Chapter 56: The Idiot Prince

Zale was incredibly anxious until Gar returned with the item he requested from the witches. It was a scale model of a mermaid that had the same coloring as Talori if not the same facial features. It still made him miss her terribly.

The problem was that the witches didn't have any message to go along with it. Had they not figured out what he was asking for?

Witches were supposed to be smart, weren't they? And Talori was definitely in contact with them if she managed to make it to the surface. Did this mean she hadn't made it after all? Or had he overestimated the witches' abilities?

Zale watched the little figurine swim around his head in frustration. What was he supposed to do?

"Beck, there wasn't a message," he growled. "What do I do now?"

"There isn't anything you can do. I suppose the witches were not as clever as we had hoped. That is disappointing," the other merman said blankly.

"You don't say! How am I supposed to know if Tali is—"

Talori's cheerful voice began emitting from the figurine and they both turned, stunned, to stare at it. "Hi, Zale! I'm doing great. I have a job here and everything. I've learned so much and have so much I want to tell you but I have to keep this short. The surface is a fascinating place and I wish you were here to experience it with me.

"I've made some friends up here that are willing to help us try and save the ocean too! You don't have to worry about me. I'm being very well taken care of so focus on finishing your plan so I can come home, okay? I love you and I'll see you as soon as I can!"

The witches had figured out his meaning after all and got his sister directly involved. Hearing her voice made his heart ache but simultaneously lifted his spirits. She was okay!

Zale sighed in relief. "She made it after all. Thank goodness."

"I knew she would be alright," Beck said confidently. "Now that your mind is at ease, you can get back to work. The sooner you can focus the sooner you can see her again, as you well know."

He did know that. He also knew that this was going to take a while so this one magical recording of his sister's voice was going to have to sustain him until he they were able to be reunited. Was there a way to get it to play again or was it a one-time thing?

"I suppose. How does this object work? Do I only get to hear Tali once or—"

Zale cut himself off as the recording began to play again. It occurred to him then that both times the message played were after he said her nickname. When the recording ended he tried it one more time to be sure and found his hypothesis proved correct.

"Her nickname is the password that gets the message to play," he mused. "Clever. She knows I'm the only one who calls her that and only when I am around those I trust. There was no chance of anyone else overhearing it that way and she spoke in English as an extra security measure. She truly is learning a lot up there."

"That will be helpful for when she returns," Beck remarked.

That was true. It had always been in the plan to have Talori help him once he became merking. It seemed she would be even more helpful than he had anticipated.

"Indeed. Come, we have things to do. We need to prepare for the next banquet and find a way to get more of our mermen into the main palace. If we don't know what is going on in there properly, we will never be able to get this done."

Beck nodded and followed Zale out, understanding the urgency of the situation as well as he did. Hearing from Talori had revitalized him and now he was more insistent on finishing their plans as quickly as possible than ever.

===

Aila didn't know what to make of Prince Zale. Nobody had warned her about him before their first meeting so she had been rather taken aback by how eccentric he was.

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After he surprised her by sending the jewelry made of surface items that he had worn to the banquet to her house she asked her father, Lord Yuval, about him. He sighed heavily and leaned against the wall for support.

"Prince Zale is…well, he's hard to describe. He has quite a reputation among the nobility but ultimately he's harmless. I wouldn't worry about him. He is unlikely to approach you again. He has a short attention span. But do try not to get more involved with him than necessary."

"Why?" Aila asked curiously.

Not that she particularly wanted to get involved with him, as he seemed rather odd. But it was strange for her father to warn her away from someone specifically. He had never done that before.

"Prince Zale is unmarried and has no concubines at his age with good reason. No one wants to send their precious daughters to become a laughingstock. You saw how other merfolk reacted to him at the banquet, did you not?"

"Yes," Aila admitted.

Most of them had been mocking him but he had been dense enough that it bounced right off of him leaving no meaning behind. He carried on as if he didn't understand the ridicule.

Honestly, Aila felt sorry for him. He might be strange but he didn't seem to be the bad sort. Nothing he said was the slightest bit malicious all evening. She had noticed he was one of the only merfolk who didn't gossip or have anything negative to say.

Prince Zale was simpleminded but kind. He had sent her his rather ridiculous jewelry after she had attempted to compliment it because he thought she liked it. He had no reason to do that.

"This kingdom is headed toward ruin, mark my words," Yuval sighed. "The crown prince is as uninterested in affairs regarding the surface as the merking and the third prince is an idiot. But even he seemed to realize it was unusual for there to be so much surface debris in the ocean!"

Aila frowned. She had worried about that too after Prince Zale had brought it up. She didn't leave her family's estate much so she hadn't realized what was going on outside.

"Father, can you speak to the merking regarding this issue?"

"Not yet, unfortunately. I need to collect more evidence of what is going on to convince him to take action. He is convinced that everything is fine because we are safe from the surface-dwellers due to the witches' magic but I disagree if their things are still ending up in our waters," Yuval said seriously.

Aila didn't know much about their relations with the surface but she was inclined to agree. "Prince Zale did say he was going to try and start a trend. Perhaps if he creates more jewelry that could be used as the evidence we need."

"Not a bad idea, Aila. You can help that along by wearing what he gave you at the next gathering. But as I said, do not get more involved with him than you have to. Just because we are using his silly fashion idea to our advantage doesn't mean we are on the same side."

She did as her father said though she did keep an eye on Prince Zale in the coming months at various parties. He had made a lot more of that jewelry and it did end up catching on as a trend, as he had predicted.

It would be difficult for the merking to ignore all of the evidence in front of him. Especially if her father got a few other nobles who were similarly concerned to join him when he spoke to the merking. The 'idiot prince' had his uses after all.

Aila didn't like that nickname though. She didn't think he was stupid. She thought he was odd, to be sure, but everyone had their own preferences, didn't they? What exactly was so wrong with liking fashion and terrible poetry?

She was curious about Prince Zale. If she didn't know any better, she would think he was purposely trying to draw attention to the issue of the ocean having too many surface items in it.

Even those who normally dismissed him were taking note of what was happening. They thought it was an incidental side effect of his silly desire to be on top of every fashion trend but what if there was more to it?

Aila had been told not to get involved with him but she couldn't help but wonder if there was more to him than met the eye. The only way to know that for sure would be to see him in his natural state. One where he didn't have an audience.

She doubted that would ever happen.. She only saw him at events held for the nobility.

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