Elaina's POV

The next day after breakfast I went for a walk with my family and spent the whole morning building sandcastles and playing in the water. They did most of the playing while I sat and watched them most of the time. It was tough watching them play while you can only sit there and watch, but at least I could see the joy on their faces and experience their happiness.

The afternoon after lunch Rhixton took me back to the deck where I tried to draw the sunrise and the ocean, but I drew the stranger once again. I dreamt about him again last night and this time we were dancing at a ball. It was strange what your mind can imagine. I don't know if I only thought about this dream prince because I've read to much stories, but something inside me said that it wasn't a dream. It felt so real. Carling might know something.

I was sitting on the chair on my balcony after I spent the most of the afternoon drawing on the dock when Carling came by.

"What are you reading?" She asked as she took a seat next to me.

"Oh just some history of our kingdom." I said as I closed the book. I could finally ask her about the dream.

"Carling, can I ask you something? But you have to promise that you won't tell my parents or brothers," I said.

"I will if it is something life threatening," she said with an easy smile.

"No it's not. I've been getting these strange dreams lately."

"About what, my dear?"

"About this man with grey eyes. He says I'm his love and in these dreams he calls to me," I said.

I saw her eyes widen a fraction before it returned to normal, "oh, dear, it's just a dream. Nothing to fear."

I nodded and left it at that.

***
Llyr's POV

I took Primbroock's advice and went to the ocean palace again to spy on the human girl, I had a dream about her again and I knew the only way to get behind the truth was to follow Primbroock's advice.

I spent the whole day watching her as she and her family spent time on the beach, something ached inside of me as I watched the family spend time together. I wanted so much to go to them, but why? Why was I experiencing these weird feelings. Merfolk never showed signs of feelings like this.  Especially towards humans. I wonder what my father would do when he found out about this.  He was probably going to explode.

I watched her more closely once she sat on the dock drawing, my eyes widened with shock when I saw a hand drawn image of me. She got every detail right and my face was perfectly captured within the page. But how? Did this mean she had dreams about me too?

More unanswered questions.
***
Elaina's POV

I was awoken by excited chatter the next morning. As I opened my eyes my door was flung open and my brothers stepped inside.

"Goodmorning sis!"

"Goodmorning Laina!"

They both said simultaneously.

"Mor-ning," I said between a yawn.

"What is all this excitement about?" I asked as I rubbed my eyes.

"Well our dearest father has decided to give us our birthday present." Eldrich said.

"Wasn't the ball our present?" I asked.

"Well yes, but he decided to take us on a cruise for the day. We will eat breakfast, lunch and dinner on the ship and we will finish the day off with fireworks." They said excitedly and I felt the same excitement. This sounds like a day full of fun. 

My brothers quickly left before my mother came by and helped me to get dressed for the day. When I was done my brothers re-entered my room before Ethan picked me up and carried me downstairs.

My father was there waiting with a older man next to him.

"Ah looks like our final passenger has arrived, Captain Kurck." My father said to the man who had a huge beard and was finely dress with a tricorn hat on his head. I searched for Carling, but when I didn't see her I assumed she wasn't coming along on our adventure. I remembered a time when my mother told me that Carling wasn't to fond of the water for some reason.

"All righty then, your highnesses. Will we be off then?" He asked and after my father nodded we made our way to the dock where two small row boats were tied up. Off in the distance was a huge ship with white sails made out of fine wood. The ship resembled a pirate ship and I was excited to get a closer view.

Ethan carried me to the dock where the small boats were tied up. He sat me down before he climbed in the small boat and then he helped me inside one. We rowed to the big ship and I could feel the ocean spray against my face.

Once the small boat was at the side of the huge ship a man with a large belly dropped a ladder down to us. My parents climbed up followed by my brothers while the Captain tied two ropes on both ends of the boat.

"Your father explained your situation to me miss, so stay here while we hoist you up." He said with a kind smile before he quickly climbed up the ladder. I watched as the same man pulled the ladder back up after the Captain climbed aboard, then there was a hard tug and I gasped as I was pulled up with the boat. I would've never been able to climb the rope up.

Once the ship's deck was level with the boat Ethan came over and helped me out of the boat. The crew was running around doing their duties as I looked around.

"Welcome on my ship, your highnesses," Captain Kurck said with a low bow.

"Thank you for having us. Now what's for breakfast?" My father asked as the Captain led us to a table that was filled with an array of different delecacies. Ethan helped me to my chair and after we ate our delicious breakfast we explored the ship as the Captain shared the history of it with us and introduced us to his crew. They all greeted us with excited grins. The Captain told us that they were sailing the ocean most of the time and they rarely had a chance to take a break or a family on a cruise.

"How about some diving?" The Captain asked my parents.

"We would, but..." They gave me a look. I knew that they really wanted to go, but I was holding them back. Like I always did.

"Please go, I will sit here on the deck and enjoy the view," I told them as one of the crewmates brought me a chair, I think his name was Phillip.

"Thank you," I said before I made myself comfortable.

They quickly got ready after they asked for my reassurance a hundred times. I know I couldn't swim but that didn't mean they couldn't enjoy themselves. I watched as they jumped of the ship. They resurfaced and waved at me before they dived back in.

I don't know how long I sat on the deck staring out the ocean, but I was so in love with the view. I could stay here for days. My family finally returned before we ate an apatizing lunch. After lunch we played board games which I enjoyed most seeing as it was one of the few games I could play. I won three times in a row before Ethan exclaimed that he gave up at winning. I rewarded him with a cheeky grin.

After a few rounds of board games I went back to the chair placed on the deck. I sat there until sunset. Once the sun was beneath the horizon dinner was announced.

After dinner I returned to the deck to have a better view of the ocean. The fireworks show started and everyone watched in aww. Different colours exploded in the sky in a variety of shapes.

I was admiring the fireworks when I heard singing. I looked out at the ocean but I saw no one at all. The singing grew louder and louder and it was filled with so much anguish. I wanted to find the source of the singing. It was like my only goal was to find the person who's voice it was. I stood up from my chair and made my way slowly to the railing of the ship. When I peered down there was nothing but I could here the singing coming from down below. I had to investigate and before I could stop myself I climbed over the railing and jumped in the water.

When I felt the cool water around me the singing stopped and I returned to my senses. I started to thrash around trying to get to the surface but my muscles grew tired quickly and I couldn't thrash anymore. I couldn't hold my breath any longer and I started to sink to the bottom of the ocean...