Arthur left his home and swam out to be greeted by the various merfolk that populated his kingdom. The merprince smiled as many young mermaids eagerly surrounded him, aware that today was his birthday.
Instead of picking a mermaid as a lover right away, Arthur said “Please, ladies. I would love to pick one of you as a mate but I would like to see the land first. After all, my father was a human.”
At hearing this, the mermaids were a bit disappointed but understood how much the land meant to King Damon. It’s only fair an heir of his would get to see the world above the sea first before picking a maiden of the water. The mermaids let Arthur swim through the kingdom in peace.
As Arthur left his home, he felt his heartbeat. Despite never seeing the land above for himself, Arthur's father told of his time as a former human. King Damon told Arthur of the warm sun, the grassy fields, the starry nights, and the humans who would walk on land with two legs instead of swimming with a tail.
The merprince flicked his strong blue tail harder as he approached the water’s surface. In a little time, Arthur’s head popped out from the water. It took a moment to get his wet blonde hair out of his eyes but Arthur soon smiled as he felt the warmth of the sun touch his skin.
Arthur looked around to see what part of the land he swam himself into. In front of the merman was a field of bright green grass that laid below a bright blue sky. In the distance, there was a castle that stood proudly on top of a hill surrounded by trees. The merprince was awed but what really caught his attention were the animals of the land.
All around the field were large creatures that were colored white and black. Their faces were wide and their mouths made food of the grass that touched their hooves. What defined them was the noise they made, a “moo.”
Arthur looked at these creatures in fascination. “Cows.” he thought with a chuckle. The cows looked funny to him, they seemed so odd compared to the fish he was familiar with throughout his life.
Just as Arthur was thinking about leaving the place and maybe following a river to see more, he spotted something, no someone, that seemed to be tending to a cow.
It was a human girl, dressed in black and white clothes with frills attached. She sat on a small chair and her hands were covered with yellow gloves. Her hands were squeezing the udders of a cow to release some sort of strange white liquid onto a bucket.
Arthur had never seen a woman dressed so conservatively before. Throughout his life, all of the women he had seen were naked beside the seashells that covered their breasts. This human woman was dressed so modestly that he could barely make out her hair that was covered in some sort of cap.
Arthur peered closely and could see the woman’s face. She seemed to be around his age and looked pretty attractive. It couldn't hurt to at least talk to her.
Arthur wondered if he should try to know this odd maiden better.