar.

“Liko is mine!” roared Oscar, spraying iridescent ink around the throne room. Suddenly, he sprung into a thunderous song.

It's a day of dread, and the kingdom won’t be fed.

We are evil at heart, so it is no time to thwart.

All attempts to depart this underground retreat,

Will lead to defeat; now we are in for a treat

There will be no Christmas Day, as the king is far away.

We will all shout hooray and lock him in chains to stay.

So he will never see the light of day.

With ink and blue spray, I will send you astray.

As I take the king’s seahorse away and race him, of course,

At the Boxing Day race I will win, taking home the gold pin.

Liko will be mine on Christmas Day, but it will be a silent shrine.

“I order you to stop this nonsense,” said King Marshall. "You won’t get away with this crime when all I have done for you is be kind.”

“Christmas day is mine,” roared Oscar, rashly swinging his arms around the room.

Meanwhile, two yellow moray eels swarmed forwards, handcuffing King Marshall to the large basaltic rock table.

“Take a seat,” said Oscar, politely to the king.

Liko was led from the throne room to the stable, beforehand removing the two blue barnacles that were stuck to his neck.

“Who’s been trespassing in my stable yard?" said the king condescendingly.

A needy-box jellyfish stepped forwards. She carried the tray with the offender on it towards Oscar. One of his eight arms picked up the blue-gooseneck barnacle from the tray.

“This little marvel is how I brought you here,” roared Oscar, “a marvelous homing device.” He patted the box jellyfish on the head and pointed to the little blue-gooseneck barnacle, which he ordered to be placed behind him on a crest in the rock wall. The confused king sat bewildered in chains.

Back in the king's garden, the giant, green, sea-sponge, Geoffrey; Nia, the sea princess; and Danny, the dolphin, were playing chase the jellyfish. The game was to collect as many jellyfish as you could; these were released by the referee Danny. He held fifty purple jellyfish, together in a large pink net, which he let out into the garden.

While Nia and Geoffrey would swim around frantically collecting the jellyfish. Danny held the stop watch; it was set for thirty-one minutes each side. When they captured the jellyfish, they placed them into allocated nets at each end of the front lawn seabed. They wore a uniform consisting of gloves, a t-shirt, riding pants, and long booted flippers.

Surrounding the sea palace displaying a magnificent scene, were bushy colonies of red coral together with large outcrops of dark-green kelps.They swayed rhythmically in the tropical currents while Nia guided Felix, her seahorse, towards the propelling jellyfish which were easy to catch. Geoffrey was riding Thimiru, he swam fast, towards the allocated nets at the end of the sandy game field. Both riders swam with fierce determination and gave their best effort to win the competition.

After much laughter, and effort the game ended. Danny counted what was in each net, and announced the winner. Nia and Felix had won; she had one jellyfish more than Geoffrey in her net.

“Congratulations,” said Geoffrey, shaking Nia’s hand, “you caught twenty-six Jellyfish!”

Nia smiled happily, and patted Felix lovingly.

“Thank you, it was a great fun game!” said Nia to Geoffrey and Danny.

She handed Felix and Thimiru to the stable boy, so she could receive the winning prize. There was a prize for a boy and for a girl winner.

Nia held onto the beautiful-larimar necklace. It was in the shape of a conch-sea shell. Geoffrey helped Nia put the necklace on, and at the back he closed the clasp firmly.

From the palace steps Atoll; the fish maid, sprightly summoned the red, trumpet fish to sound their conch-seashell horns. Then the small group headed inside for lunch with the Queen. Inside the palace, Queen Palau was sitting at a long table for lunch.

“Where is your father,” said the queen to the small group of children. “I haven’t seen him since yesterday evening,” said Nia. “He left the palace early this morning,” said Geoffrey.

“I am concerned as he has not returned from his morning ride on Liko.”

Quietly, in a sombre atmosphere, they sipped on algae smoothies and drank sea moss soup, with a light, sea lettuce salad. The sullen group waited for the instructions from the queen.

“It is not like the king to miss lunch,” said Queen Palau suddenly.

Queen Palau sent for her five-warrior dolphin’s. Ordering them to begin the search immediately, for her husband King Marshall.

Nia offered to help with the search as did Geoffry.

“Straight after lunch, we will look,” said Nia.

“No, it is too dangerous,” said Queen Palau, “we will wait for the king's five dolphins to return.”

Nia was impatient. She had big plans and other ideas to help save her Father.

“I will help find my Father, but after dinner,” said Nia, to Marabou, her puppy dogfish.

