The Mermaid And the Sea Snake

Chapter 24

      With all Vivian's army banished to land, the ocean was quiet and peaceful. The crowd slowly returned to the castle gardens and the coronation ceremony began once more.
      'Now that we have defeated our enemy, the ocean can be at peace,' Avery smiled as she addressed the crowd below her, 'and once again we would like to introduce to you your new Queen, our daughter, Ava.'
       The crowd cheered as I swam forward, Avery's guard placing the crown on my head, 'I would like to thank you all from the bottom of my heart for accepting me as your Queen,' I put my hand out towards Jet, he took it gently as I pulled him close to my side, 'I would also like to thank you all for accepting Jet because without him I wouldn't be here.'
      The crowd went wild as I continued my speech, 'I don't know a lot about being a Queen but I will strive to do my best and know that with my parents Avery and Darian to help me every step of the way, that I cannot fail. I do not take this crown lightly and I hope I will be every part the Queen that you all deserve.'
      I turned to Jet smiling widely, only to find him holding a small box with a ring in it, my heart faltered at the sight of it.
      Jet's smile took my breath away, 'Ava I have loved you for longer than I can remember, this last month has been the best of my life and I want to continue that for the rest of our lives. Ava, will you marry me?'
      My heart raced as I listened to his words, I had no voice to answer, the crowd was deadly silent as they waited for my response.
      Jet looked panicked as the silence between us thickened, 'I know it's soon but we can have a long engagement,' he scrambled for words, my voice still lost.
      Jets face fell as I looked at him causing me to snap back to reality, I glanced around at the crowd all of them staring in silence, my heart still caught in my throat, 'Jet I,'
     Jet cut me off, 'It's fine Ava, I know it's too soon, I am sorry I should have waited.'
     I reached out stopping him from moving, 'Yes Jet, my answer is yes.'
     His face lit up, 'really?' his voice was small too afraid to ask.
     'Yes Jet, yes!'
     His arms were around me in an instant lifting me into the air, 'Ava, I love you so so much.' The crowd cheered loudly as they watched us embrace.
     Darian and Avery swam forward, 'Well it looks like tonight we will be celebrating a new Queen and an engagement!'
      The party raged on all through the night, Jet and I managing to sneak away during the early hours of the morning.
     'So all it took was me nearly dying for you to admit your love for me.' Jet teased as we climbed into bed.
      'Well I mean it did have a sort of this is your last chance feel to it,' I cringed inwardly at my words remembering his face as I held him, 'I wonder why you didn't die, his venom should have killed you instantly.'
      Jet wrapped his arms around me laying me on his chest, 'I keep thinking about this too, and the only thing I can come up with is because I was a snake, our venom doesn't affect each other, so maybe that saved me.'
     'That actually makes a lot of sense,' I snuggled into him, my eyes heavy as I fell into a deep peaceful sleep.
  
     A few years passed, Jet and I married in a simple ceremony with our family and a few close friends we made along the way, we fell into our roles as King and Queen easily with the help of Darian and Avery.
     Darian and Avery kept pestering us for grandchildren but we definitely were not ready for that yet. We just wanted to enjoy each other for a while.
     Vivian's son Ethan become our very close friend and one of our most trusted advisors. He grew to be like a brother to us both, which felt great for all of us.
     The love I got from Avery and Darian was everything I had ever hoped for in a parent and they molded me into the person I should have always been.
      Jet and my love for each other grew every day and I felt so blessed to have him as my own.
      A small smile crept onto my lips as I thought about our lives now, Jet looked up at me from his work, 'what are you smiling about?'
      I turned to look at him, 'just how blessed I am to have you in my life, everyone we have found here actually.'
      He placed his hand on mine, 'we have been very blessed,' he gently squeezed my hand, 'imagine what would have happened if you didn't stand up to me that morning, if I hadn't finally stood my ground. I wonder where we would be now.'
     I shuddered at the thought, Vivian would have taken over the ocean and God knows where I would be or if I would even be with Jet, 'what a horrible thought.'
      'Is everything ready for tonight?' Jet asked changing the subject and returning to the work in front of him.
     'I do believe so, I cannot believe we will be celebrating my 5 years as Queen and my 30th birthday! Where does time go?' it was hard to believe that 5 years had passed since we first swam in the ocean. Not knowing what the under water world had instore for us. Although we missed being on land sometimes, we knew that this was were we belonged, what we were made for.
      Soon we were in the castle gardens celebrating with the whole kingdom. All of us happy and at peace.
     Avery and Darian took their positions on the podium to give a speech, 'we would like to say first of all thank you for all making it tonight and secondly just how proud we are of our daughter and Jet.' Darian beamed with pride, 'they are doing a fine job as King and Queen and we couldn't be happier. We are also here to celebrate her 30th birthday, we have missed many birthdays in her life time but we never will again. So please raise your glasses in a cheers to Ava.'
      A roar of cheers went up from the crowd, as they raised their glasses. It was still amazing to me that I ruled over all these merpeople with Jet by my side. It still felt surreal in moments like this.
     We danced happily in each other's arms looking forward to what the future would hold for us and knowing whole heartedly that together we could get through anything.
     Jet leaned his forehead on mine, 'I will love you for the rest of our lives, my Ava.'
     'and I will love you just as much,' I answered pulling him into a beautiful kiss, the world around us melting into nothing.
     
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