The burden of what she was going to have to explain to her mother weighted down Khallista’s usually speedy route back to Enclei. She tried to find ways to downplay the entire ordeal without lying, yet she knew, once Sapphyre returned, the details would be revealed whether she said them or not.
“Be’Khalli!”
She squeaked, too caught up in her loop of reciting her explanation to save herself from the shock of hearing another voice. Her steel blue eyes then scowled back at the green merman swimming quickly up to her.
“Be’Khalli, where in the deep ocean have you been?”
The orange mermaid waved her golden hair over her shoulder, trying to act nonchalant despite her worry. “I was coming right back.”
“You’ve been gone hours!” He spoke exasperatedly, “Do you realize that when you flit off like this, I end up as the one in trouble? I’m supposed to be keeping an eye on you!” He sighed and pressed his fingers against the bridge of his nose. “Now where were you, as you were clearly not at the shipwreck as we discussed.”
She crossed her arms in reply, flicking her tail to move backward. “I was with Phyre.”
His expression remained unchanged.
“No really, I was!” Khallista tried. “She just had to stay up there a bit longer—”
“You were at the surface?” Nathaneal’s voice cracked as if the mere mention of the word was too difficult to fathom.
“I came back!” She stressed forcefully with her brows arched.
Her brother made no reply; all he could do was press his hands against his face with his mouth held agape.
“Look, I’m going to tell Mama what happened, and I will not get you in trouble...”
Her defeated tone relaxed him, but her worried expression filled the space with apprehension. “Hey, what happened?”
She shrunk further as her shoulders hunched forward. Perhaps she could gage how her mother would respond by how her brother reacted. “I was just trying to follow her... Phyre goes up there all the time now and I wanted to know what was so great about it. She didn’t know I was following her yesterday; I just stayed back and watched. I thought I knew where she went, so I went up today to surprise her!” She frowned. “But instead...”
“Please don’t say humans were involved.”
“All right, I won’t—Hey!” She waved her arm at her brother as he again went white with shock and attempted an outburst. “Obviously I’m okay! Some human fishermen snuck up on me. But Phyre helped save me.” She paused and dug her crossed arms closer against her. “And her human friend saved me too.”
“A human... saved you? From other humans?” Nathaneal could barely find his voice.
She nodded simply, her eyes cast aside. “He pulled me out of the boat and then cut me loose from the nets while Phyre distracted the other humans.”
“He wasn’t trying to take you himself?”
“No,” she frowned, “It was weird... I don’t know, I guess he really is different like she says he is.”
Nathaneal turned his blue eyes upward toward the surface. Sapphyre’s draw to the realm of humankind, and her current streak of falling for them, had always perplexed him. He had grown up with stories to avoid humans at all cost, so much so that he had been hesitant on his first caravan outside of Enclei’s territory out of fear of being found. Moreover, when Sapphyre’s first human love had fallen through, it only furthered his disdain to know that one had broken his sister’s heart.
Now, hearing Khallista’s story, and knowing that Sapphyre would not blindly return to another human relationship, Nathaneal’s mindset had been baffled. Perhaps, at the very least, he could learn to trust this particular human.
“She’s totally in love with him.” Khallista twirled her hair idly, “I got her to admit it, but I could already tell by how she acted. She trusts him, and he respects her. It’s really different from how she would talk about the other guy...”
He sighed and turned back to his sister. “...If he truly is different... then you are even more lucky to be alive and in the water!” He shouted suddenly, “I can’t believe you did that!”
She huffed and rolled her eyes, but both were quickly distracted when a streak of blue and lilac darted past them.
“...Be’Phyre?” Nathaneal straightened up.
It was Khallista’s turn to pale. “Oh no, she’s going to tell Mama before me!”
“Good!” Nathaneal quickly grabbed his youngest sister by the tail and they began to wrestle and attempt to swim after.
—
Neva could scarcely turn to look to the door when Sapphyre caught her in an embrace. Taken aback, Neva carefully placed her hand on the blue mermaid’s back as she eyed the pearl curtains clattering together in the doorway.
“Mi’Phyre...?” She asked hesitantly.
“Mama’Ne, he loves me!” Sapphyre exclaimed into Neva’s shoulder, huffing either from joyful sobbing or from her race across the ocean. “He loves me and I love him! And he wants to be with me!”
Neva’s expression warmed, her brows arched and she clutched her adopted daughter tightly. “Oh, Phyre!” She shut her eyes and pressed her lips into Sapphyre’s hair. “All of these things—I am overjoyed for you!”
