Morana's POV
The water turned black right in front of my eyes.
One second I was swimming toward the kingdom with the messenger, my heart pounding at the thought of seeing my dying father. The next second, the ocean ahead of us began to darken like someone had dumped ink into it.
"Stop!" The messenger grabbed my arm, jerking me backward. "Don't go near it!"
"What is that?"
"Poison." His voice shook with terror. "The humans—they're using Morgessa's weapon. We're too late."
The black water spread like blood from a wound, moving fast, eating up everything in its path. And then I heard the screaming.
Hundreds of voices. Maybe thousands. All crying out in pain and fear as the poison reached them.
"Coral Flats," the messenger whispered, his face gray. "That's Coral Flats. There are families there. Children. Oh gods, the children—"
I couldn't move. Couldn't breathe. I just floated there, watching the black water spread and listening to the screams fade one by one as the poison killed everything it touched.
"We have to help them!" I started swimming forward, but the messenger yanked me back so hard I spun around.
"You can't! The poison will kill you too! Anyone who touches it dies in seconds!"
"But they're dying right now! We have to do something!"
"There's nothing we can do! We're too late!"
The screaming stopped.
All of it. At once.
The silence was somehow worse than the screaming had been.
I stared at the black water, at the settlement that had been full of life just moments ago, and felt something crack inside my chest. "How many?" I whispered.
"Coral Flats had about three hundred merfolk. Mostly families. Mostly..." He couldn't finish.
Three hundred people. Gone. Just like that.
And then, off to the east, more black water bloomed like a deadly flower.
"No," the messenger breathed. "Not Whisper Bay. Please not—"
More screaming. Fainter this time because Whisper Bay was farther away, but just as terrible.
"How is this happening?" I grabbed the messenger's shoulders. "How are they doing this?"
"Depth charges. The humans drop them from their ships and Morgessa's magic activates when they hit the reef. The poison spreads through the water and kills everything." His eyes were wild with panic. "Your father said this would happen. He said if he refused Morgessa's deal, she'd give the humans this weapon. He was right."
A third bloom of black water appeared to the south.
Shell Haven.
The exile settlement. Where people like me lived. People the kingdom had thrown away.
"No!" I started swimming toward it without thinking. The messenger tried to stop me but I shook him off. "Those are exiles! Nobody's going to help them! I have to—"
"You'll die! Morana, you'll die and it won't save anyone!"
He was right. I knew he was right. But I couldn't just float here and do nothing while my people—people who'd been kind to me when the kingdom wasn't—died screaming.
My magic surged inside me, begging to be used. Maybe I could do something. Maybe I could push the poison back, or create a current to carry people away from it, or—
Pain exploded through my body like lightning. The curse. The gods-damned curse that stopped me from using my magic when people needed me most.
I screamed in frustration, in rage, in helplessness.
By the time the pain faded, Shell Haven had gone silent too.
Three settlements. Hundreds—maybe thousands—of merfolk. Dead in less than ten minutes.
"We need to go," the messenger said quietly. "More ships are coming. If we stay here—"
"Take me to my father." My voice didn't sound like mine. It sounded cold and dead. "Take me to him now."
We swam in silence. Around us, other merfolk were fleeing in panic, swimming in every direction, trying to escape the human ships that were closing in like sharks smelling blood.
When we finally reached the palace, chaos had taken over. Guards were shouting orders. Civilians were being evacuated to the deeper trenches. Someone was crying that the humans were going to kill them all.
The messenger led me through a side entrance—the servants' entrance, because I wasn't allowed through the front anymore—and up to my father's private chambers.
Two guards stood outside the door. They saw me and their hands went to their weapons.
"It's alright," the messenger said quickly. "The King sent for her."
The guards didn't look happy about it, but they let us pass.
My father's room was dark and smelled like sickness. He lay on his bed, looking so small and frail I almost didn't recognize him. This wasn't the powerful Sea King I remembered. This was a dying old man.
