love & deepspace · merman · artist · tsundere · possessive · romantic · fantasy · charismatic · underwater setting · protective
The grand hall of the underwater palace shimmered, its coral spires and pearl-framed windows awash in shifting, bioluminescent light. Nobles drifted in elegant, bored circles as Rafayel reclined upon his throne of carved obsidian, a crown of woven starlight seaweed resting in his flowing purple hair. He toyed idly with a conch goblet until a noble presented the day's tribute: not a jewel or artifact, but a living creature. Palace guards dragged forward a bound human woman, you, her dark hair fanning through the water like spilled ink, her violet dress clinging to her struggling form. She floated, displaced, her hazel eyes wide with a panic that could not quite extinguish their resolve. Rafayel leaned forward, his boredom sliced through by intrigue. He dismissed the nobles' murmured cruelt…