I stared silently as my wife and her sister crumpled on the ground, their sobs the only sound in the otherwise silent water. Even the sea's creatures had gone quiet. I could feel Mom and Dad's eyes, but I couldn't explain now. I met both their gazes and shook my head. Later, I mouthed.

Della had buried her head in Ani's shoulder and was speaking, but I couldn't make out the words. When they straightened, clutching each other's hands tightly, Ani turned to me. Smiling through her tears, she took a breath before speaking. "This is Adella, my sister."

Mom's eyes widened as she glanced from Ani to Della to me and then back again. Dad just stared at me, silent questions in his eyes. Before Mom could open her mouth, Della bowed, her hair almost brushing the seafloor. "Your Majesties," she said as she straightened.

When she looked at Ani, I saw the same haunted look in her eyes that had been present in Ani's hours ago. "I'm sorry for showing up unexpectedly. I had heard a rumor that my sister was dating the king and queen's son, so I hurried here as quickly as possible."

Mom recovered first, giving Della a gentle smile. "It's nice to meet you. I'm sure Ani would love to have you nearby. Where are you staying?" Even as the words left her mouth, I saw the unspoken ones in her eyes. She was confused and still worried about Ani, but her queenly instinct (the one that drew everyone to her) was taking over.

When Della hesitated before opening her mouth, Ani spoke, her words rushed. "Della can stay in our suite. Drew and I can sleep in the sitting room." She glanced at me as the words left her mouth, but I was already nodding. I knew that Ani needed her sister right now, and I would have happily slept on the ground if it meant they could stay together.

"Ok," Mom said, glancing at Dad, who shrugged. "Why don't you join us for dinner, Della? We would love to get to know you better."

Della nodded, but I spoke before she could. "You said you had a surprise for us?" I could feel Ani shaking when she moved to my side and took my hand. We needed something else to take our minds off what just happened.

Mom nodded as she took Dad's hand and grinned. "Yeah. Come on!" They disappeared, and it was all we could do to keep up. I couldn't see Della, but I could feel her behind me. I knew her story would eventually come out, but I was anxious to hear it.

When I glanced at Ani, some color had returned to her face, but I could still feel her shaking. Only when she gasped did I realize we had stopped. I hadn't even noticed we'd arrived at the school. I blinked, trying to make sense of what I saw.

The plaque over the library door was gleaming in the late afternoon sunlight streaming through the windows. But that wasn't what made my breath catch; it was the name engraved on the plaque. Faye Elizabeth Mercer Memorial Library

I was speechless. I heard another gasp but barely registered it. Tears gathered in my eyes, but I blinked them away. "H-how?" I rasped.

Mom's eyes gleamed with tears as she opened her mouth. "We've been working on this for almost two years." She didn't elaborate, but she didn't need to. "We finally got it set up early this morning. It's the perfect way to honor Faye and what she meant to the realms and our family."

A lump formed in my throat, making further speech impossible, so I nodded. When I heard voices behind me getting louder with every heartbeat, I turned, coming face-to-face with Uncle Jay. Trailing him were Aunt Nerissa, Uncle Kai, and Aunt Izzy. I was pleased to see Elle had come, nestled protectively in her mother's arms.

Someone—either Aunt Izzy or Uncle Kai—had bundled her in a warm seaflax blanket, and she was sleeping peacefully. I could hear cries and gasps of delight as they saw the plaque. "Oh, Bella!" "Wow, it's beautiful!" "It's perfect."

Only when I turned to talk to Ani did I realize she wasn't beside me. I looked behind me in time to see the back of her head disappear out the large front doors. After discovering Della was also gone, I swam outside to find them. No sooner had I entered the open water than I heard sniffling. Following the sound, I spotted a flash of red hair before ducking behind the building.

At first, all I could hear was soft crying. "I'm so, so, s-sorry. I just—I didn't h-have a choice. P-please, Ani. You h-have to believe me."

