Chapter 20: What Was A Surface-Dweller Doing Down Here?!

Zale had known something was wrong from the moment he spotted the deep-sea merfolk. He knew exactly what the merking was up to but couldn't react because it would go against his carefully-crafted persona.

Everyone was under the impression that he was too shallow and frivolous to care about his sister when nothing could be further from the truth. Talori was his only source of happiness after their mother's death and as such was his greatest weakness.

He could still remember the day she was born. She was so tiny and helpless cradled in their mother's arms.

He had promised her then that he would never let anything happen to his baby sister. And he certainly wasn't about to break that promise now.

The best course of action was to send her away somewhere safe and fake her death but where could he possibly send her? He didn't have any connections in neighboring kingdoms and the nearest one was quite far from here regardless.

No matter what, Zale could not allow her to go somewhere so cold, dark, and full of despair. It would kill her inner light. Her enthusiasm had always been one of the things he loved most about her.

Being apart from her for a while and bringing her back once he had more power to protect her wasn't a great option but it was better than losing her anyway and allowing her spirit to be crushed. But where would he send her? Where could a lone mermaid go that no one would ever think to look?

As soon as Zale left the banquet he intended to head straight to her room. She was probably rather upset right now. He had seen the brief look of panic on her face earlier when the merking made his announcement.

That selfish old shark! How dare he do this to Talori after ignoring her for most of her life?

"What do you intend to do?" Beck asked once they were far enough away that no one could hear them. "I assume you are not planning on letting the princess go with them."

"Of course not! Who in their right mind would send their family to such a horrible place? She wouldn't last a week. I have to figure out somewhere else for her to go so if you have any suggestions, I'm open to them."

"I am afraid not. Planning has always been your area of expertise."

Zale cursed. He wasn't wrong. He was the planner, Beck was the enforcer. They had worked like that the whole time they knew each other.

"I have to figure something out," he muttered. "If nothing else, I need to fake her death before morning. A shark attack or something with compelling enough false evidence that it won't seem like she ran away.

"I might have to get Talori to cut her hair but I'm not sure if that will be enough. It would be helpful if we had an arm or something to leave behind but where are we supposed to get one of those?"

"We could always go grave robbing," Beck deadpanned.

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The idea was so simple yet brilliant that Zale couldn't believe he hadn't thought of it himself. Merfolk corpses didn't rot. On the rare occasion someone died, they were placed in a giant clamshell in the cemetery near the kingdom's border if they were important and wrapped in seaweed and buried under the sand if they weren't.

Their mother, as a supposed traitor, hadn't been deemed important but he couldn't bear to see her have a commoner's burial. He procured a giant clamshell on his own and laid her to rest in it far enough outside the kingdom's borders that no one else ever found her.

It was utterly barbaric to chop off your deceased mother's arm but Zale was certain that she would want to save Talori if she could. She had loved both of her children very much.

She had been yellow from head to tail so her arm could believably pass as her daughter's. Though the prospect horrified him, there was nothing he wouldn't do to save his sister from such a terrible fate.

Zale needed to get started on this immediately. He could figure out the issue of where to send her while his merman handled the logistics of faking her death.

"I know exactly whose grave to rob," he said grimly. "You remember where I buried my mother, don't you?"

Beck's stoic face didn't change in the slightest but in an unusual show of compassion he laid a hand on Zale's shoulder. "Yes. Rest assured, I will handle this personally with utmost care. You should not have to do that yourself."

"Thank you. Really."

"It is the least I can do. Go find the princess. I am sure she needs you right now."

Beck swam off in the direction of the grave and Zale took a deep breath before going toward his sister's room. When he arrived he was concerned by the fact that the door was blocked.

"Tali? Are you in there? I know you must be upset," he said worriedly.

No one answered. That wasn't like her. She always answered the door no matter how upset she was.

If she wasn't going to open the door for him, he was simply going to have to go through the window. He swam around and did just that before freezing when he saw a stranger lying in Talori's bed.

And not just any stranger. Their skin and hair were blue, which wasn't unusual for merfolk in this part of the ocean, but they lacked fins and a tail. Those were legs! What was a surface-dweller doing down here?!

No surface-dweller should be capable of surviving down here. Were they dead? No, they were breathing. There was a bubble around their head so that must have something to do with it.

Magic? Was this creature a witch? He hadn't realized witches could have blue skin but it wasn't as if he knew much about them.

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