Emily and the Merfolk

Streets and pathways were lined with flowering sea plants swaying rhythmically in the current, and the ambient glow from bioluminescent algae painted the city in hues of blues, greens, and purples. Schools of fish darted between the buildings and people. Emily could see a few dolphins and manta rays with mermen and mermaid mounted atop them, moving smoothly and purposefully through the city streets.

Emily's feet touched the cobbled stone floor of what appeared to be a large plaze in the center of the city. Her eyes were drawn to an enormous structure, larger, grander and more intricate than the buildings around it, which dominated the plaza. From a wide base, it spiraled upwards, and was crowned by a dome of translucent sea-green glass. The whole building shimmered, with different parts pulsing through the whole spectrum of colors as Emily watched.

"That's the Coral Palace," said Caelum. "The one-time residence of Thurseus Irontail. Welcome, Emily Stoneshell-bearer, to Aquius."

While Emily had been standing looking up at the Coral Palace, a crowd of interested merfolk had started to form around her, and were whispering to each other animatedly. The mermen, like Caelum, had bare torsos, and the mermaids were bedecked by a variety of what Emily took to be alkayi. These ranged from a couple of seashells clinging to one woman's breasts to an intricate wrapping of kelp that had the appearance and coverage of a poloneck sweater. Emily could see another woman wearing two thick pieces of coral on each of her sides, which left an expanse of skin from the neck to the navel. All were dressed quite differently, but all were dressed, with nipples covered. All except Emily.

"A human! Can it be?"

"Ah, so that's what legs look like..."

"Where's her alkayi? Do humans not have those?"

"She's a little old to parading around like that, I think."

"Is that necklace? No, surely not..."

Blushing and squirming to cover herself with her arms, Emily cast a desperate glance at Caelum. As frequently as she'd been naked since arriving in Thessolan, she'd managed to mostly avoid these kinds of extremely public scenes, and so it was a new and unwelcome experience to have her unclothed body at the center of so much attention.

Caelum acknowledged her glance with a curt nod and cast a foul look at the crowd surrounding them. Then, almost before Emily knew what was happening, he hoisted her into his arms and swam upwards with a powerful thrust, leaving the cacophanous crowd to choke on his trail of bubbles.

"Sorry about that, Emily," he said, looking her in the eyes. "I should have taken you straight to the palace to begin with. As the first human visitor to our city in generations, and the current bearer of the Stoneshell, you must have an audience with King Trilato as soon as possible."

Emily was grateful to have been rescued from the crowd, but the notion of appearing naked before the King of the Merfolk didn't seem a whole lot better. "Please find me something to wear first. I'll settle for a few strands of kelp!"

Caelum looked embarrassed again, and avoided eye contact. "I have told you of the grave crime of taking another's alkayi, have I not?"

Emily nodded.

"A less severe, but still grave crime, is the use of a false alkayi. Appearing before the king in such a manner would be a grave insult."

Emily was stunned. "What are you trying to tell me, Caelum? That I'm not allowed to wear clothes?"

"Well, when you put it like that... yes. Anything from Aquius that clothes would be considered a false alkayi. This... is not usually a problem. Most visitors to our realm arrive with their own clothing."

Emily curse the goldapple tree. If only its sap had been stickier!

"We're here," Caelum said, swimming over the railing of a balcony set into a high part of the Coral Palace's spires and gently releasing Emily from his cradling hold. "I will seek the king at once."

Emily's feet touched the smooth floor, and her eyes took in the opulent palace interior, walls carved with intricate scenes featuring merfolk and fish. Caelum waved to her and then vanished through an archway with a single flick of his tail.

Alone now, Emily turned to look at the city beyond the balcony. At times, she would almost forget she was underwater, but the stillness of this current moment brought her focus to the way the water enveloped her and carressed her skin. Every inch of exposed skin, which would seemingly need to remain so for the duration of her stay. She allowed her arms to fall at her sides, and tried to accept it.

Emily's eyes scanned across the spires of the city and came to rest on a kelp forest at its borders. That must be the place where young mermaids found their alkayis. What if she were to go there? Would she find a perfect, magical outfit, which would fit and suit her better than any other? Something indestructible, that could be called to cover her whenever she was parted from it. Emily imagined a shimmering dress made of turquious fish scales, enveloping her in a silky embrace from neck to mid-thigh, producing an effect not unlike a mermaid's tail. She sighed at the mental image, passing a hand down her bare hip.

