Chapter 4: The Queen's Degree

Kael

The words settled over the chamber like the calm before a storm.

"I have a mission for you."

Every pair of eyes turned toward me.

I straightened instinctively.

"Your Majesty."

My mother descended the steps from the dais until only a few feet separated us. Up close, the worry in her eyes was impossible to hide.

"The Tideheart Relic must be returned to Thalassara."

She glanced at the crystal tablet. Adrian's image shimmered across its surface, frozen in a moment he would never know had been captured.

"The human who possesses it is Adrian Ashford."

"The heir of the Ashford family," the royal archivist added. "The bloodline that disappeared with the relic centuries ago."

A murmur swept through the council.

I studied the image again.

He didn't look like a criminal.

He looked... tired.

"You are to travel to the surface," the Queen continued, "learn how the relic came into his possession, and recover it without revealing our kingdom."

A general slammed the butt of his trident against the floor.

"Your Majesty, with respect, why send the prince? Let the royal guard seize the relic."

"The last time we chose violence," the Queen replied calmly, "we lost the relic for three centuries."

The chamber fell silent.

She was right.

History had already taught us that lesson.

I finally spoke.

"And if he refuses to surrender it?"

The Queen held my gaze for a long moment.

"Then earn his trust."

The simplicity of her answer caught me off guard.

No threats.

No orders to kill.

Only trust.

Before I could respond, another voice echoed through the chamber.

"I'll be going with him."

The speaker leaned casually against one of the coral pillars as though royal meetings bored him to death.

Rowan.

His sea-green tail flicked lazily behind him, and his carefree grin immediately drew several disapproving looks from the elders.

"Late again," I muttered.

"I prefer dramatically timed entrances."

"You overslept."

"I prefer my version."

A few younger guards struggled not to laugh.

The Queen pinched the bridge of her nose.

"Rowan..."

"I know, I know." He pushed himself away from the pillar. "This is serious."

For once, his smile faded.

"I'll watch his back."

I raised an eyebrow.

"Who said I needed watching?"

"You swam into a reef because you were reading a scroll."

"It happened once."

"It happened twice."

"It was the same reef."

Rowan smirked triumphantly.

The tension in the room eased, if only for a moment.

Even my mother smiled.

"Very well," she said. "You will accompany Prince Kael."

Rowan bowed with exaggerated elegance.

"As Your Majesty commands."

The Queen's expression turned serious once more.

"You leave at first light."

The words echoed in my mind.

Tomorrow...

For the first time in my life...

I would leave the ocean.

And somewhere above the waves...

A human wearing the Tideheart Relic had no idea that two lives were already moving toward his.

Neither of us knew it yet.

But destiny had already begun its tide.

The council chamber emptied one voice at a time.

Elders gathered their scrolls, generals exchanged quiet words, and advisors disappeared into the palace corridors. Yet the unease that had filled the room lingered long after everyone had left.

I remained where I was.

My eyes drifted back to the crystal tablet.

Adrian Ashford.

The image had already faded, but I could still picture his face.

There had been something unusual about him.

Not the expensive clothes.

Not the city skyline behind him.

His eyes.

They hadn't looked like the eyes of a man who possessed one of the greatest treasures in our kingdom.

They looked... lonely.

"Still thinking about him?"

I didn't need to turn around.

"You're unusually quiet, Rowan."

"I asked first."

I sighed.

"I'm thinking about the mission."

"Liar."

Rowan swam beside me with that infuriating grin that somehow got him out of trouble far too often.

"You're thinking about the human."

"I've spoken exactly three words about him."

"You haven't spoken."

Rowan folded his arms.

"That's how I know."

I rolled my eyes.

"You're impossible."

"I've been told I'm charming."

"By yourself."

"Mostly."

Despite everything, a laugh escaped me.

Trust Rowan to make me laugh immediately after the most serious council meeting of my life.

We left the chamber together, swimming through the palace corridors carved from white coral. Soft blue lantern jellyfish floated beneath the arched ceilings, their gentle glow reflecting across polished shell mosaics.

Servants bowed as we passed.

Children playing near the royal gardens stopped to wave excitedly.

One little girl hid behind her mother's tail before peeking out again.

"Will the prince bring back another dolphin?" she whispered.

Rowan grinned.

"Only if it behaves better than the last one."

The girl's eyes widened.

"There was another one?"

"There wasn't," I muttered.

"Oh."

She looked genuinely disappointed.

Rowan shrugged.

"There could've been."

Outside the palace, the city of Thalassara shimmered beneath the evening currents.

Merchants arranged strings of pearls across market stalls.

Musicians practiced melodies using shell flutes whose notes carried through the water like whale songs.

Above us, hundreds of tiny bioluminescent fish drifted together, illuminating the streets as naturally as stars illuminated the night sky above the surface.

Home.

I'd never imagined leaving it.

"You've never been to the surface, have you?" Rowan asked.

I shook my head.

"My mother always said I would... when the sea decided I was ready."

"And now?"

I looked toward the distant darkness beyond the city.

"I don't know if it's the sea making that decision."

"Then who?"

"The relic."

For the first time since we'd left the council, Rowan's smile faded.

"You felt it too?"

I nodded.

"When I saw him."

"The current changed."

"It wasn't just the current."

No.

It had been something deeper.

Something ancient.

Almost...

Recognition.

Neither of us spoke for several moments.

Finally, Rowan broke the silence.

"You know absolutely nothing about humans."

"I know enough."

"Oh?"

"They have legs."

Rowan burst into laughter.

"An excellent start."

"They breathe air."

"Incredible."

"They... drink bitter black water every morning."

He blinked.

"What?"

"I've read about it."

"The famous Prince Kael has spent years studying humans..."

He leaned closer, lowering his voice dramatically.

"...and that's what you've learned?"

"I also know they can't breathe underwater."

"Which means don't push them into the ocean."

"I wasn't planning to."

"Pity."

I couldn't help smiling.

His ridiculous jokes made the impossible feel... manageable.

As we reached the edge of the city, the cheerful sounds of Thalassara faded behind us.

Ahead lay the Open Deep—the vast stretch of ocean separating our kingdom from the human world.

The water here was darker.

Colder.

Older.

A pair of royal guards waited beside two leather travel satchels.

One contained supplies gathered from the surface over many years.

The other held a tightly sealed vial filled with shimmering silver liquid.

Rowan picked it up carefully.

"The Transformation Elixir."

"So it actually exists."

He raised an eyebrow.

"You thought the scholars invented it?"

"I thought they exaggerated."

"They usually do."

I accepted the vial from him.

Moonlight, filtering through the water far above, caught the liquid inside.

It shimmered like liquid starlight.

"One dose," Rowan said quietly.

"It'll give us human legs?"

"For seventy-two hours."

"And after that?"

"We'd better find the ocean again."

I slipped the vial into my satchel.

Somewhere above us...

A human named Adrian Ashford had no idea that two strangers were about to step into his world.

And somehow...

I couldn't shake the feeling that the moment our paths crossed, neither of us would ever find our way back to the lives we once knew.

...----------------...

***Download NovelToon to enjoy a better reading experience!***