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The mermaid flicked their tail as they waited, patiently, for this meeting to be over. They didn’t see why they had to come to these boring proposal reviews. “It’s so you can learn for when you and Remus take the throne,” their parents had claimed, but Roman barely managed to process any of the meetings anyways (and they were pretty sure Remus didn’t pay much attention either). Couldn’t they play music or something during these things just to make them a little less boring?
“And finally on the list for today,” their advisor Logan spoke, making Roman perk up. Finally. I’m almost out of here.
“The kelp harvest has been quite plentiful this year, and Irontide has requested some of our excess in exchange for some of their mineral harvest. It seems the prince has taken up collecting duties, and has been doing very well at it.”
Roman sighed. They’d only met the Irontide prince once, when they were young. They had no desire to again—everything they heard or saw of the guy made him sound like a pompous prep, above everyone else. He always had his hair slicked back, smirking arrogantly, royal clothes embroidered with the fine metals Irontide collected.
“We’ll have to ask them how much material will be involved, but yes.” The king, Thomas, said. “We’d be more than happy to trade.”
“Then that concludes our meeting for today,” Logan said, eyeing Roman and Remus with an eyebrow raised, “I trust everyone has safe and productive activities they will be attending to for the rest of the afternoon?”
“Of course,” Roman said with a bow.
“Nah,” Remus said at the same time, giggling, and bolted off down the hallway to his bedroom. Logan rolled his eyes. Roman stayed just a moment longer to nod towards the king, but then they, too, swam off in a rush.
In their room, they hurriedly changed out of the formal attire they’d been stuck in all day—they loved the look of the royal outfit, of course, but the ocean was warm and Roman was aching to get out of the long sleeves and feel it on their skin. They pulled on a simple tank top, tucking their long flowing hair into a bun under a sunhat, and placed a pair of human sunglasses–becoming more common in mermaid fashion, with how many pairs got swept away– on their face. Lastly, they rubbed a little paint into their scales, dulling the color from royal red to dusty rose. Perfect.
Royal clothes and vibrant colors tucked away, they didn’t look like Roman anymore. Nobody would recognize them, especially where they were off too.
“See ya, Aurum!” Remus cackled down the hallway, swimming out a window.
“Later, Argent,” Aurum retorted, swimming into the hallway and out the door.
It didn’t take long for Aurum to get to the music district, close to the city center but just far enough from the palace that people wouldn’t suspect a prince to be there.
And just close enough to Irontide to be interesting.
They loved sneaking away and coming here, and they’d managed to keep their secret life a secret. Re-Argent certainly knew, but Logan and Thomas were none the wiser—Argent made sure of that, pretending the doors left open and windows left unlocked were all his doing. Aurum sneaked him many a record from the district back as thanks.
They loved the music district so much because it was so vibrant—merfolk of all kinds, from both kingdoms, coming together for a passion. Aurum sighed, settling on a bench and listening to the music drifting through the streets.
“Hey, that was my seat!”
Aurum startled, tail flicking as they hopped from the bench. A merman, tail spiky and bright orange, glowered at them from behind a pair of sunshades.
“Oh! I’m so sorry!” Aurum said. “I’ll find a different seat.”
The merman scowled for another second, then sighed.
“No, it’s fine. Sorry, I shouldn’t have snapped at you.” They sat on the bench next to Aurum. “It’s been a long day.”
“I getcha.” Aurum said. “I’ve had to listen to my dad yap all morning. Love the guy, but he can talk for hours.”
“Ha. I know what you mean.” The merman said. “Been listenin’ to my dad droning all morning, too.” Aurum laughed.
Now that Aurum wasn’t being yelled at by the guy, they took a second to look at them. Their hair was tousled messily, and a spiky rust-colored leather jacket covered their torso, their spines poking through the shoulders artfully. Their shirt was torn and frayed around the edges. A glint caught Aurum’s eye, and their attention was drawn to the piece of metal in their ear.
“Whoah!” Aurum said. “Is that a real fish hook?”
“This thing?” The other merman said. “Haha, yeah. Nabbed it from a line that was buggin’ me. Gave em a right scare, too.” They growled menacingly, flexing their claws, but they were smiling at Aurum amusedly. Aurum giggled.
“You’re from Irontide then, I suppose?” Aurum asked. “We’re taught not to mess with the ships here in Valencia.”
“Well, goin’ after them is more of a personal hobby.” The merman smirked. “But still, you gotta mess with people who mess with you. Otherwise they’re not going to know they’re taking things too far. Set your boundaries.”
“Huh. I guess so.” Aurum said, thoughtfully. “Why’re you chasing the boats, though?”
They grinned, raising an eyebrow. “Stick around with me and you’ll find out, Mx…”
“Aurum.” Aurum said. “And you are?”
“…Call me Rust,” the merman said. Aurum beamed.
“Well, Rust. It’s an honor to meet you!”
Rust grinned, shaking Aurum’s hand. “Honor’s all mine.”