It was the fastest route to the palace, but served as a stark reminder of what the mers of Alyria were living with while the beast swam free. 

The rest of the swim passed by in silence. Marlowe knew that what she had shown Narissa would be exactly what the woman needed to decide to help them, if she was having a hard time deciding. She had counted on it. The surface dwellers saw merfolk as some mystical race, who held magic and myth in their being, and seeing so many of the creatures dead, floating in the water would haunt someone like Narissa. Hell, it haunted Marlowe still.

“Is that… is that the palace?” Narissa finally asked. The sea floor had opened to a deep ravine, where a large rounded dome was carved painstakingly out of coral. Two tall spires rose from it on eith...

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