Neria could barely process what was happening before her.
Her thoughts felt muffled, tangled beneath layers of pain and exhaustion. Every inch of her body ached, from the burns circling her neck to the bruises blossoming beneath her skin. Even the simple act of lifting her tail sent a sharp ache through her muscles, forcing her to abandon the attempt.
Slowly, she raised her head.
The Emperor still wore that infuriating smile.
Across from him stood the Grand Duke, every muscle in his body rigid. His hands were clenched into tight fists at his sides, his ember-green eyes fixed on his uncle with a fury he was making no effort to hide.
It only seemed to amuse the Emperor.
Erik stepped closer to him, casually drawing the letter from his coat once more.
"Adelaide has developed quite an interest in fishing lately," he said, smiling as though discussing the weather. "It would be a shame if she happened to fall into the water."
The Duke lurched forward.
Only half a step.
He caught himself almost immediately, but Neria still saw it.
The Emperor chuckled before slipping the letter neatly back into his coat.
"Good."
He turned away from Darian and crouched in front of Neria once more.
His fingers buried themselves in her braids before yanking her head backward until she was forced to meet his gaze.
"You should learn your place, little fish."
Neria struggled against his grip, her tail slamming weakly against the soaked wooden floor.
"We dragons don’t appreciate disrespect."
His smile widened.
"Since you insist on remaining silent..." he mused. "Perhaps I’ll simply give you a new name."
Something inside Neria snapped at the idea of them taking another part of her identity from her.
"My name," she spat through gritted teeth, "is Neria. It will always be Neria."
Erik hummed softly, as if tasting the words.
"Neria," he repeated, slow and amused. "Good. You can talk."
Then he released her.
Neria collapsed forward, catching herself against the soaked floor as water splashed beneath her. Her breathing came in sharp, uneven bursts. Every muscle in her body trembled from exhaustion, pain, and the lingering burn of the collar’s magic.
Erik straightened, brushing his hands as though he had touched something beneath him.
His gaze drifted lazily across the ruined study.
"You’ll need a new tank for a fish," he said, already walking past Darian toward the globe on the desk.
Darian didn’t move.
His eyes stayed on her.
She looked smaller than before. Not just injured but diminished.
Thin lines of glass still clung to her tail, cutting into scales that had once shimmered with life. The warm tone of her skin had lost its color, the deep ocean shade of her eyes fading into something pale and exhausted.
She was bleeding into the floor.
Darian’s fingers tightened.
He stepped forward.
Not close. A measured distance away, as if even instinct told him she might break further if he crossed it.
Neria didn’t seem to notice him. Her hand moved weakly to the shell necklace around her neck.
Her grip trembled.
"Your study is stuffy... I prefer your drawing room," Erik mused from across the room, already losing interest.
It barely registered to her. Neria’s thoughts were somewhere far beneath the surface, lost in memory.
Nerissa.
That name echoed louder than anything in the room.
Neria pushed herself upright again, but her body betrayed her immediately.
The world tilted, and her strength gave out.
She fell forward, bracing herself for the ground, but she never reached it.
A hand caught her.
Darian’s palm pressed gently against her forehead, steadying her before her face met the floor.
His touch was cool and careful.
Neria didn’t move.
Her fingers curled tighter around the shell pendant resting against her chest as she squeezed her eyes shut, trying to push away the strange burning sensation spreading through her tail.
At first she thought it was the glass lodged between her scales, but this pain was different. It wasn’t sharp or localized. It travelled through the entire length of her tail, deep beneath the scales, settling into her bones.
She tried to move it, but the broken shards embedded themselves deeper into her flesh, forcing a pained whimper to escape her before she could stop it.
She felt the Grand Duke shift behind her, carefully adjusting his hold so her head rested more comfortably against his arm. His movements were cautious, almost hesitant, as though he feared hurting her further.
"Hartley," his voice rang through the room, calm despite the urgency beneath it. "Fetch a physician."
"A physician?" the Emperor laughed. "For a fish?"
Neria heard a low growl somewhere above her. She couldn’t tell whether it belonged to the man holding her or the one standing over them.
Before she could think about it, another wave of pain tore through her body with such force that she screamed.
Her back arched violently as her tail spasmed against the wooden floor. The agony was unbearable. It felt as though something inside her was twisting, forcing itself into a shape it had never known. Every muscle tightened until it burned, every bone seemed to grind against the next.
"What is happening to her?" Darian demanded.
Hartley hesitated. "I... I don’t know, Your Grace."
"It hurts..." Neria choked out between ragged breaths. Her hands fumbled desperately over her tail, searching for whatever was tearing her apart, but the moment her fingers brushed the broken glass she cried out again. Panic took hold of her.
She thrashed instinctively, her tail striking the soaked floor over and over in a desperate attempt to escape the pain that refused to leave her.
Darian caught her by the shoulders before she could slam herself into the larger shards scattered around her. She struggled against him without thinking, her nails digging through the fabric covering his arm until she felt them break skin.
Warm blood coated her fingertips, but the Grand Duke didn’t let go. He merely tightened his grip enough to stop her from hurting herself further.
Neria could no longer hear the voices surrounding her. The room blurred into meaningless sounds as wave after wave of pain crashed through her body.
She felt something shift beneath her scales, followed by a sickening sensation of bones grinding against one another. It wasn’t simply painful. It felt wrong, as though her own body had turned against itself.
Time slipped away from her.
Whether it had been moments or several minutes, she couldn’t tell. The pain slowly began to ebb, leaving behind a numb heaviness that settled over every inch of her body. Her breathing remained uneven as she lay limp against the floor, too exhausted to move.
The silence that followed was broken by a sharp gasp.
"Your Majesty..." one of the servants whispered, unable to hide the disbelief in his voice. "Her tail..."
Curiosity replaced the Emperor’s boredom as he stepped closer. "Well," he said, a slow smile spreading across his face. "This is unexpected."
Neria frowned weakly.
Her tail.
She couldn’t feel it anymore.
A fresh wave of panic surged through her chest. Ignoring the ache still pulsing through her body, she forced herself to turn. The movement was clumsy, unfamiliar, and every muscle protested as she looked behind her.
Her breath caught in her throat.
The shimmering sapphire tail that had carried her through the sea her entire life was gone.
In its place were two trembling legs.
For a long moment she simply stared, unable to believe her eyes.
She had... Legs?