Blackwater Islands searching for smoke in a stillwater pond

Aha, oh Gabe. You heretic!

The Matriarch had no way of peering into Gabriel's mind and seeing exactly what he thought of the Mothers and the Drowned One. The latter she didn't care either way; it was not her place to claim any sort of reverence for the masculine beast that fed off the Mothers. But the former... if it were to come about that he was unwilling to accept and respect the Sea and Moon for their status among the Nereides, Akantha would be placed in a difficult position. To be anything more than a Drudge required full subserviance to the Sisters and the Mothers. 

Though the question he produced was innocent enough, the fury within her was barely restrained as the anxieties and suspicions she'd had upon their greeting came crashing back into her body from the depths of her mind. Her great head swung around and her sharp hazel eyes snapped to his own while her muzzle wrinkled from the growl that spewed forth from her slightly open jaws. Akantha's teeth were slick with saliva and, though they did not drip, she was the picture of savagery. "Forbidden, and it will remain that way. Sisters do not love a Consort. Have I made myself clear?" She rumbled. "As for your question: until they pass from age, the elements, or when they fail to do their duty and their Matriarch sees fit to rid herself of the chaff."