It was a long wait until dinner-time. Geoffrey and Nauru went upstairs to play with Nia’s toys. They were accompanied by Marabou, her dogfish puppy; and Bes, her catfish. They played with the puzzles, read books and built a large tower out of sand bricks. Until Atoll, the fish maid, called the two children for dinner.

After dinner, the head dolphin spoke to the queen in the library. King Marshall had been found; after two days of searching!

At midnight, ten dolphins and five warrior shrimp would return to the forbidden lands to save the king.

After dinner when it was quiet Nia went upstairs, and stuffed a pillow into her bed. She covered the pillow with a sheet and blanket. Then she snuck out the back entrance. At the stable she saddled Felix. She patted him, while showing him a saddle blanket worn by Liko. Felix smelt the saddle blanket, consequently tossing his head enthusiastically.

“Find him,” whispered Nia to her beloved seahorse.

In time, they quietly headed out the palace gates to find her father. Little did they know, Marabou was following quietly behind them.

Felix tossed his head, as he gathered speed heading in the direction of the forbidden caves. At the edge of the cliff to the underworld was a large trench. Down swam Felix with Nia, bravely descending into the depths of the sea-green ocean. Surrounding Nia were many sea mountains, and a long dark cave a short distance away. It wasn’t long before she arrived at the entrance to the large-sea cave, the archway magnificent with ancient glyphs carved into the luminous stone. Many crown-of-thorns starfish, bristle worms and corals lined the entrance way. Their long serpent arms, sensing the rock face with creeping tentacles. Nia climbed down from Felix. They would need to hide in the rocks supporting the cave walls, so they would not be seen. Inside the cave it was cooler, and small creatures and corals grew in the rocks and crevices. She would climb higher, along the cave wall where a small track was carved, heading towards the center of the cave. It took fifteen minutes of hard climbing, and the rock walls were slippery from the aquatic moss. Luckily, the sea creatures they encountered were mute. Nia was afraid they would sound the alarm that she was there, but they remained quiet. The further she climbed inside the cave dwelling the more distant Nia became from her home. She paused to find her bearings, as the cool, green, sea water flowed around her full of marine life. The dark inside the cave gave the journey a peaceful ambiance. Arriving suddenly at the throne room, a room of great power, which was empty apart from her father. Nia surveyed the scene before her; the king was in chains and sitting on a chair resting. How would she help her father escape, and who were his abductors.

Nia remained hidden in the upper crest of the cave ceiling; the small ledge she was standing on acting as a balcony. She looked around her to see where the guards were stationed. Suddenly, Oscar entered the room with his entire entourage. He seated himself on the throne; meanwhile, trays of entree arrived for his consumption: clams, shrimps and krill.

“A late night dinner snack,” muffled Oscar to King Marshall.

In shock, Nia turned quite pale. It was Oscar, the orphan her father had saved from the storm.

Unanticipatedly, Nia felt a warm feeling around her feet. To her surprise Marabou appeared licking her face and wagging his tail.

“Shhh,” whispered Nia to Marabou, “I am not that pleased to see you, and you have to keep quiet, as we are here to save the king from Oscar, our once beloved friend.”

She cuddled Marabou, settling him down as they proceeded to watch Oscar.

Oscar picked up the bowsprit, and ordered Liko to be brought to him immediately. In that moment, vindictively Oscar threw King Marshall a fish bone to eat. The moray eels returned with the majestic seahorse, held in chains. At which, a large-black hammerhead shark named Dae stepped forwards and climbed onto his back. King Marshall looked defeated as he clasped his hands to his head and sighed at the fate of his favorite seahorse.

“Dae will ride Liko in the boxing day races,” roared Oscar.

“Not if I can help it,” said the helpless king.

“It has been two days and not even a search party,” smirked Oscar.

“Take Liko to the stable Dae,” ordered Oscar, “it is time to celebrate.”

It was getting late, Oscar was stretched out on his throne drinking yellow fish guts and slurping kina row. At his feet the pile of fish skeletons and kina shells grew larger and larger.

Suddenly, there was a large commotion at the stable; a fire had started. Oscar stood up, his enormous belly swollen with food, he ordered his army to put the fire out and bring him more morsels. The henchmen departed the throne room with large water hoses to control the fire.

