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Description
He woke when he heard voices, and then checked his divers watch, only to be shocked when he realized he had slept in for the first time in his life.  As quietly as he could he slowly moved his head around to see if the voices were in his immediate vision.  When he saw nothing, he slowly lifted himself up and peered over the rock he was under, only to catch a glimpse of nothing.  Feeling as if he had maybe imagined the noise he began moving upwards to begin moving again.  It proved to be a mistake when he was halfway out from under the rock.

“Hello.”  A female voice said in distinctive mermish from behind him.  He turned to look at her, and noted another female was with her.  They were both extraordinarily beautiful, and distinctly versall, with their crown of fins and light skin.  He froze like a deer in headlights, bottom half hidden, upper half exposed.  Had he been out any further his lack of a tail would have been noticeable.  As it was, he looked like a regular merman.

“H-Hello.”  He stuttered out in surprise, and then inwardly cursed when he noticed the obvious accent.  The female who spoke to him giggled and moved close to him.  When she didn’t stop at a respectable distance he became nervous, and inched back a little.  She put her mouth next to his ears and whispered to him.

“My friend thinks you’re cute.”  She said quietly, and then swam away from him and behind her friend.  Val immediately thought “she won’t think I’m cute for long, if she see’s my legs,” but managed a charming smile.

“Oh?”  He asked.  “Well thank you.”

The friend blushed and swam off, while the other girl remained pouting and looking after her.

“You know, she’ll never find anyone if she keeps doing that.”

“Er…she’s looking for someone?”

“Yeah…but at this pace she’ll never get married.  She’ll tell me if she see’s someone she likes, but she won’t tell whoever it is she’s looking at.”  The mermaid looked back over to him and tilted her head.  “You are rather handsome, for someone stuck under a rock.  In the past I might have gone for you, but now it’s a different story.  I’ve got a mate I love beyond anything.  How about you?”

“No, I’m afraid I’m quite single and hoping to keep it that way.”

Her already large eyes got larger.  “You don’t want to mate?”
“Oh, I’d like to mate, but I don’t want one.”  He said, a little stunned at the intimacy of the casual conversation, as well as the fact that she still didn’t notice he wasn’t all mer. She looked confused at the response.

“Well…that’s odd.  I’ve heard some Mareshe are like that, but you look like a normal versall to me.”  She shrugged.  “To each their own, I guess.  It was nice talking to you…um…”

“Valrian.”

“Ah!  Valrian.  Your name is redemption, how interesting.  My name is Keerlay.”

“That’s a lovely name as well, although I have no idea what it means.”

She looked a little uncomfortable and mumbled something too low to hear.

“Er…what?”  Val asked, and she bit her lip.

“Manly.”  She finally said.  “My name means manly.  I was born looking like a boy.”

Val laughed at that.  “I don’t believe that for a second.”

“It’s true, at least according to my parents and everyone else who knew me back then.  I looked like a boy, so they named me manly.”  She smiled.  “I would help you but you’re already half out of the rock and I have chores to be doing.  Good luck, redemption.  You’ll need it.”

“Thank you manly.”  He replied, and she gave a small laugh, and then began swimming after her friend.  Before she was entirely out of vision he called after her.  “Hey!  Keerlay!  Do you happen to know a mer named Morivan?”

She turned and looked back, long hair fanning out behind her.  “Morivan?”

“Yes!”

“The prince?”

“Er…is there another?”

“Not that I know of.”

“The one I’m looking for is a warlord.  He was a general in the war
against the mareshe.”

“That’s him then!  Hey, how come you don’t know who Lord Morivan is?”

“I’ve…been out in the rivers for a while, visiting the nemphe!”

“Wow…that must have been a long while.  The War ended nineteen years ago! How old are you?”

“Thirty four!”

“Really?”

“Yeah!”

“Amazing!  I thought you were twenty, if that!”

Valrian felt a little nervous about the lies he was telling her, but pushed on anyway.

“Now that he’s a prince, does he still live where he used to?”

“Of course not!  His mate is the Mareshe Princess Sulara!  He only visits Versallian cities to see his people.  If you’re headed to his old home, he’s not there right now.  He’s in the Mareshe Capital Kavinel.  Good luck getting in though.  That place has been under lock and key ever since Lord Aderyn defected and went into hiding.  Morivan and Aderyn became enemies in during the war, although no one knows why and Morivan won’t speak of it.  Though, you were fourteen at the time, so you probably know more about it than I do.”

