Talori had known Beck her whole life but she would never understand him. He seemed like he wasn't taking anything in at all but would disprove that on the rare occasions he said something insightful.
Zale wouldn't have kept him around if he wasn't useful. He appeared to be all muscle but was much smarter than he looked. He was vital to her brother's plans as his chief advisor.
Sometimes she wondered if Beck's personality of being strong and silent developed because he too needed to appear stupid. But Zale's true personality showed when he wasn't around those he needed to deceive. Beck wasn't like that.
He spoke more around those he worked with and trusted but not by much. He hardly said two words to Talori.
Beck sat next to her in silence before he was called down to spar against someone else and said "excuse me, Princess" as he went. That was about how all of their conversations ended up going.
She continued sitting there until the sparring session was done and Zale gestured for her to come down. He grabbed her hands and spun her around, making her laugh.
"How did I do?"
"Excellent work as always. You're indisputably the strongest merman in this part of the ocean."
He grinned at her like he did every time she came to watch him spar and complimented him. The first time she saw him in action, she had been amazed and that sense of awe never fully went away despite how many times she had seen it.
It was a combination of how talented he was and how boring and repetitive her life was. Watching the fights was one of her few forms of entertainment around here.
Talori always complimented him afterwards and always meant it. Why wouldn't she? He was talented and it made him so happy to hear the praise from his little sister. It didn't affect him the same way when he heard it from his mermen.
Zale acted stupid in public but was usually pretty serious in private unless he was goofing off with her. Everyone who worked here had accepted that at this point. That he was different around his sister because she was the only one left that he loved.
They all headed to lunch together in the dining pavilion. Most of the mermen chatted among themselves as they ate but Talori was worried about Brennan.
She couldn't very well sneak food back to her room—she had nothing on her to hide it in—so she was going to have to request extra snacks later. She hoped he wasn't too hungry by the time she made it there.
Zale would be busy again sooner or later but she needed to enjoy her time with him in the meantime. She spent so much of her days alone.
He was always surrounded by people, be they those he trusted or those he had to act around. She, as the crazy princess, was typically kept out of sight unless she absolutely had to make an appearance somewhere.
It could get very boring. Lonely too.
The servants weren't her friends. They all had things to do and treated her deferentially so she wasn't close to any of them.
Talori spent a lot of time wandering the halls of the coral palace searching for some form of entertainment, watching sparring matches, or making her own jewelry with bits of sea glass or pearls. She sang and danced on her own frequently too and had learned how to play every instrument under the sea.
Things had admittedly gotten a lot more boring since her lessons as a child stopped. She used to be a lot busier. Sleeping during the day instead of the night helped too though. Napping in between meals and spending time with Zale took up a good chunk of her day.
At least her nights were more interesting. Sneaking out and searching for treasures never ceased to feel like an adventure.
Talori's life had been following this pattern for the past forty-eight years since she reached adulthood. She knew it wouldn't be forever but she also didn't know how long Zale's plan would take.
He had been working on it for over a century. Corrupt systems didn't crumble in a day.
It could take another century or more. Would she survive that long without going mad with boredom? Sometimes she wondered.
Brennan's arrival had been a nice distraction already but it wouldn't last long. He was only planning on staying here for a few days. Then she would go back to being bored again.
Talori shouldn't be thinking like this. She needed to take full advantage of the time that she had. She should be grateful that she had a brief reprieve from the way things usually were. It was nice having someone else to talk to who didn't mind her interests and was actually able to answer her questions.
Zale was very understanding and indulged her with presents from the surface all the time but he wasn't able to talk to her about it the way Brennan was since he had actually lived there. She should really think of more questions to ask him when she made it back to her room.
"Tali, what are your plans for the rest of the day?" her brother asked.
Talk to Brennan. Get some sleep. Sneak out to show him her cave at night. None of these were things she could tell Zale.
"Not sure yet. I might make some new decorations for my room but I'll need more pearls. A lot more. Could you send someone to harvest some for me?" Talori asked.
Harvesting pearls was a simple thing to do but the mollusk farms were outside of the coral palace. She had never been allowed to go but he had brought her a few to open herself as gifts before.
Zale nodded. "Of course. You should make me some too if there are any extra."
Talori was relieved he bought her excuse. It would be simple enough to make them as she talked to Brennan so it wouldn't even be a lie.
She smiled sunnily at him. "I'd love to!"