by Brandon Witt
Lelas’s warm laughter filled my mind. “Nalu says her name is Alaula.”
I gaped at her. “He has an eel as a pet?”
She cocked her head at me, and I realized my mistake before she needed to ask.
“A pet is an animal a person keeps with them for… for companionship. Like a friend, kinda.”
She turned to ask Nalu, but of course he’d heard what I’d said since I couldn’t direct my thoughts. He nodded.
“I must confess, I have not heard of such a thing… keeping an animal.” Lelas turned her attention from both of us and swam over toward the eel. It had been nearly back in its hole, but at Lelas’s approach, it slithered a couple more feet out into the open. Even with so much of it exposed, I couldn’t see any sign that the tail was beginning to taper off. Lelas stretched out a hand and stroked the flaring jaws.
I couldn’t suppress a shudder.
“You can face a shark hunt for Moheetla, but you fear an eel?” Therin’s eyes twinkled at me in a rare show of mischief.
I shrugged. “I don’t like snakes.”
“Brett, an eel is not a snake.” Before I could tell her I knew that but failed to see a real difference, she turned back to Nalu. “Do you keep her until you need food? You feed her to get her fatter for a meal at a different time?”
For the first time since he’d laid eyes on Lelas, an unpleasant look crossed Nalu’s face. In the silence, I assumed he was trying to explain the concept of owning a pet to Lelas.
As much as I loved Lelas, moments like this reminded me just how different she was from Sonia. Lelas, like the rest of the Chromis tribe, was nothing if not logical, efficient, and practical. Sonia had been extravagant and indulgent. Not for the first time, I marveled how my deceased best friend… vampire best friend… and my current best friend were so completely different from each other. Had they met in real life, I doubted the two of them would have been friends. Lelas would think Sonia wasteful and crass. Sonia would count Lelas as nothing more than a stick-in-the-mud. Actually, in a strange way, I guess it was possible for Sonia and Lelas to meet. The three of us were all immortal, in theory anyway. At some point, it could happen. Although it might be preferable for hell to freeze over before the two met. The last time I’d seen Sonia, I doubted Lelas would be able to survive an introduction.
“It seems disrespectful to the animal to keep it for your own. One creature should not belong to another.” Therin addressed Lelas, as if the whole concept of pet ownership was her fault.
“I agree with you, Therin. However, I must confess that I find the practice of hunting sharks for Moheetla, with no intention of consuming their flesh, to be more disrespectful.” She smiled at him, reprimanding him as she might an older uncle. “In fact, I do not believe—”
She broke off and looked over toward Nalu, who motioned silently toward Therin, Wrell, and I.
Lelas nodded.
Nalu’s eyes widened, and his gaze traveled over the three of us in awe before returning to Lelas.
She made a disgusted face. “No. I did not participate in the hunt for the Great Spirit.”
“Lelas, why doesn’t he speak to us himself? He spoke to us plenty before you showed up.”
At my words, Nalu’s already dark skin deepened, his cheeks nearly turning purple.
Lelas didn’t answer me. At first I thought she wasn’t sure, and then I realized she was having yet another conversation with Nalu. This whole new, private Lelas was going to take some getting used to. I was accustomed to her being all mine. I couldn’t say I was ready to share her with someone else. It wasn’t like there’d be a whole lot of transition time to ease myself into it.
“I apologize if my actions have been seen as rude or disrespectful.” Nalu didn’t look away as he addressed us, instead looking each of us in the eye. “I confess I am uncertain of the proper way to communicate with you. Our first interaction was that of hostility. I then discovered I am mated to one of your sisters, and then became guard over you once more.” His eyes flickered to Lelas before looking back at us. “And now to discover that you have taken part in a hunt of Moheetla… I did not want to presume equality by addressing you directly.”
