I am standing in a garden. It is familiar. It takes a few moments for me to recognise it. It's my grandfather's garden. I am here again. A boy rushes past me being chased by another boy. I recognise the black hair of my father immediately. I also recognise the other child from before. Tristan, if I remember correctly. They are both slightly older. Eleven or Twelve.
"Master Matt!" Tristan shouts behind my father. They both stop, out of breath. My father sits down on the edge of the fountain and gently runs his hands through the water. Tristan sits down next to him. He lets out a little laugh as he splashes water over Matthias. Matthias lets out a laugh of his own before splashing the boy back. The two continue their water fight. Their clothes getting wetter and wetter and their shouts louder.
"Tristan!" a man shouts, rushing over to the little boy and grabbing him away quickly.
"I'm so sorry for my son's behaviour," he says, bowing to my father. My father smiles softly.
"No need to bow, gardener. We were just playing," he grins. The gardener is pale and he shakes slightly. He gulps.
"Please Master Matthias, accept my deepest apologies. Tristan will not act this way again," he quickly speaks before bowing again. My father frowns, confused. When the man doesn't get up, my father slowly speaks.
"You are forgiven?" he says like it is a question, unsure if that is what the man wants to hear or not. The man quickly stands.
"Thank you, young Master. You will make a fine lord or King one day," he rushes. "May I be excused, I have lots of work to be getting on with. I need Tristan to help too."
"But dad, I want to carry on playing with Matty," he replies. The man quickly throws a hand over his son's mouth.
"His name is Master Matthias to you," he growls angrily at his son as he pulls his arm.
"It's fine, you can both leave," Matthias sighs. He wants to play with his friend but he understands that they both have work to be getting on with. Tristan's father quickly drags him away, leaving my father standing alone. A few moments later, my grandfather appears. I shiver as his looming shadow covers my father's small body.
"Matthias," he growls. My father quickly turns around. Upon seeing his father, he looks to the ground quickly. Sebastian lets out a little, disgusted huff before turning and walking away.
"Come," he says. My father follows behind him quickly. They walk in silence for a few moments before my grandfather finally speaks, his cold blue eyes staring straight down at Matthias.
"Where you out here playing with the gardener's boy again?" he asks. My father looks down quickly.
"Yes, father," he whispers quickly. Sebastian let's out a low, disappointed sigh.
"What have I told you about that boy and his father?"
"That I am above them. That Tristan is not worthy of my time. That they have their own work to be doing and I have to train to be King," he replies quickly.
"So if you know my instructions, why do you keep disobeying them?" he asks.
"Father, I just want to play with my friend. I don't like training. I don't want to be King," he says quickly. Sebastian stops and looks down at the young boy.
"What did you just say?" he asks his voice full of venom. My father gulps, looking down at the floor with tears in his eyes.
"I..." he stops. "I know that the Queen has only had girls... I know you want me to be the King Chosen," he continues. "But I don't want to be the King..." his voice has turned into a whisper. There are a few moments of silence between the two. Sebastian's face has twisted into a nasty grimace. My father lets out a shriek as Sebastian grabs his arm roughly. He drags his son across the gardens and into the castle. He takes him down into the dungeons. I follow them quickly, not sure if I want to. My father is screaming and struggling in Sebastian's grip. The dungeon master looks at the two, confused.
"Get out," he growls to the man. He leaves quickly. Sebastian violently throws my father onto the ground in the dungeon. The boy lets out a scream of pain. Sebastian grabs a whip from the side and my eyes widen in horror. My father tries to escape, but my grandfather grabs his arm and pulls him up off the ground. He throws the boy against the wall where two chains hang from the ceiling. He locks my father's wrists in them. I shake as I watch the scene. My grandfather rips my father's shirt open. Before I can even process what I am seeing, my grandfather has snapped the whip across my father's back. My father lets out a horrific scream as the whip leaves red lines across his skin. I feel bile rise in my throat. He swings the whip again, my father's blood splattering over him.

