She kept her eyes on his face...well, no lower than his chest...after she’d given him a quick check-out to see that he was human despite the pale blue skin and the pointy ears. She’d been right about the ears all along.
“Listen to me, Kiri,” Lathyr said patiently and she met his eyes as her gaze traveled back up. She thought his lips held a satisfied curve.
She swallowed. “Listening.”
“We have four forms.”
“Whoa.”
He chuckled.
“Human form, as I am.”
“Your skin is blue.”
“That it is,” he replied austerely. “An outer manifestation of my elemental magic nature. Just as Jenni’s skin is reddish and Aric’s has a tint of green.”
Words escaped Kiri as she understood that she’d been blind to so much around the Circle. She wondered about the other inhabitants, but wouldn’t ask.
“Kiri?”
She wet her lips, more from nerves than need. She seemed to have more spit in her mouth. If she thought about it, she could sense water from the pool penetrating her skin and going...somewhere. Plumping her tissues?
“Our form that you will feel most comfortable with is human,” Lathyr said, as if he knew her mind wandered. “Our second form is legged-mer with hardscale.”
Before she could ask anything, he’d turned different. She’d felt the spike of magic that made him other. His skin became more like tiny scales, and there was a raised pattern on his scales on both torso and legs, most beautiful. And that part of him that she’d been distracted by and was not looking at, was gone behind a bulge, nicely protected?
“Do you have an anatomy book of mer forms?” she asked.
He appeared surprised, but grinned, tilted his head toward the front of the house. “There may be one in the library.”
“Okay.”
“Now you try.”
“Wait, I want to see the differences.” She stared at him. His fingers were longer, with an extra joint, there were fins along his arms and the backs of his legs. He spread his fingers and she saw they were webbed and as she watched, hard nails extruded into claws. Looking down at his feet through the clear and still water, she saw they were also longer, webbed and clawed.
“Awesome,” she said doubtfully.
He shook his head, still smiling, and turned.
His back and butt and legs looked the same except for the fins on his legs and spine.
He swam a few strokes, his shoulder-length green—hair? plant fronds?—floating around his head. His facial structure had stayed the same.
Just like the game.
With just his head above water, not doing any paddling or anything to stay afloat despite his muscular mass, he said, “And there is full mer.” He ducked underwater and became a merman, complete with long fishtail ending in a double fin with more webbing between it. A beautiful blue-green-silver glittery tail. Sexy.
He had the same pattern on his tail as he’d had on his legs, only more complete. And when he flipped and zoomed around the pool, he was breathtakingly beautiful in his grace. He seemed longer as a full mer than he was tall as a man. Looking at the tail, it was obvious there were no legs in there, pure fish structure.
Kiri swallowed again. Fish hadn’t been her favorite thing.
But she loved the koi.
Lathyr stopped just beyond her, bobbing chest high in the water. She’d been wrong about his face. It had subtly altered, and there was tiny, delicate webbing around his nostrils. Inside?
So many questions—that she could find answers for herself if she tried to change. She knew she’d been legged-mer, and full-mer earlier, just after the transformation.
And why was she delaying? She was a magical being! She’d wanted this.
Despite all logic, she’d wanted to be an elf.
Instead she was a naiad. And that was really cool. Really.
“Think of your magical power,” Lathyr said, his voice lilting more, with undertones she could hear that humans—or even other elemental beings—might not be able to distinguish.
Lovely tones. She could be a beautiful mermaid—naiad, she corrected.
And she couldn’t go back.
She closed her eyes and felt her magic, huge and liquid and wonderful. She had this, more senses, the ability to do wondrous things, experience fabulous adventures unknown to humankind.
Smiling, she let the sense of her own magical power infuse her, felt it all along her skin, in her tissue, blood, bones. She was magical. She’d fought to become magic, to have such power, to be able to use it.
