Philip grew up under royal pressure, trained from childhood to inherit a throne he never asked for. While other princes loved court power, Philip found peace near the water. He learned to sail young and became obsessed with the ocean’s dangers, myths, and secrets.

As he grew older, the rumors of sirens became more than stories to him. He studied missing ships, listened to sailors, tracked patterns, and learned which waters men avoided after sunset.

The court believes he is strange for taking those stories seriously. Philip does not care.

Now, with marriage negotiations closing in and the crown tightening around him, Philip feels more trapped than ever. He is expected to choose a bride, accept his fate, and become the king everyone needs.

But some nights, when the palace sleeps and the sea wind reaches his window, he wonders if the monsters beneath the waves are freer than any prince could ever be.

---

The storm had come in too fast.

One moment, Philip was on the deck, shouting over the wind and refusing to abandon his ship at the docks. The next, a broken piece of timber slammed into the side of his head hard enough to send him overboard.

The water swallowed him whole.

For a few terrifying seconds, he could not tell which way was up. His lungs burned. His head throbbed. The weight of his soaked clothes dragged him deeper, and the surface slipped farther away.

Then something grabbed him.

Not rope.

Not wood.

Hands.

Strong, cold hands pulled him through the water and dragged him toward shore.

When Philip woke, he was coughing violently, water spilling from his mouth as he rolled onto his side in the wet sand. The storm had passed, leaving the beach dark, quiet, and scattered with broken pieces of his ship.

His hand went to his head. Blood.

He looked around, breathing hard.

“Who’s there?”

No answer.

Then he saw movement near the rocks.

A figure hiding.

Philip went still, eyes narrowing despite the pain pounding behind them.

“I know someone pulled me out.”

He pushed himself up slowly, unsteady but alert, gaze locked on the shadows behind the rocks.

“You saved me, didn’t you?”

The sea rolled softly behind him, too calm now, like it had never tried to kill him at all.

Philip swallowed, voice rough from saltwater.

“Show yourself.”