Chapter 5
CHAPTER FIVE
The morning sun burned too brightly. Its golden light slanted through the high-arched windows of the palace halls, warming the polished stone floors beneath Eric’s boots.
Outside, the sea stretched calm and endless.
The waves were gentler than his thoughts as they rolled toward the shore in a steady rhythm.
Today was the day he was supposed to meet his future wife. He should have felt restless. He should have been preparing. Instead, Eric's mind drifted back to her—a woman who did not exist.
The dream had burrowed into him, lingering in ways he didn’t understand. He saw her face every time he closed his eyes. He felt the way she had looked at him—not with reverence, not with duty, but with challenge.
Those crystal blue eyes hadn't challenged him to live. They'd dared him to defy her. He wanted to laugh. He did, a low chuckle that was more desire than amusement.
For the first time in his life, Eric, the Prince of the Coastlands, had wanted something just for himself. It was a good thing his dream girl wasn’t real. Because if she had been, he would have seriously considered shirking his duties. That thought unsettled him more than any shipwreck ever could.
All of these duties to run the kingdom should have belonged to the king—his father. But the man hadn’t been a ruler in years. Eric liked to believe his father was grieving. The truth was he’d simply given up and then given in to his vices.
Five years ago, the queen had gone to sleep for the last time. The once-vibrant king had begun to rot from the inside out. Grief gave way to gambling. Guilt to gluttony. The crown remained on his father’s head, but the weight of it had shifted—onto Eric's back.
At an age when most young men were still finding their footing, Eric had been forced to wear his father's boots. He balanced the books while his father spent lavishly. He sat on the throne to resolve disputes between bickering merchants and land-hungry nobles. When the navy faltered, it was Eric who oversaw their patrol routes. He hadn’t even been of age to serve, but they'd handed him the reins of the military like the birthright it was instead of a burden.
And he had done it all. Without a word of complaint. Even as it cracked his spine and ground down his youth. Even when the council came to him with the treaty his father had signed, asking—no, expecting—him to marry a foreign princess he’d never met. A woman who wasn’t even human.
He’d said yes. Of course he’d said yes. Because Eric knew his duty. Because his kingdom came first. Because someone had to care.
But today...
Today, something shifted.
For the first time in his life, Eric, the Prince of the Coastlands, had wanted something just for himself. A selfish, reckless, impossible thing. A girl from a dream. A phantom with eyes like the sea and lips that tasted like freedom.
She'd breathed life back into his lungs. He hadn't been awake for it, but he'd been conscious of it. It was what his mind clung to as death squeezed him in its grip. What his heart listened to as it regained its rhythm.
She had been a phantom, maybe even a figment of his imagination. But she had felt so real.
A sharp, irritated voice from the corridor snapped him out of his thoughts. Eric turned toward the commotion just as Grimsby entered the chamber, pinching the bridge of his nose, his usual restraint clearly fraying. Behind him, a sea emissary followed.
Sebastian's hard crimson shell gleamed in the morning light, his bug-like eyes bulging, darting around the room. His clawed hands tapped out a quick, staccato rhythm against his own forearm, an anxious, impatient click-click-click.
Eric had encountered sea folk many times before. They had free rein in the market, trading alongside humans, fae, and shifters alike. But there was something particularly animated about this creature.
Grimsby exhaled sharply, straightening his coat as he approached. “Your Highness, it seems we have a delay.”
Eric raised an eyebrow. “A delay?”
“The princess’s arrival has been… postponed.”
There was a beat of silence.
Eric knew he should feel annoyance. He should be irritated, should be concerned about what it meant for the alliance, should be wondering what message this sent—whether the Sea Kingdom was playing politics or simply being careless.
Instead—relief. It flooded through him before he could stop it, before he could remind himself of what was at stake, what was expected of him.
Maybe... maybe it wasn’t a slight. Maybe it wasn’t political maneuvering at all. Maybe it was the princess who was having second thoughts.
The idea bloomed quietly in his chest, lifting some of the heaviness he'd been carrying. Not because he wanted her to break the deal—they still needed this treaty. Because dream or not, he didn’t want to start his marriage by clinging to another woman in his thoughts.
Even if that woman had only existed in the depths of a dream. .. or was it a memory?
He still wasn’t sure.
He could still feel the press of her fingertips on his skin. The salt-slick warmth of her hair tangled in his hands. The softness of her voice—like wind against sails or the hush of the sea at dawn—whispering for him to hold on, to live.
He didn’t know if he had imagined her. But he did know he wasn’t ready to let thoughts of her go just yet. Just a few more days. A few more days to bask in the memory—or the fantasy—before duty claimed him again.
Once it did, he would bury her. He would forget her. Because that was what a good ruler, a good husband, did.
Sebastian’s claws snapped together sharply, pulling Eric’s attention back to the emissary. “I assure you, the princess is most eager to meet her betrothed, but certain… ah… unforeseen circumstances have delayed her departure.”
Eric wasn’t foolish enough to ask for details. The Sea Kingdom kept their secrets tightly wound beneath the waves. He clasped his hands behind his back, forcing a composed expression. “I’m sure whatever has delayed her is… important.”
Grimsby cleared his throat, as if willing Eric to at least pretend at disappointment.
“I only wish for her to arrive safely. That is my first concern.” A non-answer, perfectly diplomatic. Eric was back on his game. "Can we offer you some hospitality? I would be grateful if you dined with us."
The crab clicked his claws again and took a step back. "Dinner at a human table does not sound appetizing. I will return to search for—I mean seek out an arrival date for your betrothed."
Eric nodded, as was expected. But he had caught the slip. Something was wrong.
The moment the crab was gone, Grimsby let out a long-suffering sigh. “My spies tell me that the princess has not been seen in the Sea Kingdom for some days.”
"Do you think she's run away?"
"It would be bad if she did. We need this alliance."
Eric tamped down on the rising relief. This was his duty.
"I've taken the liberty to send out some of our men to look for the princess as well. It's a quietly kept secret that she has a friendship with Princess Aurora."
Eric didn't understand why Grimsby put emphasis on the word. Princess Aurora was everything a princess of the realm should be. It was good that she and the mermaid were amiable.
"Aurora is set to marry Prince Phillip soon."
Eric had met Phillip before and liked the man immensely.
Phillip and Aurora were two very different people, but that was royal marriages for you.
It wasn't about personal preferences. It was all about alliances and agreements.
It would make sense that Aurora and Ariel would befriend each other, as both women were facing the same fates.
He hoped the two forged a deep bond. He certainly wouldn't get in the way of their friendship moving forward.
"I'm going to head to the docks."
"Not another sea voyage," moaned Grimsby.
"Just need to stretch my legs after being in bed all day."
"You were in bed all night like a normal person. Likely the first full night's sleep you've had in years."
"Yes, and it's made me restless. I won't be long."
"Just promise to come back. I can't have two royal runaways on my hands."
Running away from his duties was something Eric had never considered. At least not before the dream of red hair and sea-blue eyes. But he didn't have to run away from that vision. He simply needed to go somewhere alone, close his eyes, and revel in a dream that would never come true.