"Emily!" cried Caelum, making her turn her head to the archway in surprise. "My gravest apologies, I had forgotten that today is the day of the Coral Gala, and that our king and all his noble subjects are deeply esconced in preparations. There will be no opportunity for your audience before then."

Emily let out a relieved sigh. She hadn't precisely been looking forward to meeting royalty in her birthday suit.

"We shall have to seek an audience during the Gala. I have informed the palace officials of your attendance and received their assurance that you shall be an honored guest." Here, Caelum looked a little unsure of himself, but only for a moment. "Please, grant me the honor of accompanying you." Caelum closed his eyes and bowed his head following this request.

Emily blushed. "A gala! But I don't have anything to wear! Literally!"

Reopening his eyes, Caelum waved a hand nonchalantly. "Do not worry, that shall all be taken care of. The palace servants will be only too happy to attend to your toilette."

Did that mean... clothes? Could there be a loophole in the alkayi rules after all? Emily's heart jumped into her throat. "Yes!" she shouted, surprising herself with her own enthusiasm. "I'll go with you to the gala, Caelum!"

Caelum's face lit up, beaming, as he held eye contact with Emily. "Then I shall call the servants at once! Coraline! Pearla! Nerissa!"

Caelum swam back into the depths of the palace, calling out the three names, and Emily felt her whole body relax. She was about to be dolled up for a gala in a magical palace, attended to by servants like an honest-to-goodness princess. Perhaps that shimmering gown would become a reality.

In a few moments, three mermaids appeared from the archway Caelum had disappeared behind. Their eyes widened initially at Emily's appearance, but each one quickly calibrated her expression to a professional pleasantness as they introduced themselves. Emily smiled back at them sheepishly, hovering her arms in front of her body.

Nerissa was the tallest one, with a turquoise tail and long hair done up in a thick braid of blue and purple. She wore a couple of large white seashells across her breasts. "Nerissa, hairdresser, at your service."

Next was Pearla, with a silver white tail and pale blonde hair to match. She wore a cleavage-enhancing corset that appeared to be made of red and pink living coral, ending just above her navel. "Pearla, jeweler, at your service."

Finally, Coraline's tail was red and gold, and her head was topped with a mass of curly red hair. Her torso was loosely wrapped with green seaweed, exposing her milky, pink-tipped left breast. "Coraline, perfumer, at your service."

The servants led Emily to a dressing room not far from the balcony and sat her down on a plush stool in front of a coral-framed mother-of-pearl mirror. All around her hung jewelery pieces, ornate bottles containing multi-colored liquids and a wide variety of brushes and combs. The servants set to work at once, chattering pleasantly.

Nerissa took Emily's chestnut hair in her hands and began to comb it out. Pearla glanced between Emily and the various jewelery pieces on the walls, picking up and putting down different ones. Coraline began fussing with perfume bottles, picking different ones and spraying them in front of Emily's nose, asking her which she would prefer. She chose one in a green-blue that smelled of ocean blooms.

Emily's hair was long and tangled in places, and Nerissa had to brush it quite vigorously to straighten it all out, using her whole body. As she fought with a particularly knotty tangle, her breasts bounced so violently that one of the seashells adorning them popped off and started to float away, leaving a brown nipple exposed. Nerissa cursed and her companions giggled.

"We match now," quipped Coraline.

"Yes, yes," said Nerissa, staring intently at the floating white shell. As she stared, it came to a stop and then reversed course, returning to her. Emily watched in amazement as the white shell drifted back to Nerissa and pressed itself firmly over her breast. "Sorry ma'am," she said, returning to her brushing.

Nerissa combed and coaxed Emily's hair into a sophiscated updo, adorned with strands of jewels and capped with a small tiara. Pearla chose a set of bracelets, armbands and necklaces and rings to adorn Emily with. The mermaids expressed a keen curiousity over Emily's legs and feet, asking her to move her toes and giggling to each other manically. Pearla placed some of the rings on Emily's toes and repurposed a few braclets as anklets. There were obviously no shoes to be found in the merfolk kingdom.

Makeup was a collaborative affair, though Coraline took charge. Emily's lips were reddened, her eyelids coated with a purple eyeshadow and dark mascara used to enhance her lashes. After much fussing, the mermaids declared themselves finished and asked Emily to survey the results.

