I gasped. Ambassador Zale!Yet unlike the last time I had met him, when he had been more human shaped and wearing a tuxedo, now he was even more otherworldly. The biggest change was the lack of human legs. Instead, he had a long and coiling fish tale, covered in scales the same as the blue-green one

The merfolk royal swam over toward me. I stood very still, continuing to grip on Nicholas’s arm.The merfolk cleared his throat. I braced myself, unsure if he would speak in a language I would recognize. Despite any potential awkwardness here, I certainly didn’t want to be rude.“My lady,” the merfo

With that reassurance, I nodded at Elva. “Enjoy yourself,” I said.She laughed and immediately began to chase after the other children as she swam away.The loud excitement of her laughter warmed me from the inside out. It was so rare to hear my little girl having so much fun. I half wanted to stay

“Piper isn’t feeling well at the moment,” Nicholas said. He kept one arm wrapped protectively around my waist. “In fact, I was about to take her to one of the private rooms to rest.”“Oh,” Ronan said, and his bright smile fell somewhat. “How disappointing. Well, recover and rest well, Piper. I hope

As we had swallowed down each other’s pleasure, there wasn’t much need for clean up, other than returning into our swimsuits and checking ourselves in the mirror. As our hair was already wild in the water, no one would notice if Nicks and mine had been tugged and pulled.I did have a few new love bi

I didn’t have a clear way out of this. For the sake of international relations, I had to accept. So I did. I placed my hand in Prince Ronan’s offered one and repressed by shiver as he closed his fingers around my hand. “I would be honored to dance with you, Prince Ronan,” I said. Ronan’s eyes

Nicholas’s growl returned tenfold. I didn’t know how much longer I could hold him back. Yet before I could become even more seriously worried, a different merfolk swam up from the space down below us into the quickly narrowing space between Nicholas and Ronan. At once, both men kicked backwards to

With the drama mostly settled for the moment, I thanked Nicholas for his help. He smiled once more at me. Then we split ways, and I made my way down to where the children were playing to check on Elva. As I drew closer, I could see how tired she was. It made sense, while the other children were

I glanced all around, but there was no sign of the mystic. Confused and slightly alarmed, I swam over to Veronica and Julian to join their conversation. They both stopped speaking and looked at me as I approached them. Likely my face was giving away my tumult of emotion. “What happened?” Veronica

Her eyes are closed and her body swaying with the rhythm. The merfolk man, her partner, curled his long tail around her and brought her close. I looked at them for a while, then remembered Julian beside me, and how much such a sight must hurt him. I turned to him, though I wasn’t sure what to say.