5 to 1
Meriwether tilted her head slightly, looking up at Adalyn with curious eyes that seemed to be filled with the wilds of the ocean. There was an allure to her that warned Adalyn this beauty had bewitching powers much stronger than any magic potion Grandmother brewed.
"Where are you from then? I am widely traveled." Meriwether offered and Adalyn wondered what to say. She couldn't admit she fell into this world, and then she thought of a half truth.
"I don't know. My family was celebrating All Hallows Eve and I fell into the fast moving river and I have no idea how long I drifted for." She replied careful with her word choice but the girl seemed to consider it.
"Are you sure you didn't fall into our world from your own?" Meriwether asked curiously. Adalyn froze, was there a sign on her forehead saying foreigners? Was there something she was missing that revealed the truth?
"How did you know?" Adalyn asked a bit defeated.
"Well, first off your dress. The materials don't exist here and second, The Furred God sent a vision to the Mermaid Oracle warning of your arrival. Add in your dress, you not knowing about burials at sea, and the strange magic your using to heal My Ry, not to mention you consoling me. I could only guess you aren't from here." Meriwether explained with a gentle smile. Adalyn cast one last small spell to clear the blood from the floor and laid back on the stone. She had to find a way to make this a hell of a lot less obvious.
"Alright, I can fix the outfit. My magic I can hide. What I don't get is how me consoling you was a hint." Adalyn reasoned looking back at Meriweather through thick lashes. The look in Adalyn's eyes shocked Meriwether by pulling her in like a mermaid to the waves. Beautiful.
"Females normally see a proven female as a threat. You don't have a Mother mark on you, nor a Wedding Mark yet you held me and offered assistance." Meriwether explained as she continued gently running her hand through her mate's dark hair. The man was dead asleep, and thanks to what little good Adalyn was able to do, pain free.
"Okay, what is 'Proven'?" Adalyn asked and Meriwether looked surprised.
"It means Proven to be fertile." Meriwether replied rubbing gently on her rounded tummy. Adalyn nodded slowly seeming to be considering this.
"Is there a fertility issue here?" Adalyn asked, figuring she already Knew Adalyn wasn't from here it wouldn't hurt to get more information from her. Meriwether sighed deeply, looking saddened as she considered how to answer this question.
"I think… in order for you to have any chance at surviving here I had better give you a short history lesson." Meriwether offered, chewing her bottom lip as she looked down and used her fingers like comb tines to separate a section of Ry's hair and begin braiding it in slow weaving motions.
"If you wouldn't mind that would be amazing." Adalyn admitted and Meriwether nodded.
"Well, our history has a bit of a tragic past. Our world has been ruled 6 High kings, and each king represents a time in our past. The first King, The Unity King Cyan brought all the tribes together for the first time and made peace. He was a good king as was his son the 2nd King. However things went wrong when the second king died without an heir and the throne was fought for. The new king by battle was the Bear King Tyendel. He was different than the first two kings, a man with greed in his heart and did not care for anyone but himself." Meriwether explained and Adalyn groaned inwardly.
"So traditional Narcissist king." Adalyn commented with a sigh. She rolled over to look up at Meriwether while she told the story.
"I don't know what that means but if its evil, then I agree. Until this point, honor, respect, and understanding was the pillars of our kingdoms. The Bear King changed it to be Strength, Bravery, and Ferocity. This was all well and good for the aggressive predator shifters, but the passive predators and the prey had less rights and were often slaughtered in shows of prowess by other predators. It was a bloody age." The sadness in Meriwether's eyes seemed to transport Adalyn there, so she could sense all these things happening.
"Then he took his wife. She was beautiful and strong but not as strong as he was so he considered her inferior. They had a child, a girl and he lost interest in her and married another wife; ignoring his first wife. The second wife died in childbirth, also having a girl but many believe he killed her out of anger. Then, his first daughter took interest in the sea so he sent her to live by the water for a while. When he went to retrieve her he found she was at a wedding of a beautiful bride and a fisherman husband. He wanted the bride for his own, so he killed the fisherman and his family, stealing the bride away. She tried to escape but he did not give her the chance. Soon she was also pregnant and wanted desperately to leave this place. He did not allow it and treated her well until the baby was born and it was once again a girl. In anger and frustration he sold all of his female children off to noble families and had his wives sentenced to death."
"Wow he was a perfect husband, wasn't he?" Adalyn growled her annoyance with this long dead king deep in her heart. Wolves back home often valued their sons more than their daughters and it angered her.
"No, not at all he was horrible." Meriwether reassured Adalyn as if afraid she would misunderstand.
"That was sarcasm dear. It means the opposite of What I said." Adalyn explained and Meriwether smiled.