I saw Nalu in my mind, rising within the stone columns, spears raised, his strong body taut, ready to fight in order to protect his people. For a moment, I thought I was having an unsought memory but then realized it was from Wrell—which should have been obvious since the view communicated a level of respect for Nalu I didn’t actually feel.
“I must agree with my brother, Wrell. Any mer who is willing to protect and die for his tribe is deserving of respect and honor.” Therin dipped his head toward Nalu in a small bow.
Respect and honor were too much as far as I was concerned, and bowing was bordering on preposterous. I noticed Lelas’s eyes flick toward me. I received the message loud and clear. My turn. “Ah… Lelas is my best friend. Anybody she loves is good enough for me.” She gave me a withering look but didn’t press the issue. I was pretty impressed with myself. I was nicer than I’d wanted to be. I forced myself to look the merman in the eye. “So… Nalu, I think I figured it out on the way here. Do the Scarus use mirrors to reflect the sunlight from somewhere up above? Is that how the tunnels and such are lit?”
A look of confusion crossed his face, but I could tell he didn’t want to ask, as if in so doing, he’d be falling into some trap I’d set to make him look stupid.
I tried to fix my mistake. “Mirrors. Uhm… glass that shows a reflection. You can see yourself in it.”
“Mirror? Mirror.” He tried out the word. “We call it reflecting silver.” He motioned up toward a small hole in the ceiling I hadn’t noticed. “Yes, we use reflecting silver to have the sunlight.”
That probably explained some of the reflections I’d seen at the top of the large chamber where we’d met Queen Akamaii. “What do you use at night?”
He looked at me like I’d asked what his fins were for. “The moon offers light as well.”
Smartass.
“The moon is bright enough to see in the tunnels?”
“The light is indeed dimmer, but there is enough to see by. Even when the moon does not shine, there is always light to be had.”
Lelas turned to him and started to say something none of the rest of us could hear, then looked over her shoulder, catching herself. “Sorry. I realize I have been caught up in this new discovery with Nalu. I have not meant to be secretive. I was not prepared to have such a rush of new emotions, nor suddenly feel like I no longer fully belonged to myself and my own tribe.”
A quick stab of guilt clinched around my chest. As much as I was struggling with the idea, I’m sure it was nothing compared to what Lelas had to be feeling.
Therin swam closer to her, then sank into a seated position on the surface of the curved wall. “There is naught to apologize for, Lelas. The world has changed in an instant. Not just for you, but for all of us.” He nodded toward Nalu, including him in the conversation. “While there are many questions, you have nothing but our love and support.”
As closed off as Therin had been only a few weeks ago, it was still rather disconcerting to hear him being so relational once more.
Lelas smiled gratefully at him, her beautiful face flushed with emotion. Her gaze flicked toward me. “What I was telling Nalu is that things will be darker here for you than the rest of us after nightfall—that your human blood changes some of the functions of your body compared to our own. I had not said as much, as I realized I should quit excluding the rest of you from our conversation, but I assume that we will not be able to see as well either, since the Scarus have been living away from the sun’s exposure for countless generations.”
The thought of being under an island, in an endless labyrinth of narrow mazes in pitch-blackness, caused an adrenaline spike. Alaula, the eel, stuck her head out once more at the rush of warm bubbles that spewed from the backs of my hands and forearms. Turning slightly, I caught Nalu staring at me, wide-ey
ed.
Lelas offered me a sympathetic smile, then looked at her husband. Was he her husband now, or maybe fiancé? They’d said they were mated. Was that all, or did there need to be some kind of marriage ceremony? “Is it allowed for Brett and I to speak alone?” She motioned toward the entrance of the room.
Nalu’s hesitation told me it definitely wasn’t okay—although I couldn’t tell if he was worried about Queen Akamaii’s directives or leaving Lelas alone with another male. After a bit, he nodded. “There is another room beside this one. You need only to exit the door and go farther down the passage.” Regardless of the cause of his hesitation, my estimation and respect for him went up slightly.
