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“I’m going,” she mumbled, then reached out to trail her fingers over his lips. “This was...”
He said something, and whatever it was, she took it to heart. That he didn’t want her to go. That this was a life-changing experience for both of them and he was thanking her for everything that had happened.
Or something along those lines.
He flicked his tail, disappearing into the kelp, and left her to get back inside the sub. She buckled herself in, soaking wet and likely ruining some of the functions. Of course, Beta had a lot to say about that, but she didn’t listen to the little droid.
Alys was in her own world. Even as she docked the sub above ground at the port where she and her father kept their submarines and ships. She didn’t even notice that she’d walked through the hall to the kitchen, leaving wet footprints in her wake.
She didn’t notice that her father was sitting at the kitchen island, waiting for her, until she heard his guttural tones.
“Where have you been, Alys?”
Chapter
Four
Just because she hadn’t been here for a few days didn’t mean she no longer wished to see him.
At least, that’s what he told himself every day he showed up in their grove and she wasn’t there.
He wasn’t a fool. Imber knew whatever was between them was risky. Alys was one of the achromos, and he was one of the People of Water. He didn’t even know how they would make this relationship work. She couldn’t breathe underwater. He couldn’t live on the land. They were the sun and the sea, trying very hard to make something work between the two of them, but knowing that eventually, they had to part.
The moon always rose on the horizon, and the sun always set. No matter how hard the waves tried to chase the sun.
Was it so terrible that he wished to try? He would chase her throughout all the nights of his life. Waiting for the briefest hint of her sunshine, because she made him feel so much better than he did in the pod.
Even the day when his sister, Virago, found him, he had thought to show Alys to his sister. Perhaps his sister would understand his feelings, because she had gone for a much smaller male than the others who had fought for her attention.She wasn’t like the other people in their pod. Surely she would realize he’d made a connection with someone without knowing how to stop himself.
But he hadn’t been able to put her at risk. His Alys was so tiny, so gentle. Virago would take one look at her and tell him that she wasn’t worth being a partner to anyone. Alys wouldn’t make strong children, nor could she protect them.
And yet, he still wanted to be the one to help her through it. He still wanted to be the one who defied the odds and protected his children for the both of them. He wanted... her.
A future with her. A life that was filled with the sound of her giggles and the soft touch of her hair stroking against his chest.
He wanted to feel her in his life. To know that every time he returned home, she was waiting for him there. It was an impossible future and yet, he would do anything to have it.
He gathered up his newest gift to give her. He’d been working on finding pearls inside of clams that they usually used for feasts. The clams were all too happy to get the granule of sand out of their shells, and he knew the tricks to getting them out without killing the animal. At least, until they needed them for a feast.
As it was, he had a handful of pearls that he’d woven with the strands they gathered from the thin ocean weeds. But he feared that it wouldn’t last long out of the sea. He’d never tried to see what happened to the seagrass when it was dried out. They had no reason to keep anything dry underwater.
But his Alys always seemed to arrive to him dry, and then quickly jumped into the water. He’d noticed that she started coating her hair with something every time she got into the water. It meant her curls that he was so fascinated with were rarely on display anymore.
How frustrating it was that he couldn’t talk to her and ask about all the things that piqued his curiosity.
“Brother.” The voice made him pause on the edge of their pod home. They were a shallow water tribe, unlike many of his people who lived in the deep depths of the sea. As such, most of their homes were very easy to see into. They all gathered stones and made swirling patterns dug into the sand, like fish nests. Yet sometimes they had coverings over the top, for a sense of privacy.
He, unfortunately, did not have such a barrier.
Glancing up toward the surface, he saw his sister hovering above him. She looked so much like him, although nearly twice as large. Strong shoulders, strong arms, her hair cropped close to her skull. But their scales were the same color, the same vibrant green that graced his belly, also speckled along hers. Even their fin shapes were the same, diamond and ragged as they aged and the thin membranes slowly ripped. Her belly was still slightly bloated after having the child weeks ago, and she kept her daughter wrapped up in thick kelp weeds so the child was tied to her hip at all times.
Otherwise, his little niece was apt to get in trouble. She’d already slipped away more times than any of them could count. Even now, the little one was wriggling her tail, trying to get out of the slippery kelp so she could launch herself into Imber’s arms.
He tried very hard not to smile and nodded at the child. “You’re going to lose her again.”
“Oh for...” His sister muttered curses underneath her breath, mostly all aimed at the child’s father before scooping her up in her arms and holding onto the child firmly. “I’m going to start tethering her tail to me. You know she inherited this behavior from her father.”
“Most likely.”
