"The Abyssal Draught," he whispers, the horrific realization dawning on him. "It's aged her by decades... It burned her out from the inside."
I nod confirmation, looking back down at Mira.
Her milky eyes track my scarred hands, confusion warring with suspicion in their depths. The thin, trembling fingers of her right hand clench into a weak fist, a futile attempt at defiance that betrays her fear.
"What is he doing with his hands?" she asks Vaelis, her voice a dry rasp. "He's casting a dark spell on you—"
"He istalkingto me, you fool," Vaelis says proudly, lifting his chin. "Since you took his real voice away, we had to build a new language together."
Mira stares blankly at my scarred hands, then at Vaelis's face. A bitter scoff escapes her cracked lips. "Talking?" The word hangs in the water like poison. "Mindless beasts do not talk. They only growl when they're hungry."
Locking my dark eyes to her milky ones, I lift my large hand. I point to the water-skin resting in the sand.
Thirst.
I point to the sailcloth blanket wrapping her shivering shoulders.
Warmth.
I point to the heavy kelp curtain covering the door to the freezing ocean.
Life.
I gave you all of these things.
She does not understand the specific signs, but she understands the intent behind my gestures. Her eyes fix on the fresh water, to the warm blanket saving her life, to the sturdy curtain that keeps the crushing dark at bay. The defiance in her eyes crumbles, replaced by a deep, shuddering shame.
"Why?" she whispers, her voice barely audible above the hum of the engine. "Why didn't you leave me to die in the dark?"
I turn to Vaelis. I want him to translate the truth for me.
Vaelis lets out a heavy breath. He turns to face me, his golden eyes softening with an emotion that sends a tremor through my frame. His fins flutter gently.
"Because Kael doesn't leave broken things behind," Vaelis says to her, his voice ringing with a certainty. "Even the things that have hurt him."
Mira's milky eyes shift to Vaelis, her face a mask of exhaustion and defeat. There is no deception in her eyes, only the stark clarity of confession.
"You're right, Vaelis," Mira rasps, the sound like stones grinding together. "I poisoned him. You thought he lost his mind in the kelp forest and abandoned you like a feral beast, but he didn't. He disappeared because of me."
My muscles lock tight, the memory of that day flooding back with the force of a rogue wave. I turn my face toward the shadows of the curved wall, unable to bear the weight of Vaelis's attention.
Vaelis freezes at her admission, his fine gills flaring wide.
"The fruit was laced," Mira continues. "I coated the skin with a heavy neurotoxin. I knew you couldn't smell it, Vaelis, but he is a Shark-kin. I feared he would smell the rot. I anticipated having to try again, that he would know it was a trap. And yet… He still consumed the fruit. And then he disappeared into the trench."
"What?" Vaelis pales, his golden eyes widening with horror. "Why?" he asks.
"Because of you," Mira says, fixed on Vaelis's shocked face. "He knew the trap was meant for you. I laced the fruit to guarantee your safety, and he swallowed the poison to keep you clean. He played the feral beast to force your retreat. He understood my logic, Vaelis. He knew your true place remains in the Reef. With me."
I stare at the sand floor, shame burning hot in my chest. I recall the raw terror in his golden eyes when I bared my teethat him, the desperate need to drive him away from danger. I recall the blinding agony of the venom twisting my spine, the darkness that clouded my mind as I sank into the trench. It was a necessary trade. My sanity for his life.
I brace for his disgust. I wait for him to pull away from the desperate thing I have become.
The realization shatters his composure. Vaelis drops his face into his hands, his lean shoulders shaking with silent sobs. A vibration tears from his throat, a ragged gasp of understanding. He weeps for me. He understands the monster broke its own mind to build a shield around him. The weight of the revelation shifts the entire water between us.
Vaelis glides through the water, his crimson fins cutting through the dim light like twin blades. I flinch at his approach, turning my heavy head toward the shadows of the curved wall. His fingers, delicate as sea-coral, close around my jaw. He forces my eyes to meet his own, those golden pools swimming with tears that spill into the warm water around us.
"You poisoned your own blood to protect me," Vaelis whispers, the silent words warm. "You shattered your own mind to keep me in a place you thought was safer than the Trench. You are no monster, Kael." He presses his forehead against my rough, scarred skin. "You are my protector."