Lelas leaned in, like she was going to kiss him, but then paused and pulled back. “Thank you.” She looked over at Therin and Wrell as she headed toward the doorway. “Please take a moment and explain the other side of Brett’s heritage, just in case there are other heat issues in the future.”
The light was already growing dimmer as we swam out of Nalu’s room. Again, I felt my panic spike. Lelas’s lavender tail looked gray in the shadows, but her blonde hair served as a beacon. Within thirty feet, we found the entrance to the room Nalu had mentioned. As dark as it was, I guessed I was probably going to have to feel my way along the walls to make it back to Nalu’s room.
Thankfully, this room was a little brighter even than Nalu’s had been. It was nearly the exact same size and shape, but the hole in the ceiling emitting the light seemed wider. A glance around the room didn’t give me many clues to what the space was used for. Random pieces of coral and stones were scattered around, but no collections of human items or anything that looked to be made by the mers.
Lelas started to lower herself by the entrance to the room, then seemed to think better of it and swam to the opposite wall. She settled onto the sand, tail curving under her, left arm resting on the side of the sloping wall. I couldn’t suppress a smile—she made the quintessential picture of the fabled mermaid as she sat there. She only needed a comb and a little longer hair to complete the illusion.
“Why are you smirking, Brett?”
I swam over and sat cross-legged a few feet away from her. “No reason, really.” I started to jump right into asking her about Nalu, then thought better of it. “Actually, I was just looking at you, thinking how beautiful you are.”
Lelas flushed and looked down at her tail, avoiding my eyes, her lips curving into a pleased smile.
“On land, humans have so many stories about mermaids, tons of movies, and all kinds of folklore. Movies are… stories you can see. Anyway, sometimes mermaids are portrayed as these siren-type creatures that lure sailors into the sea to drown them”—Lelas glanced back up at me, her eyes wide in horrified offense—“but most have to do with mermaids falling in love with human men. Trading their tail for legs.” I felt myself falter. “The point is, almost always, the mermaids are said to be so beautiful and captivating. You just looked so much like all the stories I’d heard as a kid. Most things about living here seem pretty normal now, but every once in a while it hits me that this is anything but normal, and it’s all real, and that I’m somehow a part of it.”
She smiled at me kindly. She took long enough in responding that I knew something specific was on her mind. Knowing Lelas as I did, I waited, understanding she was choosing her words carefully.
“May I ask you a question, Brett?”
“Of course. You know you can ask or say anything you want.”
She gave a little nod, once again hesitant. “I know not the best way to phrase what I am thinking, so please forgive me if I say it wrong. So much of this is new to me.”
I leaned forward and placed my palm over her folded hands resting on her tail. “It’s okay. Just ask it.” My nervousness over the claustrophobic darkness was replaced by apprehension over what was coming.
“Do you… Are you still a lover of males?”
I wasn’t expecting that one, although maybe I should have been. My turn to look down in embarrassment. “I think I know why you’re asking, but yes, I am. I mean, obviously, I haven’t… that’s not an issue as long as I’m with the mers, but, yeah. Still gay.”
She waited to reply until I looked back up and met her eyes. “Since everything happened with Nalu, I have thought you were angry with me. I wondered if your feelings had perhaps altered.”
I knew I shouldn’t ask, but the notion that she hoped I had changed, that she wasn’t really in love with Nalu, was too much to pass over. As much as I hoped she didn’t feel that way about me, it would be wonderful if it would get her out of this mess with Nalu. “If my feelings were altered, would it change things?”
She cocked her head slightly to the right. “Change things in what way?”
I hated myself even as I thought the words. “If my feelings were different, would you choose me instead of Nalu?”
She flinched backward. No more than a few centimeters, but enough to be noticeable. I pulled my hand away.
“Brett… I love you, and I know you love me. I love you like a brother. You are my dearest friend. I thought you felt in the same manner.”
