Chapter 23: Is This Really Okay?

How to react? Zale knew that Talori was safe and sound but he couldn't deny that the sight of his mother's arm made him feel sick again. It wouldn't be so far-fetched for a frivolous idiot to throw up in front of everyone, would it?

He and his sister supposedly weren't close but anyone feebleminded and fainthearted would react negatively to such a sight. It didn't take much prompting for him to lose last night's dinner.

Everyone drew back in horror. "Zale! Control yourself!"

"I'm sorry! I'm not good with blood!" he choked out before emphasizing the point by throwing up again.

King Ren sighed and rubbed his forehead in agitation before looking at his guests. "I'm terribly sorry about him. My son has always had a delicate constitution."

"That is not the problem at hand," Chief Indra said emotionlessly. "The alliance is off unless you happen to have another bride available for me. There is a distinct lack of mermaids in the deep."

"I can find someone provided you don't mind that they aren't royalty."

"Mermaids are mermaids no matter their bloodline. I will need a successor eventually. You have two days or the deal is off. We cannot stay in the light much longer."

"…I understand. I will find someone for you. In the meantime you are free to return to your quarters. I apologize for the inconvenience this has caused. I don't know what Talori would be doing that far out to sea."

"I assume she was exploring. She mentioned that she liked to search for objects dropped by surface-dwellers last night," Chief Indra said with a sigh. "A pity. She was a beautiful mermaid."

He gestured for his comrades to follow him out and they did. A servant began cleaning up Zale's vomit immediately afterward.

King Ren eyed Zale disdainfully. "Pull yourself together! The funeral will be held later today. We don't have a full body to bury but what we do have will go in the cemetery. I expect you to be there and to behave yourself!"

"Alright," Zale said weakly though internally he was seething.

He didn't seem upset about Talori's supposed death at all! He had always known the merking was cold and cruel but this was too much.

It wasn't any better at the funeral. He played his part quietly, acting too shocked to be as over-the-top as usual but he noticed that he was the only one crying. No one else cared Talori was gone at all.

Forcing himself to cry wasn't the easiest thing in the world but it would be suspicious if he didn't. Though they supposedly weren't close, they were still full-blooded siblings.

A servant collected his tears in a small bottle to give to the witches on their next delivery. It was completely heartless but that was how things were here. Anytime someone cried the tears had to be collected. If there weren't enough, the king would lightly injure a servant to make them tear up.

Zale sincerely hoped that Talori and Brennan managed to make it to the witches without any issues. He also wished there was a way for him to know that for sure. It wasn't like any messages could be passed since Gar was loyal to the merking.

===

Brennan had not been prepared to be woken up by Talori's understandably angry brother but he was even less prepared to suddenly be taking her home with him. That had not been part of the plan!

He was supposed to be going home tonight or tomorrow night anyway but what was he supposed to do with a mermaid on land? He was going to have to figure out how to get a hold of Harmony as soon as he got to shore. She could help him out.

Talori didn't even know how to use a glamour. It was an innate ability of all fae but since she had never needed it before she didn't know how to use it.

There had to be some way to get it to activate. He would have to push her around in a wheelchair since she couldn't walk but that wasn't the end of the world. All she would have to do was wear a long dress or something and the glamour would take care of the rest.

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Brennan thought about all of this as they began making their very long trek back to Florida. Thankfully, merfolk had perfect nautical bearings. They knew their own coordinates and he knew the coordinates of a beach not far from where he worked.

He had a lot on his mind. The events of the past few days had been wild enough but had nothing on the past few hours.

The tables had turned on him. Now instead of hiding from merfolk, he would be hiding one with him to prevent her from getting married off to what appeared to be a vampire squid merman based on Talori's description.

She had shared more details with him as they swam. He hadn't realized that merfolk lived in such deep waters until now but supposed it made sense. If regular sea creatures could live that deep, so could they.

Brennan found it fascinating but it seemed like a sore subject for her since it was the reason she had to run away and leave her beloved brother so he didn't press for too many details. He had a lot of other things on his mind anyway. Like what he was going to say to people at work about what happened.

He had somewhat of a plan in place. Once they got closer to shore he was going to find a piece of driftwood and wait to be rescued. Talori would stay underwater and follow whatever boat picked him up.

From the boat he would be able to call his supervisor and explain what happened while acting appropriately freaked out by the ordeal. They would probably give him a few days to a week off to recover before expecting him back. He could use that time to try and help Talori adjust to life on the surface.

As soon as he made it to shore he was going to have to leave Talori under a dock or something until he could shake off whoever was driving the boat and get a hold of Harmony. She could bring him a wheelchair, blanket, headscarf, and sunglasses to hide every inch of her from prying eyes. Purple hair was one thing but the fins, tail, and yellow skin were another.

"Brennan?" Talori asked hesitantly. "Is this really okay?"

She looked more forlorn than he had ever seen her and he didn't like it. She was such an enthusiastic fae that it was distressing to see.

Brennan smiled to reassure her. "Don't worry about it! You let me stay with you so I can return the favor. I wanted to learn more about merfolk anyway and procure your brother's help so this is a win-win."

"But you were only with me for a few days. I have no idea how long this will take."

"Not a big deal. It's not like I'll have to hide you. I can take you out and about as soon as we figure out how to activate your glamour. It's really easy once you get the hang of it. There are all sorts of things I can show you. It'll be like a vacation!"

Talori eyed him curiously. "A vacation?"

"Ah, they're trips that humans and sometimes fae take to go to places far from where they live for a while," he explained.

"I see. Alright then, this is a vacation. I am sure Zale will help you with your marine biology research in any way he can in return for helping us. You are right; this is a win-win."

Brennan had explained the term to her a few days ago so she knew what it meant now. There was still an awful lot she didn't know though because it hadn't come up. He was in for a lot of explanations of basic things in his future but he didn't mind too much. A mermaid was actually coming to stay with him!

Harmony was going to flip when she found out. She had been dying to know more about merfolk for ages. He was going to have to explain that they preferred that to mermaids, among other things.

It was a good thing he got into the habit of memorizing phone numbers decades ago rather than solely relying on contacts in his cell phone. He would be able to call both his supervisor and Harmony without having his phone on him.

Brennan was getting tired. He wasn't sure how long they had been swimming at this point but the sun was high in the sky from what he could tell. Things did look different underwater.

At this rate they wouldn't make it to shore for days. It would be really nice if a boat popped up out of nowhere right now. He kept an eye out for any passing shapes near the top of the water but didn't have any luck for another several hours.

He told Talori to stay down and follow the boat if he didn't come back by the time it moved away and what his plan was for when they made it to shore. She nodded more seriously than usual. He also told her there was a good chance another boat would come get him from the first one and for her to keep a sharp eye on it.. If that happened, she would have to follow the second one.

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