oooooh ok but mermaid plot where the mermaids have an agreement with the townspeople/coast folk where they give one of their own every year, and the land dwellers give one to the mermaids [ heavily implied to be like a sacrifice for peace ] and the mermaid ends up with the humans but instead of killing her they ship her off to [ location ] and she’s
A ⇢ sold to someone as like an exotic animal, B ⇢ offered as a betrothed to a wealthy young lord, C ⇢ is given to a wealthy heiress as a gift and the two bond and eventually fall in love, D ⇢ she escapes death and after using much of her remaining magic on giving herself permanent legs & human characteristics (at least until she’s submerged in water again) goes on the run, basically she meets someone along the way & they fall in love but of course the bad guys find them & its all very dramatic.