As Fish to Water: Where the Forest Meets the Sea

Van once belonged to the sea, but the tides of fate have stripped him of everything—his voice, his family, and his birthright. Now, he exists as a silent slave in a coastal mansion, tethered to a world that despises his kind. Each day is a hollow echo of the life he lost, and each night he clings to the memory of the water, dreaming of the day he can finally swim free. That hope takes shape in Jens, the lone dweller of the cursed island of Fiska. Shunned by the mainland, Jens is gentler than any human Van has ever encountered—a quiet anomaly in a world of cruelty. Drawn to each other despite the barriers of blood and circumstance, they forge a fragile connection. Jens vows to purchase Van’s freedom and bring him home to Fiska, but the path is tangled with old prejudices and the weight of Van’s own voiceless despair. To break the chains that bind him, Van must do more than trust a human; he and Jens must cross a boundary neither ever expected to cross. Their friendship must become something deeper, riskier—a love strong enough to defy the world that would keep them apart.