Out of Water

Epilogue

~Six months later~

The wall was down, its rubble carted away as if it had never even existed. The port of Merpolia was once again bustling, filled not only with Merpolian vessels, but those belonging to foreign diplomats who had come to pay their respects to the new queen.

Erica and Ares were inseparable. From the moment she had said the words that had saved his life, making his transformation permanent, and he had scrawled them back to her on his tablet, writing so quickly that she thought he was telling her that he bawled gru.

There were no more secrets; he now told her everything about his life beneath the waves, and she told him about the darkness she had felt since her aunt's death. They had freed the mermaids and Erica's first act as queen had been to convince her people that there were not a threat, and that she would not tolerate violence against them.

Lilaea visited the port frequently - a small cove had been set up so that the merfolk could come and go without fear of being hit by a passing ship. Erica had sent a missive to Ares's mother, hoping she might be willing to meet, but her message had gone unanswered. There had, at least, not been any acts of violence in retribution for the kidnap of a princess. Ares suspected that had Lilaea herself to thank for that.

Lilaea still had Proteus's needle, and Ares wondered if one day it might find another use. Lilaea would make an excellent queen.

Leandre and Alidor had returned home, too relieved that their violent final task had been cancelled to mind that they hadn't won the princess's heart - or her kingdom.

Regent Lance now lived in a small cottage far from the ocean's roar. His anger had been forgotten, but sorrow still spiked at his heart. Erica visited him as often as she could and hoped time would heal what the draft could not.

Erica had resumed her studies - working in the evening on the tasks her teachers mailed to her, sending her assignments back to them by boat. Her friends had already been to visit - a whirlwind three weeks that Ares's had found even more chaotic than his first month on land. It had taken almost the entirety of her stay for him to get used to Charmaine.

As for her hearing, Erica was... adapting. One of the first missions she had set herself as queen was to find a tutor for sign language. Not only were she and Ares now having lessons - together - but most of the court as well. Erica wanted her new reign to be as inclusive as possible. Which had led to a few other changes, such as the chair Ares was still struggling to get used to. He still sometimes fought through the pain to use the legs he had given up so much for, but even he could admit the wheeled chair Erica had commissioned for him was a much more sensible way to get around - especially now that she was putting adaptations into the palace to give him access to every corner. After her success finding a signing tutor, she'd also sent out messages asking for solutions to his pain. A few ideas had come back - pain relief potions that had fogged his head, and a complicated needle therapy which Ares's shuddered to think of. Perhaps one day he would be able to move without pain, perhaps he would remain in the chair forever.

Ares found, to his surprise, that he didn't really mind: he already had all that he could wish for, and a happiness he'd never even imagined existed. 

{The end! I hope that cleared up any unanswered questions. I have loved writing this story so, so much and will miss Erica and Ares. Thank you to everyone who has read, voted and commented! If you enjoyed Out of Water, please consider trying my other fairytale retellings, which you can find on my profile.}