CHAPTER TWELVE: OUT TO THE WORLD
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One month until the Hunt
I sleepily stretch and yawn to myself before I start itching my back where my wings are. Afterward, I drape myself on Ansgar's back. But before I can make myself comfortable, Ansgar growls and flips me onto my back. "Nice try." He snarls at me before realizing who I am; he sighs and kisses my forehead. "I told you I wasn't a people person last night. Leonard left earlier, something about his parent's circle." Ansgar sighs before letting me cuddle next to him. "I should go introduce myself to your head Ace before word gets around. Up you get!" He says as he pulls me out of bed and into the small bathroom. I sigh as he cleans the two of us before ushering me out of the bedroom to dress quickly and usher me to the kitchen to join Iso. I kiss him on the fingertips before letting him go talk to Faidon. He blushes and then slinks off.
"Good morning!" Chirps Iso before hugging me. I grumpily kiss her before she laughs and sits me on the table. "Did you not want to wake up yet?" She giggles as she looks me over.
I shake my head, but pull her to sit next to me at the table. I grab the set of rings from the pocket they've been in for the past few days. "This is my third gift to you, my pareya. It's a set of matching grey and green diamond yin and yang rings." I give her one ring and put the other on my right pinkie finger. She smiles and puts it on hers before getting up from the table. "Wha-?" She puts a finger on my mouth and goes into the storage room.
When she comes back, she has two bracelets with a small conch on them. "I know it isn't much, but when Rebeca and I found these while swimming one day, she told me to keep them for a courting gift. When I met you, I had my mother put a Labradorite stone in one and a Star Sapphire stone in the other. The Labradorite is for you given how I think it matches your eyes quite perfectly." At this, I blush vividly purple and look at the ground. She raises my chin with her other hand before speaking to me. "The Star Sapphire is for me because it reminds me of the coral reef that I found these in. It also reminds me of how you look so beautiful under the starlight as Alexian." She clasps it on my left hand while putting hers on as well. She pats my hand before yelling at everyone for breakfast.
After everyone is done eating, I head over to Shanaya and Nalin. "Can we go to the temp clinic real fast? My wings are uncharacteristically itchy. They started bothering me the other day." Shanaya frowns and looks at Nalin. The two of them usher me into the small tent clinic. "By the way, just send what you want for a building to Gerhard's parents. Someone'll fund whatever you want to do. Make sure it has the capability of healing a very large circle. It should probably have a room or two with the same capacity that's always flooded." Nalin frowns before switching back to her normal form.
"Are you expecting us to have a large circle?" Nalina asks me before making me bring my wings out and inspecting them.
I giggle as she hits a ticklish spot before panting out my answer. "Yes!" I giggle a bit more. "My bearer would've eventually pulled a very large Water & Fire-oriented circle to him. It's a thing in his line that most get." I say before my wings twitch out of Nalina's hands. "I'm an odd duck out as most in his line are nameless with pulls to both Fire and Water, where I have no pull exactly. Though, that's probably because of having a nameless bearer with Water, Fire, and Shadow pulls along with a nameless sire with Water, Air, and Earth pulls. Both of them had Merrows as a parent, you know."
"Hmm, I'm not seeing anything wrong per se with them. Can you spot anything, Shanaya?" She asks before going to wash her hands.
Shanaya casts a Merrow-specific spell on me before having me switch to my other form with a weird sound in her voice. I sigh and turn myself into Alexian. "Weird," Shanaya says before doing another Merrow-specific spell. "I'm not getting the results I should be from you, Alexian. I'll have to send a message to King Alcandor to get some more experienced Merrow healers to look at you." She gasps before looking at Nalina. "I'll send a message to Patrick Kalzik! I know he's not specifically related to us, but Surajini being his Submissive, he might be willing to come to see you?" I nod in agreement. She steps to the side and sends a quick message to Patrick Kalzik. "Patrick Kalzik, this is Shanaya Kalzik of the new Perevell-Zharim circle. Are you able to port to my location and take a look at my new Submissive? I know this isn't quite in your realm of specialty, but she's giving weird responses to the normal Merrow casts." Five minutes later, he comes to the door of the clinic.