Instantaneously, five of the king’s dolphins entered the throne room surrounding Oscar. One dolphin rushed to the stable yard, to rescue Liko. Then two courageous shrimp warriors set about freeing the king. Being nimble, the shrimp warriors picked at the locks, urgently removing the king from his shackles. King Marshall was overjoyed and relieved at his rescue, he smiled gratefully, giving the thumbs up to his rescuers. Meanwhile Nia hurriedly climbed onto Felix’s back; she decided to head back towards the cave exit with Marabou. It was a swift journey back along the sandy cave track and Nia observed many cave creatures that were hidden. As she ventured closer to the exit, with Marabou and Felix, Nia noticed the warmth of the water and the tranquil sound of the sea's currents. A rush of silver, finned fish glided in schools as the currents met her at the archway. Back in Oscar's chamber, the warrior dolphins had thrown a large net over him and his henchmen. The heavy stones around the edge of the net held them all tangled. Next the dolphin warriors encouraged King Marshall to escape by leading Liko towards the king.

“You won’t get away with this,” roared Oscar, struggling inside the weighted net.

“Victory is mine,” pronounced the king.

King Marshall climbed into the saddle, and with the five dolphins plus two shrimp warriors they sped down the tunnel to freedom. The king pondered his next move as he rode Liko triumphantly. Outside the cave, the shrimp and dolphin warriors that had remained had set up dynamite in the rocks around the entrance. The king gave the signal and the dynamite wick’s were lit. There was an almighty explosion, and the cave entrance sealed forever. Now Oscar and his evil henchmen could not leave the cave in pursuit of the king. The king and his savior’s swam ahead, going immediately back to the palace, with the king to meet the queen. Who was anxiously waiting for word from her husband.

Nia had been found by Barry, the Beluga whale. Being a friendly chap, he had kindly offered his help and safely hid the group behind some large sedimentary rocks. Where nearby soft, green kelp trees grew, rhythmically flowing in the current. Marabou, Felix, Nia and Barry were safe. Nia smiled at the victory of the kingdom. The peacefulness of the sea surrounded them as Barry escorted Nia, Felix and Marabou back to the palace gates.

“Thank you,” said Nia to Barry, “you’re the best, you are welcome to come to the Christmas feast tomorrow.”

Barry smiled his cheerful smile.

“Aw thanks,” said Barry, “it was no problem.”

At the palace stable Nia groomed Felix; she hugged him and thanked him, reflecting on her time in the chamber, Oscar’s sea cave. It had been a frightening experience, one of chaos and caution from Oscar's henchmen, and Oscar, who planned to destroy Christmas Day and steal Liko. She was glad her father was safe, he had been rescued, and now they were all safe from harm. She sighed feeding Marabou, Bes and Felix the special treats: crustaceans and amphipods she had been carrying in her shoulder bag. Then she snuck back up to her bedroom with Marabou and Bes, wearily climbing into bed, to sleep before anyone was aware of her having left the palace.

The next day was Christmas Day, and downstairs under the worm tree was a present for Nia. With Marabou, the dogfish; and Bes, her catfish, they sat and opened the present. It was a new pair of pink shoes which Nia excitedly placed on her feet, and for Bess and Marabou a new play toy. She was very happy as the family gathered together for the christmas-breakfast celebration. Happily giving gifts with the whole family under the large, green, worm tree, and sharing laughter and joyfulness at saving Christmas Day and being safely home together again. At midday all the sea creatures in the kingdom were invited to the celebration in the king’s garden. The Christmas lights were beautifully glowing, shimmering with gold, red, green and orange as the royal family stood on the steps of the palace waving to the crowd. The crowd cheered, as they were happy that the king had been saved. It was time to open the christmas gates of King Marshall’s breeding farm, so his kingdom would be fed by the trillions of plankton, amphipods and krill he had been breeding throughout the year. A feast for his five ocean kingdoms.

“Happy Christmas,” roared King Marshall to his people.

He ordered the piper-fish to blow bioluminescent-marine creatures around the garden in a wonderful display of christmas lights. A marvellous day was had by all the sea creatures who attended the celebrations, in the king’s garden, uniting the kingdom with dancing and singing; meanwhile, a string quartet played christmas songs.

