We didn't stop running until the palace lights disappeared behind us.
Shawshank pulled me through a narrow passage between two enormous rocks. The moment we entered, the opening closed behind us, leaving only darkness.
I pressed my hand against my chest.
My heart was beating so hard it hurt.
"What am I?" I whispered.
Shawshank didn't answer.
I turned toward him.
"You said I'm not completely human."
He looked away.
"Shawshank, look at me."
He slowly did.
"Tell me the truth."
"I don't know the whole truth."
"Then tell me what you know."
He sighed.
"Your grandmother wasn't an ordinary human."
I frowned.
"What does that mean?"
"She could breathe underwater."
My eyes widened.
"She was one of them?"
"No."
"Then what?"
"She was something between two worlds."
I shook my head.
"This is crazy."
"Your grandmother fell in love with a man from the sea."
"The man in the photograph?"
"Yes."
"And they had my mother?"
Shawshank nodded.
I stared at him.
"So my mother is half-human and half-mermaid?"
"Not exactly."
"Then what?"
"Your mother inherited something from your grandmother, but she never awakened it."
"And I did?"
"Yes."
I looked at the golden mark glowing faintly on my ankle.
"Why?"
"Because something happened when you were born."
"What happened?"
Shawshank hesitated.
"Your grandmother disappeared."
I swallowed.
"My grandmother didn't just die?"
"No."
"She disappeared?"
"Yes."
"Then why did everyone tell me she died?"
"Because that was the story your mother wanted you to believe."
My chest tightened.
Angela had lied to me.
My entire life suddenly felt like a carefully constructed story.
I sat down on a rock.
"Why would my mother lie to me?"
"Because she was protecting you."
"From what?"
Shawshank crouched in front of me.
"From the sea."
I laughed bitterly.
"Yet I'm sitting beneath it right now."
"I know."
"Then she failed."
"No."
His eyes softened.
"She kept you away for years."
I looked at him.
"But the sea found me anyway."
"Yes."
Silence settled between us.
Then I noticed something.
Shawshank was still holding my hand.
I looked down at our fingers.
He immediately released me.
"Sorry."
I smiled slightly.
"It's okay."
He looked embarrassed.
It was strangely cute.
I laughed.
"What?"
"Nothing."
"You're laughing at me."
"Maybe."
For the first time, the fear inside me became lighter.
Shawshank smiled.
And for a moment, I forgot that I was trapped beneath the sea.
I forgot about the queen.
I forgot about the mysterious woman.
I forgot about Angela's secrets.
I only saw him.
His eyes.
His smile.
The way he looked at me.
Then a distant voice interrupted us.
"Bjei!"
I froze.
My eyes widened.
"Christel?"
Shawshank looked confused.
"Who?"
"My friend."
The voice came again.
"BJEI!"
I stood.
"Christel!"
I rushed toward the sound.
Shawshank grabbed my hand.
"Wait."
"That's my friend!"
"You can't hear someone from the surface down here."
"But I can!"
He looked frightened.
Then the water around us began to glow.
A circle of light appeared beneath my feet.
Shawshank pulled me closer.
"Bjei…"
"What?"
"The sea is opening."
"For what?"
He looked at me.
"I don't know."
The light became brighter.
Then suddenly, I saw something inside it.
A beach.
My beach.
Christel was standing there.
She was crying.
Beside her was Angela.
My mother looked terrified.
"Bjei!" Christel screamed.
I reached toward them.
"Mom!"
Angela looked directly at me.
Her face changed.
She could see me.
She could actually see me.
Her lips trembled.
"Bjei…"
I pressed my hand against the glowing water.
"Mom, I'm here!"
Angela began crying.
Then she whispered something that made my blood run cold.
"Don't trust the boy."
I turned slowly toward Shawshank.
He had heard her.
His face became expressionless.
"What does she mean?" I asked.
He didn't answer.
"Shawshank?"
He stepped backward.
"I knew this would happen."
"What?"
"Your mother knows me."
"How?"
He looked at me with sad eyes.
"Because she was the one who warned me never to find you."
The glowing circle suddenly disappeared.
The beach vanished.
I stared at the empty space.
Then I looked at Shawshank.
"What did my mother mean?"
He remained silent.
I stepped closer.
"Shawshank."
His eyes met mine.
"I promised your mother something."
"What?"
"That I would stay away from you."
My heart sank.
"But you didn't."
"No."
"Why?"
He looked at me for a long moment.
"Because I fell in love with you before I even knew your name."
I couldn't breathe.
The words hung between us.
I wanted to say something.
Anything.
But before I could, a terrifying roar shook the underwater kingdom.
Shawshank's expression changed instantly.
"What was that?"
He grabbed my hand.
"We have to hide."
"From what?"
He pulled me deeper into the darkness.
"The thing your grandmother locked beneath the palace."
And somewhere far away, something began scratching against stone.
Three slow scratches.
Then a fourth.
Then a voice whispered through the water:
"Bjei…"
"Come and meet your father."