Llawan needed to talk to someone with a better understanding of how he thought.
The Mer empire encircled the entire continent of Otaria and stretched far out into the depths of the ocean. The coastal waters around Otaria itself were called the shallows, and Director Rillu Veza lived there on the coast in an area called Breaker Bay.
Veza acted on behalf of the empire as combination negotiator, harbormaster, and customs inspector for all commerce between the Cabal's northern stronghold and the empire's southern quarter. It was not a prominent position to hold. Most of the trade between Otaria and Mer was routed through ports and storage depots further north, along shipping lanes that were better protected. In Veza's opinion, she had been confined to such a remote weigh station for not being a staunch supporter of the emperor's faction. She also believed she was in charge of Breaker Bay depot because she was qualified to run it. Her comfortable bayside cottage with access to the sea and the main road into town were proof of the emperor's partial approval. After all, he could have put her in charge of a bare piece of rock completely off the trade routes and without any other inhabitants.
Veza slept in a sunken tub filled with sea water. This morning, she was awakened by an insistent knocking at the cottage's front door. She shook drowsiness and salt water from her eyes, submerged for one last gulp of gill-filtered air, then climbed out of her tub.
Veza's hair was soft and greenish blue. After a quick wringing to squeeze out excess water, she let her unbound locks fall down to the small of her back. She grabbed a waterproof dressing gown from a hook. Though she was covered from head to toe in glistening blue scales, she respected the customs of her land- bound clients and wore unnecessary clothing whenever she might encounter them.
She was still adjusting the robe and her dripping hair when she got to the door. She opened it and found a small human boy looking nervously up at her.
"Missus Mermaid?" the boy said.
"Yes." She did not reach out to the boy. He seemed spooked enough by her huge black eyes and scaled skin. She didn't want to see him panic when confronted by her long, webbed fingers.
"There's a guy waiting for you in the water out there." He gestured vaguely to the bay behind him. "A fish guy. He says he can't come up on the land."
"Thank you," Veza said. "Did he say what he'd give you if you helped him?"
"No. He just said I should help him." Veza could see that even this scared little boy knew a raw deal when he saw it.
"Well, I think you helped him just right. How would you like to swim on my private beach today? If you come back after lunch, I'll make sure the groundskeeper lets you in."
"Thank you," the boy said glumly. Of course, Veza thought, he lives on the shore. A swim in the ocean probably isn't all that exciting for him.
Veza took a small notebook and an ornate quill pen from the hallway table. "So let's say later today, sometime after noon? I'll tell the groundskeeper to expect two of you, so you can bring a friend. Oh, and remember, the spell only lasts for an hour, so be sure not to get too far from shore."
The boy looked confused. "Spell?"
Veza smiled. "Yes, the enhancement spell. It wouldn't be much fun to swim in the ocean if you couldn't breathe and see underwater, now would it?"
The boy's face lit up. "No, ma'am."
"After lunch, then."
"Yes, ma'am."
"And bring a friend."
"Yes, ma'am." The boy ran happily off, fairly skipping back down the road into town.
Veza put the pad and quill back on the table. There was no groundskeeper, so there was no need for a note, but there was always a need to keep up the dignity of the empire. She would receive the boy and his friend herself, show them the sights only visible beneath the bay, and introduce them to some of the residents.
Now, for her other mystery guest. Veza closed the front door and backtracked into the cottage. The waters of her bay lapped gently against her living room floor, and she dropped her robe and dove in. She swam under her own floorboards and out into the sea.
The cephalid male was waiting for her a hundred yards from shore. He wore an imperial seal on his skullcap and a curved sword in his belt. His limbs twitched impatiently as he tread water waiting for Veza.
"Is that the fastest you can swim, land crawler?" he sneered, glancing at her legs. "I've been waiting forever."
"My door is always open," Veza said coolly. "And I can accommodate all callers. If you'd been braver, we could have started this discussion when you arrived."
The cephalid snarled. "It's not my bravery that's suspect, it's your loyalty. Last night our empress was attacked, and she barely escaped alive."
"Long live the empress," Veza said automatically. Llawan may live in exile, but she was still a member of the royal bloodline, and there were formalities to observe. "Our lady is well?"
The cephalid twitched uncomfortably. "She endures. I bring an inquiry from her to you."
"I'm ready to hear it."
The cephalid arranged his arms around him to float more comfortably. "You are Veza, director of this depot?"
"I am."
"Her majesty the Empress Llawan wishes to inquire if you still maintain the ability to transform between a human's legs and a fish's tail."
Now it was Veza who squirmed. "Yes," she said finally. "Tell the empress that I do." Just as long as I have plenty of warning and a half-hour to recover, she added privately.
"Very well." The cephalid took a small crystal gem from his courier's pouch. He turned his back on Veza, raised the globe over his head, and crushed it in his forelimb.
A high-pitched whistle blasted out of the gem, and a blue-white arc of energy radiated outward, away from the shoreline behind them. Veza watched the arc advance, growing smaller and fainter until it disappeared entirely.
The cephalid turned back to her. "The empress will contact you shortly." He handed her a small hand mirror made of tinted blue glass. "Keep this by your side until you hear our lady's voice. She has urgent issues to discuss with you." He looked Veza over once more, lingering again on her legs. "Do not keep her waiting."
In a flurry of bubbles and powerful strokes he was gone. Before she could stop herself, Veza cursed him out loud like the air breathers she spent so much time with. Underwater, the effect was minimal and she was instantly ashamed of herself for trying.
Angrily, she kicked her webbed feet and streaked back toward her cottage.
Three hours later, Veza sat dozing over a pile of paperwork. The seasonal winter storms had not taken the expected toll on shipping, but pirate activity was way up from last year. As much as the numbers fluctuated on the hundreds of reports she reviewed each week, the situation in Breaker Bay never really changed.
From somewhere on her desk, a fanfare of horns began playing Llawan's imperial theme.
"Director Rillu Veza, stand ready," a woman's voice sounded over the trumpets. "Your empress awaits."
Veza shoved the papers out of her lap and picked up the mirror. "Long live the empress. I am at her disposal." Veza felt a curious detached anxiety as she waited for a reply. She was the same age as Llawan and had attended the same government career training schools, but they had never moved in the same circles. When Aboshan became emperor, Veza was packed off to the shallows and Llawan retired. Veza had only heard rumors regarding her former classmate ever since. The trumpet music finished with a flourish, and the woman's voice spoke again. "Behold, subject of Mer, your Empress Llawan."