(M/M) Becoming His Mate: A Prince's Tail

Chapter 4

Alastair looked at Varian, puzzled. "What do you mean?"

"There is another reason for the tensions between your people and mine," Varian explained. "A few decades ago, the king of the Outlanders kidnapped a citizen from Avalon. Through means of seduction and trickery, he brought her to his lair and forced her to be his queen. For that reason, he was banished to the Outlands, where he now wages war against us."

Alastair shuddered, remembering words that his father had once said to him. "The merfolk who live there are extremely dangerous. If they were to catch you alone, they would not hesitate to drag you under the surface to your death. Until we have driven them from our waters for good, no one is allowed to venture out to sea. Especially my own children!"

However, now that he had a better idea in regards to his father's rationale in his hatred towards the merfolk, Alastair once again found himself feeling frustrated. It was so unfair, yet so predictable, that his father's animosity was based purely on the actions of one of the merfolk. Unsurprisingly, he was using it as justification for the belief that all of their kind were evil.

"Are you all right, Alastair?"

The concern in Varian's voice snapped Alastair out of his thoughts. He hadn't realized it, but his fingers had dug into the course sand of the shore, squeezing tightly as he clenched them into fists. He let out a breath through his nostrils, lifting his hands to settle them on his knees.

"I'm fine," he said quietly. "I admit that I am angry. From what you have told me, my father is truly an ignorant fool. He would rather assume all of you to be evil just for the actions of one merman than consider that there are different sides to the story."

"That is true..." Varian said thoughtfully. His tail swished in the waves, the end tracing patterns in the sand as he pondered the situation. Suddenly, his face brightened as inspiration struck, and he smiled at Alastair. "Although, I think I may have an idea."

"What's that?"

"Since your kind know so little about mine and our world, maybe you should see it for yourself. Then if you tell your father knows what we're really like, he'll see that we have more in common than he thinks."

"What, you mean you'll take me there?" Alastair said, his voice going quiet with hushed wonder. "I'll be able to see the ocean?"

"Yes," said Varian, smiling at Alastair's wide-eyed excitement. "I'll need to return home to inform my family of your arrival, but yes."

Alastair smiled. "I would be honored."

"Wonderful!" said Varian happily. "I'll be back for you in three days, at sundown."

Then there was a splash, and Varian's tail was the last Alastair saw of him as he disappeared beneath the waves once more.