“You performed a blessing?” In my mind, Tammer’s head exploded all over the living room. “Tell me this isn’t true!”
“He was begging me!” I glared at Tiesa. “I didn’t really have a choice!”
“Morgan, you can’t start messing around with your powers until you know the full consequences that can come from it!” Mom looked horrified and Tammer collapsed into the couch. “You might have done it incorrectly and not only brought the sadness upon yourself, but made it three times worse for the person you tried to help!”
“No, she did it perfectly,” Tiesa jumped to my defense – a bit too late I thought.
“How did he know you could bless him?” Mom quizzed me.
“I don’t know, but he told me he knew I was ‘Her’.”
“Well, if a stranger off the street is able to recognize you, you’re well on your way to stardom,” Tammer shrugged sarcastically.
Wonderful. That was the last thing I wanted. I shifted uneasily next to Thayde and he put his arm around me. Mom shook her head and walked up to me, placing her hands on my shoulders.
“Morgan, please promise me you won’t do anything else until Aletheia begins to teach you. Please. You’re not just messing with your life, but the lives of everyone you come into contact with.”
She paused, her eyes taking in my new husband and me. “And for heaven’s sake,” she added, “I wanted to be there when you got married! Don’t think you’re getting out of it! When the boys return, we’re having a proper darn wedding!”
That relieved the tension in the room. Tammer rolled his eyes.
“I’d like to speak with Thayde and Morgan alone. I guess I should have done all this before you two went off together...” His voice trailed off.
Kissing him on the cheek, Mom left with Tiesa and Ezen close behind.
Tammer waved his hand to the sofa. “Sit.”
We obeyed and sat, our sides glued together. Tammer eyed my wedding ring.
“Nice ring.” He sat forward, resting his elbows on his knees. “Ok, let’s get this over with. When you were in the hospital, I told you both I wanted to go over a few things. The first one was to wait to get married. That’s been blown out of the water. The second was to treat each other better than you would treat yourselves. Now that you’re completely linked to each other, if you in any way act carelessly, you will reap the effect three times over.”
“Meaning?” I interrupted.
“He’s saying that if we were to be cruel to each other, the both of us would endure the pain three times more,” Thayde explained.
“Cording and linking are huge matters. Not every mermaid and merman are able to cord. It doesn’t happen every day. A lot of times, they never meet the one they can cord with.”
“Is there anything else you wanted to say to us?” I was irritated with Tammer. He was treating me like a child. “You guys are leaving in what, a few hours? I don’t want the entire time to be spent being yelled at.”
Thayde squeezed my knee in alarm, but I held my ground. Tammer was not going to ruin our first day together as a married couple. It was already going to be ruined by Thayde leaving.
“Do you know anything about unicorns?” Tammer’s question couldn’t have been stranger. It was such a huge shift in the conversation that it completely threw me off guard.
“No,” I began, “just that they’re not real.” Thayde stifled a smile.
“They most certainly were,” Tammer’s voice rose slightly, “until their secret was found out. Man hunted them into near oblivion for their horns. Their horns were magical and highly prized.”
“Okay,” I didn’t understand what he was getting at.
“Desperate to evade man, the unicorns ran to the sea. Our leader at the time took pity on them, transforming them. Today, you know them as Narwhals.” He paused, searching my face for understanding. “We don’t have anyone to save us like that, Morgan. I can’t begin to express the necessity of absolute silence when it comes to your powers. If you’re found out by the humans, it will be the end. It will be up to you to protect and safeguard all the merpeople. Do you understand? Don’t take your powers for granted and don’t abuse them.”
“I think Morgan understands, Tammer.” Thayde interrupted the silence. “Are you ready?”
“Ready?” I asked, “Ready for what?”
Thayde’s face said it all: they were leaving.
“No! I thought we had a few more hours!” I stood in alarm.
“Our escorts are waiting in the harbor for us,” Tammer said.