“It's beautiful,” Maribelle said in awe. She stared out of the window. Coraltide was by far the most beautiful city she had ever seen. Nothing on the surface could compare to it. Bryn had told her about how merfolk were able to sculpt the growth of coral into a new home and she had to admit it was impressive. Coraltide was a great colge of colour, buildings stood proudly in different shades of red, orange, purple, green and blue. Large posts were pnted into the ground which gleamed with such brightness. Her old hometown could never hold a candle to the bright array of Coraltide.

  Joyce chuckled as she swam next to Maribelle. “You've said that before you know. In fact I’m very sure you say it every time you pass a window.”

  Maribelle coughed awkwardly. “Well it's true. Maybe if you knew what our homes were like on the surface you'd understand,” she said with a slight pout.

  Joyce ughed mischievously and gave Maribelle a sly smile. “So how are you doing now? Yesterday was a right shock to, right?”

  “Yes, of course it was. However, I've had a chance to come to terms with what happened to me, and to be honest, I'm feeling much calmer now,” Maribelle replied with some hesitation.

  “But?” Joyce asked as if she knew there was more than the matter.

  “But, there's still so much going on. I'm a mermaid Joyce. I used to think you were just a myth invented by someone, and now I'm one of you,” Maribelle said, her tail swishing gently in the water.

  “Quite the improvement if you ask me,” Joyce teased with a wink.

  Maribelle's cheeks burned. She tried to turn her head to hide her blush but Joyce's soft ughter told her she had seen it. “Well,” she started as she put her hands on her scaly hips. They felt so strange. “Don't get used to it Joyce. I pn on returning to the surface as soon as I can.”

  “Ah, such a shame Maribelle. You truly want to return the nd with the king giving you orders and the priests telling you how to think? Have you considered that maybe you might actually be happier down here?” Joyce said as sly as ever.

  Maribelle struggled to find an answer to Joyce's question.

  “Joyce, could you please not tease Maribelle so much,” Bryn pleaded as she swam up to them.

  Oh goodness, Bryn looked very pretty. True, Joyce was cute but personally Maribelle found Bryn much prettier. The deep blue shirt and skirt Bryn wore really complimented her grey skin and scales. The gold neckce and bracelets she wore were beautiful. And her bck hair had been styled so wonderfully. Without knowing it, Maribelle started to fidget

  “It's fine Bryn, we were just having a friendly chat, right Maribelle?”

  “Y-yeah,” Maribelle said slightly absentmindedly. She really couldn't stop staring at Bryn.

  “I see,” Bryn said, floating closer to Maribelle. “Well, are you ready?”

  Ready for what? Maribelle snapped out of her daze. How could she forget, they pnned it yesterday. Bryn was going to show her around Coraltide. Partly to introduce her to how merfolk lived but mostly so that Maribelle could get used to her new form. Maribelle's side fins twitched reminding her of the fact that she was not human right now.

  “Oh, yes, yes I am,” Maribelle said. “You lead the way, Bryn."

  *****

  Maribelle and Bryn swam through the streets of Coraltide, their hands held together. Joyce had parted ways ciming that ‘she had pces to be and things to do’. Maribelle could not help but feel a little relieved as Joyce’s words had a way of finding their way under her skin. What was the Eelin trying to achieve? Furthermore, she was grateful for Bryn's assistance as she was still getting used to having a tail. True, she knew how to flick her tail and propel herself through the water, but she needed far greater control over it. Rather than pull Maribelle along, Bryn chose to swim at Maribelle's pace. Though sometimes she did have to pull Maribelle back if she was getting too far ahead, or guide her away if they were getting closer to another group of merfolk. There was a lot to get used to with swimming with a tail, but Maribelle was learning.

  There were so many merfolk swimming around, and not only that but there were so many different types of merfolk. She could see other mermaids, mersharks and some that looked simir to Joyce but their tails were more serpentine. A few had horns while a few others had fin-like wings. She grew up surrounded by just humans, but here there was such diversity.

  Maribelle felt vulnerable as she swam along. If anyone looked at her for any amount of time they would realise she has come from the surface. Not only did her clothes mark her out, but while everyone swam with grace she clumsily floated through the water. What would they think of her? Bryn had shown her nothing but kindness and although Joyce enjoyed teasing her, she was also warm and friendly. But the others, surely they would see her as nothing more than an outsider, right? She sincerely hoped that no one would take offence to her presence.

  Maribelle felt Bryn squeeze her hand and turned to face the mershark.

  “There's some great street food down this corner, Maribelle. If you liked my sushi then I'm sure you'll love what's on offer here,” Bryn said with a hopeful grin.

  Maribelle had to admit she was a little peckish and nodded back. "Sounds good."

