Rose was nervous in many ways all through the meeting with Nate's biological parents. It was something that she'd never expected ever having an opportunity to do, for after all, he'd told her what he knew about growing up in foster care because his "parents" had been unable to care for him due to a drug addiction. As such as they dated in college there had never been a moment like this that ever entered her mind as a possibility. And yet, here it was... meeting with Nate's parents and family, actual family, and that had its own share of surprises. Thus, with no expectation of ever meeting Nate's biological parents, finding out they were nobility in a magical ocean where merpeople were the dominant lifeform never occurred to her.
Kaia and Marius had been very friendly, as had the other members of Nate's extended family, which Rose felt grateful for but that didn't change Rose's nervousness. For some of that friendliness could just be a result of Nate's parents and family being overjoyed that by some coincidence that their vacation yacht trip had lead them sailing from the "human world" to the "magical one" where Nate, Rose, and their friends had all ended up becoming merpeople and a part of that world. After all, she doubted that Kaia and Marius really knew anything about her than the fact that she and Nate had been romantically involved before coming to this world and became engaged while going through their transformations into merpeople. She wanted to make a good impression and did her best to be polite, particularly when asked questions, as that might help bridge some of the gaps between her and the world that her boyfriend had been born into, even if he was taken from it at an age where he was too young to remember being part of it.
"I cannot thank you enough for looking after my son," Kaia said to Rose as the "photographers" and other news people were ushered out of the drawing room where coverage of Nate being introduced to his parents again.
"I really can't say I "looked after him" or anything like that," Rose said weakly "we've gotten along very well... and I love him very much, but I didn't raise him or anything like that. I mean... by the time that we truly started dating, he'd been raised to be the kind and caring person that I've known him as."
"Perhaps... but they are not here and you are," Kaia said slowly, "and thus, it is you I can thank."
"Well... thank you, I guess," Rose said slowly and looked down.
"You needn't worry so," Marius spoke as he swum toward them with his yes on Nate and a proud smile on his lips, "You wouldn't be the first former human to marry into the kingdom's nobility... and if you're anything like my mother, you'll make a wonderful Queen indeed."
"That's kind of what I'm nervous about," Rose admitted and let herself drift over to Nate, who took one arm to wrap around her.
"Both of us, are... actually," Nate added as he looked between his parents.
He was overjoyed in many ways to find out that he had a loving family that was more than the "drug addicts" that he'd known of through his childhood years. Sure, getting kidnapped by a jealous uncle wasn't much better, and it was that uncle that he guessed was probably the reason he'd gotten his human name "Nate." From what his grandmother had told him, his uncle seemed to be irritated over having a former human as a mother and that sending Nate to the human world and then giving him the name of his grandmother's father would be the ultimate revenge. It'd then also be possible that if he'd ever come back to this world, he'd respond to "Nate" and thus wouldn't be identified as a lost prince. He had to admit that all of that was a chance occurrence. If he hadn't lost his temper and fired a blast of magic at the silver tailed merman that had an interest in Meiko and the doctor that had been supervising their transformations, which he still didn't understand how he did that, they wouldn't have known and he and Rose would likely be left struggling to find a way in a new world without any real knowledge of it.
"I mean... I never really had any interest in governing in the human world, and that would have required winning elections," Nate spoke, "I went to school to work with computers... program games and word processing programs and manage a website and that sort of thing. Never governing anything... let along protecting the faith or any of the other things..."
"It can be a big thing," Marius nodded, "and trust me, I was overwhelmed by a lot of it too. But you'll have plenty of time to learn, my son. And you will have family to help you learn. Your mother and I will do everything we can... as will your sister and all the other members of your family, who will be happy to learn my brother didn't succeed in killing the Crown Prince."
"And you might be able to enjoy some of those things while learning," Kaia assured Nate, "these computers..."
"Their mechanical devices that can compute things quickly and store lots of information," Nate explained, "not to mention allowing for practically instantaneous communication over long distances."
"Sound a lot like the way merpeople use the holo-imagers," Nate's grandmother said slowly as she and her husband joined the group, "some of them are magic powered some are purely technology... though I'll never understand all the doohickeys."
That was enough to give Nate and Rose further recognition that there were things to learn, though that wasn't the source of some of their biggest questions. A lot of that still related to the world they had been dropped into. Nate was glad to have an actual family and happy to know that they loved him and seemed to approve of Rose, but there were some things that still raised questions. Many of these things were fairly obvious and both he and Rose shared those questions.
"Interesting," Marius said slowly as he looked to Rose, "it would seem that your world has advanced a lot since when my mother came to this world."
"Some of your holographic stuff is a bit ahead of what we had in the human world," Rose answered.
"Still... it'll make for some interesting things to learn about," Marius commented with an approving tone, "and letting us know more about your world."
