Bonus Scene #3
“What’s going on, Nikos? Did you see Lila?
Has she had her babies yet? Why do you look like you’ve been chewed up and spat out by a sea creature?
” She fires question after question at me, and my stomach rolls with unease.
How am I going to explain what happened without her wanting to stab me with her trident?
Despite all of Mother and Father’s efforts to encourage her to be demure and submissive, she is anything but.
My sister is a force to be reckoned with, and she isn’t going to hold back just because I’m her brother.
“I fucked up,” I blurt out, and she scoffs derisively.
“Why does that not surprise me? It was that airheaded bimbo act you kept putting on. Lila completely rejected you because of it, right?”
“It’s worse than that,” I tell her before explaining all that occurred. Nixie’s face goes through a plethora of expressions, but I can practically see the steam coming out of her ears by the time I finish. I brace myself for her anger.
“She rejected you?” she bellows indignantly, surprising me completely when she jumps to her feet and starts pacing back and forth. “I mean, sure, you were an idiot and caught up in her siren song, but she is just as culpable. How could she leave the bond one-sided and send you away? It’s criminal.”
A warm feeling soothes my body for the first time since Lila’s last words to me.
I thought Nixie would take Lila’s side and crush me, but instead, she’s on my side.
I shake my head with bewilderment. I’m not sure why I doubted her.
It’s always been the two of us. I rub my hand over my chest as she continues to rant, throwing her arms about until she seems to finally run out of steam.
When she takes a seat again, she reaches out and grabs my hand.
“Okay, we need a plan. I don’t know anything about one-sided bonds, but the library is a good place to start.
I’m sure I’ve seen books on Aquilia mating bonds in there.
They never taught us what happens if the mating bond is not reciprocated in school, but it must have happened before.
As for Lila, we need to give her some space.
If we can find a way to give her time to forgive you, then that would be for the best. I’m sure when she’s thinking a little clearer, she will realize this was not all your fault.
” Her lips turn up in a strained smile. I’m sure she’s trying to be reassuring, but it’s falling a little short. I am still grateful for her help.
“We can’t tell Mother or Father,” I remind her, and the smile changes to a look of horror.
“God, no,” she exclaims. “That would be a disaster. It’s fine. I’m sure we can keep it a secret. Only the two of us know. Lila didn’t even realize you started the mating bond when you bit her, right?”
I shake my head. “No, I don’t think so. She was lost in her worry for her babies and her fury at me.”
Nixie scoffs again. “Like she hadn’t just swam halfway across the ocean tail locked with you.
She had to have been receptive, otherwise it never would have happened.
” My sister stands, tugging me to my feet.
“Come on. Let’s go to the library now. The sooner we know what’s going to happen, the better.
Hey, you might be in luck, and the bond will fade like the Skarrian attraction marks do. ”
I gasp and spin around, tugging down the collar of my shirt and showing her my shoulder. “Do I still have mine?” I ask her, and I feel her run a finger over my skin.
“Yeah, Nikos, you do,” she responds softly, and I feel a rush of hope. If the mark is still there, then maybe everything isn’t lost.
“Let’s go. I hate not knowing, and the sooner we figure this out, the sooner I can feel better. I’m practically useless if Father hears of this and decides to punish me. I don’t think I could fight a star jelly at the moment,” I admit, and her brow creases with concern.
“Don’t worry, we’re a team, and if our father decides to punish you for something out of your control, then he will find out that his children really are more powerful and well liked than he is.”
“You’re talking a coup? That’s treason,” I caution her, though I have often thought the same thing.
She grins wickedly. “Actually, it’s regicide, and I have no problem committing it to protect either of us.”
With that bold and shocking statement, Nixie drags me out of my room and to the library in this wing to start our research. Hopefully there will be something we can find that will make all of this better.
