The Ugly Duckling Of The Tiger Tribe-Chapter 296: He... he’s a friend

I was still staring at the merman’s very human, very muscular legs—not the middle one—trying to wrap my brain around the physics of it, when the temperature behind me dropped to absolute zero.

The air didn’t just get cold; it felt like it was vibrating with something dangerous, something lurking in the air that made the hair on my neck stand up.

"Arinya." I heard a voice call out.

It was Fenric.

His voice wasn’t loud, but it had a fierce edge to it that I’d only heard when he was seconds away from ripping a beast to shreds.

I spun around, my heart nearly leaping out of my throat. Fenric and Damar were standing ten paces away, the animal they caught slipping from their traps and making a heavy thud sound as it hit the ground.

Their eyes were narrowed and alarmed as they stared at the scene in front of them.

Fenric looked like he would lung at the merman any second now. And beside him was Damar who looked like a ghost of pure fury.

I mean a ghost literally.

His silver hair was whipping in the wind, and his skin was shimmering with that dangerous, iridescent sheen he got right before he lunged his tail forward like a spear, aiming right for the vital spot.

His emerald eyes weren’t looking at me—they were pinned on the merman like two poisoned arrows.

They were going to go for the kill.

"Step away from her," Damar hissed. "Now."

But the merman didn’t move. He didn’t even look startled. He just stood there in all his sun-drenched, naked glory, his violet eyes shifting from me to the two predators currently weighing up how to kill him.

This couldn’t go on if not someone was going to die.

"Wait! Wait, guys, it’s not what it looks like!" I scrambled to my feet, throwing myself into the middle of the standoff.

I was basically a shield between a homicidal snake, a dangerous snow tiger, and a very confused sea-god.

"He’s... he’s a friend!" I blurted out but had to rethink the whole thing. I didn’t even know his name. "Sort of! A patient!"

"A friend?" Fenric roared, stepping forward. "He’s standing over you unclothed, Arinya! Who is this? Where did he come from?"

"The water!" I gestured frantically at the sea. "He’s one of the mer-folk! Remember Jael? He’s like Jael, but... taller. And with legs!"

Damar’s tail lashed out, cracking against a nearby palm tree like a whip and I flinched. That looked dangerous.

"Jael is a fish, Ari." He said, his tone going under. "This is a male on land. A male standing in front of my mate without a shred of shame." He turned his deadly gaze back to the merman. "Speak, stranger, before I feed your ’legs’ to the tide." 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝙚𝔀𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝒐𝒎

The merman, after remaining still and showing no concern for the situation, finally moved.

He didn’t cower, but rigidly bowed his head, as if he was not used to lowering his upper body in a space without water.

It was a movement that made his tanned muscles ripple—which I’m sure only made Fenric want to punch him more.

"I am Thalor," he said, his voice deep and melodic. "Prince of the sea."

I blinked.

A prince? He was a prince of the sea?

Oh my. I placed my hand over my mouth. I saved a dying prince.

Why does this seem more like The Little Mermaid the more we dive into the plot? Well, in the reverse form, of course.

I shook my head. Snap out of it.

He says he’s a prince. So if a fight breaks out now from a misunderstanding and they hurt the prince of the sea, it will definitely create a conflict.

"Alright, prince of the sea," Fenric folded his arms, not falling into courtesy simply because he named himself a prince. "Let’s say you really are from the sea." His gaze fell to Thalor’s legs and then back to his face, his frown deepening. "What are you doing here on land?"

"I have been saved." He said and I pursed my lips.

Come on, I did save you, but you weren’t even cautious. So how do you know it was me?

"And so, I have come to repay the Land-Mother for saving my breath when the bitter dust nearly took it. My life belongs to her now."

The silence that followed was terrifying. Fenric’s jaw was set so tight I thought his clenched teeth might crack.

"You’re what?" Fenric repeated, his voice dropping into a lethal whisper.

In that moment, I think I forgot to breathe. Or rather, I couldn’t breathe. I held my breath, looking from one to the other, wondering what sort of bizarre situation I had found myself in once more.

"You think you can just walk out of the sea and claim a debt to Arinya? You’re lucky I haven’t claimed your head yet." Fenric snarled.

I looked at Thalor, who seemed completely oblivious to the fact that he was about ten seconds away from being turned into shark bait, and then at my two very homicidal-looking husbands.

This was crazy. And even more so...

Why were we having this conversation while Thalor was displaying his third leg like an artifact?

I dropped my hand on my face.

I was literally five seconds away from a nervous breakdown.

My heart was thumping against my ribs, not because of the ’Prince of the Sea’ standing there like a bronze statue, but because I could practically see the rage steam coming off Fenric’s ears.

"Can someone get this fish something to wear?" I asked. "A hide! A blanket! A very large leaf! Anything!" I hissed, my eyes darting between Thalor’s oblivious, princely smile and the twitching muscle in Damar’s jaw.

Damar didn’t move to help. He didn’t even blink. He just stared at Thalor with a cold, predatory focus.

"He doesn’t need a blanket, Ari. He needs to go back into the hole he crawled out of. It’s either that or I help him get back." I saw his claws manifest and gulped.

"He’s a Prince, Damar! If you kill him, we’re going to have an underwater war troop on our doorstep!" I stepped closer to Thalor, trying to shield the ’view’, which was like trying to hide a mountain with a pebble. "And you! Thalor! Put your hands... I don’t know, somewhere! Do you have any concept of ’too much information’ in the ocean?"