Whether she’d anticipated it or not, she was Waterfolk, mer, a naiad. Her smile widened as water lapped around her legs, as she sensed each droplet in the air around her, some even lying on wide-leafed plants, and being sucked up.
The heat of fire, the rich scent of earth, the soft press of air magic, all balanced, enveloped her. To be magical, to be naiad, was a very good thing.
“You have changed to your legged-mer form,” Lathyr said softly.
She opened her eyes and looked down. She hadn’t truly experienced the change, but now that she thought back, she recalled the fizz along her skin. And she felt different. Like his sex, hers was protected behind a fold of skin. Her nipples, too, were covered, as if she’d grown another skin-with-scales over her body. She felt slightly heavier. Sucking in her breath, she caught a fluttering around her nose. Those little curtains of web!
Slowly she touched the pad of her light-blue-skinned, longer finger to them.
“Nostril frills,” Lathyr said.
“Pretty.”
“You are exquisitely beautiful,” he whispered.
Kiri blinked, and another lid came over her eyes, one she could see through. She squealed, lost her balance and fell into the water.
Lathyr was there, taking her hand and drawing her into the deep section of the pool. Her hair had extended again, and caressed her all the way down to her waist, emerald fronds.
She angled up to take a breath, and he shook his head.
Can you hear me, Kiri? His voice came into her mind.
Startled, she backpaddled, then nodded strongly.
That is good. Now you must become accustomed to your bilungs.
Once again Kiri thought of an anatomy book. Bilungs? She thought the question at Lathyr, in what she hoped was a normal tone of “voice.”
Lungs that will take what you need from the air...or the water. Bifunctional.
“Uh-huh,” she said, and the sounds warped and escaped on bubbles and she got water in her mouth and went quiet with incipient panic.
Don’t think about breathing, just do it. Your lungs will adjust.
She didn’t see how. Almost couldn’t believe him, but had those murky recollections of being in the tank—and she couldn’t afford to disbelieve or panic.
Should I, should I open my mouth? she asked.
Swim with me, lovely Kiri. He took her hand and drew her down to the bottom of the pool. She gasped, shuddered. Trembled.
Breathed.
She kept her mouth slightly open. Probably looked odd, but it seemed to feel better...for right now. They swam slowly, then to the middle of the pool, Kiri looked down and colors there were no names for exploded into view. The pool bottom wasn’t white, like she’d thought. There was neon-purple-silver, red-violet-shining-blue, and as she stared, the pattern became a mural.
This is wonderful! She dropped his hand and sank closer...and curled her tail under her.
At the sight, she gobbled water, spewed, her lungs—bilungs—compressed, trapping water, air, stuff.
Lathyr swam close, drew her into his arms, turning her head against his chest. Breathe. Yes, you are full mer with tail. Breathe with me. One-two-three.
She did, and felt his tail brush hers...not quite sensual, or sexual, but made her very aware of her own, wide and muscular at the hips and strong all the way down, but so flexible. She felt powerful. Her beautifully curved and delicate fin at
the end of her tail wiggled. She had a tail! Eeek!
You are exquisitely Kiri. Breathe with me. One-two-three.
Exquisitely Kiri. She liked that, smiled wide and water went in and out of her mouth, necessary air went in and out of her lungs. Impossible? Or only possible with magic? Probably, but she was magic. She angled her tail to see it. Darker green than Lathyr’s, as her hair was darker.
Breathe with me. One-two-three.
She hadn’t needed the last reminder from him, breathed on her own fine, now, but bent her tail up close. I don’t have a pattern, she projected her thoughts.
Naiads and naiaders don’t, he said calmly as if it didn’t matter, though disappointment pinched at her.
I want to see YOUR pattern. She let go of his hands, backed up, and hummed with pleasure. His pattern of raised scales was nearly silver, curves and angles with white dots as punctuation above the topmost straight line. She wanted to touch but didn’t quite dare be so intimate.
