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unamused.
    “I’m sorry.”  
    “This,” I gesture to the three or four love bites above my breasts, “Is not cool.” I don’t yell. I just stare at him, slightly disgusted.
    “You think that’s bad. You should see your neck. I’m sorry. I just got carried away,” he apologises. My hands move up to my neck as I keep myself afloat effortlessly. The thin veil of skin above my carotid is tender. When he said ‘devour’ he wasn’t wrong.
    “I’m going to look real classy at the coronation sporting these,” I mutter and he looks instantly mortified.
    “Oh Goddess, I didn’t think about that.”
    “Yeah well, now I can be the slutty Queen. Great,” I snap again and he winces. I stay silent as I feel the change take me. I look up and see the burning sun rising and then I’m back to my usual self. Tail and all. I look down, hoping my breast scales will cover the love bites. They don’t.  
    I turn back to Orion and I see the familiar royal blue facial scales that surround his eyes have returned.
    “I really am sorry about these,” he murmurs and I nod. Not an acceptance but I’m not going to cause another argument either. Together we plunge to the bottom of the pool and through a small opening. It narrows but I power through, ignoring the encroaching sensations of the inner tube of the slide and the feeling of falling through the remaining height of the cliff. The bottom of the tube comes out into the sea. Orion and I head back to the Occulta Mirum, to all our problems and our new responsibilities.

    The Alcazar Oceania towers before us as we reach the centre of the city. Eyes bare down on our undulations as the blackness of my shadow falls over the bottle bases that line the streets, dulling their shine.
    “You know what I really hate?” I turn my head to Orion, my back is tickled by a slight warmth from the surface.  
    “What?” Orion asks me looking worried.
    “I really hate it when people watch me like I’m an animal in a zoo,” I say to him and he looks apologetic.
    “I’m sorry. I wish I could stop them. It’ll get better once the coronation is over,” he promises, but I wonder if it’s really Orion’s crowned ruler status that’s making me so popular, or if it’s actually the events that led to my death.
    “I hope you’re right,” I mumble. We reach the gates of the palace and Cole is guarding the door as usual.
    “Oh there you are.” He looks concerned and I smile sheepishly into his blue eyes.
    “Yes. We’ve returned,” Orion says firmly, pursing his lips.
    “I gathered. Saturnus isn’t pleased,” he warns, his expression strained and stormy. It’s clear he’s had to deal with more than one or two complaints because of our sudden departure.
    “I’ll handle Saturnus,” Orion vows and Cole nods his head placing his right fist across his chest, leaving it to rest over his heart in a sign of respect, a sign of brotherhood. Orion does not return, he is the superior and merely waves a hand to indicate he wants Cole to stand down. Within moments Cole has allowed us to move past him and Orion is pushing his hands into the tall arching double doors. I swim past him and as Cole shuts the doors behind me I hear a voice call out from behind one of the crystal pillars of the main entrance room of the palace.
    “You’re back brother.” A long black and azure marked tail fin wraps itself around the crystal column, pulling the pale body of Azure into the morning light.
    “Azure,” I breathe her name even though she hasn’t called to me. Our relationship is strained for sure, she murdered me after all, but I am none-the-less fascinated by her, unable to look away from her. Even I cannot deny she is beautiful, especially since the powers of darkness have receded within her ever so slightly. Her eyes are no longer the diluted black pits they once were, returning to a polluted blue which shine against her inky torrent of hair that falls like a blade in a poker straight curtain of