The Midnight Tide

The following night, the storm had passed, leaving behind a thick, suffocating fog that clung to the cliffs like a shroud.

Elara found Julian in his study, nursing a glass of brandy. He looked up, his brow furrowing in annoyance at her intrusion.

"Julian," Elara said, keeping her voice incredibly soft, injecting a trembling vulnerability into her tone. "I... I have discovered something. Concerning Beatrice."

Julian’s eyes narrowed instantly, the brandy glass pausing halfway to his lips. "What are you talking about?"

"She has been sneaking down to the Blackwood Cove," Elara lied, her heart hammering a frantic rhythm against her ribs. "She meets a man there. A soldier, I believe. I saw them from my window."

Julian stood up, his face flushing with arrogant fury. The Crown Prince considered everything in his orbit to be his property, including his mistress. The thought of another man touching what belonged to him was an intolerable insult.

"Show me," Julian demanded, grabbing his heavy riding cloak.

Elara led him out of the palace and down the treacherous stairs. Julian cursed the mud and the fog, but his wounded pride drove him forward. When they reached the bottom, the cove was silent. The water was dark, lapping gently against the obsidian sand.

"Where are they?" Julian snapped, peering into the gloom. "If this is a hysterical delusion, Elara, I will have you locked in the asylum before the week is out."

He walked toward the water's edge, his back to her.

From the depths of the ocean, a sound began to rise. It was a melody—haunting, beautiful, and utterly paralyzing. The siren song.

Julian stopped dead in his tracks. His arms fell limply to his sides. The brandy glass slipped from his fingers, shattering silently on the soft sand. He stood knee-deep in the freezing surf, staring blankly out at the horizon, completely immobilized by Caspian’s magic.

Elara stepped forward. Her entire body was trembling violently. The reality of what she was about to do hit her with the force of a physical blow. This was high treason. This was murder.

But then she looked at the water. The bioluminescent glow was blooming, casting that beautiful azure light over the waves. Caspian was waiting for her. Freedom was waiting for her.

She walked up behind her paralyzed husband.

"You should have loved me," she whispered, the words lost to the fog.

Elara placed her trembling hands squarely on the center of Julian’s broad back, and pushed.

Julian pitched forward face-first into the dark, freezing water. The paralysis held. He did not thrash. He did not fight. He simply sank beneath the waves like a stone.

Elara stood on the shore, her breath coming in ragged, hysterical gasps. She watched the water bubble. She watched the bioluminescence swirl around his sinking form.

After a minute, the water grew perfectly still. It was done.