She had no clue of the sexual mores of Lightfolk, or of Waterfolk, though Jenni and Aric were married, and the royals were royal couples. So much to learn.
Glancing at him, his expression now hard for her to read, she sent mentally, Do patterns matter to Merfolk? Do they indicate status?
He nodded. Very intelligent. Yes, you must have noticed my white circles, they show that I have elven blood.
Really! How cool.
He continued on, My blood is considered tainted by many mers since I am only ninety-two percent mer.
She snorted and it didn’t go right and she sucked in water or air and thrashed around until Lathyr came and grasped her, swam them to shallow water and lifted her head from the water, where she really seized.
“Breathe with me. One-two-three. Air, now, one-two-three.”
It took several minutes for her to calm and get the hang of air breathing again. “That’s, that’s...” she sputtered spit—so uncool!
“I’m sorry if I presumed.”
She grabbed his shoulders and her hands slid off the slickness, so she went for his hair. “That’s so stupid, to judge a person by their skin, their pattern...their elemental purity.”
Now his expression appeared remote. So she took a hard grip on his hair and tilted her head and kissed him.
His lips were damp with tastes of the water he’d been in...the slight floral-jasmine hint of the pool they swam in now, a trace of salt from the chamber in the basement that her tongue swept from his lips, and a tang of fish....
She pulled back. “Koi? Really? You’ve been in the koi pond?”
“It is more natural and always better balanced magically than the pools here. The koi pond is easier to transport to and from in our droplet form. Which I also need to show you.” He stepped back and away from her, and her arms dropped. She didn’t know if she’d offended him, if he was as attracted to her as she was to him. His skin seemed paler, and had a pearly sheen that she hadn’t noticed before, exciting. His features appeared sharper.
Best to be blunt. “Did you like the kiss? I did. Would you like to kiss again, or have sex?”
Chapter 23
LOUD TITTERING AND small guffaws came from the edge of the pool. Kiri looked over and saw the brownies—the couple who lived with Jenni and Aric and the ones who took care of the Castle. The two males bowed and the females curtsied.
“Now you are formally living in Castle, we formally introduce ourself,” said the browniefem. “I am Melody. My new mate, Dade. We assigned here at Castle. You stay here so should know us.”
“We are assigned here to the Castle, and you are staying here because you are now naiad and Waterfolk, so you should know us, and that we are here to care for you,” corrected the brownieman. “We would like to know which room or suite we should prepare for Kiri Palger...or whether she will share your rooms.”
Kiri’s heart thumped behind her hardscale.
“Kiri must always have rooms of her own for sanctuary, here,” Lathyr said austerely. “Prepare the secondary Merfolk suite.”
“Yes, noble Sir.”
“Meanwhile, I need to demonstrate the droplet-form to Kiri and help her practice it,” Lathyr said.
The brownies bowed and curtsied again. The Emberdrakes’ couple vanished with little pops, but Kiri thought they’d actually dematerialized themselves and sped through the walls.
Melody stared at them, her eyes protuberant. “Lathyr not...do not belong in chamber on this floor. We move you to water elemental room.”
Another chuckle and a wink from the brownieman. “We’ll make the water suite nice for you both.” Then they sped from the pool area into the hallway. And Kiri became aware that Lathyr was stroking her long hair and her back in a soothing matter.
She smiled up at him and he leaned down and brushed his mouth across hers, nibbled at her lips and said, “Yes, I like kissing you. Yes, I’d like to have sex with you. Yes, we should practice your droplet form.” Again he separated himself from her. “And once you are good in each form, we will find what kind of naiad you are.”
She blinked in confusion, still wanting his lips on hers, and her second set of eyelids came down and went up, distracting. “What do you mean?”
“You might be more comfortable living in a stream, or a pond, a spring or a lake, a river. Whether you live better in fresh or salt water. We must determine that.”
“Oh.” She looked around the beautiful room, felt the flow of water against her legs. “Not a swimming pool naiad.”
