"Bjei, run."
I froze.
The voice was unmistakable.
My mother's voice.
I turned toward the tunnel.
"Mom?"
Shawshank immediately covered my mouth.
"Quiet."
I pushed his hand away.
"That was my mother!"
"I know."
"How?"
"Because I heard her too."
My heart raced.
"How can my mother be down here?"
Shawshank looked at me for a long moment.
"She isn't."
"Then how did I hear her?"
He looked toward the darkness behind us.
"The sea remembers voices."
I shook my head.
"That makes no sense."
"Neither does a girl from the surface breathing underwater."
I stared at him.
He had a point.
I looked down at my hands again. That strange golden glow was still beneath my skin.
"Shawshank…"
"Yes?"
"Am I going to die?"
His expression softened.
"No."
"How do you know?"
"Because the sea wouldn't have brought you here if it wanted you dead."
"Then what does it want?"
He didn't answer.
Instead, he continued walking.
I followed reluctantly.
The tunnel opened into a huge underwater garden.
I stopped.
It was beautiful.
Thousands of glowing flowers covered the ground. Tiny silver fish moved through the air like birds. Pearls floated between the branches of enormous coral trees.
But something felt strange.
Everything was too quiet.
"Where is everybody?"
"They're hiding."
"From me?"
"No."
"Then from what?"
Shawshank looked toward the palace.
"From the queen."
I swallowed.
"The queen?"
He nodded.
"She's been waiting for you."
"Why?"
His eyes met mine.
"Because your mother made a promise to her."
My heart dropped.
"My mother?"
"Yes."
"What promise?"
Before he could answer, a loud crack echoed through the garden.
Shawshank immediately pulled me behind a coral wall.
"What was that?"
"Don't move."
I heard footsteps.
Slow.
Heavy.
Coming closer.
I held my breath.
A shadow passed across the glowing flowers.
Then a woman's voice spoke.
"Shawshank."
He closed his eyes.
The footsteps stopped.
"Bring me the girl."
Shawshank squeezed my hand.
"I don't know what you're talking about."
The woman laughed.
"You know exactly what I'm talking about."
Her voice sounded strangely familiar.
She continued,
"Her mother couldn't hide her forever."
My heart pounded.
Shawshank stood.
"Leave her alone."
There was silence.
Then the woman said,
"You would protect a human?"
Shawshank's voice became cold.
"She isn't just a human."
I looked at him.
"What does that mean?"
The woman laughed again.
"That is exactly what she must discover."
The shadow disappeared.
Shawshank waited several seconds before looking at me.
I stepped out from behind the coral.
"Who was that?"
"The queen's messenger."
"What did she mean when she said my mother couldn't hide me forever?"
Shawshank looked away.
"Shawshank."
He remained silent.
"Tell me!"
"She wasn't lying."
My stomach twisted.
"About what?"
"Your mother has known about the sea for years."
I shook my head.
"No."
"Bjei—"
"No! My mother doesn't know anything about this place."
"She does."
"Then why did she spend my entire childhood warning me about the sea?"
"Because she was afraid."
"Of what?"
"Of losing you."
I stared at him.
My thoughts raced.
Memories began appearing in my mind.
Angela standing at the doorway whenever I walked toward the beach.
Angela waking up at night when she thought I had gone outside.
Angela crying once when she thought I wasn't watching.
I had never understood it.
Now I did.
Maybe she hadn't been trying to control me.
Maybe she'd been trying to protect me.
"Take me home," I whispered.
Shawshank looked at me.
"I can't."
"I need to talk to my mother."
"You will."
"When?"
"When the sea allows it."
I frowned.
"The sea doesn't control me."
Shawshank stepped closer.
"Are you sure?"
Before I could answer, the golden mark around my ankle suddenly began glowing.
A sharp pain shot through my leg.
I cried out.
Shawshank caught me.
"Bjei!"
The light spread from my ankle upward.
Across my leg.
My stomach.
My chest.
Then toward my heart.
I gasped.
"What is happening?"
Shawshank stared at the glowing mark.
His face had gone completely pale.
"What?"
He whispered something I couldn't hear.
"What did you say?"
He looked into my eyes.
"The mark."
"What about it?"
"I've seen it before."
"Where?"
"On someone who looked exactly like you."
My heart stopped.
"Who?"
Shawshank didn't answer immediately.
Then he whispered,
"Your grandmother."
I stared at him.
"My grandmother?"
He nodded.
"She came here many years ago."
I felt dizzy.
"My grandmother died years ago."
"I know."
"Then how could she have been here?"
Shawshank's expression was unreadable.
"Because she wasn't supposed to leave."
The garden suddenly went silent.
Every glowing flower went dark.
The fish disappeared.
Shawshank looked behind me.
"Someone is coming."
"Who?"
He took my hand.
"We need to go."
But before we could move, a woman's voice echoed throughout the entire kingdom.
"Bjei."
I froze.
The voice wasn't my mother's.
It wasn't the queen's.
It was softer.
Older.
And somehow…
familiar.
Then it whispered again.
"My granddaughter…"
I looked at Shawshank.
His face was filled with shock.
"Did you hear that?"
He nodded slowly.
Then he whispered,
"Your grandmother is calling you from beneath the sea."