“How did she get to him before me?” Theeya murmured while her eyes poured. Seeing your soulmate with someone else is the most damning thing one could ever experience. Iraniyan looked so happy with her and that hurt Theeya more. It was the second time in a row that he was with Maya. 

Theeya transformed herself into a beautiful mermaid. She swam into the crowd of the merpeople making their attention shift to her from the pair. Everyone swarmed around her and praised her beauty. She made an illusion that she was not a newcomer. Iraniyan and Maya were left alone. They took her to their city which was enclosed in the coral reef. The beautiful reefs were like a compound wall to their city and in the middle stood a mesmerizing castle made of rocks and caves decorated with colorful corals and pearls. The view was breathtaking.

Theeya understood their ways of living under the water and soon merged with them as one. She made herself close to the king’s family. Iraniyan’s dad was Kadalarasan, a reincarnation of Karmegan. His mother was Samuthira, a reincarnation of Aadhan’s mom! They were very fond of Theeya and that gave Theeya a lot of time together with Iraniyan. Iraniyan loved her company and her adventurous nature. She pushed his boundaries and went deep into the forbidden waters with him. 

Kayalvizhi despised Theeya. She hated that Iraniyan spent too much time with Theeya.

“You have changed a lot now, Iyan. You spend very little time with me.” She told him when he visited her home amidst his kisses.

“But the time I spend with you, there is nothing in my heart except for you!” He told her, engulfing her in a tight hug. 

“When are we marrying, Iyan? I would at least get the satisfaction of seeing you every night. Now that you come to your palace very late, you don't get time to visit me as often as you did before.”

“We will marry soon! I have brought a surprise for you!” He told her and pulled out a beautiful turquoise crystal from his back.

“Whoa! Beautiful!” Kayalvizhi exclaimed. There were no turquoise corals anywhere near their city. It was a new color to them. He brought the vein of a kelp and chained the crystals on it and made it into a beautiful crown. 

“This is for my future queen!” He adorned her head with the crown. Her dark black locks shimmered after putting it on. She looked at her reflection in his eyes and admired her beauty.

“Our city is getting cramped everyday with the new babies. I am going out to find a new suitable place to make a new city for our people, Vizhi. I am going to be a King soon. You should know that I cannot spend all my time with you. But that doesn’t mean I love you any less.” He placed a soft kiss on her cheek and left only to disappear on another adventure.

Any heartfelt tear from merpeople would turn into pearls, be it happy tears or sad tears. Kayalvizhi’s tears in agony turned into pearls and her room was filled with it when Iraniyan came back from an adventure with Theeya. That was when Iraniyan felt guilty for the first time. It irked him to see his love feeling lonely. He realized that he got carried away with the new found feeling of adventure that he neglected his love. He slowly started backing off from his adventure as he had already found a new coral reef for the new city. But  Theeya was so sharp that she found out about his withdrawal very quickly. 

“Iran, why are you not going out with Theeya anymore?” Kadalarasan asked Iraniyan one day.

“Vizhi feels lonely when I am out of here, appa. She also fears about my safety on our adventures.”

“Do you love going on adventures with Theeya?”

“I do! It makes me feel like an invincible man.” He said with a very proud tone.

“Don't you think you should be with someone who would make you feel invincible instead of someone who is controlling you and killing your spirit?”

“Appa?”

“Your mom and I would love to see you happy and lively, Iran. We love Theeya. She is perfect for you, don’t you think?”

“She is perfect. But I love Vizhi, appa. My heart is with her.”

“Maybe, but imagine if you met Theeya before Vizhi, whom would your heart be with now?” His father asked him and that truly confused him. The little waver in him lasted less than a second.

“But that didn’t happen, appa. I fell in love with Vizhi and I am happy with her. I like Theeya very much. She is more compatible and similar to me. But love happens with someone who is different from you. While Theeya is like my soul, Vizhi is my mate.” He told his dad and left the place.

When Theeya tried to confront Kayalvizhi, she behaved as if she didn’t know Theeya from before. Theeya understood that Kayalvizhi looks like Maya and not Maya herself. She thought that Maya has no connection with Kayalvizhi and it is just a coincidence that Iraniyan and Kayalvizhi are together. She thought it would be easy to break them apart and make him fall in love with her. 

“May I have a word with you?” Theeya stopped Kayalvizhi while she was going to visit Iraniyan’s parents. It’s been long since they met and Kayalvizhi felt the distance between them and she wanted to be in the good books of her future in-laws.

“I have no time for you.” Kayalvizhi ignored her.

“I know. You have all the time to kill Iraniyan’s spirit.”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean he is not happy with you. You are controlling him. You are stopping him from doing what he loves. What kind of love is that?”

“Shut up. He would do anything for me. He loves me. I love him dearly and didn’t like to see him go into harm’s way knowingly. You stay away from him. Don't come between us.”

“Of course, he would do anything for the love he has for you. But what about your Love? What have you ever done for him except kill his spirit? Love should liberate you. Not confine you into prison. You are suffocating him in the name of love. Even his parents feel like it.” Theeya said all the right things to confuse her heart. 

The recent changes in Iraniyan and his parents came to sudden light to Kayalvizhi. She was heartbroken and swam back to her cave. She locked herself in her cave and refused to see Iraniyan when he came to meet her. 

“Go away, Iyan. Go and do what you feel like doing. I don’t want to be a hurdle in your life.” She screamed when he tried to break open the cave.

“I feel like seeing you now. Open the damn door.” He shouted back.

