The Sea Taketh (Alex Singer) (36 page)

             
“Yes, and I found it endearing.”I feel him kiss my forehead. “Are you still awake?”

             
“Barely,” I answer.

             
He chuckles softly. “Sleep well, my
fiancée
.”

             
*     *     *

             
“Hey Alex, wake up!” Jen shakes me.

             
“It feels like I just went to bed,” I groan as I sit up. When I open my eyes, I find light streaming through my large glass wall.

             
“It’s almost eight. I’m sorry for waking you up, but I couldn’t wait!” She jumps up and down in excitement, shaking me in the bed.

             
“Did you beat Sven in a water volleyball game?” I stretch my arms above my head. I look around the room and find our contracts gone and a garden of flowers.

             
“I wish.” She shakes her head with a huge grin on her face. “Actually, it’s better than that. He proposed!”

             
“That’s it. I’ve officially lost my sanity.” I lie back down and cover my face with a pillow.

             
She rips the pillow out of my hands and shows me a gray pearl necklace around her neck. “No, it’s true. When Christian told him that you had accepted his proposal, Sven woke me up and asked me to marry him. He also told me that merfolk don’t wear engagement rings. They use pearl necklaces instead.”

             
My hand goes to the pendant around my neck. “But Christian gave this to me a long time ago?”

             
“Yeah, I asked Sven about that one. He said that since Christian is a high prince and has Tom’s permission, he can pretty much do whatever he wants. He also told me that Christian is so disgustingly rich that he can spend a million dollars like we spend pocket change. Did you know that he gave me more for Christmas than my parents make in a year? I don’t even know how I’m going to explain all that money in my bank account to my parents.”

             
“Did you accept his proposal?”

             
“Of course, I didn’t even have to think about it. I love the big guy! But, I’m surprised you didn’t make Christian sweat it out a bit longer.” She raises an eyebrow.

             
“He set me up. He challenged me to a contest, of sorts, and I lost.”

             
“You got engaged because you lost a bet?” She bursts out laughing. “I’ve got to give it to Christian, he’s good! It’s good for you to have someone who keeps you on your toes.”

             
“Do you know when we’re planning to return to Maine?” I get out of bed.

             
“No, but the place is a madhouse. All of the workers returned during the night and they’ve worked nonstop since they got here. No one’s saying a word, but something’s up.”

             
“I hope we can escape to do some sightseeing. I would really like to go to Copenhagen to see the sights.”

             
After a quick shower, I walk to breakfast wearing jeans and the beautiful white cashmere sweater Han and Sonia gave me for Christmas.  It’s disconcerting to have the staff back at the cottage. It’s even more disconcerting to have them incline their heads as I pass.

             
“Alexandra, did you sleep well?” Christian meets me outside the breakfast room.

             
“Surprisingly well,” I reply. “The flowers were very kind, but you shouldn’t waste your money.”

             
“Have you already forgotten our agreement?” He smiles impishly. “I am finally able to spoil you as I wish; which reminds me...” He takes a familiar velvet box out of his back pocket and removes the diamond bracelet in it. He clasps it around my wrist, smiling continuously.

             
“You’re enjoying this too much,” I say.

             
“Oh, this is just the tip of the iceberg.”

             
I pull my hand away before he can kiss it. Pressing him to the wall, I passionately put my lips to his.

             
“I want to go to Copenhagen,” I whisper before kissing him, again.

             
He moves the hair out of my face. “Copenhagen?”

             
“Yes, I want you to take me Copenhagen. We’ve spent too much time in this house.”

             
“I’m expecting guests tonight.”

             
“It’s a short drive, and we can eat breakfast in the car on the way.”I kiss him a third time.

             
He blows softly, and the doors to the breakfast room open. Servants take platters of food back to the kitchen.

             
“What’s going on?” Jen asks.

             
Sven puts an arm around her. “We’re going to Copenhagen.”

*     *     *

Snowflakes flutter as they fall ferociously. Few people follow the path in front of us. I am grateful for the sparse crowds and falling snow. A silent hush descends on the walkway.

             
“She’s very beautiful,” I say, looking at the sculpture of
The Little Mermaid
in the bay before us.

             
“He was one of the few sculptors to get it right. Notice her legs and fins?” Christian points at the bronze girl.

             
“Did you know her?” I ask. Normally I would consider this a ridiculous question, but if Christian is an immortal high prince, then why couldn’t he personally have known the little mermaid?

             
“Yes, I knew her.” He stares at the sculpture.

             
“Was she a member of your family?”

             
He shakes his head, and snowflakes fall from his hair. “No, she was a princess from the North Sea.”

             
“It’s a tragic story. Why didn’t she just share her immortality with her human prince?”

             
“Because he wouldn’t give up his kingdom to be with her,” he squeezes my hand.

             
“If she was immortal and willing to make him immortal, why couldn’t he share her immortality and rule his kingdom?”

             
“There’s an important detail missing from the story. An immortal sea creature has difficulty permanently living on land. By taking her immortality, he would have tied himself to the ocean.”

