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I nod and force a smile. “Great.”
“The people are going to be so thrilled. They’ve been wanting their beloved king to get married since the day he took office.” She fixes his collar. “Now they not only have him back from the grave, but they’ll get the royal wedding they’ve been wanting for so long.”
“And you two have really been in love that entire time?”
Tiberias takes my mom’s hand in his and stares at her lovingly. “Longer. Personally, I fell for Emery when we were children. I was determined I’d marry her one day. Of course, I never expected it to take so long, but at last the time has arrived.”
She smiles, and they share another kiss.
A servant clears his throat. “Are you ready, sire?”
Still holding her hand, he turns to him. “We are.” He glances at me. “Are you, Marra?”
I nod, my pulse racing. Hopefully, I won’t have to say anything to the crowd. Smiling and waving is about all I can take at this point.
Two servants pull aside the curtain, and my parents stroll through, beaming.
I just thought of them as ‘my parents’. Probably a good thing. I’m going to have to get used to it, but it’s still so weird.
Sally motions for me to follow them. I pull myself together and join them, grinning and waving to the sea of faces below. They seem to go on forever. My stomach knots, but I keep on smiling.
Down on the ground, people shout and cheer. Some wave signs. It’s surreal.
It takes a few minutes, but they finally quiet down. Once they do, a servant hands Tiberias a mic. He greets the people, and his voice comes out through speakers down on the ground.
More cheering and sign-waving, but they settle down faster this time.
“Thank you all so much for coming out on such short notice,” he continues. “We have an announcement, and I know you are all especially curious because of the rumors going around.”
The crowd calls out and grows louder until Tiberias raises a hand. They go silent.
He holds up his right hand along with Mom’s left, the one with the huge ring. “Emery and I are going to marry.” A mixture of gasps and cheers run through the audience. “I’ve loved her since I was a boy, and despite my father’s decision to have Drake marry her, my feelings never once wavered. I’ve always pushed away everyone else because in my mind and heart, it was Emery or no one. And that has paid off at long last because she has agreed to marry me. I couldn’t be happier about this. We’ll finally be a family—Me, Emery, and our beautiful daughter, Marra.”
More gasps ripple through the crowd, but they’re quickly overpowered by applause and cheering. It grows louder until the king raises his hand again. He clears his throat. “And I want to address a few things before more rumors begin. First, like I just said, Emery is the only merwoman I’ve ever loved, and Marra is our daughter, conceived shortly before her wedding to Drake. She was completely faithful to my brother for the entirety of their marriage, and there is no woman with more integrity than her. We should all be honored to have her as our queen. She loves you all as much as I do, and we will fight for you just as I always have every day of my reign. I’m actively working to undo the messes my brother made in the short time he was in power. You can expect all his decrees to be fully reversed within the month.”
Cheering and applause break out so loud it makes my ears hurt, but I continue smiling as I was told.
My uncle—father—raises his hand again, but this time it takes longer for the people to settle down. Once they finally do, he continues. “I want to address another rumor that has been floating around. This one is in regard to my daughter.”
I jolt at the mention of me. He didn’t mention anything about this. And it wasn’t bad enough that he had to discuss my conception in front of the entire kingdom? What could possibly be next?
Mom leans closer to me and whispers, “Keep smiling, sweetheart.”
“I hadn’t realized I’d stopped.” Then I plaster it back on, doing my best to look genuine despite my nerves and concern.
Tiberias lowers his hand and continues. “I’m aware of the whispers regarding the similarities between Marra and Queen Sirena.”
He’s going there. He’s really going there.
“I have a confession to make about that,” he says.
I turn to Mom, wide-eyed. She looks as confused as I feel.
“I’ve always been drawn to the legend of Queen Sirena,” Tiberias says. “Since I was a boy, I’ve gathered what books I could get my hands on. Read and learned everything I could about her. At first, it was the mystery that intrigued me. Why was so little known about her, though she was never forgotten in any of the oceans? The more I learned, the more I wanted to know about how she managed to reign with so much peace. How the entire underwater world could have been a unified utopia under her rule.” He clears his throat again and taps the railing. “While everyone was distracted with my brother’s wedding, I attempted to bring the legendary queen back to life.”
Mom stiffens next to me, but she keeps her expression cheery.
“I wanted to speak with her,” Tiberias continues. “With my father’s health declining, I knew my time to reign was upon me, and I was desperate to know how I could be the best king possible. I never managed to resurrect Queen Sirena, though I must have done something—given the fact that my daughter has so much in common with her. Ever since I learned of Marra’s hair change, I’ve been researching. I don’t know what it means, although I suspect I’ve transferred the ancient powers to my daughter somehow. I have learned one thing of importance, however.”
My stomach knots. Why is he doing this? He couldn’t have given me a heads-up? Is that a king thing? Or a twin thing he shares with his brother?
“I’ve come across a manuscript detailing a series of trials Queen Sirena went through before reaching her full powers.”
I nearly pass out. Grab onto the railing for support. Does he know about the father curse? Is he going to tell everyone about it now? No, that can’t be. He wouldn’t go along with something that crazy.
“My daughter will go through Queen Sirena’s trials. Once she’s come out victorious—which she will—we may have a piece of the legendary queen in our midst. An underwater utopia could be something we get to experience in our lifetime. Can you imagine?”
My mind spins out of control.
What kind of trials does he think he’s going to put me through?
