Chapter 3He brought cheese the next day, as promised. And currant buns, also as promised. Nerein devoured four buns with improbable speed, stared at cheddar with suspicion, and finally crumbled a small corner between fingers and nibbled.
He picked up a bigger piece after that. Peter didn’t say anything, just grinned and took some for himself. They ate in silence for a while.
The days became routine. Three, four, five. More. Once or twice Peter was still at work—helping put up posts, smoothing out the path down to the water, making their stone-strewn shore ready for a Queen and a King—when his merman arrived, and Nerein watched him, waiting, on the rock.
He did not volunteer much about Nerein to his family. They gathered for supper a few nights each week, also routine: Peter had moved ou
