Fins (Transformations: Book 2)

9

Eric stared at Angela, her cheeks now glistening. She stopped laughing as she looked up at him. He leaned closer, nearly bringing his lips to hers before the current return and soaked them both, again. They coughed and spluttered as they sat up.

"I'm sorry," he said.

"It's fine." She pushed some wet hair out of her face. "You can hardly control the ocean."

"No, that's not..." He sighed. "Listen, there's already a girl in my life. We're not really together right now, but..."

"I see." She cleared her throat and crossed her arms over her chest. "I didn't mean to cause any trouble."

"It's not your fault," he promised, "I shouldn't have let things go as far as they did."

She gave him a warm smile and kissed his cheek. "If anything changes, you can fly away with me any time."

His smile didn't reach his eyes, but he nodded.

Angela headed towards the distant lights and Eric watched her, wondering what Aria was doing that night.

Aria was floating in front of the Valadoran king and queen, fearing for her life.

The king floated closer, looking Aria over. She felt like she was shrinking under his gaze. She wanted to say something clever to prove her worth and convince them to keep her alive. She wondered if she should go ahead and start begging.

The king placed a hand on her head and smiled. "She's so cute!" He looked at his son. "You didn't tell us she was cute."

"I think I mentioned it..."

"You said she was pretty," his father corrected, "You never told us she was so adorable!" He looked back at the queen. "Can we keep her?"

"We can't keep her," his wife replied, calmly, "She's a human, after all."

"But she might turn into a mermaid when the comet passes. Isn't that right, Aria?"

She stared at him, blankly, the conversation not going at all how she'd expected.

"You mustn't put pressure on the girl, dear," the queen said, "Besides, don't you think you're being rather rude?"

His eyes widened in shock. "Of course, you're right!" He turned back to Aria. "I am Dylan, king of Valador and this is my lovely wife, Darya. We're both pleased to meet you, Aria. Please, forgive us for not introducing ourselves immediately."

"I think only one of us needs to be forgiven," Darya commented as she swam over to her husband's side, "I hope you will forgive him. As you can see, he gets a little excited, at times."

"I like cute things," he argued, "I can't help myself." He suddenly wrapped his arms around Kai. "Such as our adorable son. Isn't he the cutest, ever?"

"Father!" Kai protested, giving Aria an embarrassed grin and mouthing, "sorry".

Aria stared at them for a moment before she started to laugh. She covered her mouth to hide it, but it took her a moment to get the fit of giggles under control.

"I'm sorry," she said when she stopped laughing, "I was just really nervous about coming here and I realize, now, I had nothing to worry about."

"Aw, she's so cute when she laughs," the king said as he released his son, "I want to keep her."

"You should really stop saying that," Darya told him, "Aria might take offense."

"It's fine," Aria promised. She was unspeakably relieved by their behavior. It turns out that the king and queen of Valador were just your usual, embarrassing parents.