Stolen Dream

Chapter Seventeen

The executions were hard to watch.

Sanyo forced himself not to look away when Milly and Mirek were killed. Their deaths were, thankfully, quick and, he hoped, painless as well.

Once they were gone, their bodies were taken away to be thoroughly disposed of. Nothing of their species was ever left to be discovered by humans. It was why there were always hunters to track down missing merfolk. Even if they were eaten, there could be pieces left behind that would need disposing of.

It wasn't a pleasant thought, but Sanyo was quickly discovering that much of his responsibilities revolved around unpleasantness.

After the executions, he was escorted back to the main chamber where he would be expected to hear all the merfolk who had come to see him. They would swear their loyalty and tell him their troubles.

It was a monotonous evening.

When he'd had enough, he asked his mother if they send the rest away until the following evening.

Chari took over from there. Thanking everyone for their patience, but the Sovereign had had a difficult day and needed his rest. Please return the following sunset if you wish to be heard.

Sanyo retreated to his personal chambers and fell back on the rock chair his father had favored.

"Sire?"

Sanyo inwardly groaned. "Yes?"

Novo entered. "Would you be willing to meet some candidates for your personal attendant now?"

"How many are there?"

"Half a dozen or so."

"What should I ask them? What, exactly, does an attendant even do?"

Novo sighed. "Your attendant is the one who helps lift some of the burden of Sovereignty from your shoulders. She will send messages, retrieve whatever or whoever you need, act as both a companion and confidante. If you don't want to speak to anyone, she will tell them to go away in your stead. Many of the things your mother and I have been doing on your behalf would become her responsibility while we would go back to being responsible only for our own positions and advising you."

Sanyo heard the edge in Novo's voice near the end. The researcher was wearying of his extra responsibilities. "I know you've gone above and beyond the last few days, Novo. You don't know how much I appreciate it. Send the first one in. I'll take it from there."

Novo inclined his head.

The first option was a complete bust. She was annoyingly bubbly. The second was far too dour, bringing his mood down right from the start. The third was a possibility. He told her to send the next one in, but stay close. The fourth was also a bust. The fifth was...ideal. He stared into her eyes for a full minute before realizing she'd said something. "I'm sorry, what?"

Aliya smiled shyly. "I said, 'my name is Aliya.'," she repeated.

"Sanyo."

"I know. At this point, everyone knows who you are."

He couldn't stop staring at her. She was unlike any mermaid he'd ever seen before. Most of their kind had two main colours for their most important features: their hair one, their eyes and scales another.

Aliya was also dual-coloured, but not like he'd ever seen before. Her entire self aside from her skin was two colours, black and pink. Her hair was mostly black with a thick streak of pink near the front. Her eyes were also black with starbursts of pink throughout the irises. Her scales were pink with black along the bottom edges.