Firefighter Sea Dragon (Fire & Rescue Shifters 4)

“I was worried you might be offended,” Neridia confessed. “It really doesn’t bother you, humans keeping sea creatures in captivity?”

&nbs

p; “The great voices, the whales and dolphins, and the greater hunters…yes, it would distress me to see those caged. But here there are only small lives, small songs.” John tilted his head a little, as if listening. “The water hums with their contentment. They do not care that they cannot roam freely, when they have food, companionship, mates. And they do a great and honorable duty by being here, where humans may see them. How can your young learn to treasure the sea, if they know nothing of the treasures within it?”

Neridia smiled up at him. “You’ve just summed up why education is part of conservation. And I’m glad you can tell the fish are happy. Part of my mother’s work was designing exhibits like these so that the creatures would be comfortable enough to display their natural behavior.”

“Mommy, Mommy, look at the fish!” A little girl who couldn’t have been older than five pointed into a tank, her face shining with excitement. “Look, they’ve all come to say hello!”

Neridia glanced at the tank herself—and did a double-take.

About fifty black-and-white striped fish were pressed to the glass as closely as the kids on the other side. They were all in perfect alignment with each other, in ranks like a marching band.

And every single one was looking at her.

Neridia stepped sideways, instinctively moving closer to John. In perfect unison, every fish turned to keep pointing straight at her.

“Why are they doing that, Daddy?” A little boy waved his hand in front of the fish, without getting a response. Next to him, a couple of teenagers had whipped out their phones to capture the odd behavior. “What are they looking at?”

Neridia quickly sidled out of the fishes’ view—only to jump as a stingray in the neighboring tank plastered itself to the glass wall with a sound like a wet kiss. Within seconds, it had been joined by a dozen more, all shuffling and jostling to be the one closest to her.

“John!” she hissed, cheeks flaming with embarrassment. “Make them stop!”

“I am not certain that I can.” Despite John’s straight face, his shoulders shook with suppressed laughter. “They are simple creatures. They recognize you as their Empress-in-Waiting, and so they love you. They cannot help but seek to be close to you.”

“Well, they can’t!” Neridia tried to hide behind John, out of view of any of the tanks. “Tell them that if they don’t stop it, we’re leaving right now!”

“I speak to the sea, not to those that dwell within it.” Nonetheless, John put his hand to the nearest tank. “But I shall convey your command to the water.”

He hummed a low, resonant phrase under his breath, so deep that Neridia felt the vibrations of it in her bones. A moment later, a sudden current knocked all of the fish in the tank sideways, shattering the shoal. The fish swirled for a moment, trying to fight the water and regroup, but whenever one got lined up again on Neridia, the water tumbled it back.

“There,” John said, as the fish grudgingly retreated into nooks and crannies amongst the rocks, looking for all the world as if they were sulking. “The water will force them to contain their enthusiasm. Shall we go on?”

To Neridia’s relief, they were able to continue through the aquarium without attracting too much undue marine attention. Although creatures still hurried up to the glass as she came in sight, every time they were quickly forced to retreat again by sudden strange currents.

It’s a pity the water can’t do the same to the people…

Still, after the shock of the fishes’ unexpected adoration of her, the more mundane stares of the other visitors in the aquarium didn’t seem so bad. She was able to ignore the inevitable gawpers, her own attention happily distracted by the wonderful exhibits on display.

The jewel of the aquarium was an enormous tank with a glass tunnel running through it, so that visitors could walk along as if on the bottom of the sea. Of course, it hadn’t been built with people of sea dragon height in mind, but Neridia quickly forgot the discomfort of her stooped back and tilted head, gazing up in awestruck delight.

Sea turtles flew over her head like birds, their grace belying their bulk. Some fish bumbled contentedly amongst the seaweed and rocks, nosing for morsels of food, while others shot through the water in shimmering schools, light flashing from their jeweled scales. Neridia noticed that each shoal tended to circle over her own head in a momentary living crown, but at least they were being relatively subtle about it.

John’s favorite place in the aquarium turned out to be a small alcove set halfway along the tunnel, with a bench where visitors could relax and watch the fish. They found an unoccupied spot and sat down, their height allowing them a clear view despite the excited groups of children between them and the glass walls.

Neridia was so entranced by the fish, it took her a while before she realized that John’s own attention was directed elsewhere. Alone in the crowd, he wasn’t gazing upward at the sea creatures sweeping past. Instead, he was watching the children watching the marine life. Though his expression was as controlled as ever, there was a certain softness about his eyes that she’d never seen before, a sort of wistfulness.

“You’d like kids?” she said in surprise.

“I am a Knight of the First Water. It was never an option for me.” He didn’t look at her, his face in profile. “But yes, I would have liked to have had young of my own.”

His hand rested alongside hers on the bench. Greatly daring, Neridia shifted her own hand, covering his. He didn’t move away.

“I always wanted to have kids too,” she said softly. “So maybe you do have the option after all.”

She felt his breath catch. His longing echoed down the mate bond, sweet and sharp at the same time.

“One of the greatest responsibilities of the Emperor or Empress is ensuring the continuation of the bloodline.” He glanced sidelong at her, hope rising in the indigo depths of his eyes. “I believe you have hit upon a compelling argument for persuading the Knight-Commander to release me from my vow of chastity, my heart.”