Chapter 5 - The Princess Without a Heart

The Mermaid Queen's accusation transformed Seren's face into a mask of terror.

For seven years, she had hidden the truth from Daniel. She had endured imprisonment, betrayal, and the constant danger of being hunted by the Merchant Guild. She had told herself that everything she had done was necessary to save a dying child.

But now the Queen had spoken the one secret Seren could never explain away.

She had stolen a princess's heart.

And somewhere in Blackthorn Cove, eight-year-old Elara was living because of it.

Daniel stared at her across the underground chamber.

"Tell me she's lying."

Seren's lips parted, but no words emerged.

"Tell me!" he shouted.

The Queen's reflection trembled within the glowing pool.

"She cannot."

Daniel turned toward the water.

"Then why did you allow it?"

The Queen's expression hardened.

"Because I did not know until the bond was sealed."

"You're her mother!"

"And you are Elara's father. Yet you have spent seven years searching for answers while your daughter suffered in your absence."

The accusation silenced him.

Tomas stepped between them.

"Enough. There are two children involved, and none of this arguing will save either of them."

He looked toward the Queen.

"Is your daughter alive?"

The water grew still.

For the first time, the Queen seemed uncertain.

"Her body lives."

"That's not what I asked."

A shadow passed across her beautiful face.

"Without her heart, she cannot awaken."

Seren lowered her head.

Tomas turned toward her.

"Where is the princess?"

"In the Deep Court," Seren whispered. "Beneath the Palace of Nine Tides."

Daniel shook his head.

"You told me the crown fragment contained enough magic to heal Elara. You said nothing about another child."

"I was going to tell you."

"When? After Elara died? After the Queen destroyed our village?"

Seren's eyes filled with tears.

"I had no choice."

Daniel gave a bitter laugh.

"You always say that."

Her expression changed.

"No, Daniel. You don't understand. I didn't steal the princess's heart because I wanted power."

"Then why?"

Seren looked toward the Queen.

"Because someone had already marked her for death."

The Queen went completely still.

"Who?"

Seren swallowed.

"The king."

For a moment, the underground chamber seemed to lose all sound.

Even the dripping water stopped.

Tomas looked at the Queen.

"Your husband?"

The Queen's reflection flickered.

"The king has been dead for twenty years."

Seren slowly shook her head.

"No, Your Majesty."

A tear slid down her scarred cheek.

"He has been hiding for twenty years."

Then the crimson image shattered, and the Queen vanished from the pool.

Far above the sea, in Tomas's cottage, the black-eyed jailer stood behind Elara with one skeletal hand resting upon her shoulder.

Mara gripped the kitchen knife.

"Take your hand off my daughter."

The creature tilted its head.

"Your daughter?"

Its voice was soft, almost amused.

"An interesting choice of words."

Elara stood motionless.

Her eyes were open, but she seemed to be looking at something far beyond the room.

"Mother," she whispered, "there's a little girl crying."

Mara's heart clenched.

"Where, sweetheart?"

"Under the water."

The jailer bent close to Elara's ear.

"Tell her what you see."

Elara's lower lip trembled.

"She's lying in a glass bed. She has silver hair and a beautiful blue tail."

Mara stared at the creature.

"What are you doing to her?"

"Showing her the truth."

"Stop it!"

The jailer looked toward Mara.

"Do you know what happens when one heart beats for two children?"

Mara said nothing.

"One lives in the sunlight. The other waits in darkness."

Elara began to cry.

"She says she's cold."

Mara rushed forward.

The creature raised one finger.

The seawater covering the floor suddenly rose, forming a transparent wall between them.

Mara struck it with her knife.

The blade bounced away.

"Elara!"

Her daughter slowly turned.

For an instant, her green eyes glowed with an unnatural silver light.

"Mother," she whispered, "why does the other girl look like me?"

The jailer smiled.

"Because the heart remembers its true home."

A deep bell sounded somewhere beneath the harbor.

Once.

Twice.

Three times.

The jailer's smile faded.

It looked toward the window.

"Ah," it murmured. "The Queen has finally learned."

The creature withdrew its hand.

Then its body dissolved into a stream of black seawater, slipping between the floorboards.

The invisible wall collapsed.

Mara caught Elara as the girl fell.

"Stay with me, darling."

Elara struggled to breathe.

Her small fingers gripped Mara's sleeve.

"The other girl wants her heart back."

Mara held her tightly.

"Nobody is taking anything from you."

But Elara was staring over her mother's shoulder.

"She's coming."

Seren led Daniel and Tomas through a second tunnel that climbed toward the abandoned lighthouse.

They moved quickly, their footsteps echoing against the damp stone.

