Kiandra gazed up at the crystalline palace decorated in flat panels of pure crystal. The building seemed to shine like a beacon in the darkness. It was because of this that Balor never attacked the palace, as the demon does not like divine light.
The walls glimmered with golden light, and the flooring was polished until it shimmered gold in reflection. Crystalline pillars flickered with blue flames, spreading their blue glow to mix with the golden aura of the building. Unlike the confinements of the Breeder's cell, the palace lived up to the glory of Tír fo Thuinn.
Meara carried Kiandra inside as many of the Merrows who hadn't yet seen the star-child yet, gazed upon him in wonder. Many whispered privately of how the two of them already looked like a wedded couple. Or how Kiandra seemed to sparkle with beautiful Merrow Lights, wondering how Meara was producing so many auras.
They looked at the young man holding a solitary bluish-white Merrow Egg as it seemed that the rumors were all true...a mortal human has somehow done the impossible and become a Breeder.
There was finally hope once more that maybe just one day, Merrow children would be brough back to Murias. That their species was given a second chance at life.
A thatch bedding was set aside as the largest room in the palace was to be used as an infirmary. Many badly injured Merrows were laid upon their own thatch bedding as they were all treated by the healers.
Meara eased Kiandra down onto the thatch. She smiled to see that even though the Egg hadn't fully awakened unto him, Kiandra nevertheless cared for it as his own, cradling it and keeping it safe while Ashling was tended for her own wounds.
"Rest here." Meara tells him "I have to check up on the others."
"Okay." he replies. "And what of the Egg? I can't leave it alone!"
"Please care for it." she gently says, touching the egg and then Kiandra, smiling proudly.
"I understand." he remarked, cradling the Egg in his arms as his motherly instincts were kicking in once again...it was the same strange feeling he got from the other Egg.
Caelan came lurking over as she seemed overly thrilled to see him alive. Her desire to lie with him was still clouding her judgement. Kiandra looked at the salivating mermaid as he was just finally getting over the effects of her toxin. He screeches loudly, terrified.
"Eeee!" making a high pitch 'Merrow-like' trilling sound. And before Meara could actually leave him, he latched onto her with one hand and held the Egg with the other.
"Please, take me with you! Please do not leave me here alone!"
"Hmm?" Meara never saw Kiandra acting like this before...it was overly childish and uncharacteristically feminine for him to behave in such a frightened manner. She wondered what had scared him so badly to behave like this.
She glanced in the direction that Kiandra was staring, seeing Caelan as she just grinned, bowing her head and backing away very slowly from the High Priestess.
"I see..." Meara remarked softly, though still curious.
She could see in Caelan's eyes that the young Merrow had taken a deep liking for the human boy. She wasn't certain what had caused Kiandra to be so scared of Caelan. But from the trembling boy's body in her arms, it must have been very bad!
"What happened between the two of you?" Meara then asked him.
"I..." as this was embarrassing to admit.
"It is okay, you can tell me, Kiandra." Meara softly spoke to him.
"I think she had mistaken me for a mermaid." he told her "She injected me with some type of barbed sac that made it hard to think for a few seconds."
"Aphrodisiac?" Meara remarked, glancing down at Kiandra.
[Well, that explains your feminine-like demeanor...she injected you with a high dose of estrogen. Probably trying to Breed with you. Let's just hope that she didn't try marking you!]
She noticed that in the dim light, Kiandra's facial structure and body were quite similar to a female Merrow. She only knew that he was male by his familiar scent. And watching him caring for the Egg and protecting it over the value of his own life, had made her wonder what was actually happening chemically inside the young mortal man's body.
[High Priestess!] called out one of the warrior Merrows' as she quickly came up to Meara who was still carrying Kiandra and the Egg. [Oh!] she remarked, looking down at Kiandra [This must be the star-child...she is truly a beautiful girl as the rumors have said.]
[She is a boy.] Meara corrected.
[Oh! My bad! But he does look like a girl!]
[Indeed.] Meara nodded [Can I help you with something?]
[Oh yes! Right!] the warrior remembered [Seer Niamh had asked me to inform you that the spare room in the Palace has been vacated for your use.]
[Thank you for letting me know.] Meara softly said as the young warrior departed to help with tending to the wounded.
Normally, the Balor attacks are bad; but this one was really bad.
Meara continued to carry Kiandra deeper into the palace as the Queen had wanted the young boy carefully monitored and cared for during this delicate time.
"What is going on?" Kiandra asked his Merrow protecter.
"The Queen has prepared a private place for you in the palace." she told the young child "It is one of the residential rooms, it is quite safe and comfortable, I promise."
"Okay." Kiandra worried "As long as I will be safe from the Balor!"
"Before we go," Meara adds "our Seer has requested to see you just prior to laying down to sleep. I must warn you though, she does not tolerate rudeness or disrespect very well. So please behave in her presence. She has a rather unforgivable temper, and a deep hatred for humans."
"Great." Kiandra cringed, feeling like he was about to be judged for his crimes.
Meara took Kiandra into the royal quarters where the Queen, the Seer, the Chief Healer, the Chief Keeper, & the High Priestess all slept. Unlike the village that was torn to sunders by the Balor, the palace looked like it was a sophisticated home for people who were quite wealthy—like the home that he had just ran away from. So, being here certainly did not put him at ease.
They came to a door that was closed off with a drapery of woven green kelp leaves. An enchantment kept it from drying out, as the kelp cleansed the air and made the place feel and smell like home at sea.
[Seer, may we please come in?] asked Meara, waiting for permission.
[You may.] said the Seer.
'I really need to learn the language!' Kiandra thought 'It gets tiresome now knowing what people are talking about.'
Meara brings Kiandra inside the pool-like room. There was no bed, no drawers, or anything that looked like human comfort or comfort for a land mammal.