"I know what Sarcasm is deary, I wasn't sure you did." Meriwether replied with a wink. "Now then, the three wives were thrown into the dungeons and awaited their deaths while morning their children. The fisherman's wife revealed herself to be a mermaid and used her powers to free the three of them and swept the other two women into the sea. She plead her case with the Mother Goddess and the Ocean God for days on end. The Ocean God was moved by his daughter's words and granted both her friends Mermaid forms. The Mother Goddess was angered by seeing how her children were being treated on land. Men had begun mimicking their king and woman were quickly becoming slaves. In her anger, she assisted in stealing all women away to live as mermaids in the sea. Few chose to stay on land, but the ones who did saw it as an opportunity to gain power. Every woman who stayed on land lost a precious gift, they could no longer bear female children. You see, the Goddess did this so the men would not punish their wives for giving birth to girls. It also became known that if a woman is not suited to be a mother, she will be unable to bare children. Because of this, women who have children are known as Proven Mates."
"Thank you for the warning not to piss off your Gods." Adalyn couldn't help but be surprised and impressed that the gods had taken such interest and care of their people.
"Yes it is unwise. Now, two kings passed before the men came to their senses and realized that without young females it was impossible to continue on as a species. So the 5th King begged the Ocean for their women back, but was ignored. Hearing their begging, a few of the young and now ageless mermaids hearts were tugged on and they wanted to return to land. This is when the Goddess Mother gave the Queen Mermaid a special gift. She can bless women to bare female children. Only a Female blessed may bare female children and her children will only bare boys unless they too are blessed. It is intended because if the Mermaid Queen sees women being abused she will refuse to bless women with the gift, thus making men feel more protective of their proven females." Meriwether finished the story as she set down the ninth little braid she had woven in her Mate's hair.
"SO, how many women are there?" Adalyn asked honestly captivated now.
"Each village has about 10 to 15 women, but maybe 3 or 4 of them is blessed, and beyond that maybe 5 of them can bare Males. Some have mermaids, but that's very few. Most mermaids have chosen to stay at sea." Meriwether replied.
"I see. What's the average population of a village?" Adalyn asked still curious. For all she knew there were 10 men to a village.
"About 50 people at a normal village with 10 females." Meriwether replied and Adalyn frowned slightly. That would make the ratio...5 to 1. She looked out at sea, where the faint glow of the funeral boat was.
"So women take more than one mate now?" Adalyn clarified and Meriwether nodded.
"Yes; Even unblessed women have more than one mate. Two males can better protect the female and their young." Meriwether explained "granted she may only bed one of them, the others are like a guard and protect her and the children with hopes of eventually having a deeper relationship with their female."
Adalyn smiled softly, at least it's a reverse harem society? She didn't have to worry about being attacked at least. What about witchcraft though… it was probably best not to ask. Yet.
"Thank you, Meriwether. This is a lot to take in." Adalyn replied honestly. This was so different from home. How was she going to stay out of this mess? Why did she have a feeling that wasn't going to be an option?
"It was a lot to learn as a child." She agreed looking at Adalyn with a bit of understanding in her eyes.
"Are you blessed?" Adalyn asked after a while and Meriwether blushed.
"We… ummm it's kind of rude to…ahh" She stammered trying to explain manners to Adalyn.
"Oh, sorry, I didn't realize that was bad manners. I was just curious." Adalyn apologized, but her eyes were clear and sweet rather than the snarkiness and cold she had come to expect from other females.
"I am a Mermaid actually. My mother is the Mer Duchess and I came to land to marry My Ryan." She replied after a moment, sadness as she ran her hand through the man's hair. "He will wake up… right?"
"Yes, give him a few days and he will be alert and smiling at your sweetness. If he doesn't wake up in the day or so, I will come back and check on him again." Adalyn promised as she started to get up. It wouldn't do to mooch off her new friend and honestly she needed food. Unfortunately, it was getting dark.
"Who are you living with?" Meriwether asked, her expression curious and concerned. Adalyn snapped out of her pensive frustration to answer her.
"I am on my own. Don't worry about me though, I can take care of myself." Adalyn reassured her with a bewitching smile. Meriwether felt the heat of a blush creep up her neck. This was an entirely new relationship for her, it felt like the girls from the ocean. All mermaids were friends, at least on the surface, because they had to protect each other in the water. Once she moved to land she found there was much less friendship and more jockeying for dominance and men.
"You can't go out there on your own. There are wild beasts that hunt at night. Without protection you stand out like a sore thumb. Not to mention if the village finds out about you not having a Guardian." Meriwether cautioned her rather earnestly. Adalyn found it funny that the girl seemed to think the Villiage finding out was worse than being eaten alive.
"I just got here this morning, Meri. I haven't had time to do much hunting for shelter or protection. Your plight was literally the first interaction I've had with people here." Adalyn explained patiently.
"Then let us take responsibility for you tonight. I have food from this morning and there's plenty of space." She offered hurriedly,her eyes seeming to beg Adalyn to consider her offer.
"Alright. I will stay with you until your Ry is well enough to accompany you." Adalyn agreed, realizing this was a gift she couldn't afford to refuse. That short nap she had before the Gathering was not going to hold long enough for her to find shelter and food here. She couldn't afford to get sick from a weak body.