In the hidden underwater cavern, the female merling’s frown was directed past Coyrifan to focus on Erin, who still sat on the ledge above the water. “You're keeping a manling female as a pet? After you made fun of me for wanting to keep that male? Don't tell me you went and Called—"

Coyrifan suddenly shoved her under the water, which surprised her enough that she stopped talking. As she dodged out from under him and came back up, they’d switched places and spun about so that her back was to Erin.

"Nothing of the sort, Zeriva. It was a matter of leverage," he said with an airy wave of his hand. "If Prince Koben wants his promised mate back, he'll have no choice but to return Imyra—regardless of whether I manage to get that necklace of his or not."

He glanced over Zeriva's shoulder and grinned at the exceedingly disturbed look on Erin’s face. Not over what she already knew about Imyra, but because of that comment about Koben. The look only intensified when Erin belatedly realized that Coy was talking to this stranger as if she was fully aware that he’d been conspiring with humans.

“Ah, so she was with those males on the small vessel? I didn’t even notice. Can I touch her?” the merling girl said, swimming around him and pressing herself right up to the ledge where Erin sat. Offended by the perceived insult and her sudden nearness, Erin quickly pulled up her legs and got to her feet, backing away. She grazed the near-empty lantern and almost knocked it over. It wobbled for a few moments, its light flickering madly.

“You may touch—if she permits it,” he said, his voice taking on a chastising tone. “Shame on you, Zeriva. You know full well that manlings are just as we are.”

“Oh, stop that,” she chided, brushing her curtain of black hair back from her face before stretching a hand out toward the human girl. “Manling, what’s your name?”

That familiar cold fear was a distant memory at the moment. Just then, a spicy little volcano was beginning to build up, ready to overflow as soon as the crack between Erin’s will and her emotions got big enough. Now was probably not the best time, though. Zeriva was a completely unknown factor, and upsetting her could be dangerous. Taking a deep breath, she forced a smile onto her face and shook the merling’s hand. “It’s Erin.”

Like Coyrifan’s, Zeriva’s hand was warm, as well as small. It was perhaps two-thirds the size of Erin’s, and looked very delicate in comparison. She was a tad envious of the merling for it.

“Ugh, how unnatural to say.” Zeriva glanced back at Coyrifan. “Only two syllables? I think Erinae or Erinya would be much prettier.”

He shrugged, lightly fanning the water with his tail. “I would agree, but manlings have their own particular ways of naming their offspring. The one you wanted is called Arlis.”

“Who wouldn’t want that one?” She wistfully clasped her hands together against her chest. “Such a lovely little creature, with those large, round eyes! They would remind me of a razorbeak’s eyes, if they weren’t so dark. I’ll bet he’d make an excellent crab hunter, if properly trained.”

“Little?” Erin couldn’t help but guffaw. “He’s more than twice your size.”

Zeriva’s lower lip jutted at that. “That would make him a bit harder to tow, I admit. I could have taken the small one with ease, but I didn’t like the way his eyes were always glaring.”

Erin almost laughed at that, but was too uneasy to give in. She had long been used to eyes that shape as they ran in her family, but now that she thought about it, Leslyn’s natural resting expression could certainly look kind of testy to someone who wasn’t familiar with him. The idea of him getting nabbed by a merling woman seemed preposterous to her, though. Unlike Erin, he’d been well aware of the danger that their kind could pose from the very beginning.

Oh, goodness, was she aware of it now. While Coyrifan had felt so familiar right from their first meeting that he never triggered it, Zeriva’s presence elicited a level of vigilance that was almost painful. Not in the sense of a catty jealousy, but a primal awareness of her alien nature. More than her tail, which was nothing new to Erin after consuming numerous books and movies about mermaids, she surmised that maybe it was a faint sense of her telepathic abilities which were less likely to be used for friendly purposes, as Coy’s were.

“He may have been the better choice, in any case,” Coyrifan said with a knowing grin. “I was told that Arlis cannot swim.”

Zeriva’s eyes just about popped out of her head at that. To a merling, the very concept of being unable to swim must have been unimaginable.

“Guys—you’re talking about my friends,” Erin said, trying to keep her tone light. She briefly considered jokingly recommending Captain Jerk Kaleit as the ideal alternative, but Zeriva struck her as someone who would take that as a legitimate offer. She didn’t have a clue what being a merling’s “pet” actually entailed, but she doubted it involved living a full and fulfilling life.

This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

“Terribly sorry,” Coyrifan drawled.

“Sorry?” Zeriva looked back and forth between them. “For what?”

“For not introducing you sooner,” he said, taking the other merling’s shoulders and gently steering her around to face Erin again. Smooth as melted butter, that one. “Zeriva, this is Erin. Erin, this is Zeriva, daughter of Chief Abenfor.”

“My father is meeting with Chief Ferrifan as we speak,” she said proudly, lifting her chin into the air. “A much better use of his time than dealing with manlings like a silly merling I know.” The finned girl turned and playful shoved Coy’s arm as she said that last. Erin noticed that he didn’t smile or try to push her back, like she would have expected.

