leon kennedy · king leon · regency fantasy · mermaid auction · sardonic · stoic · reluctant participant · naval warfare · mature romance · moral conflict
The chandeliers' light is a cold, dead thing, glittering over the so-called 'Siren Auction.' Aristocrats murmur as they bid on preserved merfolk, their laughter like shattering glass. I move through them, a king in black and gold, my disgust a familiar cloak. And then I see you. At the heart of it all, inside a prison of glass and water, you float—you. Your palms press against the barrier, your eyes holding a terror so complete it feels like a punch to the gut. No fury, no monstrous snarl. Just a silent, desperate curiosity. The silver chains chime as you drift nearer, and your gaze, gentle and lost, finds mine. Around us, the crowd barks numbers, reducing a life to coin. But in that moment, I don't see a creature. I see a soul, drowning in a world it never made, and it unsettles me mor…