When we returned to our respective realms that evening, we were all a bit shaken. It had taken longer than expected for Aunt Nerissa to let Elle out of her sight. Even after repeated assurances that Aunt Izzy and Uncle Kai wouldn't leave her side, the former still insisted on seeing them back to Beltmare.

I knew I wouldn't stop seeing the tears on Elle's face in my nightmares for a long time. Nor would I stop hearing her sobs as she sought out her mother's gaze. "'Mom! I'm sorry! S-she knocked me out before I could get to you!'"

It wasn't until Ani and I were alone in our suite, the weight of what had happened pressing down on us, that she spoke. "What happens now?" A heaviness filled her voice—one I hadn't heard in some time.

I exhaled a heavy breath before responding. "Now... We go on with our lives. Naia is in prison, and King Marlin will ensure that she can never be allowed to hurt anyone again." But what that meant for the realms, I didn't know.

A reign of feigned peace had ended. Now, things would return to how they were before—every realm coexisting in harmony. The moon was high in the sky now, moonlight shining down into the water.

When the knock came at the suite door, we both flinched. I squeezed Ani's hand as we swam out of bed and dressed quickly. "Drew?" Despite recent events, Uncle Noah's voice barely shook me. I think part of me had known he would have eventually learned that Carla was alive.

Ani froze, her eyes wide as she looked at me. When I met her gaze, multiple emotions flashed across her face: fear, concern, suspicion, anger, and—possibly the most surprising—pity.

She remembered what Aunt Nerissa had said yesterday and the emotions it had evoked. "'Faye and Drew were children when their sister's murder took place—at the hands of Jay's brother, no less. But unlike you, Noah realized the consequences of his mistake and eventually admitted it. You don't deserve to live after what you did.'"

I took a deep, bracing breath and blew it out slowly. Ani gripped my hand tightly as we swam to the suite door. When it swung open, two mermen greeted us on the other side. The merman beside Uncle Jay was the mirror image of him, save for the hollowness in his eyes and the stoop to his shoulders.

"Hello, Drew," Uncle Noah said, his voice remorseful. I stiffened, clutching Ani's hand tighter. When he met Ani's gaze, I tensed. "You must be Ani. Jay has told me a lot about you."

"What are you doing here?" I asked flatly. We hadn't heard so much as a whisper of him in over two decades, and his showing up now didn't sit well with me.

Uncle Noah cleared his throat and swapped glances with his brother before responding. "When Jay told me Carla was still alive, I had to see for myself. He told me a little about... everything that happened, but I wanted to hear it directly. If Carla's willing to meet, of course."

Despite the late hour, I knew everyone would still be awake. Mom and Dad had given Carla their bedroom, so we went to their suite first. I had barely raised my hand to knock before the door swung open. "Drew? What's going—" Mom stifled a cry, her words falling away as Noah swam beside me.

Dad tensed, his eyes blazing with anger. Mom repeatedly shook her head, eyes impossibly wide. "N-no. Y-you can't be here." Her voice rose with each word, and I began to worry that she was becoming hysterical.

Uncle Noah put his hands before him to show he meant no harm. "You must hate me, and I don't blame you. If I'm being honest, I haven't stopped hating myself since Ella's death."

His words took a moment to sink in, and when they did, I looked into his eyes and saw genuine sympathy shining in them. "He also told me about Naia. I took my relationship with Jay for granted, which almost ruined me. Siblings are a rare joy in life, and I'm slowly relearning that. Drew, words cannot express how unbelievably sorry I was to hear of Faye's death. I wanted to express my condolences in person, but I was afraid I wouldn't be welcome."

Dad took a breath before speaking. "If you truly mean what you're saying, then you can tell Carla herself." When Mom shot him a look, he nodded as she frowned. An unspoken conversation passed between them before Dad disappeared into the suite.

When Mom spoke, her voice was hoarse. "D-does Jay know you're here?"

Uncle Noah winced, shaking his head. "No. I've lived in an abandoned house in Pelathas for about five years. I haven't spoken to Jay in that long. But when rumors began to surface about the murder of Nepptheas' queen, I knew something had to have happened."

No one else—except maybe Mom or Dad—was more shocked than me when I spoke, my words surprisingly genuine. "Do you want us to go with you?" I guessed that after he'd reintroduced himself and apologized to Carla, he was going to Aegrem to confront his brother.

Carla and Mom interrupted his response when they appeared. The latter's eyes were heavy-lidded and edged with exhaustion, but they widened in shock and fear as she glimpsed Uncle Noah. She let out a cry of fright, preparing to bolt—and probably would have had Mom not tightened her grip on her hand. "It's okay. He's not going to hurt you."

