Chapter 4“He said I was young,” Nerein said. “Jeremiah.” He’d dressed more like an islander today, plainly having borrowed clothing someplace: thick long trousers and a knit jumper in deep emerald lines. The sleeves were too long; he’d shoved them up. Someone human would’ve put on a jacket to battle the wind; his feet remained bare.
He hadn’t worn the earring. Peter felt an odd stab of disappointment at this.
His merman went on, “The same age as when I first met him, he said. Young.”
“Are you, then? The same age?”
“No.” Nerein scowled. “And yes. No. Humans are confusing. We don’t age like you.”
“How do you age? If you don’t mind me asking.”
“Slowly,” Nerein said. “Or not. The way we want. The way we feel, sometimes. The way the ocean feels. We can ebb and flow, not too far, I don’t t
