"Aye," but none like you. The words are on the tip of his tongue, struggling to slip free, but his wife's face flashed in his mind, reining in whatever flirtations he might take part in. "It's your hair." He said instead, feeling it was at least a safer subject. "The color is different from what I've seen." He could say he found it beautiful, just as she was, but that wasn't right either.

As she moved along the dock, he fell into step alongside her. He had no bow, so there was no way to fight back against the merfolk, if they tried to pull them beneath the waters. But it was better not to be armed, if only because they wouldn't find them to be threats.

"Men don't change. We're all beasts at heart."