“What else would I call you?It’s not every boy I’d take toLyonesse.”Again came the concerned brush of fingertips to the sideof Priddy’s neck.“Not every boy who’d so fearlessly come withme.”
“Fearless?I nearly had a coronary.”
“But you didn’t.You survived it, and everything I did to you,and I don’t want you to worry about another thing.Just let me takecare of you.”
A tall order, strangely, after all this time.Priddy had begunto learn the rudiments of caring for himself.He’d been doing aterrible job of it, but still he’d been beating his mum and dadhollow.Kit, too.And Merou might be superhuman even in two-leggedform, capable of bearing him off up infinite flights of stairs, butthis wasn’t a Regency romance, orAnOfficer and a Gentleman.“Tell you what,”Priddy said, grabbing the rail, forcing Merou to let him go orpitch them both over the side.“It’s got to be tiring, rescuingshipwrecked sailors.Come with me now, and we can take care of eachother.”
Merousteadied him.For a moment he looked lost, as if Priddy had turnedinto someone or something unexpected, put out a branch to himbearing strange fruit.Then a broad and delicious smile lit hisface.“Sounds good to me.Top bunk or bottom?”
Chapter Eleven
“This is where you’ll age first.You’ll get a wrinkle here, inthese sun creases by your eyes.You’ll still be beautiful—you’lljust look like a tiger with salt drying in your stripes, but it’s ashame.They never last.”
Absurdof Priddy, to mind about his predecessors.“How many of them havethere been?”
“A lot.But only ever one at a time.”
Merouhad chosen the bottom bunk.Priddy was still not quite sure of thesignificance of this.The space was cramped and warm, a tanglednest.Outside the wind was rising, sleety rain lashing the windows.Geoff’s clothes and Priddy’s lay in a heap on the floor.Daylighthours and entwined limbs, a shared mug of tea on the bedsidetable...Too prosaic a setting for Merou, surely, but he’d crawledin eagerly, and although his cock was hard, all he’d wanted to doso far was prop himself on one elbow and examine Priddy’s face.“I’m all right, you know,” Priddy said softly.“Were they all likeme, then—primates?Landlings?”
“Don’t you already know?Your mind’s full of our legends.Youwere like a beacon to me the other night, brighter than yourlighthouse, calling me in.”
“Well, I know...Let’s see.There’s the mermaid who took theyoung man, but that was because she loved his singing voice.Andanother—several of these, actually—who married poor fishermen, andbrought them great wealth, as long as their husbands never struckthem or called them a harsh name.But of course they always did,and then the mermaid wives would disappear...”
“Along with all their gems and gold, leaving the foolishmortals poorer than before.”Merou nodded.“That’s the doom of ourwomenfolk, or at any rate a tremendous bet they used to haveamongst themselves, that none of them would ever find a man amongstyour kind who could keep his hands to himself and a civil tongue inhis head.”
“They used to?”
“Not anymore.Either landling men are changing, or the messageis getting home.Mermaids don’t like to lose theirbets.”
“What happens when they do?”
“They make their transformation for the last time, and live onland with the mortal they’ve chosen.Get old and die withhim.”
“And what about you?Are you...doomed, too?”
“Well, it’s not exactly a doom.I’ve enjoyed it, rather.Butthe mermen go the opposite way, and they search all their lives fora mortal who’ll cast off their human skin for them, and join themin the ocean.”
You found him.I’m here.I’ll do it.Priddy bit it all back, even though Merou’s eyes hadbrightened with tears.Merou might have called himlove, and taken him toLyonesse, but that was no guarantee he wanted him any other waythan clad in human skin.“I see.”
“No, you don’t.The mortal doesn’t get to choose, and nor doesthe Mer.One day—one full-moon night, rather, when nothing makessense except love—the change comes over the landling like asweeping tide, and he grows his tail in great pain and suffering,and then he can’t ever return.And I never wished to lay such afate on any of the beautiful lads who’ve been mycompanions.”
“How can you stop it?Haven’t any of them just loved you enoughthat they’d rather grow their tail and take theirchances?”
“I’ve never let things go that far.It takes a long time forthat kind of bond to form—usually, anyway—and I’ve made sure I’mlong gone before it does.It’s better that way.”Regretfully hestroked Priddy’s cheek again, the place where his tiger stripeswould appear.“I often think the mermaids have the better deal.I’dtake my chances with two legs and mortality, if Icould.”
Two faces in the mirror, ageing at the same time.Two sets of stripes.Priddy brushed his palm across the unmarred perfection ofMerou’s brow.“I wish you could, too,” he said hoarsely, becausethe sugar lump in his throat had turned to gravel.“If you everfound someone you wanted to get old and wrinkly with, Imean.”
“Ah, Priddy.I didn’t mean to make you sad.”
“You haven’t.”He pushed the sorrow down.If this was going tobe a short visit, he wanted to make the most of it.“Now that Iknow all about your mating habits and your doom, I have to ask youa very personal question from Kit, who’s wanted to know since hewas five years old.Can mermaids go to the loo?”
It worked.Merou looked momentarily disconcerted, then startedlaughing.“Thatisa five-year-old’s question.We don’t have to.We have aperfectly balanced metabolic system that uses every part of what weconsume, bones and all, so there’s nothing to excrete.”
“He’ll love that.Am I allowed to tell him?”
“As long as you make it part of one of yourstories.”
“And what about while you’re on land?”
