I Will Not Let You Down

Brennan had to eat carefully so he didn't mess with the air bubble he had been maintaining all this time. He was curious about what the sea grapes would taste like and wasn't surprised to find that they were salty.

Of course. It was a seaweed, after all.

What he hadn't been expecting was the slightly sweet and acidic flavor that was heightened the longer he chewed or that the texture was like caviar, which he had tried exactly once and not been terribly fond of. But food was food and he was in no position to complain.

Talori was watching him eat with shining eyes and an eager expression. "So? What do you think?"

"It's salty but I expected that. And the texture is interesting," Brennan said honestly.

"Is it so different from what you eat?"

"Yeah. Humans have developed quite an extensive food culture but I have had a different type of seaweed before that's part of this food called sushi that originated in a country called Japan."

Talori made an excited squeal and did a backflip in the water. "Tell me more! I want to know everything."

Brennan barely managed to stifle his laughter. His earlier comparison that flying was swimming in the air didn't seem to be so far off after all. When he was younger, he and his brother did backflips all the time.

"Alright, I'll try to think of as much as I can about food."

Talori listened intently for quite some time as if he was the most interesting fae in the world until she heard a knock on the door and frantically gestured for him to get back in the wardrobe. He sighed, reluctant, but he had agreed to this. Back into the wardrobe he went without saying a word.

He peeked out through the crack this time when he heard the male voice speaking because he was startled it was in English rather than Mermish this time. She had mentioned that very few merfolk spoke it.

"Good morning, Tali!" a merman greeted with a fond smile as he circled around her a few times and flicked her with his tail.

At least Brennan assumed it was a merman. Talori's purple scales covered her stomach and chest but this new fae's torso was bare and scaleless. His hair—a different shade of purple than hers—was several inches shorter as well.

She looked like a fairy basslet but he looked like a Spanish hogfish. Both of them were purple and yellow but the shades and gradients of the scales were different.

Talori's were divided more starkly while the merman's blended together a bit more. They shared the same yellow skin and eyes though. If he had to guess, this merman was her brother Zale.

She also circled him and tapped him with her tail before smiling at him. It appeared that this was some sort of affectionate merfolk greeting. "Good morning, Zale. Thank you for the present. I like it very much!"

Brennan hadn't seen any present. He supposed she must be keeping it in one of the many chests in the room.

"I thought you might," Zale said with a satisfied expression. "I found it while I was out early this morning. There must have been a storm last night."

Talori did a very good job of pretending she knew nothing about that. She must sneak out a lot to have practiced her poker face to such an extent. Brennan couldn't deny he was slightly impressed.

"You do always bring me the best presents after storms," she said lightly.

Zale smiled at her again and swam over before plopping onto some sort of giant sea sponge that seemed to be functioning as a beanbag chair. She sat down next to him and began asking him questions.

"What were you doing out this morning? How is the plan coming? Do we have to go to the main palace any time soon?"

It seemed that Talori was always the curious type, not only about the surface. Her eyes weren't shining with quite the same degree of enthusiasm as they had been the whole time she interrogated Brennan but she was still rather energetic.

She kicked her tail, bounced on the sea sponge, and fiddled with her hair or bracelet made of misshapen multicolored pearls. She had done very similar things the whole time she was talking to Brennan earlier if she wasn't actively swimming around to get her excitement out.

Zale was very patient with her questions. "Beck and I went out to meet with one of the nobles who is on our side. We had to go very early so we didn't risk being spotted by any of Merrick's mermen.

"More merfolk agree that Merrick is unfit to be the merking and that King Ren has ruled too long without doing anything to help fix the problems in our part of the ocean. Things are not the way they used to be and those who work tending the gardens and animals have noticed it more than ever.

"Something must have changed on the surface. I want to talk to the witches myself to see if anything can be done about it but Gar is the only one with access. There has to be something that can be done to protect our home.

"Unfortunately, we have to attend a banquet later this week. I'll have Marlowe prepare your jewelry beforehand. All you have to do is look pretty and talk people's ears off as usual to keep interest away from us."

Talori nodded, looking more seriously than she had the entire conversation. "I understand. I will not let you down."

Zale squeezed her hand. "I know you will not. Would you like to come watch us spar? We can eat lunch together afterward. I have more meetings later but we should be able to have dinner together as well."

She sent a very quick glance toward the wardrobe and Brennan caught her meaning. She was worried about leaving him alone for that long. She didn't need to. He would be fine.

Honestly, he probably needed a good nap anyway. If he pushed something heavy against the door while she was gone, he wouldn't have to worry about being disturbed. He wished he was able to relay that but she couldn't see him through the crack.

"That would be lovely. Thank you, Zale," Talori said after a moment of deliberation.