"Greetings, Shanaya and Nalina. I haven't seen the two of you since you were tadpoles. And greetings to you, Alexia Perevell-Zharim. I hear you aren't feeling quite normal?" A handsome blue-eyed dragel says before gesturing towards me.
I nod in greeting before starting to speak. "For the past few days, I've had itchy wings. It's never happened before." I say before showing him my wings.
"Hmm, well. Let me take a peek at them before I tell you my thoughts." He does a few casts before frowning and taking a look at my whole body. "There doesn't seem to be anything wrong at all. You seem to be in perfect health, so your wings shouldn't be causing you anxiety..." He stops himself before thinking for a moment. "I know some dragel submissives can feel changes in their future with their wings feeling itchy or twisty with anxiety. I wish I could've been more helpful," he says before looking at Shanaya. "But if she doesn't feel better in a month or two, keep your Gheyos and Pareyas glued to her. She might be having anxiety due to her recent kidnapping." He says his goodbyes before porting back out.
I sigh before switching forms. Before I can speak to the two of them, all three of us get messages from King Alcandor of the Water Courts. "As told last month, today is the day of the last Water Court meeting before the hunt. Come in an hour and stand with your circles once in the chamber." I wince as I get another message from my uncle. "I want to have a quick meeting with you before Court starts. Have one of your Merrow teleport you to the chambers." I sigh and ask Shanaya to port me to the chambers as Nalina reminds my Beta and my three shadows of the court meeting. I only wanted my Merrow to go though, as it could be dangerous for the non-Merrow to be there.
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Once Shanaya ports me to the side chamber, she kisses my mouth and tells me that she will gather our Merrow in one place next to the throne. I nod at her and wait for my uncle to get into the small chamber. After a knock on the door, Uncle Alcandor along with Krymsen hurriedly walk in. He nods to me and then gestures for me to join him on one of the couches. Krymsen stands next to the only door into the flooded chamber. "What are your plans for joining me on this hunt, Alexia? Since you are a member of my Court, you need to show up in some capacity. Although, you look rather unnormal for most Merrow." He grabs a teacup and starts eagerly drinking it while waiting for my response.
I sigh and decide to finally get rid of the charade. I stand up and turn myself into Alexian. A teacup crashes to the floor and breaks into many shards. "What the fuck!" Krymsen shouts before blushing purple and trying to pretend he said nothing.
"Krymsen!" Uncle Alcandor snaps before sniggering. "You're spending too much time with Alec and Harry aren't you?" Uncle Alcandor turns to me and looks me over. "Alexia... sweetheart..." he says before holding my cheek in his hand. "Why didn't you tell me you had two forms?"
I turn back into Alexia before sitting back down on the couch. "I think you know why, King Alcandor," I say sarcastically. After Uncle Alcandor's wounded look, I close my eyes and count to ten. "I was afraid you would lock me up and not let me go hunt, uncle. I apologize for what I said. And don't get me wrong, I am not ashamed of my second form in any way! I just knew that my circle was beyond the Waters of Nevarah." I say before grabbing a teacup and filling it. "You see, my bearer's and sire's families are both prone to twinning. I was actually a twin before I became what is known as a chimera twin. My brother was my fraternal twin, but when I absorbed him, I turned into a changling instead of absorbing him 'normally'. My little si-" I stop mid-word while remembering where I was. I pretend to cough and start again. "My friend's siblings would've also been twins if they had been born."
Uncle Alcandor sits back on the sofa and sadly slumps next to me. "Alexia, I swear that I wouldn't have kept you from going to the surface." He flushes purple at my acidic look before amending his previous statement. "At least, I would've eventually let you go above the surface..." As my glare lessens, I hug him and then cuddle into his side. "You are my sister's baby girl. I would've, and have done, anything and everything for her! And I will do the same for you. This I promise you, Alexia." He kisses the side of my head and we cuddle for ten minutes. "By the way sweet one, did your mother have a name for your brother by any chance?"
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I look up at my uncle and give him a small smile. "Yes. His name would've been Alexander and Alex for short. From what Mamman had told me, Mom remembered the name Alek or something similar, so she decided to name me Alexia and him Alexander. She meant for my nickname to be Alei, but with only one of us, they stuck to just Alexia or Alexian."
