Aqua Coral's Arc

Chapter 3 of 16

The king stood so close now that Aqua could see his hands shake. He was Alden Coral, the man who had pulled her from the sand three years ago. He had crowned his own head with gold, yet he stared at her like a child at a fish caught in a net. He opened his mouth and closed it. No words came. His eyes moved over her scales, her hair, her rough hands. He looked away, then back, as if afraid she might vanish. "Say something," Aqua whispered. Her hope had carried her across the whole map to this moment. Now the king only stared, and the silence hurt worse than the guards had. Seph stepped in front of her. Her twin brother's forearm scales glowed pale blue, the way they always did when danger touched her. His pink eyes fixed on the king. He did not trust easy welcomes. "You called for her," Seph said. His voice was flat and hard. "You gave an order. Now you have nothing to say?" Alden did not flinch. He met Seph's stare and answered plain. "I don't know how to act. I have walked past dying people before. I never stopped." His voice stayed level, no rise, no fall. "I stopped for her. I never learned why." Aqua's breath caught. Nobody spoke to her that way. Nobody handed her the ugly truth without wrapping it soft. She stepped around Seph before he could block her again. "I counted every year," Alden went on, looking only at her now. "A man swore he saw you near the southern coast. It came to nothing. I never found your name." "Aqua," she said. "Aqua Coral." He said it back once, quiet. Something in his face settled, like water going still. Seph's scales did not dim. He grabbed Aqua's wrist. "He watched you from a tower window and summoned you like a servant. Kings keep what they want. We should go." "No." Aqua pulled her arm free. She had chased this man for three years. She would not run at the first hard word. "He told the truth about himself. He didn't pretend to be good. That's more than most give me." Alden turned to Seph. "You're right to guard her. I can't promise I'm safe." He held out an empty hand toward Aqua. "Stay. Not as a prize. As a guest. Eat at my table tonight. Then choose." Aqua looked at the offered hand. She looked at her brother, whose jaw stayed tight and whose scales still burned blue. Then she took the king's hand. "I'll stay," she said. Seph's mouth pressed thin. He said nothing, but he moved to her side and stayed there, close enough to touch. The search was over. Now Aqua stood inside the castle walls, a guest of a king who could not say why he wanted her. And Seph would not leave until he learned the answer.