Its just a little swim....

[Mariuset]

"Let us withdraw, then." she replied

[Zeryn]

He walked up the shore with her, remaining quiet for a bit while he helped her back up the rocks to more solid land. "I should not have stayed so far away when you came out to swim," he admitted quietly. "It put you in needless risk. I am sorry."

[Mariuset]

"It is quite alright." she replied "You should not be responsible for saving me from my foolish choices. Especially before its clear how foolish they are."

[Zeryn]

He glanced at her, the corners of his lips twitching slightly. "If I wish to be responsible for your safety, I shall be," he said. "And even if you think your actions foolish, it does not excuse my own foolishness."

[Mariuset]

"Can we agree that it was primarily the fault of the people who were trying to kidnap me and offer me up as a blasphemous sacrifice?" Mariuset asked lightly.

[Zeryn]

"Your words are more than sensible," Zeryn decided with an actual smile this time.

[Mariuset]

"Of course they are. I am a woman of Lemuria."

[Zeryn]

Zeryn frowned at that. "And the high priestess who sent them was not a woman of Lemuria?"

[Mariuset]

"She was mad." Mariuset countered "She is not what Lemurians should be."

[Zeryn]

Zeryn almost... almost snapped something out. He took a deep breath, focusing straight ahead of him for a moment. "I'm... sorry," he said. "My first time meeting your people was that day in the temple, when we found you. Bound, helpless, half drowning..." His teeth clenched, and the trident seemed to shatter in his hand. "It was not... a good first impression," he said, his voice forced into evenness.

[Mariuset]

"It was traumatic for me as well." she said "But please do not forget that it was my parents who set my rescue in motion."

[Zeryn]

"As I said... I am sorry," he said.

[Mariuset]

"And I accept your apology." Mariuset replied "Lemuria and Atlantis have often been at odds, and known little of one another."

[Zeryn]

"And the learning shall be... quite stimulating," he said (teasing?) with another curl of the corner of his lips.

[Mariuset]

"We can certainly hope so." Mariuset replied "Have you heard from your father recently?"

[Zeryn]

"I have not, not since returning to the surface. So things are as they always are, I suppose."

[Mariuset]

"I suppose they must be. If you do have contact with him, please convey my greetings."

[Zeryn]

"I shall," he assured her. "I can't say I expect to hear from him. He... has rather little use for me on most occasions."

[Mariuset]

"But he sent you to the surface as an ambassador, and to learn their ways!" Mariuset protested "Surely he wouldn't have given you such an important responsibility if he did not value you."

[Zeryn]

He smiled faintly, looking around before he answered. "It is a post my father placed me upon because it removes me to a location where he does not need to decide what to do with me," he said. "It is a post I took because as unlikely as it might be, it is the best chance I will have to distinguish myself."

[Mariuset]

"If that is true, then both yourself and your father give you too little credit."

[Zeryn]

"Perhaps," he said. "I don't believe my father's... estimation of me. But I also know that few of our people truly care what occurs in the land above."

[Mariuset]

"Why should they? The ocean is vast and rich and the surface dwellers leave us to ourselves for the most part."

[Zeryn]

"Precisely. Making the surface world the perfect place to send a son whom you judge to be a nuisance. I resented it for a time. Now, thankfully, I can be here of my own accord for my own reasons as well."

[Mariuset]

"Why would he find you troublesome?" Mariuset asked "Was it because of your mutation? I have heard that Atlanteans do not always value such."

[Zeryn]

"His first wife took a distaste to my mother. My presence brings... some dischord within his sons," he said. "The fact of my power galls her more, though she uses it to try to discredit my abilities without it."

[Mariuset]

"I see." she replied "It seems to me that is an inherent problem with having more than one wife, since naturally each mother will favor her own children."

[Zeryn]

"No, it seems to only be a problem inherent to me," he admitted. "She... did make some rather unwise decisions upon meeting them, in fairness to his other wives."

[Mariuset]

"Is that why you are her only child?"

[Zeryn]

"Oh, I'm not. She bore him two daughters as well. My father has quite enough children to be getting on with."

[Mariuset]

"I confess, I didn't meet any of them for long enough to quite remember who is who, let alone who is who's child."

[Zeryn]

"The one who tended you when we returned with you... that was my mother," he said. "My sisters were not present... one is a priestess, the other married."

[Mariuset]

"She was very kind. I wish I could have been able to thank her better, but I was a bit unwell at first."

[Zeryn]

"I'm rather sure she understood. All things considered, she needed give her approval before arrangements were made concerning me."

[Mariuset]

"Really? I would have thought that all such arrangements would be your father's province."

[Zeryn]

"Is that how your mother would have dealt with her husbands?" he asked coolly.

[Mariuset]

"Of course not." Mariuset replied "She treats all three of them with great kindness and respect."

[Zeryn]

"So you expected that my father would have treated his wives with less consideration than your fathers would have been shown?"

[Mariuset]

"Considering that he's already subverting the natural order of things?"

[Zeryn]

"And what is the 'natural order of things'?" Zeryn asked, his eyes narrowing.