Daniel refused to look at her.

The silence between them was almost unbearable.

Finally, Tomas spoke.

"Tell me about the princess."

Seren hesitated.

"Her name is Nerissa."

"How old is she?"

"She was born during the winter Elara nearly died."

Tomas frowned.

"Then she's eight?"

"Yes."

"Does she know what happened to her?"

Seren's face tightened.

"No. She has never awakened."

Daniel stopped walking.

"Wait."

They turned.

"You said the king marked her for death."

Seren nodded.

"Why?"

"Because she was born with a gift forbidden among the royal bloodline."

"What gift?"

Seren looked at Tomas.

"The ability to hear the dead."

He felt a chill.

"Like Elara."

"Exactly."

Daniel stared at her.

"You knew Elara would inherit that power."

"I suspected."

"You suspected?"

"The bond was supposed to share only the heartbeat. But the Heart of the Tides carries more than life. It carries memories, instincts, and abilities."

Daniel approached her.

"Did the Queen know?"

"No."

"And the king?"

Seren looked away.

"That is what frightens me."

Before Daniel could demand more, they reached a heavy wooden door.

Seren pressed her palm against an emblem carved into the stone.

A hidden mechanism clicked.

The door swung inward.

Beyond it lay a circular chamber filled with maps, ancient books, and rusted navigation instruments.

Tomas noticed a large portrait hanging on the wall.

It depicted a handsome man with silver hair and dark green eyes, dressed in royal armor decorated with pearls and crimson coral.

"Who's that?" he asked.

Seren followed his gaze.

"King Vaelor."

Daniel studied the portrait.

"The Queen's husband?"

"Yes."

Tomas stepped closer.

Something about the man's face seemed familiar.

Then he noticed the hands.

Each bore six fingers.

His breath caught.

"The corpse."

Seren looked sharply at him.

"What corpse?"

"In the grave outside. The skeleton had six fingers."

She hurried toward him.

"Are you certain?"

"I counted them."

"What name was written on the coffin?"

"Not the coffin. A metal plate chained to the body."

Tomas hesitated.

"Edmund Vale."

Seren went pale.

Daniel looked between them.

"Who is Edmund Vale?"

Seren sat heavily in a chair.

"The first human ambassador to the Deep Court."

Tomas frowned.

"The man buried in my son's clothes?"

"He negotiated the original treaty between the Merchant Guild and the sea kingdom."

"Why would he be buried at the lighthouse?"

Seren stared at the portrait.

"Because he was supposed to have died two hundred years ago."

Daniel shook his head.

"That isn't possible."

"Not for an ordinary human."

Tomas remembered the black-eyed jailer, the gold that spoke in familiar voices, and the Queen who had risen from the ocean carrying two infants.

Ordinary explanations no longer seemed useful.

Seren rose.

"King Vaelor believed the Deep Folk had become weak because they obeyed the old laws. He wanted to conquer the surface kingdoms and control the souls imprisoned in royal gold."

Daniel crossed his arms.

"And Edmund Vale?"

"He helped the king communicate with human merchants."

Tomas looked toward the portrait.

"Then what happened?"

"The Queen discovered their plans. She imprisoned the royal jailer, destroyed the king's fleet, and believed Vaelor had died in the final battle."

Seren paused.

"But Edmund vanished."

Daniel stared at her.

"And now his body is buried in my grave."

Seren nodded.

"Which means someone wanted us to believe both men were dead."

In High Port, Lucien Vale sat opposite Master Corvin inside a private chamber overlooking the merchant district.

The apothecary's wrists were bound to the arms of his chair.

A single candle burned between them.

Lucien opened his leather-bound ledger.

"Let's discuss Elara."

Corvin remained silent.

"You have supplied her medicine for nearly eight years."

"She's a sick child."

"She's a vessel."

Corvin's face tightened.

Lucien leaned forward.

"Don't insult me. I know about the heartbeat exchange."

"Then you know what will happen if the bond is broken."

"Of course."

"She'll die."

Lucien smiled faintly.

"Perhaps."

Corvin stared.

"What do you mean?"

Lucien opened a small silver case.

Inside lay a dark red crystal that pulsed with a faint internal glow.

Corvin recoiled.

"Where did you get that?"

"From an old family inheritance."

"That's impossible."

Lucien held it between two fingers.

"My grandfather spent his life searching for the missing portion of the Heart of the Tides."

Corvin's expression changed.

"Your grandfather?"

"Edmund Vale."

The apothecary stared at him.

"Edmund Vale died centuries ago."

"So the official histories claim."

Lucien placed the crystal on the table.

The candle flame bent toward it.

