MORKAI'S POV
The wind carried salt and silence as I stood at the gates of the Pearl Castle, alone. Behind me, the halls thrummed with life, voices laughing, feet echoing across marble. Peace had returned, for now. But peace, I had learned, never came without cost. The sea stretched out before me, an endless blue expanse kissed by dawn light. Gentle waves lapped at the foot of the cliff, as if cradling the fortress like a mother cradling her child. I let the breeze tangle through my hair and tasted the brine on my tongue. This place had always been more than stone and seaglass. I exhaled slowly, letting my shoulders drop as the weight of the past few moons settled around me like a shroud. We had won, and the gods had come down in full glory, anointing me not just as Sovereign of the Abyss but as King of all realms, land, sea, Fae, and even the scattered edges of Drevina. The Drowned Prince no longer. Morkai Vaelan now stood crowned in truth.
And yet…