After Krymsen coughs and looks at the clock, Uncle Alcandor swears under his breath. I laugh before remembering something from before. "Uncle? Can my circle buy the plots on either side of mine, please? I think we'll need more space."
He groans before thinking again. "At least with more bonded, they'll be able to keep you out of less trouble. Fine. I'll send the information to Kieran to get it set up. You'll be allowed to buy the 4 plots surrounding your manor, as no one has ever wanted them before Marian." He stands up and pulls me to his side. "We need to get into the chamber before the meeting is called. But stay afterward, I want to introduce you to your closest cousins and perhaps plot things to keep your identity hidden during at least this hunt."
Uncle Alcandor and I walk into the throne room and he has me stand on the right side of the throne. "Stay here with your Merrow, Alexia. We'll go to a different chamber once done." He kisses Aunt Killigan before pulling them to the right side of the throne to join the rest of their circle and another male Merrow that I don't know. The throne room opens before many Merrow walk in. Everyone bows towards the throne and the Royal Water circle. My band of Merrow walk to me and whispers bloom between people in the crowd. "Welcome to this meeting of every Merrow. I'm sure everyone is eager to begin talking about what is to be done during the hunt along with exactly who is allowed to surface to hunt themselves. But before that, I must introduce someone new to my personal court." He stands up and walks over to me before pulling me over to the throne. "I must introduce my niece, Princess Alexia. Treat her as you would my child as she is the child of my sister, Princess Alanni." At this, several prominent figures gasp and I take notice of what they are wearing and what they look like. "She will be potentially hunting this season and will not be bothered. Any Merrow guarding our ranks must keep an eye on her if she is in sight of any Merrow. She has already had one kidnapping attempt this year and I shall not have any more attempts taken on her." The crowd looks slightly scared at his last message and seemed concerned. "AS for the hunt, the following Merrow have been given leave to freely hunt above the water: Gheyos: Cove Cleary, Loch Kracov, Pike Hyote. Pareya: Brooke Neas. Mage: Loire Boehme. That is the list of those allowed to hunt on the surface. As for who is following me with the presentation...."
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Uncle Alcandor finally stops talking before saying one last thing. "Alvon, you and your siblings are requested to join me and my circle for a quick meeting today." The male Merrow glares at my uncle until he nods and ushers his siblings to join him near the throne. "And that is all there is for this Court meeting. I'll see everyone coming with us to the Element presentation next month at the Royal introductions. Dismissed."
With that, Uncle Alcandor ushers us into a larger chamber while talking to the unknown Merrow that had been next to Aunt Killigan. "Sit, next to Alexia, Alec. I've been wanting to introduce the two of you together since I learned she was back, but she has been in the Merrow Court very little."
A pair of dark blue eyes stare into mine. "Poeira’s scales, you really do look like our grandmother in some regards." His hand gently grasps my chin before looking at my side profile. "In other ways, you look nothing like a Merrow should." I sneer at him and turn into Alexian.
Avalon gasps before guffawing loudly and less than gently grabbing both of our chins. "The two of you look remarkably similar, now that you're in that form cousin." He stares at our faces for a minute before letting our chins go and staring at his King. He narrows his eyes before he hisses out, "You did this on purpose, didn't you!? What...do you want to claim her other form as one of our sons, don't you?" After nothing is said, Alvon shifts aggressively forwards and yells loudly at Uncle Alcandor. "You're just the same aren't you, my King? The same King that would do anything for his stupid dead sister, isn't that right?"
At that, King Alcandor snaps and forcefully sends magic to the Merrow. "That's enough Alvon! You do NOT get to bring Alanni into this!" He draws out a sword and I was sure he was about to pierce Avlon with it before I rapidly changed to my regular form and whimpered in fear while cuddling into Alec. He drops the sword in his hand onto the floor and swims to me before attempting to cup my face, but I lean away from him in fear. "Hush, sweet girl." He says to me, with Alec staring daggers at him. "You're fine. I'm not upset at you for anything." I nod, but not before leaning back into Alec before I feel one of my bonded responding to my fear.
Tobias rips open the door before bolting over to me. He hisses at Alec who shies away before gently picking me up and looking me over. "Are you okay, love? You pulled for me just a second ago." I blink away the tears gathering at the corners of my eyes. I snuggle into him and glomp him onto the sofa next to Alec.
