Chapter 2

Two bridal processions split apart on the main road of the capital. Crowds packed both sides of the street.

"The road's blocked! Clear the way!" a guard shouted.

I looked ahead—an old woman lay sprawled across the road, her cloak in tatters, a pale shell covering each eye.

This had happened before. In my last life, Camilla had the old woman dragged away and beaten. I stepped in and had her carried somewhere safe.

Sure enough, Camilla's voice rang out from the procession behind mine: "Who's blocking the road? Hold me up again and I'll have them thrown to the tides!"

I crouched down and offered water. The old woman didn't take it. Instead, she seized my hand with shocking strength.

"Right is wrong, and wrong is right. What a heart you have, vast enough to hold all things… This gift is yours now."

Word for word. She'd said the same thing in my previous life.

Back then I'd thought nothing of it. But now every syllable burned into my mind.

By the time I blinked, the old woman was gone.

The Leviathan temple sat at the end of a underwater canyon.

That night, Raven pushed the door open.

He was lean but moved with absolute steadiness.

He stopped in the doorway. "If you regret this, I'll take you back to shore."

The moment I saw him again, my eyes stung with tears.

In my last life, at the Hundred-Tribe Tidal Council, I'd watched from a distance—three warriors pinned the Leviathan elder to the ground, stomping on him, demanding he kneel and declare his tribe extinct.

Raven grabbed the leader's wrist and crushed the bone in his grip. The man screamed and dropped to his knees. Raven didn't even glance at them. He helped the elder up and walked away. No one dared follow.

On the night of the Rainforest Hunt, a half-beast squad had me cornered.

Raven came out of nowhere and took down all three by himself. Afterward he said nothing—just pressed a bone fragment into my palm and told me it had a calming effect.

The night I died in my previous life, I saw him sprinting toward me.

He was one step too late.

And now, in this life, I was his mate.

"You're crying," Raven said, stepping back. "Say the word and I'll take you away."

I walked toward him.

"I'm not unwilling. I'm grateful."

I held out the bone fragment. "Do you recognize this?"

The moment his fingers touched the surface, the carved lines flared to life.

"I remember." His voice cracked. "You kept it. All this time."

He leaned his forehead against mine and stayed there for a long moment. When I tilted my face up, he finally kissed me.

At midnight, I sat by the window listening to the tide.

Camilla would be in her new chambers at the Water Serpent camp by now.

On the third day, following elven custom, Raven and I returned to the Elven territory.

Before we even reached the courtyard, I heard it—

"So what if I hit him? He didn't come home on our wedding night—he deserved worse!"

"I married beneath me! He should be on his knees thanking me!"

Inside, Camilla stood in the middle of the courtyard in a fury. Malik leaned against a pillar, jaw bruised, scratch marks crusted with dried blood on his neck, reeking of wine, eyes hollow and cold.

Raven leaned close to my ear. "Good thing I married you."

In my last life, Malik had been the same—gone every night. But back then I was the one married to him. I never said a word. Just sat in an empty room until dawn.

This time around, Camilla had him on a leash.

Then five half-beasts burst through the gate. The woman in front had a crocodile-fox totem tattooed across her throat, a cloth bundle tucked under her arm.

"Your daughter slaughtered fourteen of my people this month. Drained their blood and dumped the bodies in the swamp."

The bundle hit the ground—a ritual dagger with the elven family crest unmistakable on its hilt, next to a string of crocodile-fox ear bones, the blood dried black.

My father didn't hesitate. He turned straight to me. "Rowena, come forward and answer for this."

Raven's hand pressed against the small of my back, his fingertips firm.

The huntress leader scoffed. "Not her. Your eldest. Camilla. We have witnesses, evidence, and the crest matches."

Every eye turned to Camilla. She paused for three seconds, then laughed. "Half-beasts forging a dagger to frame elven nobility? Pathetic."

Malik stayed against his pillar, watching like it had nothing to do with him.

My father's expression shifted several times before he clenched his jaw and stepped in front of Camilla. "My daughter would never do such a thing. You come to my door with fabricated evidence to slander my family?"

"Deny it all you want." The huntress leader bent down and collected every piece of evidence, one by one. She turned and walked out without looking back. "We'll remember this debt."

Back in the Leviathan waters, life settled into quiet.

Raven introduced me to the elders, taught me tidal rites and territorial customs. We went everywhere together—not for appearances, just because it felt natural.

The elders' attitude shifted from courtesy to genuine acceptance. Word spread beyond the territory: "The Leviathan lord treats his wife like a treasure. They're never apart."

I found my footing in the tribe.

News came from the other side too: Camilla was pregnant. Along with that came stories of her berating Water Serpent clan members and screaming matches with Malik that echoed through the camp walls. The more rumors spread, the less she cared—she only grew bolder.

During those same quiet months, I discovered I was carrying a child of my own.

We lived in peace.

Until a year later, when news arrived from far away and shattered everything.