Cidaris dashed by Nucello and Baetica with barely a wave as he headed for Lewisil’s lagoon. A streak of bubbles lined his path as he dove down to the cave’s entrance and burst into the ring reef. “Lewisil!” he hollered as he dashed around the lagoon.

“Hmm?” Came the older merman’s response from his place near the surface. Long ago the merfolk has secured the flat rock that jutted into the ring and formed his roof to the edge of the reef. Now, it looked as if it had always been there.

“This afternoon she’s going to marry me.” He threw himself dramatically on the man’s kelp cushion and a school of juvenile rabbitfish darted out of the seaweed.

“Lovely.”

“Will the potion be ready in time?”

The old merman shook his head. “No, I was missing a few ingredients. I have them now, but it will take time to prepare. Come, let us go find your bride and you can marry her as a man and as a merman, and then all of these needless battles and deaths can die as you say ‘I do’.” Waving, he ushered Cidaris back out of the lagoon and towards Raine’s manor once again.

When they got to the stone wall, Cidaris darted through the hole in the rock wall. Behind him he heard Lewisil muttering about how it was a good thing he shrank in his old age or else he’d never fit. “Ah,” exclaimed Lewisil as they surfaced inside the pool, “here she comes.”

Raine jumped back in surprise when she saw Lewisil, but Cidaris pulled himself onto a rock and held out his hand towards her. “It’s okay. This is Lewisil. He’s going to help us be together forever.”

She grabbed Cidaris’ hand and smiled shyly. “Good evening Lewisil.”

“Good evening child, but I’m sure it’s not me you wish to speak with so I’ll wait until the two of you are ready.”

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Cidaris ran his fingers down the side of Raine cheeks. He felt her shiver with excitement and it sent the same tingles down his own body. “I think we are already ready, Lewisil.”

“Perhaps, it would be best if you were married in the human sense first. She might grow cold in the water.”

Cidaris sighed, and slipped back under the surface. Soon he too would grow cold in the water, but as he resurfaced and looked at his bride, he knew it would be worth it.

Soft footsteps padded into the cave. Cidaris and Lewisil silently slipped into the darkness, until Raine called out. “It’s alright. He’s here to marry us.”

Water splashed on the rocks as Cidaris pulled himself out of the water again and sat on a stone by Raine’s feet. Painfully slowly, the old man recited the words that would make Cidaris and Raine husband and wife. Cidaris tried to focus, but his mind drifted towards the woman beside him and her beauty, before drifting towards the water lapping at his tail. Except for Raine, the human world seemed incredibly dull.

“Man and wife,” the man finally breathed. “You may kiss your bride.”

Raine knelt down and Cidaris straightened his arms to give him the height needed to press his lips to hers once more. “Come,” he whispered. “Join me in the water and we’ll dance and wed as merfolk do.”

She gasped and then giggled as she slipped out of her shoes and stepped onto the algae-covered rocks. When the water was up to her waist, she stopped and shivered. “W-what now?”

Cidaris put his hands on hers and pulled her lower into the water. “Just watch. I’ll let you know when it’s you’re turn to join in.” With that, he began an elaborate dance worthy of a rainbow fish. Flicking his fin, he swished one way and then another, circling Raine and sweeping by her feet. Normally, this dance would be done in waters deep enough to dance all around her, but as it was, he struggled to keep his movements mostly horizontal in the shallow pool. When he noticed Raine’s lips grow blue, he darted over. “Ready” he said and pulled her into the water with him. Twirling, they splashed around in the water together. Until he stopped with his arms around her waist and her gown wrapped around his fin. Panting, he kissed her again. It wasn’t the way that merfolk did things, but with her, it was right.

She shivered against him. Sighing, he flicked his tail once more and brought her back to the rocky shore. “You should go and get warm,” he whispered with a final kiss. “I’ll see you soon.”

Nodding, she grabbed hold of the man who wed them and stumbled out of the cave towards her father’s manor.