As the Queen approached the manta ray shifted, shrinking its majestic wingspan down to a more manageable shape, and Hadama raised his head and torso out of the water. Pushing back the steely grey of his hair, he nodded a quietly pleased greeting to his friend.
"Maeve. I am well, thank you. And yourself?" He waited until she had reached a state of dress - or undress - in which she was most comfortable and then held out a hand for her to join him in the gentle waves that lapped the shallows around the islet.
"I am told it is strange to breathe underwater the first time," he warned her. "Take as much time as you need to become comfortable with it." The ring's magic was painless and as natural as the merfolk's talents, but for those who could drown it was still a difficult thing to take that first breath beneath the surface.
"Maeve. I am well, thank you. And yourself?" He waited until she had reached a state of dress - or undress - in which she was most comfortable and then held out a hand for her to join him in the gentle waves that lapped the shallows around the islet.
"I am told it is strange to breathe underwater the first time," he warned her. "Take as much time as you need to become comfortable with it." The ring's magic was painless and as natural as the merfolk's talents, but for those who could drown it was still a difficult thing to take that first breath beneath the surface.
