The Merman and the Moon Forgotten - By Kevin McGill Page 0,14

Lir, “you would be put under the strictest of oaths, one that would require your very life.”

“Well, then,” Yeri’s tone shifted from demand to farewell. “I will be on my way. Very sad you’ve run into trouble, but it’s got nothing to do with me and my horses. Good day, your Grace and . . . er, your Grace-ness.”

Pain, deep and bottomless, filled Nia’s eyes. “Please, Yeri Willrow. You are the Merrow’s only means of salvation. Our enemies mean to exploit our weakness and will do so if none come to our aid.”

“So . . . I, well—” Yeri’s heart turned doughy. He never could manage himself around a beautiful woman, even the half-aquatic sort. “You have bits of treasure tucked here and there? As the old tavern toads tell it, anyway.”

“Yes.” Nia’s hand glided along the silicon armrest. “It is about the treasure; it’s always about the treasure. You are familiar with sulmare? The most precious metal of the brother worlds? Merrows have been endowed with the gift of sulmare-making.”

Nia rubbed her fingers, giving the universal sign for money. Three sulmares clinked into her open palm. She flung them at Yeri’s feet.

“I’ll be . . .” Yeri held up the sulmare. They felt rough and smooth, heavy and light, all at the same time. These three pieces would feed him and his mother for a month.

“Because every Merrow is endowed with the power of sulmare-making, we are tasked with its protection and distribution, both here and on Earth. Merrow fortresses patrol all coastlines, protecting the sulmare banks. Lir and I were charged with the Eynclaene offshore accounts.”

“They want your powers?”

“More than that, I’m afraid. They want—” Nia stopped to looked at her husband, then back to Yeri. “Tell me, Yeri. Have you ever visited the fair city of Huron?”

“Of course, ma’am. Who hasn’t? We go at least once a year. I’ve a fine map of it hanging on my bedroom ceiling. Know every borough and alleyway and byway. My father was born there, you know, Mon rest his soul,” Yeri paused. “Anyway. Yes, in short.”

“Permit me one more question,” said Nia. “Are you a hero, Yeri?”

“A hero, my lady?” Yeri slipped the three sulmares into his knee-breeches.

“Yes. Have you ever heroed?”

“Well, uh, er, I mean, Father thought I showed promise, but schooling was a trifle expensive, and there wasn’t one to apprentice me. And now—” Yeri rubbed a slightly bulging tummy. “—afraid I’m not quite in the condition for heroism.”

“Would you like to be one?”

“Agatha would like it.”

“Agatha?”

“Yes,” Yeri said. “Agatha is my sweetheart. But she won’t marry me on the account of, well, my belly, to be honest. She will marry nothing less than a hero. And Agatha made it quite clear that a hero does not have an “amorphous midsection”. Afraid I’m destined to live out my days with Mother.”

“I need a hero of high quality to take a message to the Huron City Council,” said Nia. “It must be someone who is not Merrow, one whom the fouls could not smell.”

“Oh . . . well, honestly, ma’am, it being the holidays and all . . . and, er, my dear mum. I mean, I . . . forgive me. When you asked for my help, I imagined a ride free of charge or lending a horse. But all this? More than I can handle. Nuus doesn’t see too much in the way of adventure. Once, when I was no bigger than a leviathan’s pimple, there was the scourge of the three-headed chicken. It was a bit frightening at first. One head breathed fire; the other two breathed chicken feed and pond water. But it turned out when the first two heads spewed out fiery chicken feed, the last one would put it out. Counterproductive in the end.”

Nia leaned in. “Agatha, right? Well, Yeri. You will trim up that hero’s physique within the month.”

“Truly?”

“Truly.”

Yeri paused, saw Agatha’s flirtatious eyes flash across his mind, and then clapped his hands. “Always wanted to holiday in Huron!”

Nia smiled and reached out to her husband. “Love. The greatest motivation.”

Lir squeezed her hand and immediately picked up a squid pen and scroll. “Because our kind guards the treasure of the brother worlds, we carry a special citizenship under the city of Huron, and with it, the protection afforded her citizens. The Merrows are in need of that protection. Within this scroll is a secret to which only Merrows are privy. Our enemies, the Dujinnin, have discovered it and mean to exploit this