“I see…”  Val said under his breath.  This journey was suddenly becoming a lot more complicated than he originally thought.  “Thanks Keerlay!” He shouted at her.  “Thanks a ton!”

“No problem!  When you see him, tell him the versall miss him!  Tell him Keerlay and her mate Krial send their best wishes to him and his mate!”

“All right!  Bye!”

“Bye!”

Only when she was out of site did he finally remove himself from the rock.  Then he promptly kicked himself for being nearly caught, lying to a perfectly friendly mermaid, and traveling in the wrong direction for nearly twenty four hours.  At the same time he was glad to have met Keerlay and her friend.  Especially Keerlay, since she had provided some invaluable information to him, and surprising insights on life after his father’s death.

The war had only lasted three years, if he did his math correctly.  During
the war, Morivan had turned traitor, and the only ones who knew were Morivan, whoever he had spoken to, his father Aderyn, as well as Rachelle and Valrian.  To cover up Aderyn’s death, Morivan had apparently claimed some kind of dispute came between them, and Aderyn had defected and gone into hiding.  Now Morivan was married to a mareshe princess, possibly in line for Mareshe throne, and hailed among his people as some great merman.  Which Valrian concluded to mean Morivan must have claimed Aderyn was a traitor, and after he had killed Aderyn to keep him silent forever, he must have claimed a trophy of some sort for bringing peace to the Versall and Mareshe.  The trophy being the princess.

The more he thought about it the more angered he became.  Morivan was literally living like a king for his crimes, while his mother and he sat miserable on land, and his father rotted underground like some…like some…human.  It made Val’s blood boil just thinking it.  The only thing that did make him feel remotely glad was his name.  He had not known it was a versall name, let alone its meaning.

Redemption.

Smiling evilly he pulled himself totally out of the rock, then reached in for his bag and opened it up to grab a laminated piece of paper.

Redemption.

He unrolled the plastic covered map and glanced at it, then shoved it back in and grabbed a different one.

Redeem.

This one was correct, and he memorized it carefully, being sure to note exactly where Kavinel was located in terms of human latitude and longitude, as well as direction.  Then he carefully rolled it back up and put it back in.

He was more than ready to redeem his father’s name, and his mother’s happiness.

x~x~x~x~x~x

In Kavinel, Morivan was happily conferring with the king, whose only son had just died, thus placing Morivan and Sulara in immediate line for the throne.  Sulara, being too upset over her little brother’s death to attend the meeting, lay sobbing in their room, and shouting angrily at every attendant who dared called her “your majesty” instead of “my lady.”  Instead it was only he and the king speaking, as well as a nearby servant whose entire life revolved around keeping his ears closed and mouth shut during such talks.

Morivan was still a handsome looking mer, even though he was in his early fifties.  He did not appear it though, and instead appeared more in his late twenties.  All mers aged slowly though, so he was fairly normal in appearance.  His skin was not nearly as dark as a mareshe, seeing as he was used to dark ocean waters, but years of living with them had made him a rather dark versall.  He was a medium grayish blue, much like a dolphin.  His eyes were slanted, light, and navy blue in color, with four dark, slanted markings above them in a mimicry of eyebrows.  He had the long, strong body of a warrior, even though was not one anymore, and bold features, with high cheekbones, a long, full mouth, and a large crown on his head, with dark gray webbing on it, was well as between his fingers and on the end of his tail.  His hair, silent testament to his true age, floated behind him and came to rest below right his hips. It was a dark blue in color, nearing black.

The old king, in contrast, was strikingly mareshe.  He was crownless in fins, but undeniably nobility, with his many jeweled decorations around his neck.  He was smaller than Morivan, being a mere nine feet compared to his son-in-laws eleven, and his hair came nearly to his mid-tail.  His skin was a deep green-gray, with a whiter underbelly.  Unlike Morivan, he was more colorful and decorative.  He had large side fins coming from his hips and ending mid-tail, with light green webbing between them, as well as the same webbing between his long fingers, ear fins, and end of tail.  His hair was the same green as his skin, albeit without any gray tones to it.  Like all Mareshe, his eyebrows were a series of colorful dots over his eyes, with the first being longer than the following.  He had seven in total.  Nearly eighty in years, he appeared to be in his early forties.  His eyes were larger and rounder than Morivan’s, but eerily human looking with the way they focused them on the pupil-less Versall Prince.

