Aurora's POV
The sea was quiet tonight.
Too quiet.
Even underwater, where every sound usually echoed through the currents, everything felt still. The whole Winter Tide seemed like it was holding its breath. Moonlight slipped through the water above, breaking into shining pieces as it passed through the floating ice. The soft silver glow made the ocean look like a dream — cold, calm, and waiting.
I swam slowly, letting the cold water wrap around me. My fingertips brushed against a trail of frost drifting from my own skin.
A reminder.
A curse.
A gift I never asked for.
My tail — pale blue, dusted with crystal-like scales — moved gently behind me as I approached the wide ice archway leading into Frostwyn Palace. Two guards stood on each side. Their armor glowed faintly with white runes, and they nodded as I passed.
No one ever stopped me. They all knew who I was.
Aurora Frostwyn.
Daughter of King Morwyn.
Heiress of the Winter Tide.
And the girl whose powers had started acting strange… again.
I breathed in slowly, letting the cold settle in my chest like it always did. But tonight, something in the water felt different. Heavy. Sharp. Like a storm waiting for a reason to break.
A small pulse of magic flickered in my palms before I could stop it. Frost dusted the water around me like tiny falling snowflakes.
Great.
Another random burst.
I curled my hands tightly until the frost dimmed. "Not now," I whispered. "Please not today."
Because the Council Elders were waiting for me.
And they didn't tolerate mistakes.
I swam through the long carved corridors of the palace. The walls were made of ancient ice, smooth like glass but glowing from within. My reflection followed beside me — long white hair flowing behind like drifting moonlight, skin cold and pale, eyes a mix of worry and determination. I was only seventeen winters old, but sometimes it felt like I carried a whole ocean on my shoulders.
"Princess Aurora!"
A cheerful voice echoed down the hall.
I turned as Neris — my best friend since childhood — swam out from behind a spiraling ice column. Her tail shimmered in soft teal colors, and her eyes sparkled with both worry and playful energy.
"You're late!" she said, swimming quickly toward me. "Your father has been pacing."
"My father always paces," I muttered.
"Yes, but today he's pacing with that look."
"What look?"
"The 'something terrible is about to happen but I won't say it out loud' look."
I groaned. That sounded exactly like him.
"Is the Council already inside?" I asked.
"All seven," she replied. "The High Elder looks extra serious. Honestly, he scared a jellyfish on his way in. It swam into a wall."
I snorted. "Poor jellyfish."
Neris gave me a long look, her voice softening. "Aurora… what's wrong? You feel tense."
I hesitated.
Should I tell her about last night?
About how the storm above the surface had answered me like it knew my voice?
About the ice spike I created by accident?
About the strange dream — or vision — of a boy on land calling my name?
No. Not yet. I didn't even understand it myself.
"I'm fine," I lied.
She raised one eyebrow — she never believed my lies — but didn't push.
She touched my arm gently. "I'll wait outside the Council Hall. If anyone tries blaming you for the winter acting weird again, just call me. I'll come inside and bite someone."
I laughed despite myself. "Please don't bite the elders."
"No promises," she said before swimming away in a swirl of bubbles.
I took one more deep breath and pushed open the great glacier doors.
The hall fell silent as I entered.
Seven elders sat in a circle of carved ice, their expressions serious. White flames flickered in tall torches around the room, casting long shadows. My father sat at the center on a high ice throne.
When he saw me, he stood.
Tall. Regal. His long silver hair drifting like cold starlight.
"Aurora," he said, his voice steady but filled with worry. "Come forward."
I swam to the center of the circle.
The High Elder leaned on his staff, eyes sharp. "Your powers have grown unstable."
Straight to the point.
"I'm trying to control them," I answered carefully.
"Trying?" Elder Thalos repeated with a scoff. His beard looked like frozen icicles. "The winter shifted last night. Tides froze unnaturally. The storm above was violent and sudden."
"That wasn't—"
"It came from your chamber," Elder Serina said softly. Her voice was gentle but her eyes saw too much. "We all felt it."
My stomach tightened.
They knew.
My father stepped forward. "Aurora is still young. Her magic is changing. She simply needs time."
"With respect, Your Majesty," the High Elder said, "time is the very thing slipping through our fingers."
The floor hummed beneath us — deep and old, like the ocean had a heartbeat.
"Something is stirring past the reefs," another elder whispered.
"Dark currents."
"Restless creatures."
"The frost patterns are wrong."
Each voice made the knot in my chest grow tighter.
"What does any of this have to do with me?" I asked.
The High Elder's gaze locked on me.
"Because you, Aurora… are the center of the prophecy."
I froze.
No. No, that couldn't be. The prophecy was just a story told to children. A warning. A legend.
"That prophecy isn't real," I said quickly.
Elder Serina shook her head. "The Mermaid of Winter Tide is real. And all the signs point to you."
My father's expression changed — a mix of pride, worry, and fear.
Before I could speak again, the torches flickered.
One flame blew out completely.
A sudden wave of cold pressure slammed into the hall. My chest tightened. My palms burned with frost.
"No—no, not now—" I whispered.
But my powers exploded outward.
White spirals of ice burst from my hands. The floor cracked. The water around us swirled wildly. The elders shielded themselves.
"Aurora!" my father called, reaching toward me.
"I—I can't stop it!"
Then—
A vision struck me like lightning.
Not a dream.
Not my imagination.
A boy.
Standing on land near the ocean's edge.
Dark hair. Warm brown eyes.
He looked straight at me — like he knew me.
My heart raced.
I felt a pull.
A connection.
Something strong and strange.
"Aurora…"
He whispered my name.
Then everything snapped.
The ice shattered.
The torches blazed back to life.
The hall fell silent.
The High Elder tapped his staff. "That settles it."
My voice shook. "Settles what?"
He pointed at me.
"You must go to land."
Everyone sucked in a sharp breath.
My father's voice boomed. "Absolutely not!"
"It is the only way," the High Elder insisted. "If Aurora does not go, the Winter Tide will fall."
My world tilted.
Me?
Go to land?
Live among humans?
The idea alone made me feel cold in a way magic never could.
The elders argued loudly, but their voices blended together. All I could hear was the boy's voice repeating in my mind.
Aurora…
I pressed a hand to my chest.
Who was he?
Why did I see him?
Why did it feel like he was calling for me?
Everything felt like it was changing — fast and suddenly.
When the hall finally quieted, the High Elder spoke again.
"Prepare yourself. Before the first snow ends… you must leave the sea."
A tremor ran through the palace walls.
The ocean outside rumbled.
As if something deep and ancient heard the decision —
And didn't like it.