walking on the beach

Saphira and the prince are walking along the shore. He is telling her about trying to protect the whales and how difficult this is for him. The custom of herding and killing sea creatures runs deep and is difficult to change. He is a poor prince, and has few resources, but he will not give into allowing killing in his cove.



Saphira looks at him and sees turquoise flecks in his eyes . He is half mer, a secret he does not know. Mermaids can only stay on land for a certain amount of time, or they start to age and lose the ability to return to the sea. His mother had to leave him when he was young.


But she did not leave him without protection. His nanny was ½ mer, and the prince’s mother recognized this. The nanny was a young women at the time, and learned Mer secrets, including the songs of the sea, from the prince’s mother. When she chooses, she can become a mer and disappear into the sea. But she can never return. She has not left, and watches Saphira closely.