Chapter 4

The Tide Banquet was held on the palace's open-air terrace.

The orchestra played a graceful courtly dance.

Evelina stood at the center of the crowd in her moonspun gown.

The three golden scales on her brooch glowed with a faint blue magic. She looked like a goddess come to earth.

Alaric raised his glass, announcing to the nobles around them, "This is the coronation gift we chose for Evelina."

"From now on, she will have the highest protection of the empire."

The nobles raised their glasses in agreement.

Caspian and Lucian stood on either side of Evelina.

They blocked anyone who tried to get too close, keeping her in a perfectly safe bubble.

I hid in the shadows at the edge of the terrace.

Beneath my long robe, my legs from the knee down had completely fused into a grotesque, skeletal tail.

The dress hid my deformed lower body. It couldn't hide my fading breath.

The time was eleven fifty-eight.

I leaned heavily against the long banquet table and stepped out of the shadows.

My knee joints were gone. The muscles in my legs were dead.

Like a rusted marionette, I dragged my lower body, shuffling step by step toward the center of the terrace.

The scraping sound caught people's attention.

The crowd parted.

Alaric heard the noise and turned.

He saw my stiff, awkward walk. His brow instantly furrowed.

"Seraphina, where is your grace?" he hissed. "You're walking like a monster. Are you determined to disgrace the royal family in front of every noble tonight? What kind of scene are you trying to make?"

Caspian took a half-step forward, gripping his staff.

His tall frame completely shielded Evelina.

"Control your magic," Caspian warned, his eyes sharp. "Don't use your illusions at the banquet. No one is falling for it. No matter how pathetic you act, Evelina is the star tonight. Stop trying to get our attention."

Lucian swirled his wine and sneered.

"She just can't stand seeing Evelina in the spotlight." He pouted his lips. "She has to make a scene so everyone looks at her. She's like a ghost that won't leave. Tomorrow, I'm locking you in the prayer room. You need to get your head straight."

The skin on my neck split completely.

With a soft, tearing sound, two dark red gills opened to the air.

I opened my mouth. Air flooded the gills.

My vocal cords scraped together a hoarse, grating sound.

"The scales... give them to me."

This was my last plea.

Even one would let me live through the night as a human.

Evelina let out a short gasp.

She shrank into Alaric's arms.

"Sister's neck... it's horrible," she whispered, shutting her eyes and clutching the dress with the golden scales. "Is she turning into a monster to eat me?"

Alaric's face darkened. He pulled Evelina into a protective embrace. That instinctive gesture was a poisoned dagger straight to my heart.

"Seraphina, you're being irrational," his voice was ice. "You're going to ruin the entire banquet over three worthless scales? I don't even recognize you anymore."

Caspian shook his head, his eyes filled with condescending disappointment.

"I taught you the dignity of a noble. You only learned how to be cruel and spiteful. If I had known, I never would have indulged you."

I didn't stop.

My stiff arm reached forward.

"Just one..." The tears finally broke inside me, but they were just bitter seawater I had to swallow. I looked at them, at the world I once relied on, and let out a final, mournful cry.

Lucian lost his patience.

He strode forward and pushed my shoulder.

"Get away from me, monster."

I lost my balance.

With no legs to support me, I fell backward. Stiff as a board.

My back hit the ground with a heavy thud.

There was no pain.

Thick scales now covered my entire back, absorbing the impact.

A few gasps came from the crowd.

But the three men just watched me fall.

Eleven fifty-nine.

I lay on my back, looking up.

The night sky was endless. The moon over the sea was huge and bright.

The sea breeze blew past, carrying a call from the deep abyss.

I looked at the ocean. My voice became strangely calm.

"I don't want them anymore."

I don't need your charity. I don't need your forgiveness. And I don't need you.

The clock tower bell struck twelve.

The deep chime echoed across the entire capital.

The tide surged.

A violent surge of ocean air appeared from nowhere, sweeping across the terrace.

The crystal chandeliers swung wildly, screaming as glass shattered against glass.

The hem of my robe shredded.

A massive, abyssal-blue tail burst from the silk, slamming into the marble floor.

Stone splintered.

A phantom wave rolled above the terrace, bringing with it the suffocating pressure of the deep sea.

The annoyance on Alaric's face froze.

He stared at the massive tail that took up half the terrace. His pupils trembled.

He finally seemed to realize. I was never acting.

What he thought was jealousy... was my desperate cry for help.

Caspian's wine glass slipped from his hand.

It shattered on the ground. The mockery in his eyes turned to stone.

My body began to glow.

Starting from my fingertips, my skin became translucent, crystalline.

My flesh and blood dissolved into fine seafoam.

Carried by a stream of azure light, I began to drift toward the sea.

"Seraphina!"

Caspian lunged forward.

He reached for my shoulder.

His fingers passed right through the blue light.

He grabbed a fistful of empty air.

Losing his balance, Caspian fell to his knees. He stared at his empty hands, stunned.

The always-composed Duke now had a look of utter panic and despair on his face.

Lucian's face was white. He stumbled backward.

He crashed into the tower of crystal glasses behind him.

Glass shattered everywhere.

Golden liquid soaked his boots.

"It's a trick... a cheap trick!" Lucian screamed. His voice broke.

He denied it with all his might, but fear and tears he didn't even notice were streaming from his eyes.

I floated in the air, looking down at their shocked, horrified faces.

The weight in my legs was gone.

The burning suffocation in my lungs vanished.

Deep sea currents materialized, lifting me into the moonlight, carrying me toward the horizon.

I was weightless. Free.

The agony of my human disguise was over. Below me, I watched them break. Begging. Screaming my name.

But I felt nothing. My heart was as silent as the abyss.

I was finally going home.

Back to the deep.