The guard’s gasp hits instantly, followed by the unmistakable flicker of shock across the Queen’s face.
“Do I want to know what just happened?” she asks dryly, regaining her composure as she shakes her head, still scanning Myko’s body—bottom to top. Her neck tilts further and further back as she tries to take all of him in.
Then she narrows her eyes and points. Not at him, but at Bay. “How is the Guardian connected to aroyal?”
There’s no fear in her voice. None. Which is… something. Most merfolk don’t even gaze in Myko’s direction without trembling. But this Queen? She’s watching them like she’s putting together pieces of a puzzle.
Her gaze drops to Bay’s chest.Myko’s mark.
Only now, her tail flicks sharply as she backs away, posture cracking for the first time.
“Y—you’re—”
“Black Blooded?” Bay finishes for her, flashing a sharp smile. “Yes. Yes, I am. Old news.”
She shrugs, not even pretending to soften it.
“Just know I’m not a threat,” she adds with a flick of her tail. “And neither is our preciousGreat Depthbornehere. He’s one too.”
Her already snow-white skin somehow turns even paler as she glances back at me—probably hoping for some kind of approval.
“I really need some answers,” she says, her gills flaring open and shut, trying to steady the storm flickering behind her orange gemstone eyes. “But my daughter comes first. We need to hurry. You and the Guardian only.”
She doesn’t wait for a reply, just turns and swims straight toward the icy entrance she’d called their “power source.”
I glance at Bay and shrug. She rolls her eyes at the Queen’s retreating back, like thesame, honestly.
Myko slips from Bay’s side and glides to my side, his massive tail coiling around me like a shield.
“Better safe than sorry.”His words make me chuckle. This family’s really growing on him, as much as he’s growing on us.
I cast one last look over my shoulder at the pink-haired guard. “You’d better make sure nothing happens to them while we’re gone,” I warn, voice cool and sharp. “Or I won’t need another hunt this month. I’ll have a feast right here.”
Myko’s snarl follows my words, deep and guttural as he bears his teeth, making the threat real. The guard flinches. Her hand scrambles for the handle of her spear, gripping it like a lifeline as she nods.
“Let’s finish this,”he says, annoyed as ever.“Bay wouldn’t lose to that sardine even in her sleep.”I hold my breath not to laugh. I trust Bay to handle herself. She didn’t look even remotely worried.
I catch up to the Queen and follow her lead into the cave. The deeper we go, the darker it gets. But the darker it gets, the more small glowing spots scatter across the dome under cave walls like night sky’s stars. Right in the deep.
My own glowing pod marks shine brighter, casting light into the darkness, too. Our combined glow reflects off the walls, and for a second, it feels like we’re swimming through some sort of magical galaxy.
“It’s here.”
The Queen stops beside a dark stone jutting from the ground like a tree base, with roots made of ice.
“What is that?” I ask, stopping beside her. This place is vast enough for Myko to still fully coil around me.
Instead of answering, she brushes her fingers against the stone. Light flares. Blinding for a second. I blink until the glow steadies—and then I see it.
A golden orb at the center. Flickering, pulsing.
“This is our bloodline’s power,” she says, eyes locked on it like it’s her last hope. “Our bloodline holds the power of the sky’s light—the stars. Unlike other Royals, our gifts don’t shift or vary. They pass from generation to generation. Direct. Steady. As long as the light holds.”
“What is she talking about?”I ask Myko, not letting my serious expression crack.“Their powers come from me. Don’t they?”
“They’re tied to the Coral of Life, yes,”he says, tone cautious.“But this bloodline controls light. Guardians of it.”
“My daughter’s missing. And the light—our source—is flickering. She’s hurt. I know you feel it too.”
