A Tail of Love - Book One: Forever Fins

Forever Fins-Nine

Today I would go to court with Daddy. Thankfully it would last all day and I would not have to speak with anyone but the merfolk who had concerns or complaints and Daddy. The day passed by in a blur. When we were finished I went to the mess hall for Dinner. I sat with Nanami again but Eli forced his way onto my other side. I looked at my food and did not speak unless spoken to. Eli tried to talk with me but Nanami, being the best friend I could ask for, kept either interrupting him to ask a question, or to tell him something.

After a few minutes of this he took the hint and stopped talking. I noticed that he still had on the bracelet I had given him. When dinner was over I swam through the palace gardens with Nanami for a while until she went to go meet Markel, her mate. After she left I swam up to the observatory. We had a sort of telescope there and it could see to the surface. I looked at the stars and the moon until I grew tired. I swam back to my room, dreading tomorrow.

I fell into a restless sleep, having nightmares about Eli writing in pain on the palace floor.

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I woke with a start, siting bolt up in my bed, panting. After I calmed down I got out of bed and slowly swam down to the grand hall. Today Eli would leave and I would never see him again. I ate in silence and Eli did not try to talk. He seemed as sad as me. When we finished eating I swam over to him. I pulled my necklace off my head and held it out to him.

"You can have this back." He shook his head.

"No matter how many times ya' try and give it back, I won't take it. I gave it ta ya' for a reason and that reason is I Love Ya'. It would kill me if I knew that ya' didn't have it. That's also the same reason why I won't give this bracelet back, because I know ya' love me too." I could have sworn his eyes turned completely black for a second, but I blinked and it was gone.

He swam over to my father and said something. Daddy nodded when he was done speaking and got up and swam over to me. "Aura, Eli tells me that it is his birthday today, he will be eighteen in about 10 minutes. For his present he has requested that you show him everything that our magic can do before he has to sever the bond and leave for the surface." I nodded and gestured for Eli to follow me.

I brought him to the gardens and sat down on a bench in the middle. I took his hand. "Our magic lets us control the temperature of our bodies and other things around us." I chilled my skin and made Eli's skin cold as well. He shivered. I heated up my skin until I felt him wince. I returned my temperature to normal. "We can also see into the minds of other creatures. I will not show you that because it is exhausting for me to hold my mind open like that as well as yours." He nodded.

"You know about transfiguring and bonding. The only other thing our magic can do is create electricity." I sent a jolt through his arm and he jumped. It was almost time for his separation.

"Thanks for allowing me to see all that. Your amazing Aura, I hope you know that." I blushed and turned to swim away but he grabbed my hand.

"Look at me Aura." I did not look at him for a few minutes. I started to turn my head when I heard something whisper in the back of my mind. 'Arista damn Finny for hurting Aura.' I stared wide eyed at Eli.

"Did you say something just now?" Eli shook his head. I pulled out of his grip and swam away. What had just happened? Was Eli messing with me? No he would not do that.

I was worried but I had to think about the separation that Eli would go through in a few minutes. I swam to the great hall and saw that it was swarming with guards. I looked for Sid.

"Sid, what is going on?" He looked at me.

"There's a selkie in the palace." I gasped and looked at the space between the guards. There was a woman with dark skin and dark brown hair kneeling on the floor. She had sleek brown seal fins.

She looked up and I saw that it was Aris. What was going on? I saw Eli enter the hall and when he saw Aris his eyes widened and he swam towards her as fast as he could. The guards moved to stop him, but somehow he was faster than they were.

"Aris what ar' ya doing here?" She looked up at Eli and held her arms out to him. He hugged her.

"I came here to see if you were alright, when I went to your house I saw you weren't there so I scoured the waters for you until a little fish told me that you had been seen in the kingdom of Nure. I feared the worst and came here to help you. Clearly I was wrong about why you are here."

I was confused. Daddy swam over to them. "What is going on here?" He saw Aris and he stopped swimming. "A selkie. Who are you? Why are you here? And how do you know Elias?" She pushed Eli behind her before she got up and looked at Daddy.

"Your majesty, I come here in peace. My name is Aris Rostal Clevaltin. I am here because I wanted to know if Eli was alright. He wasn't home when I went looking for him and a fish told me that he was here. As for how I know Eli. He is my grandson." Everyone gasped. Daddy narrowed his eyes and looked at Eli.

"Is this true?" He was about to answer when his eyes widened and turned black. He convulsed and curled up into a ball, gasping. Aris moved to him and placed her hand on his back.

"What is happening to him?" She looked at me.

"He has turned eighteen. His first transformation is starting. It will be painful because he wasn't above water when it started. I hope he lives."

Eli cried out and when I looked at him, his legs were gone. In their place was a set of sleek, leathery, gray seal fins with black and white spots. He stopped convulsing and slowly his breathing became normal. He uncurled from a ball and looked at me. I flinched at his eyes. They were black. They slowly turned back into their normal color.

"Aris, thanks for being here." She nodded. Daddy turned to him.

"Guards, take them to the dungeon." I looked at Daddy. The guards roughly grabbed them and led them away.

As he passed me Eli meet my eyes. I heard his voice in my mind, as clear as if he were speaking. 'I'm sorry for not telling ya sooner but I didn't know how. No matter what happens remember I Love Ya' Aura.' I reached out to him but he was already gone.

"Daddy what is going to happen to him?" He looked at me.

"He will be tried for crimes against the kingdom. If he is found guilty then I will have no choice but to put him to death." I felt my eyes turn silver.

"Why? On what grounds do you have to do this?" He narrowed his eyes.

"He has clearly tried to get close to you so he could kill you. It was only luck that Finnora brought him here before he could hurt either one of you."

I was so stunned that I could not move. "Eli would not do that. He loves me. And I love him." Daddy looked at me.

"My word is final Aura, you would do well to remember that." I looked down, unable to meet his eyes. "Go to your room please." I nodded.

"Yes father." He left and so did everyone else. I was all alone. I swam back to my room, if I had been on land I would be crying all night.