My grandmother appears behind my grandfather.
"What are you doing?" she asks, though the tone of her voice sounds odd to me. My grandfather turns to her.
"Teaching our son a lesson," he growls as he swings the whip again.
"Mother, make him stop! Please. All I said is that I don't want to be the King!" the boy shouts. My grandmother's eyes narrow as she walks into the cell. She grabs my fathers chin so the boy is looking directly into her eyes.

"I didn't marry and put up with your father because I loved him. I married him so that any children I had would become great men. Not pathetic little boys playing silly games with flowers in the gardens with some low working scum. I married your father because I knew he could make a king out of my son. I don't give a fuck whether or not you want to be king. You are our firstborn son. It is your duty to make sure a Baylon sits on the throne," she snarls viciously. "I will not allow you to destroy what myself and your father have built. I will not allow you to throw away the opportunities we have set up for you. You will be king," she drops his chin roughly, leaving my father shaking and crying. "Ten more should be enough," she tells Sebastian. "If this doesn't work, we'll have to find more severe punishments. We also need to teach him a few more lessons," she replies to Sebastian. He nods his head and swings the whip again. She lets out a bored huff and walks from the cell.

Black surrounds me as I leave the vision. Only echoes of my fathers scream remain. Haunting and terrifying.

The Centaurs and Red Guard disappear in front of me, my view replaced by stone moving rapidly in front of my eyes. I am dragged down quickly. The force of the fall makes my stomach feel heavy and the wind snaps at my hair. I close my eyes and bring my now free arms to my chest. I gulp. Surely I must have hit the water! Time seems to travel so fast and slow at the same time. It is as though the apprehension of hitting the water slows everything down. Yet in only seconds, my feet slap the surface, my body following. The force of landing spreads pain along my body and the cold water engulfing me burns my skin. The shock causes my chest to clench and let out bubbles of air. I try to reach for the surface but I am being dragged down quickly. The weight of the stones pulling me to the bottom. I look up and desperately try to claw for the light of the surface which is getting further away. The pressure of the water starts to make my ears and head pound. I try to fight against the weight of the stones pulling me down, but I can't. In my panic, I let out yet more bubbles of precious air. I try to untangle the rocks around my ankles but they are too tightly bound. I look up again, trying to see how far the surface is above me. I need to swim. I need to pull myself up. My eyes widen as I see bodies entering the water. Adrenaline burning through my veins, I try to swim toward them. I guess the Red Guard followed me down. I can see them above, though it is blurry. They try and swim down for me. The stones drag me down faster than they can swim again.

My lungs are on fire and I feel myself becoming weak and dizzy. A few more bubbles escape until I have nothing left. My body is screaming for me to breathe and still I continue to sink down further. The stones dragging me down.

"Breathe," a voice says inside my head. Still panicking, I ignore it. I need to get to the surface! I need air!

"Breathe," the soft, calming voice tells me again. I frown, recognising the voice. It is the soothing voice that told me to breathe whilst I was submerged in the waters back before the Queen's Trial started. When the Fae were there to discover my mark. I feel an odd calmness fall over me. I close my eyes and open my mouth. Water, cold and burning enters my mouth and forces its way into my lungs. My body convulses. I claw at my throat as I try and cough. My chest convulses again as it tries to force the water out. I continue to convulse for a few more minutes until everything seems to still. I take another breath. The water that fills my lungs no longer burns. Confused, I take another and another. I blink a few times. The blur from the water is clearing. It is almost as though I am standing on land. I can clearly see the rock faces and the Red Guard treading water on the surface far above me. I can see them as they try and dive down to find me. It isn't even as dark anymore.

What is going on?

Everything is calm and still around me as I seem to float. My hair hovers around my face and I bring my hand up to my eyes. Looking upon it clearly. That isn't right. It should be a blur in front of me. I take another deep breath of water. This isn't normal. Though my mind clears of those thoughts as I try again at the knots that bind my feet to the rocks that still drag me down. Not in my panicked state anymore, it is easy to untie. As soon as the stones are free, they quickly fall into the abyss below me. I don't move. I just stay floating in one spot. Feeling free and weightless. Surrounded by calm blue waters on all sides. I close my eyes and allow myself to enjoy weightlessness and peace. A peace I have not been able to feel for this whole journey.

