Chapter Five- Learning the Truth

"I had thought the stores were a long shot," the king said at the start of breakfast the next day. "But one should explore all options."

Lance and Shiro sat at the table with the king and queen, awaiting Veronica's arrival. Shiro had never met her but knew that she was responsible for reviving the old fears of humans and why he had to wear a tail to blend in. But I won't judge her harshly. She doesn't know me and I don't know her. Perhaps we can be friends and she'll find that I can be trusted; after all, we will be in-laws in time.

A mermaid with two-toned hair of light brown with streaks of bright blond swam into the room. Her hair complemented her tail that was green from the waist to mid-point and purple down to the fins. "Good morning, everyone," she said. She then blinked when she saw there was one more at the table. She swam over to Shiro and held out a hand. "Hi. I'm Princess Veronica, Lance's sister."

Adopting a courtly response, he held her hand and kissed the back of it. "Greeting, princess. I am Shiro."

"Shiro?" she repeated as her hand was released. Her eyes roved up and down him. This can't be the same Shiro Lance loves. This Shiro is clearly a merman.

"That's right." He cocked his head for a moment. "Are you all right?"

"Yes. It's just that Lance spoke of loving a human named Shiro."

"I was not aware of that." He looked at Lance quizzically.

Lance laughed slightly, his mind racing. "Sis, I think you misunderstood me. What I meant to say is that I would love Shiro even if he was human."

"I also thought he was too old for you." She eyed the white in Shiro's hair.

"I know you are protective as an older sister should be," Shiro said. "Rest assured, I love Lance and will not harm him in any way. Also, I just turned twenty-five." He slightly fingered the white hair.

Veronica nodded as she sat and the king clapped for breakfast to be brought out. She spoke with everyone but her thoughts were on her past talks with Lance over the last year. She recalled the ones where Lance admitted that Shiro was human. She failed to see how she could have misunderstood him and yet Shiro was here with a tail and two-toned hair; he even had the necklace that only merpeople owned and sometimes wore.

But, I can't shake the feeling that I wasn't wrong; that Shiro is human. The problem is that humans can't breathe underwater or survive this far down…unless they are the offspring of a human and a merperson.

"Shiro, are your parents still alive?" she asked.

"My mom is. My dad died before I was born." He smiled as he fingered his hair again. "I really am twenty-five. My mom is still around and doing quite well."

"How long will you be here?"

"Six days now. Lance is showing me things I don't see at home. For one thing, Lance spoke of a wild oyster field. I have never seen one so I look forward to seeing it and maybe find an unusual pearl to give Mom when I return home."

"Our field does occasionally produce unusual pearls," Veronica said while finding his comment about never seeing an oyster field odd. She had visited other kingdoms as a visiting princess and her host didn't hesitate to show off the wild oyster fields they were proud of. Shiro could be part merman. His tail could be a slip-on to conceal his legs. I need to know. If I follow them, Shiro may remove the slip-on to stretch his legs. I would tell the citizens about it if I see it and even expose his legs for all to see. She inwardly smirked at the imagined result of a human Shiro revealed to the whole city.

"That was a close one," Lance commented as they swam out into open waters. "I'm glad I was able to cover my original statement about you with a different one."

"So am I," Shiro replied. "Your sister is a very perceptive mermaid."

Lance nodded. "I'm afraid you misspoke about never having seen an oyster field. Every kingdom as at least one field and they love showing it off to visitors."

Shiro exhaled. "So, she'll be suspicious of me after everything I said before mentioning the field."

"Uh-huh. But, we'll worry about that later. We have an oyster field to explore."

"And how does one do that?"

"Well, we just tell the one who tends the fields what we are looking for and he or she will coax the oysters to open."

"Who tends your fields?"

"Her name's Allura and while she's pretty, she's too old for me. We are really good friends, so she rarely refuses a request from me."

"That's good to hear. Uh, Lance? Could we stop for a couple of minutes? My legs are feeling cramped in this tail."

"Oh, okay. I kind of forgot that tail isn't real."

Shiro shimmied out of the tail, freeing his legs. He separated them, flexing them and the toes, and kicking his legs. "Shiro, don't put it back on until we're almost to the field," Lance said.

"Sounds good to me." Shiro folded the tail and tucked it under an arm before the two resumed their swim, unaware that the whole scene had been witnessed by Veronica.

Veronica had followed the couple from a comfortable distance and hid behind rocks, coral, or whatever she could use to conceal herself. She could tell they were talking as Lance tended to move his hands while talking. They came to a stop and her eyes widened as Shiro wiggled away from his tail and revealed a pair of human legs. He stretched, flexed, and kicked his limbs before folding up the tail, and leaving the scene with Lance beside him.

So, he is part merman. I say it's safe to say that his mother is human as stories of a part merperson would have traveled through the oceans if the mother was a mermaid. She scowled at what she had witnessed.

Part merpeople were rare, but the ones that had existed had proven themselves to be just as bad as humans. The world beneath the waves didn't impress them or leave them awe-inspired. The lack of electricity and the devices that depended on electricity caused them to show disdain for the merpeople way of life.

The part merpeople lived too much among humans to ever be proud of their dual heritage. In fact, in the past, they've threatened to expose us to humans somehow. When those threats were voiced, they were either killed or banished from all the kingdoms in the ocean.

I now know the truth about Shiro and can tell everyone back home what he is. I had heard some people wonder if I had been lying about Lance loving a human. Well, now, I've seen proof that I wasn't lying. She turned on her tail and headed home, eager to spread the story. She would start with the people and then end with her parents later on. Lance and Shiro's relationship was over.