Menelaus Winslow Groat, the Phoque King Lighthouse keeper, bobbed up and down as the waves of the Atlantic Ocean rocked his humble row boat. He was out in not particularly deep waters off the coast of his rocky island, scouring the sea for signs of seals. But not just any seal- a seal of suitable physical constitution to survive being transformed by black magic into a human-seal monstrosity yet still pleasent enough in demeanor and in appearance to serve as an adequate priest stand-in for his forced marriage scheme.

Needless to say, Menelaus thus far was not having much luck finding such a specimen.

It had been easy enough to acquire seals for his experiments previously; the stony beach of Sharpy Island, just across the way, had been a popular spot for seals to sun themselves. The creatures didn't seem to care when Menelaus would show up, large net in hand, and drag one or two away to a more secluded location where he could cast his spells and say the required incantations. But then Sharpy Island was bought for property development and the presence of the interior decorators and builders and all sorts of people now coming and going from the beach (plus, the rather unfortunate practice by the decorators of slaughtering seals for kitschy household ambience) had all but scared the seals off. Phoque King Light, despite its name, did not have the same comfortable sunning location for seals and attracted few visitors; and so, Menelaus had little hope but to take to the sea in search of marine mammals.

Truthfully, he was perfectly content with the three sealmen he already had. Just keeping them fed and happy was a challenge enough. None of the trio were house-broken, with Sealy Dan being the worst offender of dropping particularly sizable dueces wherever he pleased. And Sealy Stan, he often had nightmares and would toss and turn as he dreamed, shaking the whole lighthouse with his fits of fear. And then Sealy Jan...well, he was just a snob. Sure, they were Menelaus's friends, if only by creation, but they were still alot of work. Perhaps now that Sophia would be forced to be his bride she could at the very least help clean up after them.

Sophia. She was so lovely, Menelaus mused. Truly, he did not deserve such a beauty. Well, okay, he knew deep down he really didn't deserve her and that her entire relationship with him was to be built on his threatening to kill her half-brother if she did not comply, but that said more about his flaws than anything negative about her qualities. She would be a beautiful bride and he would find an adequate seal to make the priest to do the job as that was her one request. He wasn't totally unreceptive to her needs and desires.

But as he sat in his boat, gazing out to the ocean, he was a bit disheartened by the lack of motion. Sure, there were seagulls, but seagullmen hardly had the same draw for Menelaus. He knew for sure the spells he had learned worked on seals. It had to be a seal he turned into a half-man to be a priest. That would be the fastest route to securing their nuptials and then the fastest route to getting sanctioned smooches from beautiful Sophia. In fact, Sophia had indicated her love for Menelaus would grow should he make her a priest sealman; seeing as her affection for him was all but non-existent now, winning any of her love seemed pretty good at this point. It's much easier to force someone to marry you if they already sort of like you, Menelaus reasoned.

He was, however, then startled by the unexpected sounds of loud chatting carrying through the air. He turned to look out at Sharpy Island, not far in the distance. On the beach, he saw them- the forms of five men and one woman. The woman, of course, was Sophia's older relative he had already met the day before, and two of the men he knew instantly- one was Sophia's stuffy father and one her sissy cousin. A third, perhaps, was the manservant of the house, if Menelaus was seeing clear enough. But the other two men- about his age yet more distinguished looking- were unknown to the lighthouse keeper. There was something strangely recognizable about them, yet Menelaus could not tell just what. He observed them all board their island's small electric boat, with the manservant in place to steer. It was only once the boat took off and was headed straight for Phoque Kind Light that Menelaus, to his sudden panic, realized their intented destination was, in fact, his island. They incidentally hadn't seen him out in the sea as they approached the island from the opposite side.

But they all openly hate me, he thought as he quickly grabbed the boat's oars and began vigoriously rowing back, why the HELL would they want to come visit me now of all times?!

He could not make sense of it; he had been certain his plan of isolating Sophia and forcing her to become his lover-prisoner forever would go undetected despite her family's mansion being just across the way. Summer would turn into Fall, the Dillys would leave to return to the city and not doubt sell the property to escape the painful memories there, other wealthy families would avoid buying it htemselves from the bad energy associated with its reputation, and, once again, Menelaus would be alone...except this time with his trusted sealmen and dear Sophia for companionship. Yes, everything should have been set for those wheels to turn. Why now would the Dilly family and their unfamiliar guests want to actually set foot at Phoque King Lighthouse?

As he rushed to get back to the rocky shore and pull his boat in a thought then crossed his mind- the sealmen. He had sent them outside to guard. Certainly there as no risk of Sophia escaping with them watching her, but Sophia had also mentioned the unfortunate business of the sealmen murdering someone the night before.

Well, Menelaus sighed, murder would not be ideal until I find out the reason for their visit. But if murders had to happen, hopefully it was out of sight of his lovely Sophia. It might take away some of his sway to force her to marry him if she already knew her whole family was executed prior to their wedding.