"You're curious about our world?" Rose asked, "or... the human world?"
"Both worlds are connected, dear," Kaia spoke, "the island you, Prince Cain, and your friends arrived on is merely a gateway between our worlds, and the back and forth between both worlds is common..."
"Back and forth?" Nate wondered.
That also caught Rose's attention, as if there was back and forth, there might be a way for some of their friends and Meiko to go back if they wished to be human again. She even figured that if the magical world the merpeople lived on needed to be "hidden" from the human world, they could at least promise to keep the merpeople's world a secret and let their friends go home if they didn't wish to stay as merpeople.
"Some of it is accidental," Marius commented, "as we can be caught in the portal just as easily as human ships get caught in it. But since our people have been more in tune with magic, we've managed to explore parts of your world's ocean as well. For various reasons... and in my brother's case, hiding you from us."
Rose and Nate both caught some real venom in Marius's voice with that last sentence, essentially betraying what some of the others had already hinted at, that Nate's uncle was not supported for his actions as part of some rebellion against either Marius or Nate's grandparents. That reminded Rose of some of the various stories about crooked or tyrannical rulers that Rose had seen some mentions of in history from time to time, which was in many ways the polar opposite of what Rose had so far experienced. Everyone had been friendly, including the royals and they seemed to welcome her with open arms. Something Rose never expected, for she knew that not even the constitutional monarchies on Earth often had or allowed members of the royal family, and particularly an heir to the throne marry a commoner. In this, this particular kingdom seemed to be far more progressive than any other she'd ever known.
"Could I ask on how he turned Nate into a human?" Rose asked curiously, "I mean... on some levels it was good for me in getting to meet the best man ever, later... but..."
"You're curious about our world," Kaia smiled, "We don't know the exact method... as normally turning a merperson into a human is a difficult and potentially painful process."
"And often requires several merpeople casting the same spell," Marius nodded, "but my brother was something of a prodigy in magic and spent much of his time attracted to more conservative elements of the kingdom that didn't like my mother's reforms."
"The constitutional versus absolute monarchy thing?" Nate wondered aloud as he looked to Rose.
"Among other things," Nate's grandfather gave a small cough as they moved back toward the room where the others were waiting, "the kingdom did run under a more absolute monarchy style of government and counting on the wisdom and care of the king or queen, and there were some good ones over the years. But... as in many systems, it also had its bad kings or a bloated system that some found it hard to break and often didn't reward everyone..."
"And coming out of Georgia with family in Massachusetts," Nate's grandmother as she rested her arm around her husband's, "finding that the kingdom had these things was shocking. I came from good hard working folk who worked hard for what they had, and found myself living in a world were folks like my parents weren't getting that because they weren't appointed to some "royal" position and left a lot of good people struggling."
"And love must have conquered all," Rose said as she looked to Nate's grandparents nodded with smiles of their own.
"In a way," Nate's grandfather smiled, "I was out enjoying some time away from my parents and some of the few times when a Crown Prince could have some free time, when I saw a beautiful mermaid with flowing hair and a strong heart tutoring a group of school children on a field trip... telling them stories on how things worked in her world and how people were able to advance on merit and not merely by birth. With no one observing I sat in and listened to the tale, and I was intrigued. For my parents often tried to shield me from what went on outside the palaces or royal events and things like that. They'd tell me that everything was done by merit... but I'd never stopped to think on that."
"And I'd gone a bit beyond the intended lesson that the instructor I was apprenticed to wanted," Nate's grandmother leaned her head against Nate's grandfather's shoulder, "but then getting the Crown Prince to take interest and actually ask more questions was quite a treat. Particularly when it then came to the disciplinary hearing and you showed up to defend me..."
"You had a lot of wisdom, my dear," Nate's grandfather replied, "and opened up my eyes. And I never regret that, for it enabled me to learn things that my parents hid and didn't want changed, including arranged marriages with one of the other mer kingdoms. And when they stepped down and I became king... the first thing was to change the laws to allow the royals to marry for love, not just for status. And I've never regretted it. My parents didn't like it, but even they came around when Marius and our other children came along..."
"And the people actually did see a lot of improvements during their reign," Kaia added, "not just in government reform and allowing more to have a say in how our kingdom would be run but also in the general support for it. It's actually made our kingdom among the most respected among the various mer kingdoms. So much so that many of the other noble families have wanted to learn from what went on here when they saw its success... It made for a good course to swim, and I've been proud to follow in it... and now that I have my son back, and he has a beautiful lover to join the family... the sadness in his kidnapping can be replaced with joy."
"Should be interesting," Rose commented, "though... I'm not sure either of us have fully processed everything. Not to mention that while Nate has gained his family..."
