The White Queen (Beyond Endless Tides #1)

Scenes 1 and 2 (Updated)

Author note: This is an updated version as I re-edited the story as per an editor's suggestions. With some differences, I hope this adds for a much improved reader experience.

Morg watched from beneath the surface, unwilling to let her presence known. An nghoza male walked the edge of the ocean, his form danced as she watched through the water. His short hair looked strange, and unattractive. Things clung to his body, covering his nakedness. How they did it, she had no idea, nor much cared. Why though, was another matter. They were a hindrance and had to be removed before the nghoza could thrust its reproductive organ inside the ligphurs who had been here before her, doing what now was asked of her. The thought of letting him put his thing in her made her want to vomit. It was wrong, just wrong. When she was ready for mating, it'd be with a young poren, not a land dweller. She watched his movements ripple with the current, watched his legs as he walked. She stared at them crossing one another. They were what this was all about. Leader Lyon had said they had to mate with nghozas, and this would allow their young ones to grow the legs they needed to leave the oceans and walk the land. It was their only hope of securing the future of all asperini.

It was night and the light from the bright lomza glistened off his body giving him a silvered form. He stopped and looked out over her head. This was her sign to go up closer and get his attention. But she didn't want to.

She waited.

She'd been taught to be sure no females came along as they often did, and her pause would not be seen as her un-eagerness to go ahead with this, to those who watched. Her eyes had been scanning her whole swim to this point, hoping a female would come. None had.

Still she waited.

She could feel the many eyes of the Inyarl Shoal on her back, piercing and burning, willing her on. They were all back there; Leader Lyon, her haspur, her tamur and her cospur and the others, all fifty of them.

'Move forwards,' one of them urged, a ligphur, 'you have to get closer.'

She didn't want to. She wanted none of this. Her family was back there. To think they wanted her to do this filled her with a sense of unease; her haspur more than the others. Her body had been ready for mating a whole revolution of the soltaire, and Leader Lyon had wanted her put to an nghoza male sooner but her haspur had refused.

Was she supposed to be grateful? She thought of her haspur back there. Here she was, his remur and all he wanted to do was watch. Watch as she gave herself over to the land dweller and let him poison her with his life-giving formula.

The thought made her throat go dry and something wriggled in her belly, a sign of repulsion, not excitement.

She couldn't do this, wouldn't.

Moving her arms Morg backed away. Her tail was a hindrance in these shallow waters. It brushed loose stone, making manoeuvring difficult. When she was back far enough, she whipped her tail, turned and swam to the others. They'd be upset with her but they'd have to get over it.

Kerene, with her bright glowing green eyes and deep, red flowing hair met her half way. She held a look of pure disgust and knocked into Morg as they passed, ramming her in the ribs with her tail.

Morg flicked her tail to return the favour but Kerene was out of reach.

She stopped. By keeping her tail moving she could hover, still as stone. Many faces, silvered by the lomzalight, watched her. She ignored them, unwilling to face them and turned.

Kerene moved up into the shallows. She did so with her torso visible from above, not her tail. None of them knew the nghoza tongue but that didn't matter. Kerene had him entranced. Land dwellers were dumb, always curious. When she was done with him, he'd be killed - asperini had to remain hidden from the land dwellers, not killing him would forsake this ocean wide rule. Stupid nghoza, you don't realise the danger you're in.