Chapter 81: You're Doing Fine

Zale was too embarrassed to ask Aila what she liked directly so he approached his sister first. She was the one who wanted him to pay more attention to his wife so she would probably be willing to help him out. 

She seemed pleased and clapped her hands together. "Oh good! I'm glad you've finally come to your senses. Don't worry about a thing—Inspector Talori is on the case!" 

He didn't know what that last part meant. It must be some surface thing. There had been a lot of things like that since she came back. She had deeply immersed herself in the culture up there, as he had expected she would when he first sent her away. 

The next day she reported back that Aila liked kelp weaving and pearl accessories. Alright. He could work with that. 

Zale contacted the most revered pearl accessory craftsman in the kingdom about commissioning pieces for his wife. She would need better jewelry for future events anyway so at least the gifts would be useful. 

When they were finished he presented them to her while visiting her chambers. A genuine smile made it onto her face as she held up the necklace to admire it. 

"Oh, they're beautiful! Thank you, Zale!" 

"I'm glad you like them," he said gruffly, relieved that she was so happy to receive his gifts. 

This was the most enthusiasm he had ever seen from her. He would have to thank his sister again for tipping him off. He would buy her all the pearl accessories in the world if it would keep her from being miserable here. 

"I do! Much better than the other jewelry you sent." 

Aila immediately looked as though she wished she could take that back but Zale wasn't offended. He had sent her the ridiculous jewelry he made out of surface items because it befit his idiotic character. He would never give something like that away sincerely. 

In fact, the look on her face and the situation itself struck him as so amusing that he couldn't help but laugh. "I do hope you realize my tastes aren't actually that bad." 

She seemed relieved he wasn't upset with her for speaking her mind. "I figured as much. You don't wear anything like that now that it isn't necessary." 

So she had figured out what he was doing back then. Hindsight could do that. Once she knew he cared about the state of the ocean it wouldn't be too hard to figure out. He wondered how long she had known. 

"No. I couldn't care less about fashion, honestly. It was all part of the charade," Zale confessed. 

"A very thorough one. I had you figured out though."

"Did you really? What gave me away?"

"It was only a suspicion that was later proved correct. You did draw an awful lot of attention to that ugly jewelry. It made me wonder if you were doing it on purpose," Aila admitted. "It turned out I was right."

She was a lot smarter than he gave her credit for. No one else had caught on to what he was doing that far back. 

"Indeed. I'm impressed."

Aila smiled again. "That's quite a compliment coming from you."

Zale supposed he didn't impress easily but how would she know that? They hardly interacted. Was that a strange way of complimenting him? She thought it was quite a compliment because she thought he was smart or something? 

He coughed, feeling a bit awkward. "I suppose I've made a rather strange impression on you, haven't I? My apologies."

He meant it. He had acted like an idiot in front of her at first, then abruptly dropped the mask when she came to him with information about Nerida planning to murder her husband and blame him for it, then flip flopped before finally revealing his true colors and sticking with that. She must have been rather confused by everything. 

Confusing her hadn't been his intention. It had been a side effect of her being swept up in his plans. He really should have planned better where acquiring a wife was concerned. 

"You have," Aila confessed. "I must admit, I am still trying to figure you out."

That made two of them. He wasn't sure he would ever know what he was supposed to do with the mermaid he had married. This was so far outside of what he was comfortable with that he was floundering. 

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"What are you trying to figure out exactly?" Zale asked, curious. 

He knew he was a complicated fae. At least to outsiders. His motives were really rather straightforward if you knew about them properly. 

"I…I'm not sure I should say," she told him apologetically. "I don't wish to upset you."

The only thing that would upset him was if she was planning to assassinate him or Talori. He highly doubted that was on her mind. She could say whatever she wanted without hurting his feelings or whatever she was worried about. 

"It would take more than I believe you're capable of to do that," he said dryly. 

Aila sighed and wouldn't meet his eyes, fiddling with the necklace in her hands. "I wish to know how to please you so I can solidify my position here." 

Ah. So she wasn't lonely, as Talori had speculated. She was worried because she didn't have any allies in the palace and had to know she was here in part because he wanted to keep an eye on her. She was a clever one. 

"You don't have to worry about that." 

"Forgive me, but I do. I don't know you beyond the fact that you used me to kill your stepmother and half-brother for the sake of your revenge. You could get rid of me just as easily."

That was perhaps the boldest thing Aila had ever said to him. Once again, he was impressed. 

Zale could reward her honesty with honesty of his own. He felt bad that she had been worried about this the whole time she had been here. He needed to reassure her that she had nothing to worry about as long as she had no intention of betraying him. 

"The only reason I would do that is if you betray me. I think you're too smart to try something so foolish. I take care of my merfolk, Aila. As long as you continue your duties as merqueen, I won't let anything happen to you."

"And if I can't? What happens if I can't provide an heir?" Aila asked, her voice shaking slightly. 

So she was worried about harem infighting. He was too, which was why he didn't want a harem in the first place. His life would be so much easier without one. If being the merking didn't require producing offspring. But here he was, already dealing with trying to placate one stressed mermaid and feeling guilty about it. 

Zale sighed. How was he supposed to explain that without coming off as horribly insulting? He didn't think there was a way to do that. 

"That isn't your only duty. Do the others and you'll be fine."

It was all he could say. He didn't know how to explain his issues with harems and mermaids in general. She already had to know she wasn't wanted to some degree since he hardly made time for her. He didn't want to make things worse. 

Zale needed to be more considerate of her. Talori had been right in that regard. Aila was finally confessing some of her thoughts and feelings and none of them were good. 

He needed to make more time to see her. He should also probably visit her every night to increase their chances so he didn't have to bring in anyone else. Because that was the last thing he wanted to do and, based on this conversation, she didn't want that either. They had the same goal here. 

Aila didn't seem wholly convinced by what he said but she let the matter drop and returned to her original question. "What do I need to do?"

"You don't need to do anything. You're doing fine as you are," Zale told her honestly. 

She was managing palace affairs very well and her English was coming along. He couldn't ask for more this early in their marriage. He knew that getting pregnant would take decades if not longer. 

"There has to be something!" Aila pleaded, looking at him with desperation in her light yellow eyes. 

He had never noticed her eyes were yellow before. It was a different shade than his or Talori's but they were beautiful. She was beautiful in general, though he had never been one who cared much for aesthetics. She made a fine merqueen. 

Zale wished she felt more secure in her position. There truly wasn't anything threatening it. Would he be able to convince her of that? 

He sighed and cupped her face in his hands before resting his forehead against hers. "Relax, Aila. I know you have no reason to trust me but you're safe here. I don't need you to do any more than you've already been doing.. You haven't disappointed me in the slightest."

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