“You wish not to be seen after walking through the camp Like that? Have you lost your mind?" she asked. The dangerous growl had returned to reverberate in her words.

Gregory didn't flinch. He'd gotten used to it by now.

“I told you, a mermaid tore my trunks to mulch with her freaky-sharp fingernails so I didn't have much choice since there's only really one way back. It was either walk through to the training glade and back through here bare-assed or go to the gates and walk through the entire encampment."

"Mermaids do not exist."

"Yeah, well up until about a month or so ago I was pretty sure orcs didn't exist. So, keep an open mind, huh?" He smiled as if hoping it might be contagious, but Algra maintained her steely expression until he rolled his eyes and made a huff.

“Look, I saw her, ok? I think Jan did too. You remember she said she saw someone watching us in the river?"

Algra hesitated. He wasn't wrong on that score. Janette had sworn she'd spotted something amongst the waters.

“Right," Gregory continued.

“Anyway, don't sweat it. This was a friendly mermaid. A really, really friendly mermaid as it happens. I think she saw us having fun and wanted to try it out for herself, and she's apparently dubbed clothing her mortal enemy. She did not get on well with my trunks. Hence the casual nudity. Emmet, you can Look now. Talina, you can stop pretending not to look now."

Emmet turned around as instructed and was relieved to see Gregory walking around the bed wearing pants on his legs. After the boy's actions so far that morning he'd been worried that he might have placed them on his head instead. Talina Lowered her hand and licked her lips shamelessly.

“The merfolk could exist, Algra." Emmet eventually broke the growing silence in the room.

The ore turned her head and furrowed her brow.

“What?"

“There were stories, amongst the folk along the coastal villages and towns of the human realms. Before the demon horde summoned their abominations to contaminate the ocean and make them impassable. Those who had sailed far enough usually came back with stories of the people of the sea. I just don't think that there's anyone alive who's seen one, but that doesn't mean they're gone. Perhaps they're just hiding in the deep, or maybe even waging their own war against their invaders.” Emmet shrugged.

“Or they could be fairy stories made to keep children quiet at night,” Algra grunted.

“Perhaps, but Gregory doesn't have the look of a madman. If Janette said she saw something there then I believe her, and I believe him.”

The mention of madness made Algra shift tracks, and she rounded on Gregory again to step up and poke at the scar on his chest.

"You said you had forgotten the names of your parents. Are you going to say that is normal?"

He jumped back a little at the prodding, but his features softened at her words and eventually he nodded his agreement.

"You're right. That's definitely weird. And I'm sorry for Laying that on you and then disappearing like I did. I was just so tired. I knew I needed to tell you, and I knew it'd probably start a whole thing. So I just wanted a little more normalcy, or what passes for normalcy around here, before I came back and we went through it.”

Algra unfolded her arms and reached out to him. At first he flinched slightly, expecting some more poking. Instead, she grasped his shoulders and pulled him against her in a tight embrace. Instinct lifted his own arms to wrap around her gorgeously firm waistline, and he held her just as tightly as she held him.

Of course, they were both quite strong and a hug like that couldn't have continued very long without suffocation becoming an issue. So, they eventually loosened their hold and Lifted their heads to look into each others’ eyes.

“You are a fool. I am your mate. It is my duty to stand with you, not against you." She pressed her lips to his and they kissed each other lovingly around her tusks.

Eventually, he pulled back to Look at her and then smiled with no small degree of relief.

“I get mixed signals sometimes. You do hit me a lot," he said.