Aqua Coral's Arc

Chapter 15 of 16

The days after the sea let Aqua go were quiet ones. She and Alden walked the halls as if nothing could pull them apart again. But Alden had grown restless. He asked the cooks strange questions. He sent a maid for silver ribbon and told no one why. Aqua noticed, and said nothing. She had learned that Alden kept his plans close until they were ready. One night, after supper, he took her hand. "Come outside," he said. "There is something I want you to see." He led her behind the castle, past the kitchen doors, down a stone path she had never walked. The moon hung full and white above them. At the end of the path lay a garden. Roses climbed the walls. A fountain stood at its center, water spilling soft over pale stone. Candles floated in the basin. They glowed like small moons on the surface. Aqua stopped. Her scales caught the light and shimmered faint blue. "You did this," she said. "I did." Alden's voice stayed level, the way it always did. "Sit with me., my love" They sat on the fountain's edge. The water hummed under her hand. Alden did not fill the silence. He reached into his coat and drew out a small ring. A blue stone sat in it, cut from the sea's own color. He knelt on the wet stone. He did not soften his words or dress them up. "I walked past people who needed help for years," he said. "I stopped for you. I’ll always be yours and you’ll forever be the love of my life." He held up the ring. "Will you marry me. Be my queen." Aqua's throat tightened. Her eyes filled. The candles blurred to smears of gold. She had crossed the shore and the sea to find this man, and now he knelt before her asking her to be his forever. "Yes," she said. "Yes." She jumped from the fountain's edge into his arms. The force knocked him back a step, but he held her, the way he always held her. Her scales flared bright blue, brighter than they ever had, glowing along her thighs and arms until the whole garden lit with it. Water dripped from her hand where she had touched the fountain, but she did not care. Alden slid the ring onto her finger. It fit. He kissed her, both hands warm against her back. "You are mine now," he said. "My queen." "My king," Aqua said. She pressed her face to his neck and let the tears come. She was going to marry the king. And now the whole castle would need to know. There would be a wedding to plan, a kingdom to face, and a half-fish woman standing where a queen was meant to stand.