A Touching Of Lips (BoyxBoy)

Chapter 22. River.

"So how did River come to be with you here, and not with his father?" Ming asked, breaking the silence that had suddenly descended upon us. "He told me he had been brought up with you and was close to the Prince."

"That is true. The Emperor of The Gulf of Thailand's youngest sister had been given to the Emperor of the South China Seas community to be his breeding partner. When that territory was overrun, she was captured. My father was commanded to find her and to bring her home, as he knew the area well. This he achieved without any of the twenty Merman he took with him losing their lives. My father was highly acclaimed, and became revered and respected, even though he was an outsider and was deemed to be a mercenary."

"I can see how proud of him you are," I said as Pond beamed with pride. "I heard that you had inherited your father's gift. Is this why you are different?"

"Let him finish about River first," chided Ming, tapping me on the arm, "otherwise you will definitely be confused."

I sat there with my arms held loosely in my lap and my head bowed, waiting for Pond to continue.

"When the Emperor's sister, Pensri, returned, she was pregnant. She said Mongkut had forced her to mate with him, She said she was one of many that he forced himself upon. She said he was most unlike any Merman she had ever met. He mated for pleasure and was disrespectful. When it was time to give birth to Annop...., that's River's Mer given name, she had a difficult time as he had to be turned. She did not survive. The Emperor arranged for nursemaids to raise Annop at first, but when he reached 12 in your years, he became unruly and disobedient. He was having a bad influence on Namrem who was a similar age."

He saw me smile. "Namrem is Khun Chiang's Mer given name, just in case you are wondering, Earth. I knew you heard River say his name and knew you would want to know who he was."

I just nodded and let him carry on.

"My father and mother felt honour bound to help and offered to take Annop into our family and to discipline him to make him more socially acceptable. This they achieved and that is why I looked on him as a brother."

"You say looked as in the past tense" I said, also noting his tone. "When you introduced him to me you said he was your cousin."

"You do listen well," Pond complimented, looking pleased that I had noticed something important.

"Whatever he has told you about my father is not all true. He does not tell the complete truth as it would shame him."

I just nodded again as I was now fascinated by the story, and by the look on Ming's face, he was too.

"Annop and Namrem still spent much time together. My father was unhappy about this and mistrusted Annop. He had Merman loyal to him discreetly follow Namrem at all times. If Namrem was in any danger my father would be advised, and action would be taken. Annop never realised this, although Namrem has since told me that he was aware he was being followed. He said he felt over protected by his parents and courtiers and accepted that he could court danger with Annop knowing help was not far away."

"Risky or what?" I muttered to Ming, making Pond smile.

"It was when Annop went away to college that I became a much closer friend to Namrem than I had been able to with Annop around. We spent a lot of time together and we found that we understood each other totally. When Annop returned from college he insisted on being called by the name River. This was the name that he had chosen for himself when he went on land and he hated the name Annop that the Emperor had given him. It was a most disrespectful thing to have done and it angered my father even more. One day, River persuaded Namrem to go exploring over the far side of their community area. The follower guards alerted my father as to the direction they were going. Luckily for Namrem my father was already in that area. He had received private reports of human activity again and was already searching for them, with a small group of warrior Merman, not too far from where Namrem was. River was unaware of my father's presence. What happened next is close to what River told you. River and Namrem were attacked by armed human frogmen. River fled as a capture net was cast over Namrem. It was clear that they were only attempting to capture him at first. Namrem was surprised to see my father suddenly appear and disarm and neutralise the two humans holding the net. He then began to cut through the net with a knife, keeping his body between Namrem and the attackers. Namrem saw the two darts pierce right through my father's body, just inches from his face, but my father kept on cutting through the net.... allowing him to escape. As he swam away Namrem looked back and saw my father killed by three attackers. Then more Merman arrived and captured the three humans. River brought the first two humans, that had drowned after my father had neutralised, then claiming that he had performed that task, and the rest is as River told you."

"Why didn't you just kill them to start with?" I asked. "Why use the fish to do that?"

"If we kill them then their cause of death will be investigated. We neutralise and then let them drown or use the fish."

"Clever or what," I answered. "Why did Namrem..... sorry...., Khun Chiang, not dispute River's claim to have neutralised them?"

"He didn't want his parents to know the real reason why they were in the dangerous area. They both said they had seen humans going to that area and had gone to support other Merman they had seen following them. It also gave River some much needed fighting kudos and enhanced his standing as he was not well liked by many MerPeople."

"I'm not sure that I'm liking him either," I replied. "What I don't understand is why were these frogmen armed and carrying a capture net if they were only surveying the seabed. There are no sharks to worry about, are there?"

"Well spotted Earth. This is what I and Namrem both thought later. When he was trapped in the net and he saw River flee, Namrem had wondered if he was being caught to be held for ransom, and that was why River had lured him there. We were puzzled as to why humans were used and not MerPeople. We decided not to alert the Emperor and let the story River said stand. We are determined to seek out the truth by only involving a few select Merman, which is why I told you not to say anything to anyone other than Ming, and we are close to finding out who was responsible for the attack on Namrem. We are unsure of the loyalty of River's Mer Team, so be alert for indiscretions, and continue to say nothing of importance."

"River's Team? I thought they were yours?" I asked looking at Ming for confirmation.

"No. River met them at college and chose them as his team. They know only what I allow them to know. My team are watching them closely. River's fourth member was conveniently made unwell so that I was able to replace him. My team are always close by, but you would not know it. River and Top are not aware either, and we must keep it like that."

"Does this satisfy your curiosity and answer your initial question?" Pond smiled smugly.

"Yes, but I have more," I answered.

Pond laughed. "You humans always have more, and you have so many."

"I've noticed that you don't use mobile phones to communicate. I've seen you putting your finger to your ear." I don't know why, but I did the actions as well. "Is it an evolved way of communicating on land that you have developed?"

"It is a type of implant that is linked to my wristband that we have developed exclusively for us on land," Pond answered. "The one I am using has only recently been approved. It is more highly sophisticated and has far greater capabilities than the previous models. Rivers team still have the previous version and I made them think that I am just testing a new version with Khun Chiang, because it looks and sounds different. My team also has them and we are in contact all the time."

Ming looked at me and whispered, "Very James Bond. I can guess who's 007, can't you?"

I laughed and wondered if Pond got the joke as his face didn't alter one bit.

"Pond?" I asked and then paused. "What is your relationship with Namrem? I mean Khun Chiang. Is he your boyfriend and lover?"