Aqua Coral's Arc

Chapter 14 of 16

The stone hummed against Aqua's scales while the guards hauled the stranger away. Alden knelt beside her. "Tell me what you need," he said. "I'll give it." "A boat," Aqua said. "And your hands. I can't carry the stone and swim it down alone. If I slip, the currents turn wrong." Alden did not argue. He called for a small craft and rowed it himself, past the castle's blue and white banners, out to where the water darkened. Aqua guided him by feel. Her scales read the pull under the surface, the water bending the wrong way. "There," she said. "Below us. Stop." She wrapped the stone tight in the wet cloth. "When we go down, don't touch it. Follow me. When I set it, hold my shoulders. If the current shoves, it'll take me first." He met her eyes. "I'll hold you." They went over the side together. Aqua sank fast, the stone heavy in her arms. Alden kicked hard beside her, air trailing from his mouth. She found the ridge she had marked, the notch in the rock. Her scales screamed with the wrongness of the flow, water rushing where it should have curled. Aqua lowered the stone into the notch. Slow. She turned it until the pulse settled, until the cold heartbeat matched the seabed's own. Alden gripped her shoulders. The current lunged. It yanked at her hair and dragged her sideways, but his hands held. She pressed the stone home. The pull stopped. The water eased. Her scales went quiet for the first time since the gate. The flow curled the right way now, soft and even, the way the sea was meant to move. She turned to Alden. He was running out of air. She grabbed his hand and kicked for the light. They broke the surface together, gasping, and clung to the side of the boat. "Done," Aqua said. "The coasts are safe. The currents are back." Alden pulled her into the boat. He rowed them home without a word, watching her the whole way. Back at the castle, dry clothes waited in her chamber. Alden set a wrapped bundle in her hands himself. Inside lay a gown of pale sea-blue, stitched with silver. "For my queen," he said. "The one who just saved a coast." Aqua slipped into it. The silk fell around her legs. Her scales caught the light and glowed a soft blue, the way they did when she was sure of a thing. Alden looked at her with a blush on his cheeks. Then he smiled, and lifted her clean off the floor. He spun her once, twice, her gown flaring wide. When he set her down he kissed her hard, both hands in her hair. "The sea let you go and you’re mine," he said against her mouth. "Now nothing else will call you away." Aqua held his face and kissed him back hard. His hands stayed in her hair.