How to Accidentally Fall for Someone Your Kingdom Is Colonizing

My whole body froze. But, I get protected by a bubble. Some sort of water pocket, as I watch the waves hit the landscapes. Slowly, the waves dwindled.

"Whoa… impressive," Someone quips behind me. I turn and see Aegir, drenched but steady.

Whatever that was, it's gone as fast as it appeared. The soil is still drenched, some of the trees have fallen, and small plants have been completely pulled out by their roots—a proof that, whatever it was, I'm not imagining it.

"Did I—" I say hesitantly.

"Pretty sure you did," says Aegir. He shakes water from his blonde hair in one smooth motion.

I don't even think. My body moves on its own. A high-pitched screech escapes me and I leap into the air and stomping wildly. Every bone in my body is filled with euphoria, and my heart pounds with the thrill of it.

"How did I—" I say, putting my hand on my hair in disbelief.

"That's… incredible!" says Aegir. "Do it again!"

"Uh, sorry to disappoint you, buddy, but I have no idea how." 

"If the sea's talking, trust me—it'll happen again. That's how it's supposed to work."

"It's called my name. Our surname to be precise. The sea… I— Let me try it again." I left the details where the call sounds more like a question than an actual calling. It's there, but I'm not entirely sure. It could be my mind playing cruel tricks to myself.

"Go ahead and do it,"

I steel myself. I feel so much—a rush of sensations. But there's one weird feeling, slithery, like trying to hold a cloud in my hand. I know it's there, but I can't get a hold of it. The more I focus, the closer I get... only for it to slip through my grasp every time. It's there. It has to be. Am I even trying the right way?

"Any luck?" asks Aegir. I lose my concentration, opening my eyes only to find him wringing out his clothes. He's doing his best to dry his clothes.

I sigh. "Nothing. Just… a feeling."

"Which is typical for every Thalassin," we both say in unison.

"You sure it's the sea?" asks Aegir.

"You think some water sprites might be messing with me?" I ask, half-joking.

"If they are, they're probably laughing their ass off right now."

"I'm pretty sure I heard it," I say. "The sea, not the sprites laughing."

"What did it say?" he asks.

"My name?"

"What's with the hesitant tone?"

"It happened so fast? So I'm not sure if it's real or if I'm hallucinating."

"You still have tomorrow left,"

"Oh I'm finished, all right."

"The sea likes confidence. Try shamelessly flirting with it. Works every time."

I laughed at that.

"Here's an idea: have fun tomorrow. Everything will align itself." He suggests.

"That's an insane input."

"Better than stressing yourself out."

"I will pour my all into this, so I won't regret whatever it is."

"Great plan," Aegir says with a grin, "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a date with dry clothes." He walks away and leaves himself alone with the sea. Well, not completely alone, if you count a small critter crawling on the grass as a companion.

♡☆♡☆♡

D-day

You know, I wish I had listened to Aegir. Now, standing on the beach, the sun stings my face, its heat only adding the boiling regrets inside of me. I'm running on two hours of sleep, and the rest is pure caffeine. Meanwhile, the nobles under the parasol look like grumpy seagulls waiting for scraps. I bet one of them's plotting how to swoop in if I screw up. Their stares are sharp enough to skewer a fish.

I didn't make any progress. Trust me, I tried whispering to the sea, pleading, wailing, screaming, even trash-talking it so it would respond, and of course shamelessly flirting with it like Aegir suggested. I have skimmed tons of books from the bookstore on the art of seduction, in hope that the crazy act would make it notice me, all shame be damned. But all of that sum to nil.

"May the demonstration begin," says one of the elders who stands close to me.

I walk closer to the sea until my ankle is totally submerged in it. The salt stings, both on my skin and in my lungs. What was it that I needed to demonstrate? Why are the elders watching? Oh right, I need to command the sea. Whereas I'm certain that it didn't want me ordering it around. Art of seduction #13; If he doesn't respond to any of your advances, he's not interested.

I close my eyes, and everything feels blurry. The more I try to sense something, the more I want to fall asleep. Regrets always come later, right? I raise my hand and just hope everything goes smoothly. My senses fade, sound muffled, vision blurring. The weight of exhaustion pulls me—

A sudden, familiar laugh cuts through the haze. Aegir. My eyelids flutter open, and I blink against the harsh sunlight. Then, I hear grumbles, protests, and angry voices. I turn toward it. Everyone is drenched, including the elder, while I remain untouched by whatever just happened. I didn't think I was doing that. That or luck is on my side today.

The elder standing not far from me says, which is also drenched to the bone "Amusing…"

Well, that's my cue to leave, right? But Muiren and Ondine hugged me. I didn't know where they came from, or maybe they had been there all along? She instantly wraps me in a soggy hug that leaves me just as drenched as everyone else.

"Outrageous!" says another elder. The Outrageous Elder. There's a long story behind this guy.

"You're making a mockery of this!" That elder slowly turns toward Aegir. See, there's history here.

"My apologies, Elder. Should laughing be banned in this Kingdom?" Aegir as always, riling up the poor old man further.

Muiren and I whisper together, "You'll bring this kingdom to ruin. You and your selfish desire."

And sure enough, that elder screams the exact same words we whispered, with the exact same cadence. "You'll bring this kingdom to ruin. You and your selfish desire."

This elder always manages to make every occasion where he makes an appearance, which isn't a lot.. But everyone knows he's a recluse. Anyway, he always makes it known that somehow Aegir is the reason for the fall of the elven kingdom. Even when the prince is hosting a banquet for his achievements, the old man somehow manages to remind people that Aegir is the incarnation of doom itself.

The elder who stands near me walks over to him and whispers something. And— it doesn't seem to calm him down. The opposite, actually.

"I don't care! The disrespect!!" The elder's voice rises, trembling with barely restrained rage. "You might trick them all, but you will never fool the elders. Never." Each of his words dripped with such venom.

All the other elders begin to tense. Some of them visibly clench their jaws.

"I've had enough of our pacifism. This kingdom will be destroyed because of all of you," he says. His eyes stop on mine, and I feel like he could read my mind. If the rumors are true—that they have clairvoyant abilities or something— it might not just be a feeling. "Especially you," he says, pointing his finger at Aegir.

"I'm flattered," Aegir replies, his grin unshaken. "Though I didn't realize my reputation warranted so much attention." he says, his eyes shooting back at the elder, unnerved by whatever power the elder might have.

"The catalyst is near. We feel it. The lost power stirs—" his voice falters, a tremor of dread bleeding through. "And with it, the end draws closer."

"That's enough," says the elder who's trying to move him away.

His gaze is sharp and unyielding. "Soon... soon, we will reach our inevitable doom." He pauses, his voice dropping to a hoarse whisper. "And you, Thalassin—" he eyes scanning all of my family members, accusing and certain, "—you stand at the heart of it."