Mer Tales 01 - Everblue

live “normally,” the consequences meant erasing her memories and starting afresh as a human. People killed for our secrets and she was throwing it all away to be normal . No one in their right mind ever chose to leave.
    I clenched my jaw. “I doubt you’ll be able to go through with it.”
    “ Don’t make this harder than it needs to be.”
    I gulped down my emotion and shook my head. How could she act as if our family didn’t mean anything to her? That our memories deserved to be heaved into a dumpster bin? The thought of losing her forever tore me apart the day she’d mentioned the prospect of college. Of course the decision would be easy for her to make—not having to feel the pain of losing the ones she loved. But I’d never do that to Mom and Dad, or to her.
    I gritted my teeth. “You get the good end of the bargain.”
    “ We’ve talked about this before. With the colony, there’s no certainty. Dad’s protection only goes so far. The King still has expectations. Leaving is my only choice,” she said matter-of-factly.
    “ You could go to school close by. You don’t have to leave leave.”
    “ You just don’t get it,” Tatiana swam a little faster. “They’d still own me.”
    I gritted my teeth and silently followed behind. She was technically right. Everything could change after tonight. But I highly doubted we’d be leaving for good.
    A statue of Tessie, Tahoe’s Loch Ness monster, loomed in the dark as a joke, but ironically was a door to the meeting room. Mom felt under the statue’s neck for the lever. As the statue’s jaw lowered, the water undulated around us, disturbing the blind shrimp and other sea life. They scurried away as we swam through her mouth into the ante-chamber.
    “ This sucks, Fin.”
    “ It’ll be okay ,” I said, still hopeful I’d get my big chance to guard the gate.
    Upon breaching the surface of the flooded cave, my heart barreled in anticipation of what could happen within the next few minutes. Bluish lighting—native to our world—danced across the abalone-encrusted ceiling, brightly illuminating the two-hundred square foot space. The cave, originally just a tunnel bridging Tahoe to Natatoria, was carved out by Dad to become a place for the Council to meet, far away from prying ears in the palace. A colorful mural of our city, inlayed with gems and shells, covered the main wall. I hadn’t seen it yet and was blown away by the detail Dad had incorporated.
    But to my disappointment, not only were Dad and Azor in attendance, Uncle Alaster and Colin were, too. Why would they be here?
    Dad motioned for us to join them at the large granite slab that appeared to be floating in the center of the room. I swam up first and wedged my tail into one of the eight L shaped seats carved into the slab’s ledge under the waterline, across from Uncle Alaster and Colin.
    Azor, son of King Phaleon and second in command of the army, sat at the head of the table with his slicked back hair and cocky smile. His calculating dark eyes watched as we chose our seats. Mom took the spot between Dad and Colin, leaving a seat next to Azor and the one between Dad and I open.
    “ Tatiana, don’t you look lovely. Please. Sit here,” Azor said, ogling her blatantly, making my skin crawl.
    She smiled, but chose the other seat.
    “ Ugh,” Tatch groaned ever so slightly once she settled in. Out of the water, we couldn’t mind-talk but I could imagine what she was thinking about Azor and what he could do with the seat next to him.
    “ Now that we are all here, we can start the meeting. Nice to see everyone,” Azor spoke in our native tongue. The blue light gleamed off his white teeth as his glance darted across the attendees. “Let’s get down to business.”
    Mom shifted in her seat. Of all the merpeople here, she was the only beta-mer: a human changed into a mer. That fact made her cower in the presence of the pure-born, the native tongue still difficult for her to speak without an accent.
    Azor cleared his throat before starting. “First, I have to congratulate you, Jack, for your vigilance at the Tahoe Passage. Things have been peaceful and the rumors you’ve spread have been effective in containing curiosity.”
    “ Well done, Brother,” Alaster said, waggling his white eyebrows and giving a golf clap.
    Dad nodded, keeping his posture stiff. He and his younger brother rarely saw eye to eye, especially with matters surrounding how to handle Tahoe.
    Tatch sighed next to