“Yeah?” Erin crossed her arms, recognizing yet another thinly-veiled insult. “What are they meeting about, then?”

Zeriva was clearly all too eager to show off her knowledge to the human girl. “For months now, they’ve been considering a treaty. We’ve been feuding for ages. It’s so tiresome.” She put her back to Coyrifan and inclined her head to rest against his chest, peering up at him. “Isn’t that right, Coy?”

Coyrifan looked down and actually double-took in such an exaggerated manner that Zeriva was equally surprised, blinking at him with wide, startled eyes. A moment later, she dropped onto her back in the water, her support having zipped away without warning to a safe distance.

Erin was about to feel very awkward as well as very put out at her obvious familiarity with Coyrifan, but his clumsy exit from the situation actually made her laugh instead. Of course, her relief in laughing was prematurely stifled as the lantern suddenly faltered, dimming to nothing and then recovering with a brief gasp of faint light. That lasted, oh, maybe five seconds before fizzling out, leaving the entire cavern completely dark.

A shrill sound not unlike the squeak of a dolphin rang out, echoing around the cavern. It was followed by a loud splash and the sound of violent thrashing in the water. It went in one direction, then another, back and forth and past the ledge at least once, throwing a shower of seawater over Erin.

“Coy? What’s going on?” Dropping to her knees, she blindly felt around the cold stone floor to make sure she wasn’t too near to the edge. The thrashing sounds were coming closer, very rapidly.

She fell back onto her rear as something large burst from the water from somewhere in front of her. A male voice—Coyrifan’s—grunted as he landed hard on the stone ledge, water flooding across the rock from the force of his leap. It soaked right through Erin’s clothes, but she barely noticed.

Help, was the word she didn’t hear, but somehow felt in her head.

He was floundering, trying to get away from the edge. She grabbed and got one of his arms, but it was wet and slipped through her grasp. A second big splash sent Erin into an instant panic, and she tried again, solidly catching one wrist. Zeriva—for it could only be her—didn’t quite make it up onto the ledge and fell back into the water, but Erin started hauling Coyrifan as best she could anyway.

So graceful in the water, he was as good as beached in his natural form when on land. They moved in jarring hops as he thrust his tail and she pulled as hard as she could, his moonstone scales scraping noisily along the stone beneath.

“Coy—legs!” she snapped, wondering why he hadn’t transformed already.

“Too wet,” he said tersely, groping about with his free hand. “Can’t focus.”

There was another loud crash of water, and Zeriva slapped wetly onto the ledge.

“She’s catching up,” Coy said a few moments later. Erin had expected she’d be equally ungainly, but her petite size apparently gave her quite the advantage on land. Either that, or those tiny arms of hers were impossibly strong.

They struggled a little further and Coy suddenly lurched upright, the abrupt loss of counterweight nearly sending Erin down to replace him. It was his turn to pull her up and drag her along then, the two of them sprinting through pitch black tunnels that Erin could not see.

At last, they came to a stop. Zeriva could be heard, her palms slapping against the floor as she crawled around, but the sounds were faint, and growing fainter. In silent accord, they slumped down back to back to rest. Erin knew they were in the small secret cave, for the sounds of the pair’s heaving breaths had no echo, and the air felt warm and dry.

“What happened?” Erin asked when she was able. “Why was she after you?”

“She saw her opportunity, and took it.”

“Opportunity to do what?”

“Not sure. I never know if she’s trying to kill me, or kiss me,” he said, his head limply leaning back on top of Erin’s. “I’d rather not risk finding out for sure.”

“Sounds rough.” Erin let herself sag again, her cheek coming to rest against his shoulder. “How far behind us was she? Are we safe here?”

“We left her behind quickly once I took my legs. She’ll not find us here, not in a hundred years.”

“Can’t she transform, too?”

“She hasn’t trained like men do. She’ll likely need to be completely dry, or nearly so, before she can change form.”

“Comforting,” Erin said. She then flinched as the dolphin-like sound blasted throughout the tunnels, sounding quite rough with either anger or fear.

They sat in companionable silence in the dark for a good hour, keeping quiet while Zeriva wandered the cave system, noisily letting everyone know just how upset she was.

“I suppose I’ll go and collect her now,” Coyrifan said when her cries finally died down.

As he stood up, Erin grabbed his pant leg to stop him. “Is that a good idea? Won’t she just go after you again?”

“She’ll be so distressed by now that she’ll readily return to her father, and not care a whit for either of us for a good while.”

“Best thing I’ve heard in a long time,” Erin said. “Oh, Coy—don’t forget, the lantern’s still by the ledge. I can’t see in the dark, remember?”

“I’ll bring it right back after I’ve escorted Zeriva out of the tunnels.”

“All right, then. See you in a bit.” She waved into the darkness, trusting that Coy could see her.

“Just a bit, then.” His footsteps moved off toward the tunnel. “So tired... I can hardly wait to go home to my hollow.”

“I want to go home too,” Erin groaned under her breath, grabbing an armful of fleeces and burying her face in them.

A moment later, she wanted to laugh at herself. She must really be getting desperate. So desperate that she’d actually referred to Tannoran’s manor as home.