"Wow," said Emily, staring at an almost unrecognizably flawless face in the mirror. "I--thank you, this is really good. I can't wait to see the dress you have for me!"

The mermaids exchanged glances of confusion. "Begging your pardon ma'am," said Nerissa, "but we're finished now. Is there anything we should change? Do you not like your hair?"

"I can give you different bracelets!" Pearla exclaimed, frantically grabbing for more jewelery.

"Maybe another fragrance?" asked Coraline, folding her arms across her chest, nonplussed.

Emily bit her lip. "No, no, please, this is all wonderful. I love everything you've done so far, really I do. And I understand that you don't have shoes for me, that makes sense, but surely I must have a dress, a ballgown, or something, to wear for this very formal and prestigious Coral Gala and to meet the king!"

The three mermaids frowned and stared hard at Emily. "If you summon your alkayi, we can help you to polish, press or decorate it," Coraline said.

Emily's heart sank. "I... don't have one of those," she said meekly.

A shocked gasp escaped from Pearla's lips, before she swiftly clapped both hands in front of her mouth. Coraline exchanged wide-eyed glances with the other mermaids, and all three retreated slightly. "A nokal at the Coral Gala..." whispered Nerissa.

"Nokal?" Emily ask, feeling the heat under her cheeks.

"But she's human!" said Coraline to Nerissa. "Maybe humans don't have alkayis."

"Evangeline did," Pearla chimed in. "At least... in the portraits..."

Coraline turned to Emily. "Do humans have alkayis? Or do you go about naked like children all your lives?"

Emily bit her lip. "Well... no. We don't have alkayis, but we also don't generally walk around naked. We wear clothes, made out of fabric. There's nothing special or magical about them, you don't have to find them in a magic forest, you just buy them."

"And where are your clothes?" asked Nerissa.

Emily let out a deep, frustrated sigh. "I've been asking myself that same question for weeks now. It just... uh, it's complicated. Suffice to say, I kinda don't have any right now. They're not things we can just summon like your alkayis." She looked around the room nervously. "Can't I have some more jewelery at least? A few more necklaces, something for my waist... I can't just go the the Gala naked!"

Pearla and Nerissa exchanged shocked whispers, and Coraline's frown deepened. "Begging your pardon, ma'am, but please try to understand and respect our traditions. We cannot be accused of giving you a false alkayi, and there is nothing we could provide that would allay that suspicion." Here Coraline gestured to her left side. "My kelp does not deign to cover this breast, and so I display it proudly. You must do the same with both of yours."

Emily looked at herself in the mirror. The picture was breathtaking, but to be seen in public like this, as the honored guest at a royal ball... it was shameless. The necklaces augmenting the Stoneshell only called attention to her bare breasts. And below that, her only adornments were the light jewelery on her arms, hands and feet. Emily pressed her thighs together and nervously glanced down at the strands of chestnut hair protruding between them.

"When a mermaid does not discover an alkayi during her time in the forest, we call her a nokal," Coraline said. "We do not shun nokals, but most prefer to isolate themselves and live quiet lives away from our cities. They are usually too ashamed to be seen."

"I, uh, totally get why," said Emily, hugging herself. "Thank you, ladies, for all your help. I love it all, I really do."

"Sir Caelum will hardly believe his eyes," said Pearla slyly. "One look and he will fall even deeper in love with you."

Emily gasped. A red flush appeared across her pale skin. "Oh no, he's just being hospitable..."

"There is much more than that in the way he looks at you," Nerissa added, with a knowing smile. "Of course, it would make sense for him to..."

"Hush!" snapped Coraline. "We must not subject our guest to idle gossip. Emily, the gala shall begin soon. Caelum will meet you at the balcony shortly. Let us proceed there at once."

Emily stood up, slightly unsteady, and took a last glance over her shoulder at the mirror. An expanse of pale skin, from her neck to her thighs, stared back at her. She had dreamed, in childhood, of attending royal balls, but never like this. And though she had already wandered naked for many days, the makeup and jewelery and the prospect of being an honored guest at a royal gala made it all new again. There would be no ballgown for her.