“Don’t leave me, Iyan. I cannot live without you. I can never see you with anyone else.” She cried on his chest after opening the door.

“I love you, Vizhi. There is nothing that will stop me from seeing you. There is no one in my life other than you.” He told her while thinking where she could have gotten such ideas.

“But your parents…” Iraniyan stopped her midway. He got angry at his parents thinking that they were trying to break them apart even after he warned them that he is in love with Vizhi. 

“We will get married. Now!” He told her and took her to his palace. She went along as he dragged her with him. He reached his palace where his father’s trident was placed. He bowed in front of the trident and picked up a pearl that rolled out of her eyes and pulled out a fin from his tail. He bound them together with a sea-weed and adorned it on her neck binding their love in their marriage. 

Though he married her, the feeling that she didn’t trust him or his love was anchored deep into his heart. Their marriage was a shock to Theeya and Iraniyan’s parents. Iraniyan avoided his parents thinking that they made Vizhi insecure but the truth was it was Theeya who played her tricks. His parents felt left out in their son’s life. The king fell sick with the disappointment that his son married a woman without his approval. 

Kayalvizhi was soaring high with happiness. She felt like she reached her destiny. She started spending her days and nights in Iraniyan’s embrace. All she wanted was to be with him. She showered him with her love. She took care of him in a way that he never missed his parents or Theeya. She made sure that Iraniyan never left her cave because she was afraid that Theeya might take him away from her. 

“Your dad is longing to see you, Iran. He is on his deathbed. We gave birth to you. We raised you well with good conscience. We don’t know where we failed as parents. We respected your wish but you chose to ignore us. You gave us too much pain already, Iran. Let your dad die in peace. Come and visit him.” Samuthira came to Kayalvizhi’s cave to talk to her son. 

It came as a shock to Iraniyan. He knew that his dad was sick from the merpeople’s gossip but never thought that he was fatally ill. Though he was angry at them, this news poked him hard on his conscience. The queen has lost her glory and she looked like she aged a year everyday. But he stood his grounds to honor his wife. He wanted to make sure they approve of Kayalvizhi before going back to the palace. When his mother said they respected his wish, he got angry.

“You respected my wish? Then how come you talked to Vizhi to let me go and made her feel insecure?” He asked his mom.

“We talked to your wife? We never did, Iran. Is that what she told you or is that what you believe?” The queen asked him with clear hurt.

“But…”

“Enough, Iran. I have heard enough. Until now we had no idea why you were angry at us and why you were avoiding meeting us or talking to us. Now I know the reason. So, this is the trust you have on your parents? Well, then I hope you are not our son anymore. I am sorry to have bothered you. I wish all well to you.” She said and turned away from him. She left that place once and for all, leaving Iraniyan in great pain. He swam behind his mother but the guards never let him in. He swam back to Vizhi’s cave.

“Did my parents ask you to leave me?” He asked Vizhi and she shook her head in a no.

“Then who did?”

“Theeya!

“Then why did you tell me that my parents did?” He asked her in rage. Kayalvizhi shuddered at his demeanor.

“Theeya said that your parents wanted you to marry her. I tried to tell you that but you stopped me.” She said with fear evident in her pretty little face. Iraniyan’s heart shattered into pieces.

“All these days we were together, why didn't you tell me the truth?” He asked her with pain in his eyes.

“I… I never knew that you misunderstood your parents.”

“Why did you think I never visited my parents all these days?”

“Because you love me?” She asked him unsurely.

“I love you, dammit. Why are you being so unsure about it? I avoided them thinking that they didn't approve of you. I threw my parents away for you and you were being so selfish all along? Tell me the truth! Why did you stop me from going out all these days?” He asked her, looking straight into her eyes. She looked down, failing to meet his eyes.

“The truth, now!” He ordered her.

“I was scared that Theeya might take you away from me.” She said timidly and that was the last string for Iraniyan. He looked at her unbelievably.

“You thought I would cheat on you with her after promising you a marriage?” He asked her with dead eyes but before she could answer, they heard a commotion outside. The water rippled fastly indicating that the herd was in panic. Iraniyan went out and heard the news of his parents’ demise.

As soon as the queen went into the king’s cave, she cried pearls on his chest. She took her last breath in her husband’s embrace and as soon as the king felt his wife’s heart stop, his heart stopped too. 

“NOOOO!” Iraniyan felt small and hideous of himself. He failed his parents. He didn't even be there for them when their health was failing them and to top it all, he was the reason for their death. He could never forgive himself from the deep end he pushed himself into. 

Every dead merman or mermaid was drowned into the midnight zone from the cliff of their village. The merpeople who loved their king and queen did their last rights with respect and love. They never let Iraniyan near their body. Iraniyan stood there with guilt and dared not to go near them. 

“He is your next king. Don't enrage him.” Theeya spoke for him. She could not see her love standing small in front of his people. The people knew how she took care of the ill king and how she had been a moral support to the queen. They respected her words and allowed Iraniyan to do his last rights to his parents. 

He broke into tears when he let them go down the cliff. He stood there for a long time until his parents' lifeless corpses descended slowly deep down to the darkest depths hand in hand and disappeared. Everyone went back to their caves while Theeya stood there with him. She lent him her shoulders to cry on. She walked him to his palace and prepped him to come out of his guilt and take over the kingdom. 

All the while, Kayalvizhi stayed inside her cave afraid to face Iraniyan. She constricted herself in her cave and refused to meet people or eat. Kayalvizhi’s friends were scared to talk about her condition to the now king Iraniyan because he was with Theeya now! A mighty king who was so angry and disappointed with his wife.