“Morivan…”  He rasped out in a dark voice when his daughter’s mate glided into the room.  In return Morivan bowed his head in respect, then proceeded to come fully into the room when bade to do so.

“Greetings, Father King.”  Morivan said, showing respect for his station as well as their relationship.

“Sit down my son, for I have news to tell you.”

“If it is of the young prince, I have already heard, your majesty.”

“Indeed so.  What do you make of all this?”

“It is greatly sad, but his highness did suffer a large deal with his illness.  Maybe it is best that he is at peace.”

“Better for him, or for you?”

“Him, naturally.  Even if he had not succumbed to deaths call I would still have been in line for your throne.”

“Until he mated and produced an heir, of course.”

“Of course.”

“This now means that your son will inherit after your death.  How does this make you feel?”

“…It is not…displeasing to me, your majesty.”

The king let out a rasping laugh, which quickly died down to soft chuckles, until it silenced itself.  They sat for several long moments, until the king spoke again.

“Go and comfort Sulara with this news, for I am sure she will not have thought of her child being king, let alone her status as future queen.  Tell her I wish to see her, for even though I am king, I am as much a grieving father as she is a grieving sister.  I wish to grieve together.  Send your sons too.  They have lost an uncle last night.”

“Yes, your majesty.”

“Prepare for the funeral as well.  I am much too disconsolate to attend to matters of state, let alone the burial of my only son.”

Morivan gave another bow, and then left the room.  While outside he appeared to be in grief over the young prince’s death, inside he was screaming to the heavens in joy.  He had not liked the young prince much, seeing as the boy had always seemed too weak for status of king, regardless of mental aptitude.  He had also been too shrewd, and openly distrusting of the versall who had married his sister.  A mere twenty six years and the boy was now dead, thanks to being born too early, too small, and with too soft an immune system.  It was good the kings mate was now dead after birthing one son and seven daughters, for now there was no fear of a second son being born, and the wait for the throne longer, or worse, gone altogether if a second son had mated and had a son.  In the Versall world he couldn’t have amounted to half so much, seeing as his title came not through birth or marriage, but by hard work.  The versall people had little use for titles beyond that of warlords and generals.  Common vote decided what course to take, and even the king himself labored like some simple country mer.  His title was for show only, and had been for several hundred years.

Among the Mareshe though, Morivan was practically a god.  Versall’s gave him the respect due to his rank as general, and called him by his Princely title once in a great while, but the Mareshe truly respected him.  He had single handedly brought peace to the warring nations, practically won the war for them during so, and had kept peace between the two for years.  Territories were marked down clearly, with shared ocean area known to all.  Mareshe were welcome in the deep, and Versall were welcome in the reefs.

The only black spot on his record was Aderyn, but even there the true story was unknown.  It was common belief that Warlord prince Aderyn had turned his back on all mers, after getting jealous of Morivan and attempting to kill him.  No one, save those involved, knew Morivan had helped win the war by giving away army positions to Mareshe Lords, and then ended up getting caught by Aderyn.  No one, save those involved, knew Aderyn was dead, and that he had mated with a human female.  Even so, only Morivan knew of the child.  He had seen the wretched thing himself after warning its hideous mother to keep it out of the ocean before its birth.  The little beast had tried so hard when it was younger to dive right in, and Morivan wished it had.  Then he could have put it, and himself, out of misery.  But the mother had always come running to save the creature.

Now he assumed it probably had died, or maybe it was too afraid to come into the water after years of dire warning.

It was truly a shame too.  Aderyn had been the only royal versall Morivan had respect for.  He was the only one who fought for his people, the only one who didn’t act as though he was common birth.  They had grown up together, even been friends.  But Aderyn had to go and become the greater warlord, the more respected general.  He had to be noble and courageous.  By promising to report him to all Versall for his actions, Aderyn had secured his death.  By climbing on land and risking exposure to some human, he had proven himself a braver man.  By meeting and foolishly mating with a human, Aderyn had lost all rights to be a mer.

It was useless regretting the past they had shared.  The prince was dead, and there was nothing to be done about it.  If Morivan was to do it all over again, he wouldn’t change a thing.  Aderyn’s death had secured Morivan’s title.  The only mistake was in not succeeding to kill Aderyn before that human woman had a child by him.  Now Morivan had to live in silence over a half-breed surviving in the world, against all mer law, as well as natural ones.

He passed the guard near his mate’s room and inclined his head a little when the merman bowed.

It was great to be Crown Prince.

It would be greater to be King.