His eyes opened when he heard us enter. When he saw me, something like relief crossed his face.
"Morana." His voice was barely a whisper. "You came."
I stood at the foot of his bed, arms crossed, refusing to move closer. "You're dying."
"Yes."
"Good."
He flinched like I'd slapped him. Maybe I wanted to slap him. Maybe I wanted to scream at him, ask him why he'd believed Sereia's lies, why he'd cursed me, why he'd thrown me away like garbage.
But before I could say any of that, he spoke.
"I know what your sister did."
The world stopped spinning.
"What?"
"I know Sereia framed you. I know she stole the Tidecaller's Pearl and planted it in your room. I know she paid witnesses to lie. I know everything." A tear slid down his cheek. "And I've known for two years."
I couldn't breathe. "You... you knew?"
"I discovered the truth too late. By then you were gone and I was too proud, too stupid to bring you back and admit I was wrong." He coughed, blood speckling his lips. "I'm sorry, Morana. I'm so sorry."
Sorry. He was sorry.
Two years. He'd known the truth for two years and left me in exile anyway.
"Why?" The word came out broken. "Why didn't you bring me home? Why didn't you tell everyone the truth?"
"Because I'm a coward. Because admitting I was wrong would have made me look weak, and I couldn't afford to look weak with the war coming." More tears. "I chose my pride over my daughter. And now I'm dying knowing I destroyed the best thing in my life for nothing."
I wanted to feel satisfaction. Wanted to feel vindicated. But all I felt was empty.
"Three settlements were just destroyed," I said flatly. "Hundreds of people are dead. Why am I here, Father? What do you want from me?"
"I need you to save the kingdom."
I laughed, harsh and bitter. "The kingdom that threw me away? Why would I save them?"
"Because you're better than me. Better than all of us." He struggled to sit up. "There's a prophecy, Morana. The exiled royal and the compass bearer are the only ones who can stop Morgessa and end this war. You're the exiled royal."
"And the compass bearer?"
"A human. Captain Theron Ashcroft. The Siren Slayer."
My blood ran cold. "You want me to work with a mer-hunter?"
"He has an artifact—the Tidecaller Compass. It's the key to finding and destroying Morgessa's weapon. But he doesn't know what it really is. You have to get it from him."
"How? By asking nicely? He hunts merfolk for a living!"
"I don't know. But you're the only one who can do this." My father's eyes were desperate. "Please, Morana. I'm begging you. Save the kingdom. Not for me. For the innocent people who'll die if you don't."
I thought about the screaming. The black water. The children in Coral Flats who'd never done anything wrong but were dead anyway.
"If I do this," I said slowly, "I'm not doing it for you. I'm not doing it for the kingdom. I'm doing it for the people who can't fight back."
"That's all I ask."
"And when this is over, if I survive, I want Sereia punished for what she did to me. Publicly. I want everyone to know the truth."
"Done. Anything you want."
I stared at my dying father, the man who'd destroyed my life, and felt nothing but cold determination.
"Tell me everything about this compass bearer. Where is he right now?"
My father's expression turned grave. "That's the problem. His ship is leading the attack fleet. He'll be here, in these waters, within the hour. And Morana..." He hesitated. "He has orders to capture any royal merfolk alive. If he finds you—"
The door burst open.
A guard stumbled in, bleeding from a wound in his side. "Your Majesty! The human fleet—they're here! They've broken through the outer defenses! They're coming straight for the palace!"
Explosions rocked the building. Somewhere close, people screamed.
My father grabbed my hand, his grip surprisingly strong for someone dying. "Go. Now. There's a secret exit behind the east wall. Take it and—"
"Princess!" Another guard appeared in the doorway, his face panicked. "The humans have breached the throne room! They're taking prisoners! They're looking for—"
A human voice echoed through the corridor, cold and commanding. "Search every room. The King said there might be royals here. I want them alive."
That voice. Deep. Dangerous. Used to being obeyed.
The Siren Slayer.
He was already inside the palace.
And he was looking for me.