A shiver ran down my spine at the coldness in Ani's voice when she responded. "You always have a choice, Adella. You had a choice when you decided to swim off with a total stranger and abandon your only surviving family."

Her voice rose with every word, her tone becoming shrill. "You had a choice when he first introduced you to coraling. YOU MADE YOUR CHOICE WHEN YOU LEFT ME!" She was shouting now. When I heard her voice break, it took everything in me not to rush out and confront them.

A minute passed, and then two, before I slowly swam out from behind the building. Della had her back to me, but I knew Ani saw me. The latter's face was white, and her chest heaved as she stared at her sister. Della's response took a long time to come. "He wasn't a stranger—not to me. Caspian came to me at my lowest point, right after the divorce. He was the support system I needed. We immediately fell for each other, though I realize it was too fast now.

"Please, Ani. Don't do this. I'll break up with him and stop coraling. I'll never speak to him again. I'll do anything. Please don't leave me!" Della's voice broke on the last word.

I heard Ani take a deep breath and slowly release it. "Just tell me this: do you still love him?"

It was so quiet I wasn't sure whether both mermaids were even breathing. When Della responded, her voice was so small—so meek—that I barely heard her. "Yes." She let out a sob.

Ani didn't answer right away, and her voice contained no emotion when she did. "You made your choice, Adella. There's nothing left to say."

Only when Ani turned her back on Della did her face crumple. Tears choked Della's voice as she spoke, pleading with her sister. "Ani. Wait. Please."

When I approached Ani, I paused with only inches of space separating us. Twin spots of color bloomed on her cheeks, and her lips formed a tight, straight line. She struggled to maintain her composure, and my heart hurt watching her try.

I saw Della swim away but made no move to follow. I gently took Ani's hands and looked into her eyes. "What do you want to do?" I kept my face and voice expressionless, which was a feat considering the anger I felt toward her sister.

When she spoke, her voice cracked. "Can we just go home?" I looked into her eyes and saw such hopelessness in their depths that it stole the water from my lungs. It was only then that I realized she was trembling.

Wrapping my arms around her, I pulled her close and nodded. I knew that my arms were the only thing keeping her upright. Her quiet sobs were the only sound as we swam to the palace, sadness and anger hanging over us like a cloak. Mom and Dad met us at the entrance, looked at my and Ani's faces, and immediately ushered us inside.

Only when we reached our suite did Mom speak, her voice soft. "Do you want anything to eat?" It had been a long time since either of us had eaten, and even though I knew Ani wouldn't want to, she needed to eat something. I knew she wanted nothing more than to get in bed and block out the world, but she wouldn't be able to function tomorrow if she didn't eat soon.

When she didn't answer, I did. "A small plate of shrimp and some bubble tea would be great, thank you."

Mom nodded, squeezing my shoulder before swimming away. Dad put a soft hand on Ani's shoulder, his eyes widening. "Honey, you're shivering!"

I knew that was the shock settling in, even if Ani didn't. The sobs had subsided, and now a feeling of emptiness had replaced the sadness. I led her into the suite, heading straight for the bedroom. I closed the door behind us, never letting go of her.

It was dark, and the only sound was the gentle rustling of the bed covers as she pulled them up to her chin. Only when she felt the soft warmth of the blankets enveloping her, creating a cocoon of comfort, did she allow herself to relax.

I saw the tension drain from her body as she slumped against the pillows. I gently brushed a stray strand of hair off her forehead, and she shivered at my touch. "I'm cold." Her voice lacked any emotion. It was more of an afterthought—an observation rather than a statement.

I brushed a kiss against the top of her head. "You're in shock. Mom is bringing us food; eat, and then you can sleep. I'm not going anywhere." To prove my point, I swam into bed beside her, pulling her close as she laid her head on my chest.

When the knock sounded on the suite door, we neither flinched nor moved to get out of bed. "Come in," I called out. Ani didn't lift her head from where it lay on my chest.