Accompanied by her retinue of mermaid attendants, Emily returned to the balcony where Caelum had first left her. He was waiting there for her. As their eyes met, she could see his expanding, taking in all of her. She couldn't help but blush and squirm, but refrained from covering herself. There would be no point, really. This was to be her outfit for the Coral Gala, where she would be the center of attention, as both a human among merfolk and the bearer of the Stoneshell.

"You look radiant, Emily," said Caelum, taking her hand in his and softly pressing his lips to it.

Oohs, aahs and fitful giggling erupted from the mermaid retinue and Emily bit her lower lip. A small voice in her head told her that Caelum would not have been quite so enthralled by her in a ballgown.

The next half-hour passed in a haze, and before she knew it Emily was standing beside Caelum before the grand doors to the palace's ballroom. The doors swung open, revealing the enormous and splendid interior bathed in the soft, iridescent glow of bioluminescent corals. Like many other public areas of the palace, it was partially open to the ocean, allowing fish and other sea creatures to swim in and out as they pleased.

Caelum's beard and hair had been combed, and he wore as his only clothing a thin purple sash from one shoulder to base of his tail. He offered his arm to Emily, and she took it gratefully.

"Announcing Emily Stoneshell Bearer of the surface world, heiress to the legacy of Evangeline, and Sir Caelum, Vanquisher of the Leviathan."

As they entered the hall, a hush fell over the crowd. All eyes turned to gaze upon the pair and whispers rippled through the gathering. A few of the younger merfolk appeared to pay close attention to the movement of Emily's legs, pointing and nudging each other. The older merfolk appeared more interested in the Stoneshell, which they gestured and squinted at. Emily began to shake under the weight of so many curious gazes taking in her naked form.

Sensing Emily's unease, Caelum pulled her closer, pressing her against his side, and increased the speed of his swimming. He pulled up, lifting Emily's feet from the marble floor, and swept her to the back of the hall. "The King has not yet arrived," he whispered in her ear. "But there's someone else I'd like you to meet first."

Caelum carried Emily past the chattering crowds towards a table in a corner of the hall, which was set apart from the others. A single mermaid sat at this table. Her hair was completely white and her face lined with age, but she was fit and strong as all merfolk were. She had a green tail and smiled as Emily and Caelum approached her. Unlike the rest of the mermaids and merman, she had not put much effort into her appearance for the gala.

But the first thing Emily had noticed about the mermaid, who took her hand and introduced herself as Zephyr, was that she was just as naked as Emily was. It was slightly surreal, seeing a pair of bare breasts that weren't her own reflected back in a mirror.

"Please, sit," said Zephyr, gesturing at a seat next to her. "It is an honor to meet the heiress of Evangline. I can only hope I am as much help to you as Sir Caelum believes I can be."

"Don't undersell yourself," Caelum said to Zephyr. Then, to Emily, "With your leave, I must make my rounds. I will return shortly to your side."

Emily waved to Caelum and then sat down as instructed, grateful for the opportunity to hide herself slightly from the crowd. "A--are you a nokal?" she asked, before wondering if that was a rude thing to say and blushing in embarrassment.

But rather than taking offense, Zephyr let out a musical laugh. "Ah, how much you have learned about our culture in such a short time," she said. "Yes, I am what is commonly called a nokal, a mermaid who was not gifted with an alkayi, one who was passed over for the symbiotic pairing with a true covering. But I like to think it keeps these firm." At this, she cupped her right breast and winked at Emily.

"W--why are you seated so far away from everyone else?" Emily thought back to what the mermaids had told her about nokals. "Are they scared of you?"

"Oh no, nothing of the sort," replied Zephyr. "People feel sorry for me, sometimes, but I am quite welcome here in Aquius. I spend most of my time in the city library, researching, and nobody gives me any trouble."

Emily nodded. The presence of another naked woman, and one who seemed considerably more at ease than she was, made her feel a little better.

"Of course it was quite embarrassing at first," mused Zephyr. "They blamed me for quite a few dolphin collisions, but really it was the mermen's fault for not keeping their eyes in front of them. And when all your friends get alkayis and you know you'll never have one, well... that does hurt. I adjusted after a few years though."

"A few... years..." Emily repeated. Here was a woman, a mermaid, who had endured for years--no, decades--what Emily had lived with for only a few weeks. And all without any hope of having clothes... ever! A wave of pity mixed with admiration washed over her, and she put her hand on Zephyr's. "I know exactly how you must have felt."