Description
He woke when he heard voices, and then checked his divers watch, only to be shocked when he realized he had slept in for the first time in his life.  As quietly as he could he slowly moved his head around to see if the voices were in his immediate vision.  When he saw nothing, he slowly lifted himself up and peered over the rock he was under, only to catch a glimpse of nothing.  Feeling as if he had maybe imagined the noise he began moving upwards to begin moving again.  It proved to be a mistake when he was halfway out from under the rock.

“Hello.”  A female voice said in distinctive mermish from behind him.  He turned to look at her, and noted another female was with her.  They were both extraordinarily beautiful, and distinctly versall, with their crown of fins and light skin.  He froze like a deer in headlights, bottom half hidden, upper half exposed.  Had he been out any further his lack of a tail would have been noticeable.  As it was, he looked like a regular merman.

“H-Hello.”  He stuttered out in surprise, and then inwardly cursed when he noticed the obvious accent.  The female who spoke to him giggled and moved close to him.  When she didn’t stop at a respectable distance he became nervous, and inched back a little.  She put her mouth next to his ears and whispered to him.

“My friend thinks you’re cute.”  She said quietly, and then swam away from him and behind her friend.  Val immediately thought “she won’t think I’m cute for long, if she see’s my legs,” but managed a charming smile.

“Oh?”  He asked.  “Well thank you.”

The friend blushed and swam off, while the other girl remained pouting and looking after her.

“You know, she’ll never find anyone if she keeps doing that.”

“Er…she’s looking for someone?”

“Yeah…but at this pace she’ll never get married.  She’ll tell me if she see’s someone she likes, but she won’t tell whoever it is she’s looking at.”  The mermaid looked back over to him and tilted her head.  “You are rather handsome, for someone stuck under a rock.  In the past I might have gone for you, but now it’s a different story.  I’ve got a mate I love beyond anything.  How about you?”

“No, I’m afraid I’m quite single and hoping to keep it that way.”

Her already large eyes got larger.  “You don’t want to mate?”
“Oh, I’d like to mate, but I don’t want one.”  He said, a little stunned at the intimacy of the casual conversation, as well as the fact that she still didn’t notice he wasn’t all mer. She looked confused at the response.

“Well…that’s odd.  I’ve heard some Mareshe are like that, but you look like a normal versall to me.”  She shrugged.  “To each their own, I guess.  It was nice talking to you…um…”

“Valrian.”

“Ah!  Valrian.  Your name is redemption, how interesting.  My name is Keerlay.”

“That’s a lovely name as well, although I have no idea what it means.”

She looked a little uncomfortable and mumbled something too low to hear.

“Er…what?”  Val asked, and she bit her lip.

“Manly.”  She finally said.  “My name means manly.  I was born looking like a boy.”

Val laughed at that.  “I don’t believe that for a second.”

“It’s true, at least according to my parents and everyone else who knew me back then.  I looked like a boy, so they named me manly.”  She smiled.  “I would help you but you’re already half out of the rock and I have chores to be doing.  Good luck, redemption.  You’ll need it.”

“Thank you manly.”  He replied, and she gave a small laugh, and then began swimming after her friend.  Before she was entirely out of vision he called after her.  “Hey!  Keerlay!  Do you happen to know a mer named Morivan?”

She turned and looked back, long hair fanning out behind her.  “Morivan?”

“Yes!”

“The prince?”

“Er…is there another?”

“Not that I know of.”

“The one I’m looking for is a warlord.  He was a general in the war
against the mareshe.”

“That’s him then!  Hey, how come you don’t know who Lord Morivan is?”

“I’ve…been out in the rivers for a while, visiting the nemphe!”

“Wow…that must have been a long while.  The War ended nineteen years ago! How old are you?”

“Thirty four!”

“Really?”

“Yeah!”

“Amazing!  I thought you were twenty, if that!”

Valrian felt a little nervous about the lies he was telling her, but pushed on anyway.

“Now that he’s a prince, does he still live where he used to?”

“Of course not!  His mate is the Mareshe Princess Sulara!  He only visits Versallian cities to see his people.  If you’re headed to his old home, he’s not there right now.  He’s in the Mareshe Capital Kavinel.  Good luck getting in though.  That place has been under lock and key ever since Lord Aderyn defected and went into hiding.  Morivan and Aderyn became enemies in during the war, although no one knows why and Morivan won’t speak of it.  Though, you were fourteen at the time, so you probably know more about it than I do.”