Our research is only partly successful. We did find information on one-sided bonds, and it explained that an unreciprocated bond can be painful for the one who has not been bitten, the side effects including aches, pains, headaches, and exhaustion, but it said it would eventually ease if the bond was not reciprocated.
The bite mark on the other party would fade, and both mers would be able to mate with other people.
That doesn’t help me, though, because I am just getting worse.
I’ve been home for a week now, and I’ve been sick the whole time.
My head hangs over the waste shoot, as I just finished expelling my breakfast from this morning.
I slide onto the cold tiles, curling my tail to ease the nausea.
I didn’t even know mers could get sick in mer form.
I’m just glad that I can use the waste shoot so I’m not polluting the water around me, the vacuum sucking everything out.
I haven’t been able to keep anything down for a few days, and holding onto my two-legged form has become nearly impossible. I had to move into the other wing of the palace, the water wing, because I shifted and couldn’t shift back.
Again? I hear my sister behind me, the worry in her voice evident.
Just kill me now, I grumble and roll over to face her, unfurling my tail and pushing off the floor.
Her eyes scan my body, and her mouth rounds in shock, bubbles expelling from her gills as she points at my stomach.
What is that? she asks, pointing to my rounding belly. When I woke up this morning, it was slightly distended, unlike my previous cut form.
I think I might have a parasite or something. It appeared overnight. It would explain my symptoms. I should probably see a doctor. I shrug lethargically. The thought of anyone seeing me like this is distressing, but there is obviously something else going on here.
Oh, Nikos. My sister shakes her head sadly and flicks her tail, swimming toward me. You idiot. You don’t have a parasite. You’re pregnant.
My mouth drops open, but I’m rendered speechless, my brain racing as I think back to when Lila and I locked tails and did the mating dance. It was so magical, I guess I could have sucked out her eggs and not realized in the aftermath.
Pregnant. I look down at my stomach in wonder, my hand drifting to the little swell. I’m having Lila’s babies?
Nixie shrugs, looking as stunned as I am. I mean, it’s definitely probable. We would have to get the doctor to confirm it.
How does one confirm a mer pregnancy? I am pretty much clueless in this regard.
Although it’s possible for both male and female mers to carry babies, I have never been in the mindset before, so I’ve never worried about it.
It didn’t even occur to me that what Lila and I did would result in children.
I probably should have, since she had just given birth to Caspian’s young.
She could have been the one who ended up pregnant, as there was nothing stopping that.
You pee on a coolmy shell, and if it changes color to pink, then it’s positive.
I could go steal one from the medical room, then we wouldn’t have to involve a doctor and Father or Mother wouldn’t find out.
She wrings her hands in front of her. I’m friendly with one of the nurses on the palace staff.
She would probably help me. Nixie gnaws on her lip, looking from my belly to my face with worry.
Could you? Father and Mother will be furious if they find out I’m pregnant.
Because Father is an asshole and thinks it’s beneath males to carry young. Most male mers consider it a privilege. He’s just a chauvinistic asshole.
And Mother will be furious because I am pregnant without a reciprocated mating bond, I point out, and she winces. She will insist that it is unbecoming of a royal. You know what she’s like, especially after all the times Father stepped out on her and fathered young with other females.
Oh yeah, there is that. They will consider it shameful, though there are plenty of mers who have children out of mating bonds.
Even if they do disown you, we will just return to our apartments and stay there until the circus is recalled.
I’ll take care of you, and if the circus and Lila don’t want us back when we tell her, we will be okay.
I will help you raise my niece or nephew, she promises, and my heart fills with warmth, even though I ache at the thought of Lila rejecting us.
I’ll be alright, though, because I have my sister by my side.
What do you know about mer pregnancies? I ask as she tugs me toward the anemone I have in this room for when I want to rest. She pushes me down on it, encouraging its tentacles to support me before she swims back a little.
My body relaxes into the pillowy embrace, easing some of the ache in my back as she slowly flicks her tail to stay in place in front of me.