  Bryn guided Maribelle around the bend – it was almost disorienting, if only for a moment, and the moment her bance returned, Maribelle could not help notice the smell of food. The side of the street was lined with just over a dozen stalls, each one selling something different but equally tempting. She really wanted to try something, maybe everything if she was allowed to.

  “A friend of mine runs one of these stalls, she is very kind,” Bryn said pointing ahead. Maribelle felt Bryn gently tug her towards one of the stalls. As they got closer, Maribelle flicked her tail out and her side fins filed like crazy to stop her momentum. However, she was forced to grab onto the stall bar to completely stop. How bothersome. I better get the hang of this soon.

  Maribelle found a stool to sit on but found she did not need much rest. If she had run for as long as she swam she would have required rest. It would appear that swimming was far less tiring than walking.

  “You're doing well Maribelle,” Bryn said as she also took a seat. Maribelle could help but smile a little at the praise.

  “Oh, I just had someone helping me that's all,” Maribelle said, looking slightly away.

  “Nonsense, I think you're making very quick progress. You are adapting much faster than others would,”

  “Do you-” Maribelle hesitated for a moment. “Do you do this often?”

  “Do what?” Bryn asked.

  Maribelle paused while considering her words. “You know, saving others like you did me.”

  Bryn looked down at her hands. “Not often, no. Humans tend to stay on their ships, so it's rare when-” Bryn's hands clenched. “That happens. And even then, sometimes.” Her voice trailed off with her echo of sadness.

  The sound of merfolk conversing with each other hung over the two merfolk sitting in silence.

  “I am so very sorry Maribelle,” Bryn whispered.

  Maribelle was about to respond when she heard a voice from the stall shout out in a nguage she did not understand.

  Quickly brightening up, Bryn ughed to herself. “Toya was distracted reading a book,” she expined to Maribelle.

  Wait, merfolk have books? How do they have books down here in the sea? Perhaps they used some special technique to protect the paper from water damage or used a water proof material. Maribelle would have to ask Bryn about it ter.

  A merfolk, presumably Torya, swam out of the stalls room. She certainly looked strange, even compared to the other merfolk. She didn't have a tail like everyone else did, rather she had eight tentacles coloured with a red hue.

  Torya said something to Bryn with great cheer and then turned her gaze to Maribelle. “Ahhh. You're wearing surface dweller clothes, you seem rather uneasy with everything going on, and you're also with Byrn.” The merfolk leaned in closer. “I think we have another person recently saved by our most benevolent sea witch.” the merfolk smirked.

  Wait a moment, how did this merfolk know her nguage?

  “Well I could hardly let Maribelle drown, that would have been wrong,” Bryn said meekly. Maribelle shuddered as the memory of falling into the sea returned.

  “Of course, no one is judging you Bryn. In fact I say keep it up,” the merfolk said, still smiling. “Maribelle is it, that's a lovely name by the way. How are you feeling?”

  Maribelle leaned on the table. “Fine, I guess. There is just so much going on, sometimes it's just a little overwhelming and I just don’t know how I am going to cope with it all,” she sighed. “I have a tail for goodness sake, I did not used to have one, you know.”

  The merfolk gently pced her hand on top of Maribelle’s hand and smiled warmly. “It's going to be just fine, you're in safe hands and if anyone is going to get you where you need to be it's Bryn.” the merfolk chuckled for a moment. “Things could have been much more complicated, you know.”

  “What do you mean?” Maribelle asked.

  The merfolk’s tentacles twitch as she thought for a moment. “Well I am a cecaelia, and some time ago Bryn here saved another life, just like she did yours. Except rather than end up a mermaid, she became a cecaelia like me. As you can imagine she had quite a shock when she woke up.” she ughed and gestured to her tentacles.

  “Oh Light.” Maribelle put a hand close to her mouth, from personal experience she knew that the other human must have been terrified when she discovered her new form. “Was she okay?”

  “Oh she was just fine, she had Bryn with her, and sure it took time, but in the end she adapted to everything with enthusiasm.”

  “And did she stay in the end?” Maribelle asked, nervously pressing her hands together.

  The cecaelia beamed triumphantly. “Of course she did, she's my wife.”

  Maribelle sat straight up with shock. Wait, that's possible? A woman could love another woman. Such a radical idea. True, she had never been interested in men, but she had never once thought she could be interested in women.

  And she chose to stay. She had become one of the merfolk, and rather than return to the nd, she chose to remain in the sea. Why?

  “Aha, the shock on your face right now definitely tells me you're from the surface,” the cecaelia ughed loudly. In response, Maribelle blushed deeply.

  “Torya, please. Maribelle gets teased enough by Joyce already,” Bryn said, trying to look at the cecaelia but being unable to meet her eyes.

