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And while they spent most of their time together learning each other without words, but with kisses, touches, moans and sighs, they learned to communicate through their minds somehow. And knew each other’s thoughts with a simple glance.
She told him stories about her childhood in the Highlands, and he shared the best memories with Rai and Kai before the War of the Gods.
He kept her away from the hurtful parts of his past, the pain and torture he’d endured for the past few millennia. But somehow, she knew them too. As if she’d lived through the darkness with him. As if she hurt right alongside him.
In Edinburgh, they headed east to the secluded sands of Portobello. It was a growing bathing resort, but still mostly private, with walled-off properties that restricted access to the beach.
Here, Annie’s magic came in handy, for she managed to charm a wealthy estate owner to grant them privileges gold alone might not have bought.
Sai wondered whether Annie had been using her charms all along to help Ben, herself and Brigid get their way with the Rathbournes and others. The girl had a way about her that convinced people to see only what she wanted them to see.
Now, Sai, in merman form, took the three humans deep-sea diving beneath the waves.
With a brief touch to each of their mouths, he gave them enough breath to last for hours. Plenty of time to show them the wonders of his domain.
Unfortunately, propriety constrained them in clothes, though the underthings they wore were already scandalous amongst mixed company, according to Brigid. Fortunately, Annie convinced the estate owner to find and lend them (permanently) new sets of clothes, so they didn’t have to contend with reusing the drenched outfits from their oceanic adventures.
They swam with sperm whales and dolphins. Followed clusters of jellyfish and starfish as they bobbed with the waves. He showed them a sea mouse scuttling across the ocean floor. A variety of colorful sea urchins and coral reefs, and all kinds of exotic fish.
He didn’t transform into dragon, though Ben and Annie begged him to. For now, he wanted to keep his animal form only for Brigid.
They smiled at each other with secret knowledge.
It felt good to belong to her.
Later that night, after his rejuvenation in the sea, they retired to the beach manor that the owners had helpfully vacated for their use. They steamed black bream and roasted haddock for supper, while Sai snacked beforehand on raw bull huss and skate.
Around a crackling fire, they gathered now.
Brigid leaned against Sai as she sat in his lap, his arms wrapped around her, a blanket covering them both. Ben commandeered the largest, deep-seated, tufted chair, and Annie sat on the thick sheep fleece closest to the hearth.
“That was by far one of the best days I’ve had in recent memory,” Ben said, sipping on his hot chocolate.
“Nothing like diving with a merman! I’ll never look at the sea the same way again. It’s a whole universe I’ve taken completely for granted, never knowing how little I actually knew about it.”
“Are there civilizations beneath the seas?” Annie asked. “I mean, not just fish but human civilization? Like the Lost City of Atlantis or something?”
“That’s just a fictional place,” Ben said. “It’s an allegory on the hubris of competing nations. It doesn’t really exist.”
“Vampires, elves and faeries don’t exist either,” Annie retorted.
Ben shrugged. It seemed that she had a point.
Annie turned to Sai as she asked, “Well? Are there? You’ve shown us that just one breath from you can allow us to stay submerged for hours in the water. Surely there are other human creatures like you who live beneath the seas?”
She turned back to Ben.
“Didn’t you say that your Uncle Ere encountered a treasure dragon who lived beneath the seas on his first quest?”
“Yes,” Ben recalled. “Her name is Rui. She and her Mate split their time between the seas and the Celestial Realm, or so I hear.”
They both turned to look at Sai expectantly.
“Yes,” he finally replied.
“There are civilizations beneath the seas where humans may dwell. They are rare, but they do exist. One day, perhaps I can show you. But the closest city is far from here.”
“Fascinating,” Brigid murmured, her eyes wide behind those adorable spectacles as she swiveled around to look at him.
