I didn't realize Seraphina was bad because she was loud.
I realized it because she was calm.
Too calm.
She didn't flinch when the room shifted. Didn't tense when the horn's echo faded. Didn't look surprised when the king's messenger appeared like rot surfacing from the deep. She stood there like she'd always known exactly how this would end.
Like she'd been counting down to it.
That was the first thing that made my stomach turn.
The second came fast.
Another ripple. Another wrongness in the water.
Someone screamed—just once.
A mermaid near the upper tier, a healer by the look of her, froze mid-motion. Her name left someone's mouth in a broken whisper.
"Elena—"
The king's man didn't hesitate.
There was no fight. No warning.
Elena collapsed.
The sound of her hitting stone echoed louder than it should have.
Something inside me snapped—not explosively, not dramatically.
Just… clean.
Cold.
Seraphina didn't look at the body.
She looked at us.
"This is what defiance costs," she said, voice smooth as polished glass. "The king does not negotiate with myths."
The chamber erupted.
Not in violence.
In panic.
Mermaids pulled back, shielding each other, currents twisting chaotically as fear rippled through the space. Someone shouted. Someone else cried. The king's people vanished as quickly as they'd come, leaving the message behind like poison in the water.
Hope stood frozen.
Not weak.
Not scared.
Still.
That scared me more than anything.
Nova moved first. Her voice cut through the chaos, sharp and commanding without ever raising volume. "Enough."
Isadora stepped forward beside her. "Listen to me."
Slowly—reluctantly—the noise died.
Hope inhaled. I saw her shoulders lift, then square.
She turned.
Not to the elders.
Not to the mothers.
To everyone.
"They'll keep doing this," she said. Her voice didn't shake. "They won't stop at messages."
A murmur spread.
"They'll kill anyone they think won't fight back," she continued. "One by one. Quietly. Until there's no one left to speak."
I stepped beside her before I realized I was moving.
"You already know this," I said. "That's why you came when the horn sounded."
Eyes turned to me.
"This isn't about rebellion," I went on. "It's about whether you're willing to keep letting the king decide who deserves to exist."
Silence answered me.
Heavy. Considering.
Isadora's gaze swept the room. "You have lived under spells. Under fear. Under silence that was never your choice."
Nova added quietly, "And still, you came."
Hope looked at them then—really looked.
"I won't promise you victory," she said. "I won't promise safety."
Her eyes flicked to Elena's still form.
"But I will promise this—if we do nothing, they will keep killing us."
A beat.
"Will you let that happen again?"
No one answered at first.
Then one mermaid moved forward.
Then another.
Then more.
Not rushing. Not shouting.
Choosing.
I felt it then—something solid locking into place.
Not an army.
A line.
And once it was drawn, I knew something for sure:
The king could send all the messengers he wanted.
This time?
We weren't moving.
The fight was on.