Something brushes against my bare toes. I close my eyes tightly and try not to react. It is only on that slight touch, that I remember why I was hanging above this lake in the first place. The Mer and Sirens live here. I was to be their sacrifice. If I play dead, perhaps they'll lose interest in me. I feel hands on my body. They graze softly up my torso. I try not to react. I feel something tickle my neck. My guess is a nose as I can hear it sniffing my scent. Lips kiss at my throat so soft and delicate. Hands continue to slide over my skin. Fingers trace lightly up my arms and the soft kisses slowly travel up my neck toward my mouth. I should be repulsed. But I want nothing more than to soak it all up. To lean into this presence and give myself completely to them. I want to open my eyes. I want to see them.

No. If it is a Mer with their enchanting beauty then as soon as my eyes lay upon them I will sacrifice myself to them completely. The hand touches my chin and I feel my face being lifted up slightly. I am pulled against a body. I can feel a face only inches from mine. I can almost feel their eyes as they gaze upon me.

Another voice enters my head. Different from the one earlier. Deeper, with a strong accent.

"A pretty thing like you can't die before we've had a chance to play," he says smoothly. My eyes snap open. The Mer in front of me snaps away from me in surprise. My eyes slowly take in what I am seeing. The Mer before is one of the most beautiful men I have ever seen. His skin is a dark, rich colour and so perfectly smooth. His human half is muscular and has a slight golden glitter of scales over a few parts of skin. His face is angular and his eyes are large and bright golden. Waves of dark brown hair float around him, some strands glistening with more gold. His tail is huge and covered in bright scales of glistening golds and bronzes. He swims toward me slightly, looking into my eyes, his narrowed.  He swims closer to me and takes my chin in his hands. I try and get out of his grip, but it is too strong. He stares into my eyes intensely. After a few moments, his eyes widen. He looks up and I do too. I see a group of Mer quickly swimming up toward the Red Guard who are still trying desperately to swim down to get to me. My eyes widen as I try and swim up to them. I am quickly grabbed by the Mer and pulled away. I try and speak but nothing comes out. I am in water after all. The Mer smirks at me and I let out a snarling sound. But there is nothing I can do. I am in his element. I look up, seeing my friends all stop swimming as the Mer start enchanting them. I glare at the Mer who grips me tightly. I heard his voice in my mind earlier so I guess that is their form of communication. I look directly into his eyes.

"Let them go," I say. He raises his eyebrows with a grin.

"Why should I do what you ask of me?" He asks. I let out a smirk of my own.

"If you ever want a chance of leaving this lake and going back to the oceans as free creatures, I suggest you listen to me," I reply. His smirk disappears and his eyes narrow. 

"Who is to say we want to leave?" he asks. I raise an eyebrow.

"You have humans deliver you your dinner. You have them tie stones to their feet so you don't even have to worry about leaving the depths. There is no way you like living this way. Not even being able to hunt for yourselves. Trapped to this lake and not in the great expanse of the oceans. How many traps have the Fae set out around the coasts to capture your kind? After all, the oceans are vast but you have to come to the lands for food?" I ask. He doesn't say anything but his face is twisted in a scowl. "How many thousands upon thousands of years have your people been trapped here? Unable to leave out of fear of being caught. Unable to free those who the Fae already have a hold of?" I ask.

"How can you help us?" He finally asks.

"Let my friends go and then I'll tell you," I bargain. His eyes narrow again and he looks up at the Mer surrounding the Red Guard.