The only thing in this room was a deep pool filled with glowing bioluminescent plants and shimmering water. Crystals lined the pool, and the water seemed to sing in a strange ancient song that Kiandra could now hear with his own two ears.
Floating in the pool was a mermaid that was strikingly different as compared to the Merrows. For starters, her tail was navy-blue in color, dark in the dorsal and lighter in the ventral. The scales ended at her waist and only flesh covered the rest of her body. She lacked any ear fins and webbed hands. But she had a pair of delicate fins upon her wrist and lower arms.
Her eyes were as grey as the stormy sea, and her long hair seemed to glow a brilliant white color that occasionally shimmered red with the changing light. Her skin glowed as golden orbs of light surround her body, different from the Merrows' blue orbs of light.
"She's a Finfolk!" came the words straight from Kiandra's lips as the Seer just smiled, lightly giggling with amusement.
Meara was beautiful, but the Seer was painfully beautiful to behold, living off of so many consumed souls of human men. Like a succubus, she and her kin needed to marry by the age of 20, or be doomed to a fate of haggardness.
Kiandra only knew this from a play that his grandfather had once taken him to. It was about a young girl named Eilidh, the last child on a remote island, deep in the Orkney archipelago. There, her life was intertwined with the Scottish folklore, including mermaids. The song was called 'Finfolk Song':
[I must admit.] Niamh commented, studying Kiandra [For a human, he certainly knows how to identify between which is Finn and Merrow. An impressive talent in a mere mortal.]
She swam over to the side of the pool, sitting on a rock as she waited for someone to respond.
[I take it that he does not speak our language?] she then asked Meara.
[He does not.]
[He seems rather small for a human, don't you say?] she then added.
[He is about five foot five, rather average for an Eire-man of Adam.] the Seer giggles as that amused her.
[Will not be relying on him for our fruit picking, now will we! He'd make a terrible Harvester!] she giggles, seeing the tiny human being ridiculous for a man [Forgive me for speaking, but there is no way that I can call him a man! He is something more like a girl then a boy!]
[I do not think that he would appreciate that.] Meara spoke tenderly [He is rather sensitive about his gender.]
[Even so,] she laughed [I must say that he has some adorable qualities. From what I have seen from the looking glass, he protected the Egg in the face of the Balor. That alone is commendable! Not even most Merrows are as brave as him.]
"Meara..." Kiandra whispered, still unaware of what was being said "...is she insulting me?"
"She is not." Meara whispered back "She is praising your bravery for protecting this baby from the Balor."
"Eh!?" Kiandra wasn't certain if he had heard that correctly.
He glanced at the Egg as he shuttered, he could see that there was a terrible misunderstanding going on here.
"Oh, no-no-no! This Egg, well it—it, well...uhm..."
'How do I tell her that this Egg isn't mine!?'
[High Priestess...] Niamh remarked as she looked at the Merrow Lights floating around the young man [...I see that the Lights have appeared around the star-child. Do what you can to nurture his future in becoming our Breeder. Your people's future will depend on your actions.]
[Yes Seer.] Kiandra kindly nodded.
***
Meara carried Kiandra to his room in the palace as they had not shared a single word since stopping by to talk to Niamh.
Meara was thinking about her orders to make Kiandra into a breeder. And Kiandra was worried about the truth coming out.
'They must assume that this Egg is mine.' Kiandra privately thought to himself, feeling sick with worry 'However, my Egg has been shattered and buried in the collapsed building. And when that other Breeder gains consciousness, she will tell them that I have stolen her Egg, and I will be punished.'
He cradled the Egg close to his chest to keep it warm as this lie that he has been nurturing was growing into a monster!
They entered the room that the Merrow Queen had loaned for Kiandra to use. It had a deep pool for a Merrow to revert back into her true form. But luckily, it also had a place set aside with a pile of thatching to rest upon
Meara knelt down and gently placed Kiandra on the thatched bed and helped reposition the egg to make the young man comfortable.
'I need to say something!' Kiandra thought, looking at the egg 'Before it is far too late!'
"Meara..." Kiandra softly said, looking up at the young mermaid kneeling beside him "...can I ask you a question?"
"Of course." she nodded.
"If—if I had done something regrettable." he spoke, nervous "Something that would turn everyone against me. Would...would you still help me?"
"Absolutely not." she answered, slowly standing back up on her own two feet.
"I see..." that wasn't what Kiandra wanted to hear. He reached into his pocket and pulled out the Pearl of Lir, looking at it.
"I had hoped that I would one day use this pearl to go back home. Live my life as a human." he spoke, stroking the pearl as it glowed brightly in the palm of his hand "But I now fear that the path is no longer before me. If something were to happen to me in the next few hours, it should be only you that carries this pearl. I want you to have it if something unfortunate was to happen to me."
He reached over with the pearl between his fingers and placed it in Meara's possession.
"Please take it, and go!" he said bitterly "It will be best if you are not around when that time comes."
"Kiandra..." she softly spoke, holding the pearl in her hand as she watched the young human pulling the Egg closer to his body and cradled it.
"Go..." he cried, feeling like his body was burning up "...you no longer have to guide me. I had hoped that we could have left this place together."
"I..." as she looked back down at the pearl, confused. At one time, Kiandra had fought to keep this in his possession. And now he was surrendering the pearl as if something tragic was about to happen. She looked back at the young man as he was gasping, struggling to breathe.
"Kiandra!?" she asked the young man as he looked wide eyed, holding his throat.
"I...I..." he panicked, looking up at the young mermaid with a glimmer of horror in his expression "...Air! I...Meara, I can't breathe!"
Meara watched as Kiandra's veins seemed to rise to the top of his flesh and turn a bright blue in color. Whatever toxin was in his body, it was aggressively spreading!