Syryn's accommodations were simpler than he'd expected, not that he was complaining. At the centre of the room, he saw the bottom half of a giant clamshell. Soft seagrass grew over the shallow depression within it. It was a sleeping spot for him, he surmised. The ceiling above him was decorated with a mosaic of gold and pink marble. One corner of the room was adorned with the white marble statue of a mermaid spearing what looked like an avian.

"Do you have any queries?

" The guard asked from behind him.

Syryn shook his head. But then he remembered what he was relieved of at the fort.

"Can I have my bag back?

" He asked despite not having much hope for it being returned.

"It will be delivered to you soon,

" the guard replied.

Syryn dipped his head and bashfully asked the guard,

"by the way... Is there any food? I'm hungry.

"

Did he know how much power he held? The guard, Arhak, thought. He was straighter than the spear held by the statue at the corner but Syryn was creating self-doubt for the first time in his life.

"What would you like to eat?

"

That wasn't what he was supposed to say. It wasn't his job to find out what Syryn wanted to eat.

"Something that isn't seaweed,

" Syryn replied. His body was craving something meaty and sweet but he was reluctant to make demands this early into release.

"I'll send an attendant,

" Arhak replied. He had been assigned as Syryn's guard by the King. It was a reprieve from his duties as captain, but this job was going to prove more difficult and he knew it in his bones.

Syryn found himself alone in the room. A floor to ceiling oval mirror with a gold leafing pattern faced him from its position on the wall. The mage slowly walked towards the mirror and stared at his reflection.

Empty eyes like a violet painting stared back at him. Above it, elegant brows crowned the slopes of his pale forehead. Syryn smiled at the reflection and its beautifully formed lips curved into an arc, and then it froze. He couldn't remember what he looked like. The reflection was a stranger.

Syryn turned his back to the mirror and tested the bed. His fingers brushed the surface of the seagrass. The texture was extraordinary.

"So soft!

"

He rolled onto the seagrass and spread out his arms and legs like a starfish. The soft bed sank under his weight and the mage imagined this was what it felt like to sleep on clouds. He closed his eyes to rest but was interrupted by knocking on his door.

"Honored guest, your meal has arrived.

"

Syryn leapt out of his bed and gave entry to the attendant. This time it wasn't seaweed they brought for him.

A bowl of pale yellow fruits, a plate of thinly sliced raw fish, a tiny bowl of clean white crab meat, and an assortment of seafood was laid out for him. The attendant carefully placed them on the table that took up a central portion of the wall on the left side of the door. Syryn thanked the young attendant and sat down to sample the food that he hoped tasted better than it looked.

The sea fruits were sweet and dry. The raw sea protein which formed the basis of the average merman diet wasn't as bad as he had imagined. Syryn polished off the fruits and nibbled on the raw meat, eating half of everything from each plate and bowl. The amount he had eaten filled up his stomach.

Having nothing much to do after his meal, Syryn looked out through the half glass wall that gave him a view of the trench and beyond. Syryn pressed his face to the glass and watched a fish idly swim by. The mage dragged his chair in front of the glass wall and spent hours staring out into nothing.

Just as he was nodding off on his chair, Syryn clutched his forehead and moaned in pain. It felt as though a finger was digging into his brain. Pressing the heel of his palm to his forehead, the mage stumbled onto the clamshell and sank into the seagrass bed. Raw pain electrified every nerve on his forehead and brought tears to his eyes but they were immediately absorbed by the ocean water.

It hurt so much that Syryn clawed at his forehead, causing a gash that bled. Outside his room, Arhak's superior senses caught the scent of blood in the water. He knocked on the door and when there was no reply, he called out a few times.

Silence.

The guard ended up barging in to find Syryn unconscious on the floor of the room.

"Syryn!

"

The guard checked his vitals and found an erratic pulse beating against the paper-thin skin of the mage's wrist. Arhak had to call a healer but he couldn't leave Syryn alone either. The guard had lifted the mage off the floor when unexpected guests found them.

"What's going on here?

" A newly arrived princess Gaia asked the guard. She was accompanied by her older brother, Grifan, who had the same gold colouring that she did.

Arhak respectfully bowed to the siblings.

"Syryn has injured himself somehow. I found him unconscious on the floor.

"

"Is he dying?

" Grifan asked as he stared at the wound on Syryn's forehead.

"No-

"

"Place him on the bed,

" the prince ordered the guard in a cool, arrogant tone.

The guard did as he was told and was dismissed by the siblings. Worried as he was, Arhak had to obey. He stood outside the door and grit his teeth. Syryn was injured, unconscious, and alone with the dreaded duo.

Gaia occupied the seat by the glass wall while Grifan stood over the clamshell bed. The gold merman gently ran a knuckle down Syryn's cheek.

"You were right. He's unlike any land dweller I've ever seen.

"

Gaia rolled her eyes and wordlessly watched her brother stare transfixed at the unconscious mage. Grifan was entranced by what he was looking at. Syryn wasn't just eye candy to the merman who hardly ever got to meet humans so deep under the sea. He was exotic eye candy - rare and treasured.

Syryn was an opportunity that rarely came by because civilians and royalty were barred from surfacing to interact with the dry world. The only merpeople who went out were the soldiers and diplomats.

"Are you done staring?

" Gaia asked her brother.

The merman didn't look up from Syryn's face.

"Gaia, leave the room for a while.

"