Sapphyre pulled back with a smile. She looked as if she was still fighting disbelief, but with each passing moment, she knew the feelings—the love—she felt was true.
“He is accepting your gift?”
“He is,” she could barely speak, bringing her hands up to her face. “I can’t believe it... I don’t understand what I’m feeling...”
Neva let out a joyful cry and grasped her tightly again. “I knew there was something special about this one. This brings me such happiness!” She leapt and landed them both onto the cushion in the middle of the room. “Where is Luis now?”
“He had to make sure everything on land was in order. He’ll meet me tomorrow morning.” She reached out her hand and displayed the silver ring with a small purple starfish on it. “This is his promise.” She said, smiling.
The eyes nearly popped from Neva’s head. “He presented you with a ring? Does he know our customs?” She chuckled and pressed her fingertips to her lips. “Do you know our customs?”
“I must not,” Sapphyre shook her head curiously. “This ring was mine from before. Until now, he kept it to remember me.” Sapphyre was suddenly hit with how long and how deeply Luis had cared for her. It took most of her strength to restrain the waves of emotion filling her being.
Meanwhile, Neva’s grin was nearly bursting from her face. “Then we must make sure all is in order for you!”
“For me?” Sapphyre watched as Neva twisted around to pull a wooden box from a shelf behind them. When Neva turned back around, Sapphyre’s lips parted in awe.
“I’ve been saving this for a special occasion.”
In Neva’s hands was a small woven band decorated with shells and a starfish’s husk. It resembled the small crown she had seen Khallista wear on special occasions to denote her rank.
“Mama’Ne,” Sapphyre leaned back apprehensively. “I can’t...”
“Of course you can. You are my daughter, and you deserve to look your best.” Neva bent forward and adorned Sapphyre with the crown offset to the right of her forehead. Neva’s smile again brightened the room; the crown looked as if it had belonged there the entire time.
Sapphyre’s lips puckered and she initiated another tight squeeze from her mother. “Thank you,” she murmured softly.
Nathaneal and Khallista were peeking in the doorway to watch the scene. When their mother noticed them, she smiled and waved them in. Nathaneal shook his head to signal he didn’t want to intrude, but Neva’s distraction caught Sapphyre’s attention.
The blue mermaid’s face was flushed, but she smiled at her siblings as they scooted slowly inside.
“You two should be the first to know; our Sapphyre will be bringing home a new merman tomorrow,” Neva announced with her hand firmly on Sapphyre’s back.
“No way!” Nathaneal grinned wide and grabbed his sister in a hefty embrace. “That’s awesome, Be’Phyre! I was worried how I was ever going to meet him if he was a human, so that answers that!”
Sapphyre could only grunt until he released her. “I can’t wait for him to meet everyone.” She smiled.
Khallista remained in the doorway with a look of bewilderment. “Wait... this guy is actually going to do it?” Her face contorted. “Why?”
“Because he loves her,” Neva opened her other arm to invite her youngest daughter to her side. “And Phyre loves him in return. There won’t need to be much magic involved this time.” She nudged Sapphyre.
Surrounded by her family, Sapphyre could only close her eyes and feel the love that had enveloped her from every direction. It was still hard to comprehend, but she knew this was the greatest feeling that could ever be.
“You should try to rest, Mi’Phyre,” her mother said after a moment. “Tomorrow will be a big day.”
“I’m not sure I can... but I’ll try.” She smiled and gave Neva one last squeeze. She then waved to her siblings and slipped into the caverns to her room.
Nathaneal looked on even after Sapphyre had disappeared. “Wow,” he mused, “this guy must really be dedicated to her.”
Neva bounced as she began to laugh. “I don’t believe he realizes that he’s already wed her.” When her children’s eyes widened, she waved her hand. “Since neither of them knows of our traditions, they may decide for themselves later. However, I can tell it will not take them long. They have found each other, and the love is there.” Her face beamed. “I’m so proud and so happy for her, just as I will be when a similar day comes to you two.”
“If a similar day comes,” Nathaneal answered dryly.
“You have time, Mi’Thaneal. Do not fret.”
The excitement lulled as the three merfolk remained in thought for a moment. The relative silence was finally broken when Khallista let out half-grunted sigh.
“Well, so how much did she tell you?” The orange mermaid pouted.
“About what, Mi’Khalli?”
Khallista’s face paled and she backed into her brother. “Oh! Um...”
Nathaneal put a heavy hand on her shoulder and raised an eyebrow. A similar expression was beginning to grow on Neva’s face.
Her face contorted as she slipped down onto the cushion in the center of the room. “Oh...” she moaned.
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