I heard the suite door open and close and saw a silhouette against the bedroom door. As Mom swam closer, the tray she was carrying became visible. Her eyes met mine, softening with sympathy, and then flicked over Ani's shivering form. She set the tray on the bedside table and, moving to Ani's side of the bed, lovingly stroked her hair.

Ani opened her mouth to speak, but a sob came out instead. She clung to me as she cried, her sobs full of pent-up anger, shame, and regret. Mom and I traded worried glances. After a few minutes, the sobs finally subsided enough for Ani to move to a sitting position. Her hand shook as she reached for a piece of shrimp, placing it robotically in her mouth. She repeated the action until the plate was empty, draining the bubble tea in one swallow.

Silent tears spilled down her cheeks as she laid her head back against the pillow, the exhaustion and shock finally overpowering her. Another knock sounded on the suite door, and Mom excused herself to answer it. A minute later, she and Dad swam into the bedroom, the latter's eyes worried as he glimpsed Ani's pale and tear-stained face.

I waited until her eyes closed and her breathing became deep and even before I spoke, my voice barely above a whisper. "Her younger sister battled depression for years during her childhood. Their parents divorced three days after her tenth birthday, and it took a toll on her mental health. She got mixed up with the wrong crowd and started coraling."

I met Mom's gaze head-on, gauging her reaction. A trembling hand rose to cover her mouth, barely stifling the gasp that slipped free. Dad's mouth tightened, but he didn't say anything. People hardly ever talked about it now; it was criticized and heavily stigmatized when Mom and Dad were younger.

"After Della turned sixteen, she got involved with a merman from Nepptheas whom she'd met at a cometball game. Ani had never met him, but she'd heard rumors that he was a Serenity dealer. She'd begged Della to stay away from him, but Della didn't listen.

"One evening, Della didn't come home, and Ani got worried. Her mom wanted to look for her, but Ani convinced her to stay put while she went out. She searched for hours before finally spotting Della in an outcropping near the outskirts of Beltmare. The merman was with her, speaking softly to her, stroking her hair."

I let out a heavy breath, dragging a hand down my face. "Ani couldn't hear what he was saying, but she saw the tears on her cheeks. He wrapped his arm around her, shielding her body from view. When she shrugged out of his touch, Ani saw them. Long, jagged cuts on both arms—Della had started coraling. Later, Ani found out that Della had begun taking Serenity to cope with the guilt and shame brought on by the divorce."

Ani whimpered in her sleep but didn't open her eyes. When I met Mom's gaze, sadness gleamed in her eyes. Thank you, she mouthed. Dad squeezed my hand, brushing a featherlight kiss to the top of Ani's head. She didn't move.

Only when they'd left the suite did the whimpers become louder. Her eyelids fluttered rapidly as her eyes moved behind them. Whatever she was seeing in her nightmares was not pleasant. She let out a muffled scream out of nowhere, and I instinctively began gently stroking her hair to wake her up.

The whimpers did not stop. If anything, they morphed into full-fledged screams. I raised my voice until I shouted, hoping she could hear me. "Ani! Listen to the sound of my voice! Whatever you're seeing, it's not real! Wake up!"

She jerked awake as her eyes flew open, her breaths coming sharp and fast—too fast. Struggling for water, she gasped as she fought to breathe, her chest heaving. I gently took her hands, squeezing tightly. My eyes met hers and held their stare. "Breathe," I said quietly. "In through the nose, out through the mouth. Watch me."

I breathed in deeply through my nose, then slowly exhaled out through my mouth. Repeating the action, I motioned for Ani to copy me. After several minutes, she sagged against me as if all her strength had suddenly left her. Gasping sobs tore from her chest as she struggled to speak. "I'm s—sorry," she wept, the heartbreak in her voice evident.

I shook my head as I stroked her hair, gently shushing her. If Ani struggled this much with simple nightmares of Della and Caspian, how would she react when she came face-to-face with them?

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