  “Right, I am sorry if I caused you any distress, Maribelle.” Torya bowed slightly. “You came here for food and I ended up trying to talk your ear-fins off. So what would you like to eat?”

  “Well, what can I get?” Maribelle asked. She looked around but could not find anything to suggest what was being offered.

  In response to Maribelle’s question, Tor enthusiastically began to expin her cooking. As the cecaelia expined, she had a special device that when used would cook fish by grilling it. Apparently the device was some form of magitech that drained the water out so that the fish inside could be grilled. Some parts of the expnation went over her head as there were terms she had never heard of before. This was going to have to be another thing to question Bryn on ter. In the end, Maribelle chose to try out some grilled swordfish. She watched as Torya worked the grilling device and could smell the fish inside cooking. Her side fins slightly twitched in excitement.

  Soon both Bryn and Maribelle were presented with ptes with very generous amounts of grilled swordfish. Maribelle carefully cut a slice off and took a bite. Oh, it tasted really good. The fish was very tender and the grilling really gave it a good smoky fvour, which was amusing considering she was underwater. She quickly ate the rest of the swordfish, almost forgetting to savour the taste.

  “That tasted great, thank you Torya,” Maribelle said gratefully. The hole in her stomach had been filled very well.

  Before she sat sail she never had the chance to eat fish. On the voyage there had been fish but it was so salted she could barely stand it. Now she could eat all the fish she could want and she certainly wanted more.

  “You're very welcome,” Torya said, very pleased with herself.

  Maribelle's smile dropped as something worrying came to mind. She didn't have any money. How infuriating, she didn't even know what the merfolk used as currency. How was she going to pay for her food? She turned to Bryn with pleading eyes.

  Torya's ughter pulled Maribelle's attention. “Oh don't worry about paying. Consider the meal a gift.”

  Food for free? “But why?” Maribelle asked, unable to understand Torya's generosity.

  “Because you're clearly going through a lot right now, and if I can help make you feel just a little better then I'll do it,” Torya said. It wasn't pity in her eyes, but rather sympathy.

  Bryn pulled out a pouch from her belt intending to pay for her own meal. “You’re not paying either Bryn. You saved this fine woman's life and personally I think that's worth at least a free meal,” Torya said, while gesturing to Maribelle. “And before you argue about it, I insist.”

  Bryn hesitantly returned her pouch to her belt. Did she feel guilty, like she was taking advantage of someone's generosity? Bryn turned towards Maribelle and for a moment she looked ashamed of herself.

  Maribelle's heart sank in sympathy. Bryn had saved her life. She was a commoner, a stranger, there was nothing special about her. But still Bryn rescued her from drowning. She gently caressed her purple scales. Yes, extreme methods had been used but she was alive. That was what mattered most.

  “Thank you for your kindness, Torya, but we should get going,” Bryn said as she gracefully pushed herself away from her seat.

  “Of course, there's plenty more of the city to see right? Well I hope you enjoy your time here Maribelle,” Torya said while gathering ptes with her tentacles.

  “Thank you,” Maribelle replied. She flicked her tail out and floated away. For a moment it seemed like she was about to drift out of control but Bryn was able to catch her.

  “I got you,” Bryn said reassuringly. When she pulled her arms away, Maribelle found her hands holding where Bryn had held her. Strange, it was as if she yearned for the embrace to st just a little longer.

  Maribelle shook her head. There were more important things to think about. Like how long it would take to get used to having a tail? Or how long would it be until she saw her family again?

  Maribelle and Bryn continued swimming through Coraltide. Earlier they had passed a strange clearing surrounded by a coral structure. A few merfolk could be seen striking a ball to each other with their tails. It looked rather entertaining. Bryn expined with enthusiasm that the sport of finball was very popur and matches were often hosted on such fields. It was so popur that teams from other cities would make the long trip just to py against each other. Bryn did not py finball but did often spectate. Maribelle considered that maybe it would be nice to watch a game with Bryn.

  They were just on the way to the grand theatre. If Bryn liked finball then she must love the theatre given how passionate she spoke about it. She must have been a connoisseur with how much she knew about merfolk pys and operas. Maribelle had never seen a py before. There was a theatre at Elgarpool, but the tickets were far too expensive for a woman like herself.

  When Maribelle brought up her concerns about how much entry to the theatre would cost, she got such a confused look from Bryn. As it turned out the council subsidised the city's theatres and made all performances free to the public. There were limited tickets avaible so if someone wanted a ticket they had better be fast.

  Maribelle softly sighed. There was no chance she could outswim a merfolk. The best she could manage was slowly drifting. Still there was a strange peacefulness to swimming. All it took was a few soft kicks and she'd be floating gently through the water. However, she could not deny she wanted to try swimming faster. How fast could she swim if she really put herself to it?

