A Seahorse Tale

Chapter 20

Kenneth was almost numb and unresponsive after watching Rico leave. Pain flowed from the human and Endotuer's gentle words and bouncing was doing nothing. Kenneth was still far too human for the tricks to help a baby hippocampus to work properly. Endotuer grimaced unhappily but put Kenneth in his cradle, giving him some space to recover from seeing Rico. Endotuer tried not to take it too personally as Kenneth curled as far away from him as possible once he was in the cradle.

A alarm went off in the background, outside of the stables. Endotuer rolled his eyes and quickly shut the doors to the stable. The tide was coming in. Endotuer had little doubts Rico would be safe. There were plenty of safehouses in the stable area so he would find safely easily enough.

Exhaling, Endotuer walked into his office to find two mer waiting for him. He lifted an eyebrow in surprise and closed the door so things wouldn't drift out and disturb the grieving pup. "Ennitt, Ms Kila," He nodded at his nephew and the female merwoman. "Just when did you two arrive?" he asked, opening a cabinet and pulling out some wine. He needed it after that interaction. Rico had been intense, justifiably so but still. It hadn't been a pleasant encounter with Kenneth's sadness and grief bleeding into Endotuer's mind.

"Shortly after Rico. We thought it would be best to leave you to it," Ennitt admitted, waiting for his uncle to sit in his chair before taking a seat himself. "He looked rough," Ennitt said with a great deal of pity in his voice.

"Understand in these circumstances," Endotuer stated calmly, pouring a glass and sipping it slowly.

"How's Kenneth?" Kila asked firmly, skipping any pleasantries. She remained standing even after Endotuer sat down as was the normal behaviour for most members of the house towards their clan lord. Kila was someone who knew when to be subtle and when not to be and at the moment, she was very much in practically mode. Endotuer could feel a headache building behind his eyes, if she was in practical mode, that meant something important was going down.

"Grieving. He keeps flipping between being so sad he's numb to desperately trying to think of ways to escape. Thankfully because of the spell, he doesn't get particularly angry," Endotuer said with a touch of relief in his voice. "He is still holding on to the idea of getting free, as hopeless as it is," he added with dash of bemusement.

"For a time, it might not have been so hopeless," Ennitt commented darkly.

"How so?" Endotuer asked, swirling the wine in his glass, looking out of the window and into the ocean. An early tide was unusual occurrence. It tended to mean they were for early tides and possibly an extra high one. Yet another thing he has to consider over the next few days. He didn't want Kenneth escaping into the water while he was in his hippocampus form.

"The humans are starting to get suspicious. The order only just stopped an article going to press about Kenneth's disappearance. And about every other human who in a powerful position against the Mer have vanished," Kila explained, folding her arms with a frown on her face. Kila was one of the house listeners. With her job and position, she often learned many things which were private.

"The main problem is the humans involved are all in powerful positions themselves," Ennitt grimaced. "Making them all disappear at once..." Ennitt trailed off, not needing to say the words. The look on both Endotuer and Kila's faces were grim.

"I see the problem. What is being done about them?" Endotuer asked.

"Effectively, they will leashed. Those with families will being encouraged to separate themselves from them and move into the courthouse apartments. Those without families will have no choice and will be living under lock and key," Kila commented her tone oddly neutral, though she showed disapproval at the ones with families being 'encouraged'. "Lord Devon has claimed most of them for his house as many were working for his firm."