"Very well. We will hear you out. But if we do not like it, then we'll feast on you all. We've not had such a large variety for a long time," he purrs. He looks up and the Mer surrounding the guard all look down at him before nodding their heads. I assume he's given them orders. In a blur, he is swimming away from me, leaving me just floating. I don't bother trying to swim away. He will be able to catch up to me too easily. Still, I watch as he starts circling around my friends, inspecting them. Then, with a nod of his heads, the Mer lean forward. They press their lips against my friend's lips and my eyes widen. The Mer who had caught me hovers in front of Wyatt. I go to swim toward them, seeing Wyatt clawing at his throat. The Mer touches Wyatt's chin and tilts his head. Upon his touch, Wyatt calms down a little. Opening his eyes and widening at the sight of the Mer before him. I can see the Mer's chest rumble as he laughs. Then, he leans forward and presses a delicate kiss against Wyatt's lips. My eyebrows raise. The Mer pulls away and now Wyatt is breathing the water like I am. In fact, all of my friends are. Wyatt looks around in confusion, blinking. He vision must be clearing too. The Mer grabs his hand and then swims back to me, dragging Wyatt behind me. Then, he grabs my hand and starts to swim. Wyatt and I tilt our heads back so we can look at each other over the Mer's body as he starts to move. Wyatt grins at me and gestures to the Mer.

"Slut," I mouth. Though I know it probably isn't very obvious in the water. Wyatt knows me well enough to figure out what I said though. He nods his head, grinning wickedly. I just roll my eyes and shake my head.

"Prepare yourself," the Mer's voice fills our minds and we both jump, looking ahead. Then we are moving properly. He is incredibly fast as his powerful tail makes our journey effortless. Everything moves in a blur as we move deeper and deeper into the water. I look back, seeing the Mer drag four members of the Red Guard. I guess the others were sent back to the Centaurs.

We come to a cave entrance right at the bottom of the cliff. It isn't a large entrance. Just enough to fit the three of us in. For a few moments, I am surrounded by darkness as I am lead through a series of winding tunnels. I'm not sure whether or not to trust the Mer but I don't really have much of a choice.

The tunnel opens up into a huge cavern. My eyes widen upon seeing it. The cavern is massive. It is full of Mer and Sirens, their scales glittering in the light. The light comes from a glowing white ball. It hovers against the furthest stone wall. Carved into the stone are two thrones. Equal in size and elegantly fitting into the rock. On one, sits a Merman. On the other sits a Siren. Those who were swimming around have now stopped upon seeing our entrance. The Merman glides away from his throne a frown on his beautiful face. He has the same dark complexion as the Mer who found me. His dark brown hair isn't free and floating though. It's been tied in a thick braid. His golden eyes are large and wide as he looks at us. The woman on the throne next to him also floats away from her throne. She is beautiful. It is easy to recognise her as a Siren. Sirens have scales of blues, greens and purples. Mer are warmer. Their scales tend to be more bronzes and golds. This woman is spectacular. Her skin is golden. A vast contrast to her silver hair which floats around her like a cloud. Her scales ripple over her torso, covering her breasts and delicately making patterns over her stomach and around her back. Her eyes also glow the very same silver as does her tail.

The Mer and Sirens in the room all stare at us. I notice that there are a lot more Mer than there are Sirens. My guess about one-hundred Mer. Compared to about twenty Sirens. Is that it? Are these the only wild Waterfolk left? From the various looks, I guess that they are communicating through whatever mind link they all have. Finally, a voice enters my head.

"Strange eye woman," he says and I look at the Mer who captured me. "Meet my father, Zuriel. The Mer King. This is Seraphina, the Siren Queen," he tells me. I had guessed they were rulers of some sort. I bow my head slightly. I smile softly.

"Hello," I reply back. King Zuriel swims closer to me, followed by Queen Seraphina. The two come to a stop in front of me. They stare intensely into my eyes.

"Who are you, girl? Why are your eyes different colours? Prince Zoran said you can help us. How?" Seraphina's smooth, musical voice echoes in my mind. I look at the two of them.

"I can, I hope. We just have to come to an agreement. I am Princess Illyana Dulavelle and I am here to set you all free."