Chapter 77: She Needed Allies Here

Talori watched Brennan go after they broke apart feeling rather forlorn. Taron noticed. 

"Are you alright, Princess?"

"I'm fine," she sighed. "I'm just going to miss him." 

"That was who you stayed with when you were on the surface, correct?"

"Yes." 

Taron went quiet after that. The ride back was incredibly quiet. Her brother's mermen had never said more to her than they absolutely had to. It used to bother her but now it was driving her crazy because she had grown accustomed to constantly being in a conversation with someone or other on the surface. 

'Talk to me!' she wanted to scream. 

But she didn't. It wasn't her place to order them around. If they didn't want to talk to her, they didn't have to. 

Talori suddenly felt extremely lonely. She went off in search of Aila as soon as she returned so she would have someone to talk to and found her in the library practicing her English. 

She gave Talori a small smile when she spotted her. "Hello, Talori. Are the surface-dwellers gone?"

"Yes, they had to get back to work tomorrow. Employers on the surface are very strict about attendance. The witches had more flexibility since the coven is their workplace and they were on coven business but Brennan was doing this on his own time."

"I see."

Talori had told her before about Brennan's work and love of the ocean despite being raised on the surface and longing for the sky he was no longer allowed to fly freely through. He had confessed before that it felt like a part of him was lost not being able to fly the way he wanted. 

Fairies never touched the ground. They were always hovering at the very least since their wings were stronger than their legs. 

She had spent enough time with him to know that when he was around other fae that tended to hover higher. He frequently sat on nothing in thin air rather than on furniture. 

She felt sorry for him. She couldn't imagine having restrictions on her ability to swim like that. 

Brennan had lost a lot because of the humans. His home. His family. The sky. No wonder he hated them so much. And yet he was still willing to work with them because he cared about the ocean more than he hated humanity. That said a lot about how deeply he cared about things underneath his calm demeanor. 

He cared a lot more than he let on. She had learned that about him fairly early into their friendship. He cared more than most fae she had met. 

"Would you like some help practicing?" Talori asked, pushing that thought aside so she could focus on her sister-in-law. 

Aila nodded gratefully. "I would appreciate that. I wish to be able to converse with our surface-dweller guests the next time they visit. I'm not much of a queen if I can't speak to diplomats."

"Don't worry about it! English is hard to learn." 

Talori helped her practice her English until it was time for them to go to bed. Aila swam off toward her palace alone and she was reminded of her earlier concerns about Zale not paying enough attention to his wife. 

Aila must be terribly lonely out here as well. She had brought a personal maid from home but they didn't seem to be close. This was standard. Most nobles weren't friendly with their servants. Having a familiar face around was different than having someone she could confide in. 

Talori wished there was something she could do in that regard but she couldn't force someone to open up against their will. She really did need to talk to Zale about this now that their guests were gone. 

=== 

You are reading story MerMade For Each Other at novel35.com

Aila was still struggling to adjust to life in the palace. She had never once so much as dreamed of being merqueen, though she knew she was destined to marry to benefit her family. 

Everyone whispered about her at the wedding. They all knew that Zale had only married her because she helped him get rid of the former merqueen and crown prince. There had been a lot of gossip about him since his coronation. 

Merfolk were having a hard time believing the idiot prince had been a schemer all along. Or that he actually was doing a better job than King Ren had. 

He was actively involved in more than parties. There hadn't been a single one aside from the expected wedding celebration and his behavior was so different than it had been at every other party he ever attended that no one could stop talking about it. 

Zale spent most of the evening quietly sitting and observing everyone else, though he did talk to those brave enough to approach him. Gone were the days of frivolousness, fashion, and terrible poetry. 

The true Zale was cold, calculating, and didn't care about being involved with anyone he didn't deem absolutely necessary. Like Aila. 

He had only visited her at night a handful of times since their marriage, having only married her because he needed an heir. She hardly saw him outside of that unless Talori was involved. 

He obviously loved his sister very much. His mermen had called her his most precious treasure and she had seen for herself that it was true. 

Talori was bright, cheerful, enthusiastic, and everything that Zale wasn't. But she was the only one who made him lighten up. The only times Aila had seen her husband laugh genuinely (the fake laughs at those parties where he pretended to be an idiot didn't count) were when his sister was involved. 

Neither of these siblings fit their reputations. Zale was far from stupid and Talori was far from crazy. They had clearly both played those up to protect themselves from harem infighting. 

She was certainly an odd mermaid but she wasn't crazy. She was simply interested in things that no one else cared about. Aila didn't think that was a bad thing. Her strange interests ultimately were going to benefit the kingdom. 

No other merfolk ever would have dared journey to the surface, let alone befriend and form an alliance with fae who lived there. Talori was quite close with multiple types of fae that Aila had never previously heard of. Her best friend was a fairy. 

She was unusual but sweet. The only fae in this palace who made an effort to be friendly to her. 

Aila deeply appreciated that. She needed allies here. If Talori liked her, she could offer some degree of protection once the concubines came flooding in. 

One of the merking's primary duties was to produce an heir. With the scarcity of fae children, the likelihood increased the more concubines he had. It was how things had always been. 

They were barely married and he had showed no interest in any other mermaids yet but she knew it was only a matter of time. Many more would join her over the centuries and she dreaded it because of what had happened in the last harem. 

Zale seemed cautious. After what happened with his mother it was possible he would be very choosy about who he put in the harem to prevent the same thing from happening.

Aila desperately hoped that was the case. She didn't want to deal with all of that. She wanted to live her life in peace as much as possible considering she had been thrown into this madness against her will. 

She had done her best to study to become a good merqueen, not wanting to let her father or her people down. She did care about the state of the ocean so she needed to do what she could in that regard. That was difficult since she didn't speak English. 

Everything else she had learned was simple in comparison. Why was she having such a hard time with this specifically when it was so important?

Aila had already been trying to learn it before the surface-dwellers came because it was something every member of the royal family was supposed to know but her determination only increased after she met them and had no idea what was going on without Talori translating for her. 

She had already felt bad during that meeting because of her own inadequacy but it didn't help that her husband didn't so much as look at her until just before they left. He told her he would visit her at night and she couldn't deny she was nervous about being reprimanded for not being able to speak the language properly and embarrassing him in front of the surface-dwellers. 

She had seen so little of her husband that she didn't know him very well. She only had her few observations and what Talori (who was biased) said to go off of.

Of course she would think the world of him. He had always been exceedingly good to her. 

Aila didn't have that luxury. Zale saw her as nothing more than a tool. And tools, when not useful, were left somewhere forgotten until they were needed. She knew that and, since she was wary of her husband, it wasn't as if she truly wanted his attention but her position was precarious.. She didn't want to return to her family in disgrace or, worse, be beheaded for treason.

You can find story with these keywords: MerMade For Each Other, Read MerMade For Each Other, MerMade For Each Other novel, MerMade For Each Other book, MerMade For Each Other story, MerMade For Each Other full, MerMade For Each Other Latest Chapter