"My family has been preserving his work for generations."

Corvin swallowed.

"What do you want from the girl?"

Lucien's smile disappeared.

"I want what was stolen from us."

"And if she refuses?"

"Children rarely understand the importance of sacrifice."

Corvin leaned forward.

"Listen to me. Whatever your family told you, that child is not responsible for what happened in the Deep Court."

Lucien studied him.

For the first time, genuine curiosity appeared in his expression.

"You care about her."

"Of course I do."

"Even after everything you've done?"

Corvin looked down.

Lucien opened another page of the ledger.

"Seven years ago, you helped imprison Daniel. You gave the Guild samples of his daughter's blood. You concealed the truth about her illness from her family."

Corvin said nothing.

"And yet you've spent years preventing us from locating her."

Lucien closed the book.

"Why?"

The apothecary's shoulders sagged.

"Because Daniel made me promise."

Lucien raised an eyebrow.

"Daniel?"

Corvin nodded.

"He discovered what the Guild intended to do with Elara. Before they took him, he begged me to protect her."

"And you obeyed?"

"Not at first."

Corvin's voice broke.

"I thought the Guild could cure her. I thought the experiments would help."

Lucien watched him silently.

"Then I saw what happened to the other children."

The candle flickered.

Lucien's expression grew cold.

"What other children?"

Corvin slowly lifted his head.

"The ones beneath High Port."

For several seconds, neither man spoke.

Then Lucien leaned closer.

"Who told you about the underground nursery?"

Corvin realized his mistake.

Lucien smiled.

"Now we're finally getting somewhere."

Back at the lighthouse, Daniel opened a locked cabinet beneath the portrait of King Vaelor.

Inside lay several journals.

Seren reached for the oldest one.

"These belonged to Edmund Vale."

Tomas stared.

"How did they get here?"

"Daniel found them during his search for the Guild's records."

Daniel nodded.

"I couldn't read most of them. They're written in an old dialect used by the Deep Court."

Seren opened the first journal.

Its pages were brittle, covered with strange symbols and careful drawings.

She turned several pages before stopping.

Her face changed.

"What is it?" Daniel asked.

She pointed to an illustration.

It showed two young girls lying beside one another.

One had silver hair and a fish tail.

The other had dark curls and human legs.

Between them floated a crimson heart.

Tomas recognized Elara immediately.

"That's my granddaughter."

Seren shook her head.

"No. This was drawn before Elara was born."

Daniel leaned closer.

Beneath the image were several lines of writing.

Seren translated slowly.

"When the royal heart is divided, the sleeper shall wake in another form. The vessel shall carry the memory of the drowned, and the blood of two kingdoms shall open the final gate."

Tomas stared at her.

"What does that mean?"

Seren's fingers trembled.

"It means the exchange wasn't an accident."

Daniel looked at her.

"You said you made the bargain."

"I did."

"But someone knew it would happen?"

Seren nodded.

"Someone planned it long before Elara existed."

She turned another page.

A name appeared beneath a carefully drawn family tree.

Seren's face drained of color.

Daniel noticed.

"What?"

She closed the journal.

"Nothing."

He seized her wrist.

"Seren."

"Daniel, please."

"Open it."

She resisted.

"Not yet."

He pulled the journal from her hands.

The page displayed the royal lineage of the Deep Court.

At the top stood King Vaelor and Queen Thalassa.

Beneath them were two branches.

One led to Princess Nerissa.

The other had been scratched out.

But the name remained partly visible.

Daniel brought the page toward the lantern.

His eyes narrowed.

Then his face went white.

"That's impossible."

Tomas approached.

"What does it say?"

Daniel looked up.

His voice was barely audible.

"It says Nerissa had an older sister."

Seren stepped backward.

Tomas frowned.

"What happened to her?"

Daniel turned the journal around.

Beneath the scratched-out name was a portrait.

A young woman with dark hair, green eyes, and a small crescent-shaped birthmark beneath her left ear.

Tomas recognized that birthmark.

He had seen it countless times when Mara tied back her hair.

The young woman in the portrait was unmistakably Mara.

His daughter-in-law.

Elara's mother.

But the painting had been dated more than a century before Mara was supposedly born.

Daniel stared at Seren.

"Tell me this is another lie."

She said nothing.

Tomas felt his knees weaken.

"Seren, who is Mara?"

The scarred woman closed her eyes.

When she finally spoke, her voice was filled with dread.

"She is the Queen's first daughter."

Daniel shook his head.

"No."

"She was sent to the surface as an infant. Her memories were sealed. She was raised among humans."

Tomas stared at the portrait.

His mind raced through years of memories.

Mara had never liked swimming.

