Opalescence by Roan Hart

Author:Roan Hart [Hart, Roat]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Pansexual, Non-binary, Fantasy, Fairy Tale, Romance
Publisher: Less Than Three Press, LLC
Published: 2018-07-03T16:00:00+00:00

Part Three

"Wait, so this is your first time being on land?"

Seibal nodded. In the setting sun, their eyes glowed feral-cat amber and the scales of their tail were iridescent and shimmering. Like an angel, a dream, a goddamn fantasy come to life, all warm and golden and red. Faith had been ignoring Seibal's beauty all day long but the stupid sun making them look even more amazing was going to have Faith staring like an idiot and drooling soon.

She shook away the distracting thoughts as best she could and bumped her shoulder into Seibal's. "You should have told me!" she reprimanded. "Not like I could have thrown you a party or anything, but this is still a pretty big occasion! Right? Mermaids don't come on land very often?"

"They don't," Seibal confirmed, and rather than moving away from Faith they swayed their weight into her, so that they were leaning against each other. "Actually, we really aren't supposed to come on land at all. It's pretty taboo and you're considered a traitor if you do it."

Faith winced a little. "Uh, not exactly a party occasion then," she said, desperately trying not to focus on how good Seibal felt against her shoulder and side. Serious, it was a serious conversation. "So why'd you do it, if it's so terrible?"

The weight against her shuddered and increased a little, Seibal leaning closer incrementally, their gaze fixed downward. "I couldn't stay."

After a brief moment of hesitation, Faith followed her instinct and wrapped an arm around Seibal's broad but delicate shoulders. That seemed to describe them perfectly, really. Broad but delicate. They were big, taller than Faith when sitting, and their tail had to be at least six feet on its own, thick and powerful looking even when out of place in the sand. Sharp, predator teeth filled their mouth, each of their fingers tipped with a deadly claw, and they shook hands like they didn't want to hurt the other party. And while they were a bit pudgy around the middle, the strength in their core, their arms, those broad shoulders, was obvious.

And yet.

There was so much about them that was delicate. Their tentative smile, the way they laughed, even the soft, warm quality of their voice seemed strangely fragile. And apparently they were on the run, with the strength necessary to do something completely forbidden to them, but with enough weakness they would lean against a stranger in search of comfort.

Faith breathed out shakily and sank her fingers into that thick hair, petting it back from Seibal's face gently. "You don't have to tell me but… what happened?"

It took a moment of quiet contemplation and reluctance, the ocean a steady, droning presence. But eventually Seibal did tell her: they spun a sordid tale of a people too proud to change their ways, but dying out because they refused to do anything about it. And caught in the middle of it all, a young royal, not particularly important in the grand hierarchy but with enough

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