“I do, Lelas. You’re my best friend, and I love you. But if things were different. If I weren’t attracted to other males, would things be different for you?”
“Why do you inquire such a thing?”
Why was I? “I just need to know.”
She looked over, letting herself get lost watching a small school of dark-blue fish that I hadn’t noticed darting in and out of the shadows of the room. Finally, she looked back. “To answer in all honesty, before this day, I would have had to say yes, that if you felt differently, I would have allowed myself to love you differently as well. However, I have known from the beginning, and I have never let myself have the slightest inclination to allow such emotions to develop for you. And to answer your question, even if I had, even if you were different as well, that would not change what has happened. There is no choice when a mer discovers their mate—at least that is what I have always heard to be true. I have never met anyone to confirm or deny such claims.” She traced one of her scales with the tip of her fingernail. “Until today. And I now must confirm them. While I do not understand such feelings, nor did I want them, they are here. I will also say now they are here, I would have it no other way. It is as I told the queen. I have discovered a part of myself today I was unaware was absent.”
Strangely, I was both disappointed and relieved at her words. I didn’t want Nalu for her, but if they were going to be together, I wanted to know she really wanted him—not that she was just following through with some old-time custom. Tiny glowing bluish-green specks drifted between us. Their flickering light reminded me of lightning bugs I’d seen in movies. I reached out trying to touch one.
“Are you angered with me?”
Lelas’s question drew my attention away from the flecks of light and replaced my hand over hers. “Lelas, of course not. I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to make you feel bad.”
“You have seemed angry at me all day, since Nalu.”
I was surprised she’d noticed. I didn’t think she’d been aware of anything other than Nalu. I should have known better. “I’m not angry, Lelas, and I’m the one who should be apologizing. I’m sorry. I should be happy for you. Instead I’ve been selfish, worrying I’m losing my best friend again.”
She smiled at me sadly. “I am not Sonia, Brett. I am in no danger. And you are in no danger of losing me. It is true that I do not know what the future will look like, and every time I think of it, I start to panic, but I know that our friendship will endure.”
The idea that she’d been worried about what was going to happen next somehow comforted me and strangely helped me trust what was happening between her and Nalu. I couldn’t trust something that seemed too good to be true, too instantly perfect. If she was feeling such concerns, it made sense that Nalu was as well. Maybe they’d already spoken about them. Probably not, considering they ha
dn’t even known each other a day. “I’m sorry, Lelas. Again, really, I am so sorry. I’ve not been a good friend to you today.”
If I wasn’t mistaken, she actually rolled her eyes. “Knowing you as I do, I know that your selfish questions actually come from a place of concern for me, and out of love. At least, on some level.”
She did know me well. Maybe she and Sonia would have gotten along better than I’d thought.
We sat in silence for a while, each shedding the layers of awkwardness between us. Finally, I looked over at her, grinning despite myself. My cliché gay-boy thrilling at the prospect of playing maid of honor. “So, do we have a wedding to plan?”
“A wedding?”
I shook my head. I really should be able to predict what words wouldn’t translate by now. “Ah, will you and Nalu have some sort of ceremony to celebrate finding one another? One that mates you together.”
“Is that what humans do?”
I nodded.
“Tell me about it.”
In that moment, Lelas lost her tail, she was no longer shirtless, we weren’t under the water. She was simply a young and innocent girl wanting to be told about a wedding. Like a child hearing her first fairy tale of everlasting love.
“Well, typically, a wedding is more for the woman, the female. Although there are men who love weddings as much as girls do too.” I left out that most of those men were as gay as I was. “The couple invites everyone they know to a ceremony where they proclaim their love to one another and promise to spend their life together. Everyone dresses up in fancy clothes. The woman—she’s called a bride—wears a long white dress that makes her look like a princess. There’s a cake… ah, a whole bunch of sweet foods. There’s beautiful music, and it’s all very romantic.”