  They had just passed a stone statue of what Maribelle assumed was famous merfolk when she noticed someone swimming towards them. Bryn must have noticed because she gently squeezed Maribelle's hand. Bryn looked a little worried and that made Maribelle's heart panic a little.

  As the merfolk approached, Maribelle struggled to understand what she was seeing. Was the merfolk riding some form of sea horse? No she was not. She was strange, stranger than Torya. She looked like a centaur she had seen in a book, but while she had hooves on the front, her hindlegs had merged into a long green fish tail.

  As the bizarre merfolk approached, Maribelle could not be a little awed by her imposing might. She was certainly as rge as a horse and her silvery armour glittered brightly.

  “There you are Bryn. The council have been expecting you for quite some time,” the merfolk said. She then turned her head towards Maribelle and frowned. “Well, that expins everything.”

  Maribelle gulped nervously. She was in trouble wasn't she? It was because she was an outsider.

  The merfolk crossed her arms and sighed with noticeable annoyance. “Look Bryn, you can't keep putting off your duties just because you saved another human. Come along and that's an order.”

  Bryn's gaze switched between the merfolk and Maribelle. She was torn between having to pick staying with one or the other. Her eyes pleaded for a third option but nothing presented itself.

  A small ball of fear lodged itself in Maribelle's stomach. If Bryn did not go with the merfolk to whatever the council was, she'd probably be in trouble. But if she did so, then Maribelle would be all alone. True, she would not flounder about, but she didn't know where she was or how she would return to Bryn's home. She could try and backtrack to Torya's food stall but she could still get lost. How infuriating. What was she going to do?”

  “Heyyy,” a loud voice shouted out, which she quickly recognised as being Joyce's. Maribelle watched as Joyce slithered through the water, and it was not long before she caught up to everyone. “Enjoying your time together?” Joyce asked Maribelle and Bryn. “Oh, hi Lily, I did not notice you there, sorry.”

  The merfolk named Lily rolled eyes in response. “Good to see you too, Joyce.”

  Joyce looked at the assembled merfolk and nodded a few times. “Looks like Lily is trying to drag you away,” she said. Bryn mumbled out a reluctant response. “Well how about this Bryn, you go with Lily to the council and I get to spend some quality time with Maribelle. It's only fair since you got to spend so long with her.”

  Maribelle groaned a little. It was not like she hated Joyce – sure she liked to tease her a lot, but she was not a malicious person. Maribelle was sure Joyce had some motive going on but could not figure out what it was. Maybe if she spent some more time with her she would be able to. Besides, it would be better to be with Joyce then be alone in this strange city.

  “Very well,” Bryn said with slight reluctance. She swam close to Maribelle and held her hands. “I promise you I will be back soon.” She turned to Joyce. “Please be nice.”

  “Of course I will Bryn, I promise I will be as kind as I can. In fact I am sure that Maribelle will be singing my praises by the end of the day.” Joyce’s ughter did not inspire great confidence, but there were far worse people she could spend time with. A certain soldier for example.

  Lily coughed loudly, drawing everyone's attention. Bryn took the hint, bid farewell and started to swim away with Lily.

  Once both had swam out of sight Joyce patted Maribelle on the shoulder. “That hippocampus is such a meanie. But don't worry, your best friend Joyce is here,” she said, smirking mischievously.

  Maribelle in response gave voice to a thought that crossed her mind. “Did you follow us? It was awfully convenient that you arrived just now.”

  Joyce gasped in mock horror. “Such wounding words. No, there was no need to stalk you. I know Bryn well enough to know what route she'd be taking you and that sooner than ter someone from the council would come to pick her up. She would have chosen you over them, but that would have just caused her problems. And in the very unlikely chance that she chose duty over you, poor little Maribelle would have been left stranded all alone. So I figured I'd create a solution where everyone wins.”

  Maribelle crossed her arms. “How very benevolent of you,” she said warily. What was Joyce’s pnning?

  “Very true. I suppose it's likely that Bryn wanted to show you the theatre? Joyce asked. Maribelle nodded in response. “I knew it, the theatre is nice and all, but I think there are some other things you should check out first.”

  “And that is?” Maribelle asked, wary of whatever it was that Joyce had pnned.

  “Now why would I spoil the surprise?” Joyce’s grin widened as she held out a hand. Well are you up for it or would you rather just go back to Bryn’s house?

  Maribelle stared at Joyce’s hand. Sure going back would have been the easy option, she could always see more of Coraltide another time. However, she wanted to see more of it now. She could not deny that she was intrigued by whatever it was that Joyce was too eager to show.

  Maribelle reached out and took Joyce’s hand. “I am trusting you right now, Joyce, don’t make me regret it.”

  “Oh don’t you worry Maribelle, You won't,” Joyce announced with great confidence.