Aunt Killigan slowly gets off the couch before storming over to both men. "In ALL of my life, I have never seen a better case for murdering my stupid husband and his stupider cousin." She snaps before hissing at both of them. "Are you two PROUD of yourselves? Making her CRY!" The two men slowly try to back away from the fiery Queen, but neither are able to escape before four of the very angry Queen's fingers pinch both men's fluted ears. "You both should be ashamed of yourselves. Apologize to Alexia right this instant!" The Queen stares at them until they mutter their deepest apologies. "And you!" At this Queen Killigan spins around and gently walks over to Tobias. "You have my thanks, dear. Had you not come, I would've sent Krym to find one of her bonded to try and get her to relax." Their fingers gently cup my head and give me a gentle kiss on the forehead. "Now Alec, why don't you show Alexia and Tobias the adorable Goonter while I scream at these two offenses to the Crown?" The three of us get shooed out of the room before Queen Killigan starts loudly shouting at the Merrow still trapped inside the room.
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As I look at the door, I start laughing so hard I cry. "I didn't realize that Aunt Killigan was so fiercely protective. They almost remind me of my mother... Anyway, who is Goonter?" I ask Alec.
After that, Alec starts walking us to Goonter's normal living space. "This is him, the fish brain that he is," Alec says while scrubbing off scales on Goonter's side. Alec pauses while grabbing a tiny scale before offering one to me. "These normally aren't offered to anyone, but you can always make a bracelet or ring with this small scale."
I grab it from his hands and give it to Tobias for safekeeping. "Sure, but you'll have to explain what you mean by normally." I snicker as Alec blushes fully purple. "Gave it to your love then, eh Alec?" I ask before he boops me on the nose.
"As a matter of fact, I did give one to Harry, so that he is more protected down here in the water." He says before shaking his finger at me. "And don't you ask me to meet Harry either! I don't want the two of you trouble bubbles ever meeting." I start to use puppy dog eyes on him before he lightly taps me on the nose. "No! And that's final!"
I pout as Alec gives me a better tour of the Royal Halls. After about fifteen minutes, a message pops in front of me from Aunt Killigan. "Alexia, dear heart, come back to the rooms that you just came from. These two are done fighting in front of you." I can imagine the glare on their face looking at the two Merrow and cackle all the way back to the room.
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After knocking on the door, the three of us go inside. Aunt Killigan motions for us to sit on the same couch as before so the three of us sit down. They start speaking as soon as we're settled. "As I said before." Here they pause and stare at both Uncle Alcandor and Alvon. "The past is in the past. We can only change the future from here. Alexian needs to have a visible parentage that is not from Alcandor's and my circle. I'm hoping that either Aldion or Alakai is willing to portray as his third for this hunt only."
Aldion and Alakai both look at each other before Aldion speaks up. "I don't know if Alakai's Submissive would be willing to do this, but I'm sure mine would be. Just this hunt, correct?" At Aunt Killigans nod, he nods his head. "Yes, I'd be willing to do it until the next hunt only."
Uncle Alcandor claps his hands before telling Aldion, "We'll have him tagged as a pareya with you as his third." The two of them shake hands before Uncle Alcandor quickly shoos us away. "Get Alexia home, Tobias. Tell us when she's been registered and then I can bring Alexian back to get him separately registered."
We quickly teleport home before I notice that two new men have joined Noel and Gerhard. "Gone shopping huh?" I sardonically ask Noel before I quickly introduce himself to his new Joker. The new High Elf Joker, Konrad Deveraine quickly introduces himself before I ask him if he's willing to bond with me. He looks at Noel before sighing and agreeing. I mark him on his side while he marks me on both the front and back of my right hip bone.
I giggle as I walk to Gerhard and ask for an introduction. His new Dark Fae Halfling, Lesley Griffiths bows as he introduces himself. I also ask if he'd be willing to also bond with me and quickly agrees. I mark his upper right shoulder while he marks me on the front of my left hip bone. I quickly pull the two of them to the house to bond us together. I walk faster as Iso yells at us about it being close to dinner so we need to be quick. It'll be quick all right.