"Cain, his name is Cain," Kaia answered.
"Sorry... I've only ever known him as Nathan," Rose said slowly as she added in the family name that she knew Nate by. It probably wasn't the family name that his parents had, but it was the only name Rose knew him by, and she also knew that this was the only name Nate had known until recently, "I've never known him by another name..."
"And I must be honest... that I never remember being called Cain," Nate spoke, "until my friends and I started transforming into merpeople... I'd never known that I was born a merperson. For all that I'd known was the human world, the friends I'd made there... who I'd wish to help in any way I can... and Rose, who I love with all my heart. And I'm still learning about this world..."
"And that is understandable," Marius promised, "In some ways both you and your friends are learning things about each other. We've lived with the sorrow that you were dead... or if alive, lost and unable to return. Finding you back and healthy was a great surprise to us and I suppose it is some sentiment on our part to think on the baby boy we'd left with my sister for a date and returned to find you gone and my sister clinging to life... and then to learn that my brother was behind it all."
"Thus everyone will have plenty to learn," Nate's grandmother said slowly, "and it isn't as though my father was a bad man. It may have been with a dark sense of humor that my younger son had renamed you after my father... but that was more his resentment that I am like Rose... born human and commoner besides."
There were a few nods of agreement that came from the others. The guards said nothing as the retired king and queen, the active king and queen, and the crown prince and his fiancée moved slowly to where the others were waiting.
"Yes... lots of new things," Rose agreed, "not to mention hope for finding ways to help our friends."
"Your friends?" Kaia asked.
"Yes," Nate answered, "Taylor and her boyfriend, Sam. Stacy and her boyfriend Mike. Kenny and his girlfriend Kelly. And Amanda... who I think Rose offered her room to invite someone, but she seemed shy about it..."
Rose moved to whisper into Nate's ear, as this was going to be something that was up to Amanda to reveal, and whispered to him, "Amanda is a lesbian. She didn't invite anyone because her parents would have disowned her if they found out."
Nate's eyes widened at that, but he didn't say anything about that. If the others picked up on this, they didn't show it and that gave Rose time to add in the additional two people that joined their party after they'd arrived on the island.
"There's also Emiko...or Meiko, who was a girl we met on the island that we found here," Rose continued, "she and her friends were on a separate sailing trip in the Pacific when it somehow found that portal to this world. Apparently everyone on that ship became merpeople quickly and she didn't and was scared as a result. Particularly when her friends came back as merpeople and urged her to join. That scared her and she refused, staying on the island and not going into the pools. And eventually those that had been on her ship... left the island to go about their lives among other merpeople, essentially abandoning her. Except for her boyfriend, Denji, I think she said his name was, who apprenticed himself to the mermaid running the care facility where we transformed while waiting for Meiko. It struck me that regardless of her fears about merpeople... that he still loved her... and given that their friends had left and Meiko was so alone when we first met her..."
"We kind of wanted to give her some comfort and safety," Nate agreed, "and friendship that she seemed to have lost outside of her boyfriend and while she was dealing with her fears on the situation."
"We'd heard reports of a group coming from Kie-you-shoe," Marius said slowly, "with one being terrified of us... I... must say that I've had no idea on how to assure her that we meant her no harm and only wished to help, particularly given that the mer kingdoms have all agreed that our world is to be kept hidden from the human world until we can be sure any sort of cultural exchange wouldn't lead to either side being abused and the portal between our worlds isn't destabilized …"
"So, if any of our friends wished to go back home and become human again?" Rose began.
"I'm afraid we could not do that," Marius spoke, "both because of the complexity of what would be required and the fear that our world might be exposed. Some merpeople do journey to your world to study it or find out about it... but they've also been merpeople all their lives and understand those rules. They won't let new arrivals go back..."
"That could be rough," Nate said slowly, "I mean... in a way, I'm rather happy with staying here... as finding real family is something I've long dreamed of. But some of the others have family, friends, or partners that would be heartbroken if they think they're dead... There would have to be a way to help them, right?"
Nate was a bit nervous about this and looked nervously to Rose for a moment, not knowing that Nate's Aunt Genevieve had had a similar conversation with Mike and Stacy already, as he wanted to make sure his friends wouldn't be caught in a world they didn't know, without any funds and having to relearn everything from the sea floor up while he got to be on "easy street" just because it turned out he was a missing royal. He had to do what he could to help his friends.
"That may be up to them," Kaia spoke up after a moment, "with the support of your father, parliament, and ministry that looks after former human orientation into our society, they could invite some family members to join us here... but that's going to be a rather lengthy process. And for the moment... maybe we can meet the rest of your friends before getting too much into that. As there will be a lot of things that may be hectic for both you and them, as you all learn about being merpeople..."