“I see…”  Val said under his breath.  This journey was suddenly becoming a lot more complicated than he originally thought.  “Thanks Keerlay!” He shouted at her.  “Thanks a ton!”

“No problem!  When you see him, tell him the versall miss him!  Tell him Keerlay and her mate Krial send their best wishes to him and his mate!”

“All right!  Bye!”

“Bye!”

Only when she was out of site did he finally remove himself from the rock.  Then he promptly kicked himself for being nearly caught, lying to a perfectly friendly mermaid, and traveling in the wrong direction for nearly twenty four hours.  At the same time he was glad to have met Keerlay and her friend.  Especially Keerlay, since she had provided some invaluable information to him, and surprising insights on life after his father’s death.

The war had only lasted three years, if he did his math correctly.  During
the war, Morivan had turned traitor, and the only ones who knew were Morivan, whoever he had spoken to, his father Aderyn, as well as Rachelle and Valrian.  To cover up Aderyn’s death, Morivan had apparently claimed some kind of dispute came between them, and Aderyn had defected and gone into hiding.  Now Morivan was married to a mareshe princess, possibly in line for Mareshe throne, and hailed among his people as some great merman.  Which Valrian concluded to mean Morivan must have claimed Aderyn was a traitor, and after he had killed Aderyn to keep him silent forever, he must have claimed a trophy of some sort for bringing peace to the Versall and Mareshe.  The trophy being the princess.

The more he thought about it the more angered he became.  Morivan was literally living like a king for his crimes, while his mother and he sat miserable on land, and his father rotted underground like some…like some…human.  It made Val’s blood boil just thinking it.  The only thing that did make him feel remotely glad was his name.  He had not known it was a versall name, let alone its meaning.

Redemption.

Smiling evilly he pulled himself totally out of the rock, then reached in for his bag and opened it up to grab a laminated piece of paper.

Redemption.

He unrolled the plastic covered map and glanced at it, then shoved it back in and grabbed a different one.

Redeem.

This one was correct, and he memorized it carefully, being sure to note exactly where Kavinel was located in terms of human latitude and longitude, as well as direction.  Then he carefully rolled it back up and put it back in.

He was more than ready to redeem his father’s name, and his mother’s happiness.

x~x~x~x~x~x

In Kavinel, Morivan was happily conferring with the king, whose only son had just died, thus placing Morivan and Sulara in immediate line for the throne.  Sulara, being too upset over her little brother’s death to attend the meeting, lay sobbing in their room, and shouting angrily at every attendant who dared called her “your majesty” instead of “my lady.”  Instead it was only he and the king speaking, as well as a nearby servant whose entire life revolved around keeping his ears closed and mouth shut during such talks.

Morivan was still a handsome looking mer, even though he was in his early fifties.  He did not appear it though, and instead appeared more in his late twenties.  All mers aged slowly though, so he was fairly normal in appearance.  His skin was not nearly as dark as a mareshe, seeing as he was used to dark ocean waters, but years of living with them had made him a rather dark versall.  He was a medium grayish blue, much like a dolphin.  His eyes were slanted, light, and navy blue in color, with four dark, slanted markings above them in a mimicry of eyebrows.  He had the long, strong body of a warrior, even though was not one anymore, and bold features, with high cheekbones, a long, full mouth, and a large crown on his head, with dark gray webbing on it, was well as between his fingers and on the end of his tail.  His hair, silent testament to his true age, floated behind him and came to rest below right his hips. It was a dark blue in color, nearing black.

The old king, in contrast, was strikingly mareshe.  He was crownless in fins, but undeniably nobility, with his many jeweled decorations around his neck.  He was smaller than Morivan, being a mere nine feet compared to his son-in-laws eleven, and his hair came nearly to his mid-tail.  His skin was a deep green-gray, with a whiter underbelly.  Unlike Morivan, he was more colorful and decorative.  He had large side fins coming from his hips and ending mid-tail, with light green webbing between them, as well as the same webbing between his long fingers, ear fins, and end of tail.  His hair was the same green as his skin, albeit without any gray tones to it.  Like all Mareshe, his eyebrows were a series of colorful dots over his eyes, with the first being longer than the following.  He had seven in total.  Nearly eighty in years, he appeared to be in his early forties.  His eyes were larger and rounder than Morivan’s, but eerily human looking with the way they focused them on the pupil-less Versall Prince.