She had always avoided the harbor during full moons.

And once, when Elara was a baby, Tomas had found her standing beside the sea at midnight, crying without knowing why.

He had assumed she was grieving Daniel's long fishing journeys.

Now he wondered what she had been hearing.

Daniel stepped away from the table.

"If Mara is the Queen's daughter, then Elara..."

Seren nodded.

"Elara carries royal blood."

Tomas felt the terrible meaning unfold.

The Queen's granddaughter was living with the heart of the Queen's younger daughter.

Elara and Princess Nerissa were niece and aunt.

And someone had arranged their connection before either child was born.

Daniel looked at Seren.

"Does Mara know?"

"I don't know."

"Does the Queen?"

"She believes her first daughter died long ago."

Tomas stared at the journal.

"Then why did she appear in my cottage?"

Seren's expression sharpened.

"What?"

"The Queen came when I rescued those two infants. She looked at me as though she knew something."

Daniel slowly raised his head.

"Father, what infants?"

Tomas explained the fishing net, the injured mermaid child, and the Queen's unexpected gift.

As he spoke, Seren became increasingly pale.

When he finished, she gripped the edge of the table.

"Two infants?"

"Yes."

"Both with green tails?"

"Yes."

"One injured?"

Tomas nodded.

Seren turned toward Daniel.

"The royal twins."

Daniel frowned.

"What twins?"

"The Queen's youngest children. They were born during the last rising tide."

Tomas stared.

"She has more children?"

Seren nodded.

"But they were never supposed to leave the palace."

"Then why were they in my net?"

Seren looked toward the dark sea beyond the lighthouse.

"Because someone wanted you to rescue them."

In Blackthorn Cove, Mara sat beside Elara's bed.

The girl had finally fallen asleep.

Outside, the harbor waters continued rising.

Mara held Daniel's old wedding ring, the one he had left behind before disappearing.

She rubbed her thumb across the worn metal.

For years, she had believed his death was her punishment.

She had told herself that silence would protect their daughter.

But now the Mermaid Queen's words echoed through her mind.

Your daughter will become their doorway.

A sudden knock came from the cottage door.

Mara rose.

"Who's there?"

No answer.

She took the kitchen knife and approached carefully.

Another knock.

Three times.

A pause.

Then two.

Daniel's signal.

Mara froze.

"Daniel?"

Silence.

She opened the door a few inches.

A man stood outside.

He wore a dark traveling cloak, and his left eye was milky white. A long scar crossed his cheek.

Mara recognized him instantly.

The man who had threatened her seven years earlier.

The man who had forced her to watch Daniel's supposed burial.

Her blood turned cold.

"You."

He smiled.

"Hello, Princess."

Mara gripped the knife.

"What do you want?"

The stranger looked past her toward Elara's bedroom.

"I've come to collect what belongs to the king."

"Get away from my house."

He stepped closer.

"Your father has waited a very long time to see you."

Mara shook her head.

"My father is dead."

The man's smile widened.

"No, Your Highness."

He reached into his cloak.

Mara raised the knife.

But the stranger withdrew only a small golden crown.

Its crimson coral points shimmered in the moonlight.

Mara felt an immediate, inexplicable pain behind her eyes.

A memory flashed through her mind.

A palace beneath the sea.

A woman singing beside a cradle.

A man with silver hair watching from the shadows.

And a child's voice calling her name.

The stranger lowered the crown.

"Do you remember now?"

Mara staggered against the doorframe.

"No..."

"You were never meant to live among fishermen."

He stepped closer.

"Your mother stole you from the throne. Your husband discovered the truth. And your daughter was born to restore what was taken."

Mara's vision blurred.

"Who are you?"

The stranger bowed.

"Lord Cassian. First servant of King Vaelor."

Then he looked toward the dark harbor.

"His Majesty has returned."

Mara tightened her grip on the knife.

From Elara's bedroom came a soft, frightened cry.

"Mother?"

Cassian smiled.

"The princess is waking."

Mara turned toward the sound.

Elara stood in the bedroom doorway.

Her eyes glowed silver.

And beneath her nightdress, something moved.

The fabric shifted around her legs.

Mara watched in horror as shimmering scales spread upward from her daughter's ankles.

Elara looked down.

Then she screamed.

"Mother, what's happening to me?"

Cassian stepped across the threshold.

His voice was almost reverent.

"The royal blood has answered."

He knelt before the terrified girl.

"Welcome home, Princess Nerissa."

Mara stared at him.

"That's not her name!"

Cassian slowly lifted his head.

"No?"

His expression darkened.

"Then perhaps you should ask your daughter why the real Elara stopped breathing three nights ago."