As the words left Mom's mouth, Carla's expression changed to one of fury, and—faster than any of us could blink or react—her hand was slicing through the water. We all winced when Uncle Noah grunted, and the slap echoed through the water. Dad moved to stop her, but I grabbed his arm, shaking my head.

Uncle Noah wore a resigned expression and didn't make a sound as Carla punched him across the face. Nor did he react when she changed tactics and delivered a painful blow to his abdomen. A choked sob escaped Carla's mouth, but she didn't stop. Only when both her and Uncle Noah's breathing had turned ragged, the latter's face displaying a mixture of regret, shame, and pain, did she stop.

I let out a tense breath as Uncle Noah turned and spat out a mouthful of blood. His face was a mess of blood and bruises—his left eye was all but swollen shut, the other not far behind. Carla leaned in until she was inches from his face, her eyes blazing with grief and fury. No one spoke.

"I hope that when you look in the mirror, you see the murderer responsible for taking my daughter and my son's sister from us. I hope you live with that regret and shame every single day. If Drew eventually decides to forgive you, that's his decision. But I cannot—and will not ever—forgive a merman who could murder a young mermaid in cold blood."

A weighted silence descended, not unlike that of last night. Aunt Nerissa and Uncle Jay swam up a heartbeat later. "N-Noah?" Shock filled the latter's voice when he breathed his brother's name.

Aunt Nerissa gasped and clutched her husband's arm. "What are you doing here?" She choked out.

Guilt and shame filled Uncle Noah's eyes when he met Aunt Nerissa's gaze. "As I told Drew, I wanted to express my condolences on Faye's death and apologize to Carla in person. I've lived in an abandoned house in Pelathas for about five years. When rumors began to surface about the murder of Nepptheas' queen, I knew something had to have happened.

"Jay reached out and told me a little about... everything that happened, but I wanted to hear it directly. If Carla's okay with it, of course," he added quickly. His eyes shifted to the latter's face as if trying to guess her response.

Mom glanced at me, then Dad, and finally Carla. The latter took a deep breath and exhaled before responding. "I'm ready." As the last word left her mouth, a tremor wracked her body.

I swam to her side and gently took her hand. "I'm right here," I whispered. I knew almost better than anyone how painful revisiting memories could be, so I wanted to be by her side for all of it.

Carla took another deep breath and fixed her gaze on Uncle Noah before she began speaking. "I'm sure you remember what happened, so I'll spare you the details. Everyone had been so distracted by Ella that I was able to slip away without you noticing. For years, I hid in an abandoned house, scavenging for food and surviving with nothing but the dress and cloak on my back."

No one spoke. It was as if even the sea's creatures had recognized the gravity of this moment. "I wanted to find Drew, but when I heard that Isabella and David had adopted him and Faye, I couldn't bear to separate him from the only family he knew. It was agonizing to stay away for all those years, but..."

Carla trailed off, taking a shuddering breath. "Fearing you would kill me for good if I came looking was the incentive I needed to stay away." The words hit their mark with the precision of a crossbow bolt.

Uncle Noah's shoulders slumped as he broke Carla's gaze, looking down at the ground. Only when he straightened and looked back at Carla did she continue, her voice tight. "I couldn't be more grateful to Isabella and David for taking Drew and Faye in. I did everything I could to provide for them, even at the cost of my well-being—because I knew that no matter what I did, I would never be able to create a stable and secure home life for them. And I couldn't bear the thought of my children going through that."

Angry and bitter tears welled in Carla's eyes, but she didn't break down. "Despite my struggles, I never turned to violence or cruelty to cope with my grief, as I promised myself to give my children a better life than I had growing up. Do I wish I had revealed myself after Ella's death so I could have been a part of their lives? Yes. I live with that regret every day.

"But Isabella and David took them in and gave them a stable, happy childhood—something that, despite my best efforts, I could never give them. And I will be forever grateful to them for that." She squeezed my hand as the last word left her mouth, and the tears finally spilled over.

Uncle Noah swallowed hard before responding. "I could apologize for the rest of my life, and it still wouldn't be enough. I hope you can forgive me as I work on forgiving myself."

With that parting statement, he turned and swam away, leaving us silent and stunned. Ani let out a tense breath beside me, and I flinched. She'd gone so quiet that I'd forgotten she was still here. "It's over," she breathed when I looked at her.

I looked around at our family and realized what a long road of healing we had ahead of us. Naia was in prison, and if what we'd just witnessed was any indication, Uncle Jay and Uncle Noah were on their way to repairing their relationship. The only question was, how long would this tentative peace last?

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