“Morivan…”  He rasped out in a dark voice when his daughter’s mate glided into the room.  In return Morivan bowed his head in respect, then proceeded to come fully into the room when bade to do so.

“Greetings, Father King.”  Morivan said, showing respect for his station as well as their relationship.

“Sit down my son, for I have news to tell you.”

“If it is of the young prince, I have already heard, your majesty.”

“Indeed so.  What do you make of all this?”

“It is greatly sad, but his highness did suffer a large deal with his illness.  Maybe it is best that he is at peace.”

“Better for him, or for you?”

“Him, naturally.  Even if he had not succumbed to deaths call I would still have been in line for your throne.”

“Until he mated and produced an heir, of course.”

“Of course.”

“This now means that your son will inherit after your death.  How does this make you feel?”

“…It is not…displeasing to me, your majesty.”

The king let out a rasping laugh, which quickly died down to soft chuckles, until it silenced itself.  They sat for several long moments, until the king spoke again.

“Go and comfort Sulara with this news, for I am sure she will not have thought of her child being king, let alone her status as future queen.  Tell her I wish to see her, for even though I am king, I am as much a grieving father as she is a grieving sister.  I wish to grieve together.  Send your sons too.  They have lost an uncle last night.”

“Yes, your majesty.”

“Prepare for the funeral as well.  I am much too disconsolate to attend to matters of state, let alone the burial of my only son.”

Morivan gave another bow, and then left the room.  While outside he appeared to be in grief over the young prince’s death, inside he was screaming to the heavens in joy.  He had not liked the young prince much, seeing as the boy had always seemed too weak for status of king, regardless of mental aptitude.  He had also been too shrewd, and openly distrusting of the versall who had married his sister.  A mere twenty six years and the boy was now dead, thanks to being born too early, too small, and with too soft an immune system.  It was good the kings mate was now dead after birthing one son and seven daughters, for now there was no fear of a second son being born, and the wait for the throne longer, or worse, gone altogether if a second son had mated and had a son.  In the Versall world he couldn’t have amounted to half so much, seeing as his title came not through birth or marriage, but by hard work.  The versall people had little use for titles beyond that of warlords and generals.  Common vote decided what course to take, and even the king himself labored like some simple country mer.  His title was for show only, and had been for several hundred years.

Among the Mareshe though, Morivan was practically a god.  Versall’s gave him the respect due to his rank as general, and called him by his Princely title once in a great while, but the Mareshe truly respected him.  He had single handedly brought peace to the warring nations, practically won the war for them during so, and had kept peace between the two for years.  Territories were marked down clearly, with shared ocean area known to all.  Mareshe were welcome in the deep, and Versall were welcome in the reefs.

The only black spot on his record was Aderyn, but even there the true story was unknown.  It was common belief that Warlord prince Aderyn had turned his back on all mers, after getting jealous of Morivan and attempting to kill him.  No one, save those involved, knew Morivan had helped win the war by giving away army positions to Mareshe Lords, and then ended up getting caught by Aderyn.  No one, save those involved, knew Aderyn was dead, and that he had mated with a human female.  Even so, only Morivan knew of the child.  He had seen the wretched thing himself after warning its hideous mother to keep it out of the ocean before its birth.  The little beast had tried so hard when it was younger to dive right in, and Morivan wished it had.  Then he could have put it, and himself, out of misery.  But the mother had always come running to save the creature.

Now he assumed it probably had died, or maybe it was too afraid to come into the water after years of dire warning.

It was truly a shame too.  Aderyn had been the only royal versall Morivan had respect for.  He was the only one who fought for his people, the only one who didn’t act as though he was common birth.  They had grown up together, even been friends.  But Aderyn had to go and become the greater warlord, the more respected general.  He had to be noble and courageous.  By promising to report him to all Versall for his actions, Aderyn had secured his death.  By climbing on land and risking exposure to some human, he had proven himself a braver man.  By meeting and foolishly mating with a human, Aderyn had lost all rights to be a mer.

It was useless regretting the past they had shared.  The prince was dead, and there was nothing to be done about it.  If Morivan was to do it all over again, he wouldn’t change a thing.  Aderyn’s death had secured Morivan’s title.  The only mistake was in not succeeding to kill Aderyn before that human woman had a child by him.  Now Morivan had to live in silence over a half-breed surviving in the world, against all mer law, as well as natural ones.

He passed the guard near his mate’s room and inclined his head a little when the merman bowed.

It was great to be Crown Prince.

It would be greater to be King.