I swam fast, faster than I’d ever in my two hundred years of life. My tail burned, like it would rip itself off me at any moment, my scales rattling so hard against each other I thought I’d shake apart.
I swam like the ocean wanted to kill me, but I didn’t stop. Couldn’t. Rage was a current of its own, dragging me, choking me, pushing me toward him.
The water was dark but alive. Silver fish scattered at the fury of my strokes, the seabed blurred beneath me. The memory kept slicing at me. The way he smiled, like there was something hidden in him I wasn’t allowed to see. Who was it for? Who else was it for? My head kept whispering her, even though I had no face, no name, nothing but this sick ache that there had to be someone else. Someone he chose instead of me.
A gasp ripped from my throat, bubbles spiraling upward. The wires in my head sparked, vision blurring, breaking into fragments. I wasn’t swimming anymore. I was running blind through water, chasing a shadow that kept vanishing before I touched it. I didn’t even see the corals until I hit them.
The crash was violent. Sharp edges tore into my skin, heat spread where blood met saltwater. The orange coral crumbled under me, breaking like my chest did. I stayed there, curled into the pain, staring at the shattered branches. Orange. His color. Dwyd used to bring me pieces of it after our secret swims beyond the palace borders, slipping them into my hands like stolen gifts. He’d joke they matched the hue in my scales. I used to think that meant something.
Mother’s voice echoed through the pain. “Our gifts were given by the pioneers of Paervan. They are sacred. Use them outside the borders and you dishonor their sacrifice.”
Borders. Rules. Walls. Always walls. I never understood. We are sirens. The water is endless, we sing for it, it bends for us. Why would anyone tell us where not to go? But Dwyd, he encouraged me to break the rules. He’d whisper, “Your song was born for more than stone walls, Rairyn.” And I believed him.
Believed him enough to stop hating him. Enough to soften toward this boy I was arranged to marry. Enough to fall in love. But love makes fools. I was a fool.
The salt stung my wounds, forced me upright. My tail whipped once, twice, pushing me forward. The current had changed. I felt it, like a secret voice in the water calling me to Tydren Shore. The place sirens only went if they wanted to abandon their blood, to strip their tails and become human.
I knew he was there. I could feel it.
By the time I reached the shore, the water had embraced the night. The moon painted silver scales across the waves. The sand was cold, foreign under my palms as I dragged myself onto it, gasping. And there he was. Dwyd.
Standing at the bottom of the rock where sea met sky, his back to me, staring at the horizon like it might answer him.
“Dwyd.” My voice cracked. Salt and anger made it hoarse.
He turned slowly, his face pale against the moonlight. His eyes widened. “Rairyn?” His voice almost broke. The words that cut sharper than coral: “What are you doing here?”
The fury surged back. “What am I doing here? After everything you did, after humiliating me, after taking what belongs to Paervan, you dare to ask me that?” I asked, rather calmly than I'd expected it to come out
He flinched. For once, he looked small. Not the confident boy who’d steal my hand in the palace halls. Not the arranged prince who smirked like he knew destiny bent around him. Just… a boy.
“You don’t understand....” he started.
I shot forward, saltwater dripping from my hair, my tail slapping against the wet sand. “Then make me understand, because I'm really close to ending you, right here, right now.” My voice sharpened, dangerous, my gift sparking in the air.
His jaw tightened. He stepped closer. Close enough that I could see the cracks under his mask, the way his hands trembled, the way his chest heaved.
“I wasn’t betraying you,” he said finally. His voice was raw. “I wasn’t betraying Paervan. I was....” He broke off, swallowed, then whispered, “I was trying to see her.”
Her. My stomach turned. “So you admit it. There's another her**”
“No!” His voice thundered against the night, echoing off stone. “Rairyn, listen, it’s not what you think. She’s not… she’s not a lover.” His breath caught. “She’s my mother.”
The world tilted.
I blinked, waiting for him to laugh, for the lie to unravel. But his eyes glistened, steady and unflinching. Not deceit. Grief.
Suddenly, it all made sense, why his father always appeared alone. But it doesn't make sense, why would he come to Tydren Shore to see his mother, is she not in the water, unless....
“My mother is human,” he said quietly. “She lives at the edge of the land. The only way to reach her, just once, just to look at her, is to use the Crown of Passage. I had to steal it. It’s the only way a siren can shed his tail long enough to walk where she walks.” His voice cracked. “I never wanted you to find out this way.”
The tide crashed harder, like it was holding its breath with me.
“Why… why didn’t you tell me?” My voice was a whisper.
He looked away. “Because half-sirens are a stain on Paervan. I’ve heard what they say. I didn’t want you tied to that shame. I thought if you knew, you’d hate me. So I...” His throat worked. “So I tried to keep it buried. But I love you, Rairyn. Every glance, every stolen swim, every laugh. I wanted you. I still do. But... my mother”
The anger cracked, but it didn’t disappear. Tears burned at the corners of my eyes, bitter as the sea.
“You’re a fool,” I whispered, shaking my head. “A stupid, reckless fool. Do you know what you’ve risked? Do you know what I almost did to myself finding you?”
“I know,” he said, stepping closer, eyes desperate. “But I’d do it again. For her. For you. For both halves of me that I can’t separate anymore. Maybe just not lie to you”
Silence stretched, only the waves speaking. I wanted to hate him. I didn't come here to understand him. But the boy I loved stood in front of me, broken open, and my heart, traitorous, foolish heart, softened.
I sighed, the fight bleeding out. “You’re stupid, Dwyd. But lucky for you, I haven't told anyone the crown was missing, I just wanted to find it, find you and.....end you.”
He laughed, the sound shaky, almost disbelieving. “I’ll take that. And I'm sorry. I shouldn't have underestimated you.”
I scoffed, "You shouldn't"
The moonlight wrapped us both. The shore didn’t care if we were whole or broken, siren or half-blood, betrayed or in love. It just kept breathing.
Tomorrow, we'll face the kingdom. Today, we see Dwyd's mother.
THE END
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In response to The Inkwell Fiction Prompt #239. All images are from Meta.ai
Thank you for reading. 🧡