“Why not?”
“Not enough of us find true mates, these days. Unmated pairs can still attempt to breed, of course, but they tend to produce only one or two eggs at most.” Her melodic voice hushed, as though speaking of something taboo. “And sometimes…sometimes the young are not even shifters.”
Though Neridia wouldn’t wish her own misfortune on anyone else, her heart still skipped a beat at the news that there were others like her. “Really? They can’t turn into dragons either?”
Jane gave her an odd look. “No. They cannot turn into humans.”
“Oh.” Neridia frowned as something struck her. “You say that like it’s a bad thing. But, if you don’t mind me saying, I thought your people kind of looked down on humans.”
Jane made a wry face. “Many do, I am sorry to say. There are those who would claim that we should have no connection to them. But even the staunchest traditionalists cannot escape the inconvenient fact that we are only fertile in human form. That is another reason why we keep parts of Atlantis under air.”
“So you live in water, but have to breed in air? Like frogs, only backward?”
The sea dragon lifted an indigo eyebrow at her, a smile tugging at her full lips. “I suggest you don’t say that in the hearing of one of our males. I am not sure they would take kindly to the comparison. But yes, that is essentially the case.”
Neridia nodded as the problem became clear. “So those of you who can’t shift…”
“Can never have young of their own. They are dead ends.” Jane’s turquoise eyes darkened with sorrow. “And so our people slowly dwindle.”
“Hmm. Speaking as a conservationist, it sounds like your gene pool is too small.”
Jane’s forehead wrinkled. “You think that we should mate in pools?”
“No, I mean, your breeding population is too small to be viable. You need fresh blood.”
“Ah, I understand now.” Jane made a graceful, sinuous shrug. “I agree, but where is it to come from? Every sea dragon in the entire ocean is known and named. If we sing for our mate, and he does not answer, there is nothing we can do.”
From the sad, minor key of her musical voice, Neridia was certain that Jane was speaking from personal experience. “Well, John found me on land. Maybe that’s where you should be looking too.”
Jane’s eyes widened. “You—you think I too might have a human mate? Me?”
“Why not? John did. My father did. Why not you?”
“I might have a mate,” Jane breathed, looking thunderstruck. “I might have a mate.” She seized Neridia’s hands, swinging her around in a dance of joy. “I might have a mate!”
“Don’t get too excited,” Neridia laughed, trying to keep up with the sea dragon’s exuberance. “I have to warn you, finding him might not be easy. There are, um, a few more humans than there are sea dragons.”
“I don’t care if I have to spend years searching. For my mate, I would go anywhere, do anything—oh.” Jane stopped dancing, as suddenly as she’d started. “But I won’t have the chance. The Sea Council would never allow me to walk above the wave.”
“They let John go, didn’t he?”
“Yes, but that was a special case. The Knight-Commander sent him to investigate rumors of the lost Emperor. It was a matter of the utmost importance.”
“Well, saving the species is of the utmost importance too,” Neridia pointed out. Then she hesitated. “Though maybe I’m wrong. I’m not exactly a good advertisement for sea dragon-human cross-breeds.“
Jane looked at her sidelong, biting her lip. Then her mouth firmed. “My brother is convinced that you will shift. Will you give me permission to look for my mate on land, when you become Empress?”
“Um. Sure, of course.” Neridia’s own mouth twisted. “But don’t hold your breath on that one.”
At Jane’s blank expression, she realized that the expression probably didn’t mean much to a creature with gills. But before she could explain what she meant, the door swung open.
Jane gasped, quickly dropping her gaze to the floor. “Honored Knight-Commander of the First Water, Voice of the Emperor-in-Absence.”
The huge man in the doorway didn’t even glance at the sea dragon woman. Neridia flinched as his gaze fixed on her. Even with his face hidden behind his elaborate dragon-faced helmet, she felt the intensity of that stare like a hot iron.
“You are the human?” His deep voice vibrated her bones.
Dry-mouthed, Neridia could only nod, silently. He was as tall as John, and seemed even more superhumanly massive thanks to his dazzling diamond-encrusted armor. The hilts of two swords protruded over his hulking shoulders. One had a pommel set with a fist-sized, pure white pearl; the other bore a pearl of deepest midnight.