Chapter 67 - We're Going To Be Family

"Please don't call me Princess. We're going to be family. You don't need to call Zale King either. We aren't really ones for formalities," Talori said. 

Her brother had always gone by his name alone with his mermen. Unfortunately, as his greatest treasure, they all insisted on being overly respectful and not getting too familiar with her as a result. 

If she had things her way, they would address her by her name as well. She certainly didn't want her brother's wife to call her by her title. No one had called her Princess on the surface and she couldn't deny she missed that. 

Aila's eyes widened. "Are you sure?"

"Of course! I would prefer it, honestly," Talori assured her. 

"Thank you then, Talori." 

"You're welcome. As for your question, from what I've been told the wedding ceremony will be held first, then your coronation, then a celebratory banquet. You will need to be brought to the palace first thing in the morning so the maids can handle the schedule for you. 

"Do you plan to bring any maids from home? If so, you should introduce them to the maids in the main palace the morning of as well. If you don't want to do that. a personal maid will be assigned to you." 

"I was planning to bring only one. My personal maid," Aila said softly.

"Not a problem! I can let the head maid know for you so she won't assign anyone else to that role," Talori replied. "Did you have any other questions?"

"Not about the wedding."

"Then do you have questions about anything else?"

"I…I am not sure if this is proper but—"

"I don't mind!" Talori exclaimed. "Ask me anything. I'm an open book."

"…what is a book?"

"Oh, it's this thing on the surface. Sorry. I picked up a lot of the slang while I was up there. It means I have no secrets."

Aila seemed reassured after that. "I see. Well, if you don't mind, I am curious about who I am to marry. I am unsure what kind of merman he is and you seem to know him best."

Ah. She had met Zale when he was putting on his act but clearly saw the real him when she told him of Nerida's poisoning plans. Talori could see how that would be confusing for someone to see.

"I probably do aside from Beck. He has known Zale longer." 

"Who is Beck?"

"His personal guard. You have probably seen him around. He's black and white and hardly says a word," Talori said with a shrug.

Aila nodded. "I have. He does seem rather serious."

"Serious but brilliant. He's nearly as smart as Zale, which makes sense considering they've hardly been apart their whole lives. Nearly as strong too. Zale is the most powerful merman I've ever heard of and has trained hard to become so. 

"He had his reasons for acting the fool but that isn't how he truly is at all. He doesn't care about frivolous things like fashion. He cares about making the ocean a better place for everyone living in it.

"He may be a schemer but he is fair and treats his merfolk very well. You don't have anything to worry about with him. He's the kindest fae in the world…except for maybe my friend Brennan. His patience is unparalleled." 

Talori felt a pang as she thought about Brennan. She had been so busy he hadn't really been on her mind much the past several days but whenever she did think of him she wished he hadn't had to say goodbye so soon. 

"Is your friend Brennan a merman or…?" Aila asked. 

"No, he's a water fairy. You'll probably meet him at some point since he has the same job as me on the surface-dweller side of things. He's their liaison and plans to work with us on the pollution issue."

"Pollution?"

"Surface items ending up in the ocean by accident," Talori explained. 

"Ah. Your brother does seem to care about that issue quite a lot from what I have seen. He drew a lot of attention to it by starting a trend with jewelry made from surface items," Aila said. 

"That certainly sounds like something he would do. He does care a lot, which is why he offered to work with Brennan in exchange for him keeping me safe in the first place. Brennan is a marine biologist and he's already working with a few of the good humans who are trying to keep the ocean clean. He wanted merfolk involvement, thinking it would be more helpful since we know the ocean best."

"That is a wise move."

"I think so too. Brennan is the best. I'm sure with all of us working together we'll figure something out," Talori replied cheerfully. 

She couldn't help but wonder what Brennan was up to right now. Was he hanging out in Harmony's office as she worked on creating some sort of magical communication device that would work underwater? 

Though she was so grateful to be home, she couldn't deny that she wished she was up there being a part of the action right now too. She had a lot of fond memories of the three of them (sometimes the four of them) spending time in Harmony's office as she worked. 

"I am glad you found such a helpful friend," Aila said diplomatically. 

"Yeah, me too."

Talori was incredibly grateful she met Brennan and had been from the beginning. He had been the most exciting thing to ever happen to her and that was before he saved her from a terrible fate and took such good care of her for so long. 

She wished he was here. Three months wasn't that long in the grand scheme of things but it would still be a while before she saw him again. She hoped he was doing alright. 

=== 

Brennan had known he wouldn't be ready when the call finally came that Talori was supposed to go home but even that hadn't prepared him for how it would feel to help her pack up her things. Or have her meet up with a merman she knew. Or actually say goodbye to her. 

She had waited a long time to be reunited with her brother and seeing that made him both happy and sad at the same time. Happy for her sake but sad because everything was about to change. 

This happened every time he moved over the centuries and his routine changed. It was always an adjustment. 

Brennan had been used to having someone live with him for a while and now he was going to have to get used to being alone again. He would be fine as long as he kept busy but he didn't know what to keep busy with. 

Third wheeling with Harmony and Castian didn't sound like the most pleasant thing in the world even though he liked the elf well enough. Having four fae present made it so he always had someone to talk to but now, more likely than not, he would end up being the outsider. 

Still, it would give him something to do. Anything was better than nothing at this point because he hated having empty hours to fill. 

Maybe he could go hang out with his friends in the Everglades every weekend now too. That ought to help. 

Keeping busy so he didn't go crazy was much like continuing to swim no matter what so he didn't drown. That would get him through the millionth change in his life the way all it had all the others.

"So what happened down there?" Harmony asked once Brennan returned to the boat and she used a spell to dry him off immediately. 

"I had a couple of helpful conversations with Zale and we decided to meet at the usual time next quarter to give you guys the chance to come up with some sort of communication magic that will work long distance to plan future meetings better," he said simply. 

"And Talori?"

"Seemed really happy to see her brother."

Harmony bit her lip. "…are you going to be okay, Brennan? You were spending every second you weren't at work with her."

"I'm always okay," Brennan said resolutely. 

His witch friend didn't know everything. She didn't know how much he had learned to adjust over the centuries. He had nothing he claimed as his own. Everything was temporary. It was how he survived. 

"If you insist. But if you need something to do, don't hesitate to call me. I can keep you plenty busy as my assistant."

"Doesn't Castian already fulfil that role?"

"One can never have too many assistants," Harmony said with an airy wave of her hand. "Besides, you never know how long someone will be able to do things like that with you. I might be down one very soon."

Brennan raised an eyebrow. He seriously doubted that. Castian adored Harmony. Someone as serious as him wouldn't put up with all of her antics otherwise. 

It had become glaringly obvious over time that her elf boyfriend had fallen in love with her. Did she really not see that? Though he supposed it might be difficult to believe because that wasn't how elf and witch relationships worked. 

He didn't want to get involved because it wasn't his business but he felt sorry for Castian. He was probably suffering much more than he let on. Poor sucker.

"Yeah," Brennan sighed, thinking more of Talori than Castian as he replied.. "You never know how long you'll have certain fae around."