“I hope not. That would be a failure of the transformation, and I’m sure that isn’t true. You are a fully magical water elemental.”
Her mouth turned down. “And I won’t be able to live in Mystic Circle.”
“Not in your house without a pool.”
“And not here, not for long,” she said mournfully.
“No.”
“So, I will have to find my own spot.”
“That is so. We will all help you.”
“Oh, all right.”
He transformed from legged-mer to full human, keeping his paler, sparkly skin.
“Do I sparkle, too?”
“What?”
“Your skin. It has a sparkle. No, more like a sheen.”
He glanced down at himself, frowned. “I don’t see that.”
“One of the first things I noticed about you,” she insisted.
“Hmm.” His muscles flexed in his chest and upper arms. “Highly magical water elementals have more of a sheen to their skin and scales than others. That I sparkle...” He shrugged. “I gained new powers with the magic in the spring, but not enough for a permanent sheen, due to my elven blood, probably more like an occasional flicker.”
She didn’t think so, but didn’t contradict him.
“Also, we met in the evening, so it may be better seen in the twilight.”
“I suppose so.”
He walked up the ramp to the poolside and as he did, he dried off. Must be a neat water elemental trick.
“How do you do that?”
“What?”
“Dry off?”
“One absorbs all the water on one’s body into one’s skin. Were Jenni here, she’d sizzle it off with fire.”
“Oh.” Again she kept her gaze on his face, well, no lower than his nipples. As a human he had them, but as legged or full-mer they were behind that other skin, hardscale.
“It is best to practice droplet form out of the water with young mers. In the water, you might disperse too much. In the air, you hold together more.” He grimaced. “Especially air as dry as this.”
The conservatory and pool—the whole Castle—was a whole lot more humid than outside.
“Become human, Kiri,” he prompted.
It took but a thought and the fins on her arms, legs and spine disappeared as well as that other, harder, almost armorlike flesh encasing her own. Though when she studied herself, she remained blue.
He faced her and offered her his hands. When she put one of hers in h
is, he linked fingers. We will mind-speak in droplet form also.
All right. Nervous, she shifted her feet.
First, feel me dissipate. I am separating my molecules into the water droplets in the air around me.
Uh-huh. Her brain hurt if she tried to think about how that worked. Like everything else in her life, it could be answered in one word, magic. And if it worked, she didn’t need an explanation, right? Or she could learn one later.
She looked into Lathyr’s focused face, saw him begin to vanish, or turn invisible, disturbing. And her fingers began to lose his grip. Then he, as human, was gone. For a moment a colorful mist remained near, then it, too, was lost to sight.
I can move in this fashion, slowly through the air, faster if I find water, streams and rivers above or underground. Faster still with a storm.
“And the more humid the area, the faster you can go.”
That is correct. He faded in right before her as if he’d never moved, in his legged-mer form.
“Um, you just spread your molecules out, and put air molecules between them?”
That is correct. His hands were holding hers again and he lifted each of hers to his lips and kissed them. A nice little erotic shiver went through her. Romance and sex. Later. Concentrate on the now.
“What happens if something comes in between your molecules?”
Usually we are moving in this form, and keep together by magical bonds. If something threatens, we can contract or expand, or move around the other body.
“Uh-huh.”
Mental communication, please. It is better that you learn.
Very well, Kiri projected stiltedly.
Yes, you DO very well, Kiri, never think you do not. You are fully naiad, fully magic, lacking nothing. You must not doubt that.
If I do?
His body rippled in a Waterfolk shrug. You will be...a crippled mer, not reach your full potential. He paused. What is your goal as a mer?
The same as when I was a person, she replied automatically. To be the best I can be.
He smiled, kissed her lightly again, as if he’d known that all along. Perhaps you need a more solid goal, like visiting the Pacific Water Palace. It is the most beautiful of them all.
Enchanted Ever After (Mystic Circle) Page 21
