The five days leading up to the Sea King’s arrival were a frantic rush of construction, morning sickness, and charcoal dust.

And trust me, the morning sickness was the worst part because it got me frustrated, got me tired, and made me want to take a nap when I still had so much to do.

​By day four, my lower abdomen had rounded out even more, making it harder to lean over my drafting stones, so I had to relocate to a table and chair.

Thanks to that, I managed to push through.

With Thalor acting as my ’aquatic consultant’, we finalized the filtration system. We decided on a series of tiered stone basins filled with varying grades of sand, river pebbles, and activated charcoal from the forge.

By the time the water reached the nursery pool, it would be as clear as a mountain spring but rich with the minerals Thalor insisted were vital for sea-born health.

​"It’s not just about cleanliness, Arinya," Thalor had explained while helping me steady my hand. "The water must breathe."

​"If I hear one more poetic description of plumbing, I’m going to scream," I’d joked, but I made sure the basins were carved exactly as he described.

After all, no one knows the sea better than he does.

He’d sometimes say, I am the embodiment of the sea, the waves, and the salt, and the sea is me.

He was such a poet, but he was a powerful poet, so I’ll cut him some slack.

Then, the day of the sea King’s arrival came. I’m not gonna lie, I was very nervous. I was having these little panic attacks, wondering if he was a picky king, if he valued diplomacy and traditions, if...

"My father will not pick a fight with you," Thalor said, sensing my jumping nerves. "He likes you."

I paused and narrowed my eyes at him. The sea king likes me? Just what exactly has this husband of mine been telling his father about me?

We stood at the bank of the sea, right by the Singing Stone.

The air here, as always, smelled more like salt than the rest of the valley. It was a heavy, humid scent that clung to my skin and made the sea-silk of my dress feel cool.

​Fenric stood as my anchor, his hand firm on my lower back to help me manage the weight that was now very clearly pulling at my frame. Thalor stood at my other side.

Damar and Noah were a few paces behind, their eyes fixed on the horizon where the water met the sky.

And where were the babies, you ask? Well, they decided it was the perfect time to fall asleep. Well, I can’t blame them. They’re just babies, and they can’t fight the nature of a morning nap.

​It had been five days since Thalor broke the news, which meant I was officially at day twenty-seven. My stomach was no longer just a ’bump’—it was a firm, rounded weight that made every movement a calculated effort.

​The water on the sea surface slowly began to ripple. It started as a slow swell that pushed against the muddy banks, rising higher and higher until the first of the mermen broke the surface.

They were dressed in armor that shimmered like oil on water, pushing massive rafts loaded with crates of pearls, glowing corals, and rare ores.

Ah, talk about an overload of treasures.

​Then, the Sea King emerged.

​He looked exactly like an older, more rugged version of Thalor. His hair was a shock of white-silver, and his tanned shoulders were broad enough to block out the sun.

But it was the Trident in his hand that I couldn’t take my eyes off. It was carved from a single piece of black sea-stone, pulsing with a faint purple light that seemed to command the very current of the river. It looked ancient, powerful, and incredibly heavy.

It reminds me of the tridents I saw in movies. Seeing it in real life and knowing it has that exact kind of power to command the sea, gives me chills.

The sea king stepped onto the dry land, his purple tail shifting into powerful tanned legs as he approached. He stopped five paces away and looked at me. To my surprise, he didn’t say a word at first. He planted the butt of his Trident into the soft earth and dropped to one knee.

I blinked.

What was this now?

I had been going over the formalities and wondered if I would greet first since he was a far more advanced king, but to my shock, he knelt. He didn’t just greet, he dropped down to one knee.

​Behind him, the entire Royal Guard followed suit, their armor clattering as they knelt in the shallow water.

​"Arinya, I am Nereus," the sea king said, his voice deep and firm even at his age. "The Sea Kingdom has come to pay its debt. You saved our waters from the rot of the poison, and you brought my son home. We do not come as guests. We come as your subjects and your kin."

​I felt a lump in my throat. Subjects? Aren’t you like saying the entire mer-folks are now my subjects? That... that’s a lot. But... I can’t back down now.

I swallowed the lump and kept my posture straight. "Rise, King Nereus. You are in the West Way now. We are family here."

​He stood up, his eyes immediately dropping to my midsection. The formal mask he wore shattered in an instant. His violet-flecked eyes went wide, and for a second, he looked less like a King and more like a man who had just seen a miracle.

​"Thalor," he breathed, his voice cracking as he looked up at his son standing by my side. "You were not joking. The life in her... it is strong." Wait, you can feel that? "I can hear the heartbeat of the tide from here."

​He walked closer, his eyes never leaving my belly. "Twenty-seven days left?"

​"Twenty-seven," I confirmed, my hand resting instinctively over the swell.