I raised my folded hands in supplication. “Sorry. Go on.”
“Well, I guess Aegira learned the lesson Earth is trying to learn now, some time ago. It was during the third millennium, remember. The reign of Queen Eistla.”
I flapped my hand. Yeah, yeah, cut to the chase.
She sighed. “We had learned so much, come so far, but we hadn’t learned the really important things. Our emissions began to threaten Aegira’s very existence.”
I nodded. I’d heard this part before. I often thought about it, when I read about acid rain or global warming. Aegira had been there, done that. Pulled itself from the brink just in time.
“Well, the early Aegirans, they took stock, remembered why Aegir sank their paradise in the first place, and re-dedicated themselves to living in harmony with all things. They started by learning to communicate with the creatures of the sea.”
“Especially the dolphins,” I interrupted quickly.
“Yes, darling, of course, especially the dolphins.” Mom laughed. “You and those dolphins. I never did quite understand your fascination. Anyway.” She shook her head, her blonde hair billowing out as she did like she was in a shampoo commercial. “Where was I? Oh yes, so, eventually we made treaties with them, the nations of the sea. Working to create a better world, on earth and sea. That’s when the tradition of watch-keeping began. And now, Aegira sends them — the most gifted young people — to keep an eye on The Land. And, of course, the land-dwellers. Keep track of innovation, borrow and learn from the best humans have to offer.”
I closed my burning eyes and it felt good. “So they only come for a short while, right?”
“A year at most. Their mission is to watch. Report. But not intervene.”
I placed my fingertips at my temples. “And they never know we’re here? The humans.”
I opened my eyes in time to catch Mom shudder prettily. “By the Goddess, I hope not.”
“And you really were the only one who ever stayed?”
Mom nodded, and I knew from experience this was where she would clam up. I’ve always supposed it was something to do with a man, the reason she ran away and never came back. But it’s just guesswork. I do know one thing – she’s pretty down on mermaids. She says she ended up in Dirtwater because no mermaid worth their salt (so to speak) would come within a thousand miles of such a barren place. After tonight, I guessed she was wrong.
“There’s something I should tell you,” she offered quietly, closing my aching eyes again with her fingertips and rubbing at my temples. If I was a dog, my eyeballs would be rolling back in my head and my back leg shaking madly. “A herald arrived today.”
“Huh?” I pulled her fingers away quickly and studied her face. “Only good herald’s a dead herald.” I was repeating the mantra Mom utters every time a herald comes calling.
“Amen, daughter.” Mom’s face was blank. She was totally crap at poker, so I knew she was working hard to keep her face neutral.
“Weird. So maybe there were four mermaids in the driest town on earth tonight?” I marked them off with my fingers. “One. Blondie. Two. The guy Dirty Dan and Missy saw, maybe? Plus three, the… shower guy -” My voice broke with the effort of sounding casual as I mentioned him. “And now four. The herald.” I picked up a piece of coconut bread and used it as a decoy while I studied Mom’s reaction carefully. “Never rains it pours huh?”
She nodded, making herself busy with pouring a cup of tea from a fine pot on the coffee table. “Licha. He was only here briefly, used the bath to hydroport out. Such skill.” She motioned at the table and for the first time I noticed the tiny blue-green fish, swimming around serenely in a tall glass of water. It stopped, as if aware of our attention, and blinked slowly at me.
“Mmm,” I agreed, watching the song-fish. “So what did they want with you this time?”
“They want us. Both of us.”
I froze, coconut bread in mid-air. “Us?”
“They want us home. For a royal wedding. The day after tomorrow.”
“By the freakin’ Goddess Ran,” I hissed, rolling my eyes.