Aqua Coral's Arc

Chapter 11 of 16

In the morning, Aqua woke in the wide bed and did not reach for the door. She was staying now, for good. Alden had asked and she had said yes. The maids knew it before breakfast ended. They moved her few things into his chambers and spoke to her softly, the way people speak to someone they will serve for years. By noon the sewing women arrived. They carried armfuls of dresses into the room and laid them across the carved bed. Silk in deep blue. Pale gowns stitched with silver thread like fish caught in a net. One older woman held a gown to Aqua's shoulder and studied her face. "For the coming queen," she said, and the others nodded as if it were already true. Aqua stood still while they measured her. She had crossed the sea in an apron and shorts. Now they draped her in cloth worth more than her whole shop. She touched the scales on her arm and half expected them to be ashamed of the fine sleeve. They were not. She let the women dress her. When they left, she stayed alone before the tall windows in a blue gown that fell to the floor. The scales on her cheeks caught the light. She did not hear the door. Alden stopped just inside it. He said nothing. Aqua turned and saw his face and knew he had not planned to find her like this. His breath had changed. He crossed the room slowly. "I only came for a cloak," he said. "I forgot it." "Then take it," Aqua said. He did not. He stood close and lifted his hand to her cheek, to the scales, the way he always did. But this time the scales woke under his fingers. They lit from within, a soft blue glow spreading across her cheek. Aqua felt the warmth of it in her skin. Alden watched the light and did not pull back. "You've never done that," he said. "I've never wanted to stay before," she said. He kissed her. The glow spread down her arms and along her thighs, every scale burning bright. Even her hair caught it and shone blue in the dim room. Aqua held to his shoulders and let the light come. She had spent years searching for the man who saved her. She had given up her shop and hidden in the dark. Now she stood in his chambers, glowing, and hid from nothing. When they broke apart, the glow dimmed slowly. Alden held her face in both hands. "I love you," he said again. "I love you too Alden," Aqua said with tears in her eyes. They kissed again and again and again.