Elara awoke to darkness and the taste of salt. Her chest heaved, but no air came—only water, cold and heavy, rushed through her gills. Panic surged. She clawed at her throat, feeling the slits pulse beneath her fingers, forcing her to breathe the sea. Her legs—where were they? She reached down, expecting flesh, and found scales instead. A tail, long and shimmering, flexed where her feet once stood. A scream escaped her, muted by the depths.

  “Be still!” a voice cut through, sharp and commanding. Light flared—a faint glow from a figure before her. Nerissa, the mermaid from the chamber, held a pearl that shone like a tiny moon. Her amber eyes narrowed, her indigo tail flicking. “You’ll drown yourself thrashing like that, even with gills.”

  Elara froze, her mind spinning. The chamber. Thalion’s spell. The castle’s fall. “Where am I?” she croaked, her voice warped and echoing.

  “Safe, for now.” Nerissa gestured around them. They floated in a cave, its walls crusted with faintly glowing coral—pink and green veins pulsing in the gloom. Stalactites hung like jagged fangs, and the water was a still mirror reflecting their shapes. “A hiding place near the cliffs. The current brought us here.”

  Elara’s gaze dropped to her tail again. Emerald scales melted into sapphire at the fins, beautiful and wrong. She flexed it, and the motion yanked at the sodden remnants of her gown, the silk tangled around her waist and tail. It dragged against her, heavy and useless, catching on a coral spur. She yelped as the fabric tore, pain flaring where it scraped her new scales.

  Nerissa darted closer, steadying her. “That won’t do. Take it off.”

  “What?” Elara’s hands flew to the gown, clutching it tighter despite its ruin.

  “Your human rags,” Nerissa said, impatience edging her tone. “They’ll slow you down, snag on everything. Merfolk don’t wear them.”

  Elara’s face burned, though the water hid any flush. She glanced at Nerissa, really looking for the first time. In the chamber, the mermaid’s long, jet-black hair had streamed around her, a curtain in the chaos. Now, as it floated aside, Elara saw—Nerissa was bare. No gown, no tunic, nothing but her shimmering scales and a necklace of pearls resting against her chest. Her nudity was natural, unremarkable, her hair the only veil she’d ever needed.

  Elara’s stomach twisted. “You… you’re naked.”

  Nerissa arched a brow. “And you’re not?” She gestured at Elara’s tail. “Clothes are for land. Down here, they’re a noose. Strip, or I’ll cut it off myself.”

  The threat hung between them. Elara hesitated, her hands trembling as she gripped the gown’s hem. She’d worn silks and velvets all her life, layers that marked her as a princess. To shed them felt like shedding her humanity itself. But the fabric chafed her scales, tugging painfully with every move. She had no choice.

  Swallowing hard, she peeled the gown upward, the wet silk clinging like a second skin. It snagged on her gills, and she winced, fumbling until it slipped over her head. The shift beneath followed, leaving her bare from the waist up, her silvery hair drifting around her shoulders. She crossed her arms over her chest, heat prickling her skin despite the cold water. Exposed. Vulnerable. A fish on a slab.

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  Nerissa snorted, a flicker of amusement in her eyes. “No one cares, princess. You’re a mermaid now. Move with the water, not against it.”

  Elara glared, her tail lashing. “Easy for you to say.” She felt every inch of her nakedness, the sea brushing her skin in ways it never had through cloth. But Nerissa was right—the weight was gone. She flexed her tail again, and this time it glided smoothly, a ripple of power unhindered by sodden silk.

  Nerissa studied her, then nodded. “Good. First, you learn to move.”

  The next hours blurred into a grueling dance. Nerissa guided her through the cave, showing her how to flick her tail for speed, to twist her torso for turns. Elara floundered at first, crashing into walls, her human instincts screaming to kick legs she no longer had. But slowly, muscle memory shifted. A tentative glide became a dart, then a surge. Her gills steadied, the water less a cage and more a cradle

  “Better,” Nerissa said, tossing her a clamshell. “Now catch.”

  Elara lunged, overshooting and spinning into a coral shelf. She righted herself, clutching the shell, her arms still crossed awkwardly. Nerissa smirked. “You’ll need more than that to hunt.”

  “Hunt?” Elara’s stomach growled, cutting through her embarrassment. She hadn’t eaten since before the siege—roast venison, honeyed bread, all ash now.

  Nerissa speared a fish from a crevice, its silver body thrashing until she snapped its neck. She offered it to Elara. “Eat.”

  Raw. Bloody. Elara recoiled, her hands dropping to her sides. “I can’t—”

  “You will, or you’ll starve.” Nerissa tore a chunk and swallowed it, unblinking, her bare form unbothered by the act. “You’re one of us. Act like it.”

  Elara took the fish, its scales slick against her palms. She bit down, gagging at the tang, but forced it past her throat. Hunger overpowered shame, and she ate until the bones drifted away. It was survival, nothing more.

  Wiping her mouth, she met Nerissa’s gaze. “Why help me? You don’t know me.”

  Nerissa’s eyes darkened. “I lost my kin to humans—raiders who didn’t honor pacts. Your father stopped them, once. I owe him.” She turned away, her tail lashing, hair swirling like ink. “Rest. Tomorrow, we move deeper.”

  Elara sank onto a smooth stone, exhaustion dulling her edges. The cave’s glow dimmed as Nerissa tucked the pearl into a pouch, leaving only the coral’s faint shimmer. She curled her tail beneath her, acutely aware of her bare skin against the rock. Sleep came in fits, haunted by fire and falling stone. Her father’s voice—Live, Elara—jolted her awake, water rushing through her gills.

  Nerissa was up, sharpening her spear. “Move. We’re going.”

  “To where?” Elara pushed off the stone, her tail obeying more readily now, though she still felt exposed.

  “A place Veyris can’t follow. The enclave.” Nerissa swam toward the cave’s mouth, a jagged arch to the black sea. “Stay close.”

  Elara followed, her movements steadier but her mind churning. The ocean unfolded—fish flashed past, their scales glinting, and a distant hum vibrated through her. It was vast, wild, and she was part of it, naked and raw. She wasn’t human anymore, nor fully mermaid—just a shadow of the princess she’d been.

  They swam along the cliff’s base, its craggy face towering above. Then Elara paused, her gaze lifting. Through the water’s haze, she saw the castle’s ruins—broken towers, smoke curling upward, Veyris’s crimson banners flapping atop the keep.

  Her fists clenched, scales glinting as her tail thrashed. “He’s up there, gloating.”

  Nerissa grabbed her arm. “Not now. You’re not ready.”

  “I’ll never be ready to let this stand!” Elara tore free, her voice a snarl, heedless of her nudity now. “He killed my father, burned my home—I’ll make him pay!”

  “And you will,” Nerissa said, her tone steel. “But not today. Revenge takes time, strength you don’t have. Come.”

  Elara lingered, staring at the wreckage. The sea pressed against her bare skin, whispering of power she couldn’t yet wield. Veyris had stolen everything—her family, her throne, her very form. But not her will.

  She turned, following Nerissa into the depths. Each stroke of her tail steeled her resolve, a vow carved into her naked soul. She would learn. She would grow. And one day, she’d rise from this sea to drown Veyris in his own blood.

  The darkness claimed them, the ruins fading to memory. Ahead lay the unknown, and with it, the first steps of her vengeance.