The sea is as wide and deep as any man can fathom and in its depths it hides things you would never believe existed even if you sa them with your own eyes. However, for this story, the only part of any relevance is the sea king, Trevelyan, and his children.
King Trevelyan of the Seas had many children, seven in total, and though each of his sons were a great source of pride to him, he loved his only daughter best. And how could he not, when Lyssa's skin was as pale as the white sands, her spikes sharp as coral, her voice as wild and wonderful as the ocean itself? She was the pearl amongst her father's oysters, adored by every soul in his realm. He just wished she would be content with that.
But Lyssa was also a wandering soul, known to swim far too close to the surface and the human shores, and she loved nothing more than to sit or lie upon the rocks and feel the sun on her body. In the little part of the palace gardens, only flowers as red as the sun grew. From the day she turned sixteen and was officially allowed to swim close to the shore, never a day passed without her having breached the surface. King Trevelyan despaired, but he knew his daughter to be as willful as himself and so he let her go, praying to the spirits of the ocean and air to guard his child and bring her safely home upon the evening tide.
For two years trevelyan waited and fretted, but Lyssa card not. She saw little human children playing in the shallows, and marvelled at their lack of gills. how was ti, that they could swim without fins? She longed to join them, but she had been warned of hooks and nets enough times to be wary. Told again and again what would happen were she to be caught. She would die, despairing, and her body become naught but foam on the waes. Instead, she hid and watched. Every day there was something new to see; little children playing, young maids washing clothes, strong men bathing and laughing with their fellows. And Lyssa watched, safely hidden behind a rocky outcrop, wanting nothing more than to join them.
Then came the day the ship sailed out towards the horizon, and wild with excitement she followed them. Swimming beside it she could clearly see the humans on the deck, and one in particular caught her eye. It was a young male, with a tenderness about his face she had never seen before neither on land or in the seas. He had high cheekbones and kind eyes, and as he gazed longingly towards the horizon she fancied he was looking at her. She had seen him before, on the shores, but never this close. Beside him stood a male of a kind she had never seen before, tall and broad and strong with horns on his head, but he held little interest to her.
The next day, and the next, and for many days to follow, she swam beside the ship each day to watch the man with the sorrowful eyes. In time she learnt his name was Krem, and soon after she realised she loved him.
The day Lyssa learnt that she loved the human, there was a cruel, wild storm that rolled in over the sea with no warning. It threw itself at the ship, howling in fury, ripping the sails to shreds and shattering the hull. Lyssa had to fight with all her strength to keep close to the ship, and that was when she saw Krem being swept overboard and into the waters. At first, Lyssa was pleased as this meant Krem would sink down to her world, so she may show him the beauty of the coral and her little garden, and she would teach him to catch the best fish.
Then she remembered one of the few things they had taught her about humans when she was little. Apart from catching sea-folk with their nets and hooks, they had a disadvantage; they could not breathe under water. Lyssa, realising that Krem could not see her world for he would die long before he sank deep enough, swam to his rescue.
Though he was heavy to carry in the angry waters, Lyssa was determined and soon she had his face above the surface. the winds had finally calmed, and it was with all the endurance she had left that she bore him to the shores.
Lyssa carefully laid Krem out in the sand, watching his beautiful face for signs of life, when she heard voices. In fear, she dove back into the waters and watched from a safe distance as a group of human came to search the shores, no doubt looking for survivors of the wreck.
One of them, a woman with a kind face, saw Krem and ran to him, leaning over him as Lyssa had. And when he woke and saw her, he thought he had seen his saviour. He smiled at her, and she smiled at him as she helped him to his feet and supported him on their way up to the castle, away from the shore.
Lyssa watched with a heavy heart, not knowing why she was troubled. But her song rang out over the waters, ladened with sorrow.