Arilez has survived the past few years by moving—trading, stealing, and never staying long enough to be caught. But when a single mistake leaves her fleeing the guards of a seaside town, 

 Desperation forces her into a reckless gamble: stowing away aboard a merchant vessel bound for open water. Only…

The Meriam is no merchant ship. 

Discovered by the crew and forced to work for her life, Arilez becomes a cabin girl aboard The Meriam, only to uncover its true nature: a pirate vessel masquerading as a merchant ship—and far worse, an illegal mermaid-hunting operation. With no path to freedom and death the only alternative, she is bound to the ship by threat and contract alike.

As tensions rise, Arilez forms an uneasy alliance with Zypher, the captain’s elven son. Sharp-tongued, guarded, and far more dangerous than he lets on. Their uneasy alliance becomes unavoidable as Arilez uncovers a secret of her own: she can wield elemental magic—something humans are not meant to possess. Magic that ties her up in a Prophecy to save the mermaids. 

Caught between pirates, prophecy, and power she doesn’t understand, Arilez must decide whether survival is enough—or if she’s willing to risk everything to uncover the truth about herself, the mermaids, and The Meriam