             
I watch his breath swirl in the air.

“I don’t understand?” I say.

              “Think of the water cycle,” he says. “Water from the ocean evaporates. The moisture gathers into clouds, and they are blown over land. When those clouds come to mountains, the water condenses and falls as rain. The rain gathers into streams and the streams become rivers. Rivers travel down mountains, through valleys, and back to the oceans. Water returns to the ocean.”

             
“Except for permanent glaciers, they stay frozen,” I interject.

             
He lifts a gloved hand and watches the snowflakes accumulate. “The ocean is patient, eventually
all
water returns to it. Had the prince accepted the little mermaid’s immortality, he would have had to have joined her under the waves, or the ocean would have forcefully claimed him.”
              “Claimed him?”

             
Christian shakes the snow off his glove. We watch it fall into the water below. “All immortal sea creatures, who turn their backs on the ocean, lose their immortality. Then the ocean claims them in death, dragging them to its depths. They can buy some time on land, but the results are always the same. Like droplets of rain, we must make the cycle back to the ocean. This is how we retain our immortality and our lives. A life lived on land means certain death for us.”  

             
“And you want me to choose immortality, permanently linking me to the ocean?”

             
“We are all linked to the ocean, regardless. However, yes, I want you to choose to spend eternity with me.”

             
I let his words sink in. If I want to be with Christian, I will have to choose to live in the ocean because he can never permanently live on land. It would mean a death sentence to him.

             
“You’ve known all along that I would have to live in the ocean to be with you,” I say, quietly.

             
He stares at the statue before us. “Do you know what happened to her?”

             
“She joined the daughters of the air, spending three hundred years trying to earn her immortality,” I answer.

             
“That’s what was written, but we are both aware that she was already immortal.  In reality, she died. She married her prince, renounced her family and all merfolk, and became mortal. She lived as a human, and drowned when she was swept into the sea. It’s not a dramatic or romantic ending, just the cold, hard truth. Fairytales seldom tell the truth.” He takes a deep breath. “Merfolk tell their children the story of the little mermaid as a warning. In our culture, it has a profound moral: stay far away from humans. I, too, bought into the idea that the little mermaid experienced a serious lap in judgment. I didn’t understand how she could knowingly walk towards death…” He pauses slightly. “…and then I fell in love with you. Believe me when I say that I would do
anything
to be with you. Unfortunately, I do not have the luxury of indulging my selfish nature. I must think about the billions of merfolk in my realm, even if it brings me utter misery.”

             
He silently walks back to the waiting limo. Sven opens the door, and he disappears inside.

             
I scrutinize the little mermaid on her rock pedestal. The solemn look on her face is one of sadness; sadness for all she is leaving behind. She knew what she was giving up, and she made the decision to choose love. After a closer look, I find that there is more than just sadness on the little mermaid’s face. There is also hope as she sits in quiet contemplation. The snow falls around me and my silent companion, and I shiver.

             
Walking to the limo, Sven opens the door. Christian puts away his phone when I sit next to him. He moves the heating vents so they blow hot air on me.

             
“You should have tried one of those red hotdogs,” Jen says to Sven as he climbs in. “Mine was great.”

             
“You know I don’t eat anything questionable, besides, I’m saving room for dinner tonight,” he says, wrapping an arm around her.

             
“Yeah, what’s the deal with all the fuss?”

             
“My parents have commanded that I organize a dinner in order to give them the opportunity to meet Alexandra and Thomas,” Christian answers.

             
“What time is this meal?” Gramps asks as he watches Copenhagen pass by the window.

             
“Six o’clock,” he says.

             
“That’s only ninety minutes from now,” I interject, looking at my watch.

             
“Yes, that’s precisely why we’re headed back to the cottage as we speak.”

*     *     *

The corridor is completely lined with bowing merfolk when we enter the cottage, indicating that it’s a pretty big deal that Christian’s parents are coming to visit. It doesn’t take an expert on mer-culture to see that the High King and Queen are very important and powerful.

Kerstin charges when she sees us.

“Where have you two been?” she whispers to us. “We’ve been waiting for over an hour!”

“Dinner is not for another forty-five minutes,” Christian says, looking at his watch.

“Mother insisted on coming early to apologize.”

“Tsunamis! Kerstin, please assist Alexandra while I go speak with Mother and Father.”

“It would be my pleasure!” Kerstin takes my arm and practically drags me down the corridor.

             
“It’s not good to make your parents wait, is it?” I ask as she pulls me into my room.

             
“No, Father is High King of the Atlantic Realm and very busy.” She blows through her lips and several mermaids appear out of nowhere.

I feel as though I’m attacked by an octopus as I’m readied for dinner. When the me
rmaids finish, I scrutinize my black dress. It is a long, silk gown ornamented with diamonds.

“It’s very beautiful,” I say.

“And very expensive,” Kerstin says, chocking up slightly at the sight of me. “But my brother wouldn’t hear of his fiancée wearing anything less.”

             
“What can I expect from this dinner?” I inspect my upswept hair.