Chapter 1
They called this stretch of coastline Blackheart Sands, and it was infamous across all the lands. It was the favourite anchorage for pirates, smugglers, and sailors who lived by their own rules. The sand here was dark, almost like crushed charcoal, and the water was a deep, mysterious blue-green that hid secrets in its depths. Jagged cliffs rose up on either side, pocked with caves where people said treasure was buried and ghosts were said to dwell. Most folks stayed far away, terrified of the thieves and ruffians who haunted these shores… but for some reason, I had always felt drawn to it.
I loved the wildness of the place. I loved the sound of the waves crashing against the rotting ribs of old shipwrecks half-buried in the tide. I loved how the wind carried the sharp tang of salt mixed with the faint, sweet smell of spices from distant lands.
This afternoon, the sun was beginning to set, painting the sky in streaks of fiery orange, deep purple, and blood-red—just like the colours painted across a pirate’s flag. I walked along the water’s edge, barefoot, letting the cool foam rush over my feet and soak the hem of my dress.
Further up the beach, near the dunes, the air was loud with rough laughter and raucous singing. A group of pirates had lit a large bonfire, their silhouettes dancing against the flames as they passed bottles of rum around and bragged about their voyages. I kept to the waterline, away from them, seeking the quiet and the peace I always found here. I was lost in my own thoughts when something glinted in the wet sand, catching the last rays of the sun.
I stopped and knelt down to look closer. It wasn’t a coin, or a piece of silver, or any treasure I had ever heard of. It was a scale—large, thick, and pearlescent, shimmering with colours that seemed to shift as I moved it: deep turquoise, rich emerald, and hints of violet that swirled inside it like ink in water.
I reached out and picked it up. It was smooth and cool, harder than glass, yet it felt strangely warm, as if it still held the heat of the sea.
“That belongs to me, you know.”
The voice made me jump, my heart leaping into my throat. It was deep and rich, sounding exactly like water flowing over smooth river stones—musical, powerful, and distinctly not human.
I spun around, clutching the scale tight in my hand. The water was just deep enough to reach his shoulders, hiding most of him in the rolling grey-green waves. But what I could see took my breath away.
His upper body was strong and lean, his skin the colour of warm bronze, dotted with more of those beautiful scales along his collarbone and trailing down his arms. His hair was long, wild, and tangled, a mix of dark green and deep blue, heavy with water and seaweed. It fell around his face, framing eyes that were bright, piercing blue—brighter than the clearest tropical sea I had ever seen painted on maps.
He smirked at the shock written all over my face, and pushed himself forward so the water parted around him with a soft splash. And there, where legs should have been, a powerful tail rose up from the waves. It was long and muscular, covered in the same shimmering scales as the one I held, leading down to a wide, elegant fin that swayed gently in the surf.
I was staring at a merman. Right here, on the most dangerous pirate beach in the kingdom.
“I’ve been watching the men with the ships,” he said, nodding his head slightly toward the noisy pirates further up the beach. His expression was curious, sharp, and completely unafraid. “They are loud, and they shout a lot, and they take things that don’t belong to them… but their ships bring interesting things from places I’ve never seen. Is this your home?” he asked, tilting his head to the side. “Or are you just as much of a wanderer as I am?”
He swam closer, stopping just out of reach, and rested his strong arms on the wet sand at the very edge of the tide. Water dripped from his hair onto his shoulders, and he looked at me with a mix of caution and wonder, as if he found me just as strange as I found him.
“I’m Kael, by the way,” he said, a playful glint appearing in his blue eyes. He nodded at my hand, still closed tight around his scale. “And you’ve got something of mine in your fist. Are you planning to keep it as a trophy? Or are you going to talk to me, human?”
