Chapter 4: N’Shal Observes the City and Meets an Undine

     N’Shal, the oldest mermaid princess, comes of age to go to the surface alone, and she’s still fearful, due to her mother’s death years earlier.  She notices dolphins following her as far as the bay outside the city of Royalton.  In the bay, she meets and is befriended by an undine named Cachina.  Cachina guides her to the nearby Isle of Lucy, where they observe the city by night and listen to the night sounds.
     They also look at the stars Altar and Vega, facing each other across the Milky Way; and they recall the beloved legend of the cow herder and the fairy princess of heaven.
     As N’Shal is leaving, Cachina invites her to come for a visit some other time, as there’s an undine community at the western end of the bay.  As N’Shal leaves the bay for the open sea, dolphins accompany her back to the mermaid kingdom.  Her grandmother Glynis had made sure that on her maiden voyage, N’Shal was never alone.    

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