The first thing Rhen felt was pain.
Not the sharp kind that sliced and ended quickly, but the deep, dragging ache that lived in bone and memory. It wrapped around his ribs, crawled up his spine, and settled behind his eyes like a storm that refused to break.
He was lying on cold stone.
The air smelled wrong—too clean, too wet, carrying the echo of tides rather than pine and soil. When he tried to move, iron bit into his wrists. Chains. Salt-cold and heavy. His wolf snarled low in his chest, furious, confused.
Rhen opened his eyes.
Blue light shimmered above him, not firelight or moonlight, but something alive—like the glow of deep-sea creatures drifting through endless dark. Pillars of coral rose around him, carved with symbols that hurt to look at too long. The walls breathed. The floor pulsed faintly, as though the palace itself had a heartbeat.
He was underwater.
Yet he was breathing.
Rhen sucked in a sharp breath and coughed, panic flaring—then froze as air filled his lungs easily. Warm. Normal. He stared down at his chest, half-expecting gills to have torn through his skin.
Nothing.
"Do not struggle," a voice said. Calm. Cold. Female. "The chamber is enchanted."
Rhen turned his head.
She stood a few paces away, tall and elegant, her tail a deep indigo edged with silver. A crown of living coral rested against her dark hair, woven through with pearls that glowed faintly. Her eyes were sharp, ancient, and entirely without mercy.
Queen Marethis of the Sapphire Court.
Nymera's mother.
"So," Marethis continued, circling him slowly, "this is the moon-cursed creature who dared mark my daughter."
Rhen bared his teeth before he could stop himself. "I didn't mark her. I didn't even know—"
"Silence," the queen said softly.
The word landed like a blow.
Pain lanced through Rhen's skull and forced a groan from his throat. The chains tightened, reacting to his struggle, sinking slightly into his skin. The sigil on his arm burned, white-hot now, pulsing in time with something deeper—something below even the sea.
Marethis stopped in front of him and crouched, studying the mark with open disgust.
"It has been centuries," she said, "since that symbol appeared on flesh. We destroyed its history. We buried its songs. We slaughtered every bloodline tied to it."
Rhen's heart thudded. "What… is it?"
The queen's gaze flicked up to his eyes. For the briefest moment, something like fear crossed her face.
"It is the Seal of Convergence," she said. "The proof that two incompatible worlds have touched."
Rhen swallowed. "And Nymera?"
Marethis rose slowly. "Is confined to her chambers until the Council decides whether she lives."
The words punched the air from his lungs.
"You'll kill her?" he rasped.
"We will save the world," Marethis replied. "If her death is the cost, so be it."
A growl tore from Rhen's chest, deeper than any human sound. The beast surged, slamming against his skin, begging to be let loose. The chains rattled. Cracks spiderwebbed through the coral floor beneath him.
Marethis stepped back, eyes narrowing. "Ah. That explains the legends."
"Legends?" Rhen snarled.
She gestured, and the walls of the chamber shimmered. Images bloomed in the water like memories made visible.
A shoreline on fire.
Mermaids and wolves locked in brutal combat.
The sea boiling red.
The moon split by lightning.
At the center of it all—two figures.
A wolf crowned in silver fire.
A mermaid glowing with living light.
Their hands were clasped.
And the world was breaking around them.
"The last time your kind met mine," Marethis said coldly, "the ocean rose and swallowed three kingdoms. Mountains collapsed. Entire bloodlines vanished overnight. The bond between them unbalanced the natural order."
Rhen stared, breath shaking. "They loved each other."
"Yes," the queen snapped. "And love was the problem."
Before he could respond, the chamber doors burst open.
Nymera stumbled in, breathless, her hair loose, eyes wild. Guards spilled in after her, but she didn't stop until she reached him.
"Mother, stop!" she cried. "You can't do this—"
Marethis turned, fury flashing. "You defied the Council."
"I defied fear," Nymera shot back. She knelt beside Rhen, ignoring the guards' raised spears, and pressed her palm to the glowing sigil on his arm.
The instant she touched him—
The chamber shook.
Light exploded outward in a shockwave of sound and color. The chains snapped like brittle glass. Coral cracked. Guards were thrown back as though struck by a tidal force.
Rhen screamed.
Not in pain—but in awakening.
The beast inside him surged free, not tearing his body apart, but merging with him. His senses sharpened brutally. He could hear Nymera's heart, fast and terrified. He could feel the palace breathing, the sea shifting miles away, the moon pulling at his blood like a command.
Nymera cried out as well, her voice finally breaking the seal that bound it.
And when she screamed—
She sang.
Not with melody, but with raw truth.
The sound tore through the Sapphire Court like a blade. Ancient magic responded, long-dormant and starving. The sigil on both their bodies flared blinding gold.
Marethis staggered back, horror naked on her face.
"The Song," she whispered. "It's impossible—"
Rhen's eyes met Nymera's.
And for the first time, they knew.
He knew she was not just a princess—but the Voice of the Tides, born once every millennium.
She knew he was not merely cursed—but the Moon's Heir, created to balance or destroy the sea.
They were not accidents.
They were answers.
Nymera's hands shook as she cupped Rhen's face. "I remember," she whispered. "I remember the dreams. The burning water. You were there. You've always been there."
Rhen pulled her close, forehead to hers, breathing her in like air after drowning. "Then let them fear us," he said fiercely. "We'll decide what this bond becomes."
Marethis screamed for the guards, but the palace itself rebelled.
The sea rose.
Walls cracked open, spilling moonlight and water together. Alarms rang. Ancient creatures stirred in the depths below the city.
The prophecy was no longer a warning.
It was unfolding.
And far away, beyond land and sea, something ancient smiled.