The pain exploded, sending shockwaves through my entire body. I screamed, but my voice was quickly drowned out in the chaos. I scanned the room for any of my family, but it was too crowded. When I touched the wound with my other hand, it was as if a dagger dipped in poison had penetrated it instead of a normal dagger.

The entirety of my left arm was numb, hanging limply at my side. Judging by the angle of the dagger, I'd say it had pierced my collarbone. My hand came back sticky with blood, but I pushed the hysteria down. Grunting through the pain, I pushed myself to a sitting position from where I'd been leaning against a wall. Even that small motion had me biting down on a scream.

I wanted to shout for help, but I could scarcely draw breath, much less open my mouth. When a face appeared inches from mine, I could do nothing but stare. Kai spoke, but his voice floated in and out of my ears.  "Izzy.... Can... hear me? You're... be okay."

My eyelids began to droop. Sleep began to tug at me and I begged it to drag me under, desperate for a reprieve from the pain. I dipped in and out of consciousness, blurry eyes and faces appearing in my vision when I was awake. I would see Kai's dark eyes wide with worry, his face deathly pale. I wanted to tell him not to worry about me, that everything was going to be okay. I couldn't make words come.

The next time I opened my eyes, I was lying in bed. My vision was blurry, but I could see enough to recognize our suite. "Kai," I whispered. My husband's face appeared above me and I blinked rapidly.

"Izzy," he said. Unlike before, I could hear him perfectly now. "Are you okay? Can you move?"

My left arm was still numb, so I half-heartedly used my right arm to push myself up to a sitting position. Beads of sweat appeared on my forehead and I breathed heavily as I met his gaze. "H-how bad is it?" I gritted my teeth as I pulled back my shirt, forcing a breath through my teeth.

He ran a hand through his hair as he looked down. I followed his gaze, wincing. A bandage had been placed over the wound, but blood had seeped through. If you looked closely, you could easily tell where the break was. My fingers came back sticky when I touched it. "The dagger shattered your collarbone. The blood loss alone was enough to knock you out for days, but your parents heard what happened and they didn't hesitate to help."

I blew out another tight breath through my teeth. "Aunt Naia?" My voice was rigid with anger, malice flashing in my eyes.

He opened his mouth to respond, but didn't get the chance. A knock sounded at our door, causing me to sit up straighter. Mom? Kai rose and swam to the door, opening it and conversing quietly with the figure on the other side.

A few seconds later, the door opened wider, revealing a second merman. I immediately brightened, despite the pain. Jesper scanned me, eyes wide with shock and worry. "My lady, are you okay? I heard what happened. Troy and I both want you to know how sorry we are about the attack. We should have been here. Have you had any luck locating the assailant?"

My head had somewhat cleared, but it still took me a minute to sort through his words. He blamed himself. I quickly shook my head, opening my mouth. "No. You can't blame yourself. It was no one's fault. We all should have been more vigilant."

I heard my words, but I didn't believe them. I did blame myself. After the numerous attacks on the palace over the years, I should have anticipated this. Kai put a hand on my arm, gently pulling me out of my thoughts. "I specifically asked Troy and Jesper to come back. After what happened, none of us should go out alone."

I nodded. "Please make yourselves at home." The minute the door shut, I broke down. Tears dripped from my eyes, landing on the blanket. I honestly didn't even know why I was crying. I guess the shock of it all was finally sinking in.

Kai only pulled me closer to him, wrapping his arms around me. "Talk to me," he murmured. "What are you thinking?"

Emptiness replaced the sadness, leaving a gaping hole inside me. "I don't know. I feel like I'm trying to think of a hundred things at once, but they're all just out of reach." I took a shaky breath.

A knock sounded at our door, then a low voice spoke up. "Princess? The queen requests your presence." From the sound of his voice, he must have been a servant. I flinched.

Kai turned back to me, concern etched in his face. "Do you feel up to it?" His voice was soft.

As if in answer, my collarbone gave a twinge of pain. I closed my eyes, fighting back waves of exhaustion. I felt like I could sleep for a week and it wouldn't be enough. There was something else, though. Something I could hardly admit to myself.

I was scared. Someone I'd once considered part of our family had taken a piece of home—a place where I felt safe and protected—and turned it into foreign territory. I quickly swam into the bathing room and washed my face, eliminating any trace of tears, pain, or exhaustion.

No matter how I felt, I couldn't let my trauma get in the way of the real issues. Mom and Dad were working tirelessly to find Aunt Naia and make her pay for her crimes. When I finally nodded, my eyes were clear.

He held my hand the whole way through the palace, down endless flights of stairs and through multiple hallways. Only when we were approaching the door to the dining room did he pause. "Are you sure you're feeling up to this?"

My mind said no. It was still trapped in the dining room, replaying the same moment over and over—the agony of the dagger slicing through my collarbone, the shock and pain that had overwhelmed my brain. But my heart said yes, albeit timidly. I knew better than almost anyone that if you didn't face your trauma head-on, you'd never fully, truly heal.

I took a deep, steady breath, then let it out in a slow exhale. "I'm ready."

If he noticed the way my hand tightened on his as the words left my mouth, he didn't comment. He gently opened the door, a thousand sights, smells, and sensations assaulting me at once.

If someone had told me last week that I'd be terrified of going into my own dining room, I'd have told them they were crazy. But thanks to Aunt Naia, I knew that the space would never be the same.

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