The next day, everyone was welcome at the palace to attend the boxing-day race. All the sea creature’s that owned seahorses could enter the race. The seahorses and riders all lined up at the starting gate. It was a very exciting race, with lots of cheering and clapping for the fastest seahorse to win. As predicted, Sentiment, Goldie and Liko won the trifecta —--Boxing Day—- race, and all that watched the race were welcome to attend the festive-christmas dance held in a hall beside the palace. All that is, apart from the two crafty, yellow moray eels. They were caught sneaking around the stables sniffing out the best seahorses. The scoundrels were dealt with by King Marshall's guards, and Oscar’s eels were told never to return to the palace. As a consequence, the kingdom was warned to protect their seahorse’s from the blue-goose barnacles, and the gardeners were sent to clean the affected areas of plastic and the toxic corals, until the sea was green and clean, and King Marshall was happy with the outcome. And so, the kindness and bravery of King Marshall, and his dolphin and shrimp warriors, spread far and wide into his sea kingdom, and the kingdom became more joyful and happy uniting the inhabitants and attracting visitors from the fifty seas. The Christmas Day celebrations, and dancing ended until the following year. And the kingdom resumed its tireless efforts to keep peace in the mysterious, underwater sea kingdom.

The next day, Nia sat up in bed and yawned she blinked at the soft light of the palace lanterns. Sitting up in bed. Feeling the soft seaweed blanket on her legs. Outside, the night hummed with the currents of the sea waters. The palace was safe. King Marshall was home. But not content to stay still, Nia felt the warm trickle of adrenaline after the cave adventure.

A gentle knock came at her door. Oscar stood there, not snarling now, but small and slow. His usual proud puff was gone. He held a tiny shell in his tentacle hands. The shell rattled like a far-off bell.

"What are you doing here," said Nia.

“I… I have something,” Oscar said, his voice quieter than Nia remembered. Water rippled around his feet. Marabou rose and wagged his tail in a careful hello.

Nia hugged her blanket to her chest. She remembered how Oscar had looked on the throne. She remembered the fish bones. Her face felt like a lemon - tart and surprised.

“What is it?” she asked. "We buried you under the rubble explosion."

"I survied," said Oscar, "and I am sorry."

"You lived at the palace as our friend," said Nia. "You betrayed my father your king, he might not forgive you," said Nia. "But it is Christmas season, so anything is possiable."

Oscar held out the shell. Inside, a little blue larimar conch shell necklace shone. It looked like a tiny moon.

“It’s from the cave,” he said. “I found it by Liko’s saddle. I wanted to return it. I thought - maybe it belongs to the king.”

Nia felt her neck, she hadnt noticed that it had fallen. She stepped closer. The shell smelled of sea moss and smoke from the small stable fire. She could hear the far music of the celebration still, a soft strum and the click of party shells, starfish bells, and the trumpet fish horns. Oscar’s eyes blinked slowly. He seemed unsure how to hold the small shell and speak at the same time.

“You were mean,” Nia said, but her voice was small. “You made the king sad. You took Liko, and locked him in chains.”

Oscar’s tentacles curled like a shy flower. “I was scared,” he whispered. “I wanted everyone to notice me. I thought if I had power, I would not be so lonely.”

Nia sat beside him on the bed. The blanket smelled of salt and sweet sea lettuce. She thought of the king chained in the cave. She thought of the dolphins who had rushed in. She thought of Felix and Marabou hiding in rocks. Her hands smoothed the shell.

“You can give back things,” Nia said. “You can help fix what you broke, and you broke trust.”

Oscar’s head dipped. He offered the shell. “Will you tell the king I’m sorry?” he asked.

"You can do that yourself. He is down stairs."

"I will ask for his forgivenness," said Oscar.

Nia nodded, "follow me," she said.

Outside, a soft current nudged the turquoise curtains shut. She could feel the palace warmth and she felt afe again. She found a small ribbon from her pocket and tied it to the shell. It made the shell look like a tiny present.

Together they crept down the palace steps. Oscar’s steps were careful. Nia’s heart thumped like a small drum, but the sound felt brave, not frightened. Together they found King Marshall and Queen Palau talking with their friends near the worm trees. The worm trees were sparkling and growing more branches. Oscar stepped forward. The king looked surprised, then gentle. He smiled, and the smile made Oscar straighten a little. Queen Palau placed a worm flower on Oscar’s shoulder.

"Your majesty," said a defeated Oscar falling to his knees, and bowing his head. "Have mercy on me. I will serve you for the rest of my days."

That night the palace felt quieter, but kinder. Nia tucked the the found laimar conch shell under her pellow, and she put Oscar's apology to her father out of her mind. She climbed back to bed with Bes curled up at her feet and Marabou next to her on the floor his blanket folded to form a bed. Tomorrow there would be more to do, but for now, the sea hummed a lullaby which spoke of trust and kindness which can be small thing, that makes soft waves in the depths of Kelp Cove.

End of chapter one. 1 more chapter and about 4,855 words in the full book.