The warriors of Atlantis held a welcome feast for the new arrivals.

Despite the dangers, it warmed Aya’s heart to see familiar faces.

“I am Torun.” The proud warlord lifted his chin and puffed out his broad, muscular chest. Gold tattoos scrolled across his body and his skin had the bluish sheen of the warriors in the Caribbean. “I have felled trench fish and giant squid. In Sireno, I was a warlord. I trained many youths in combat. Please accept me into your city.”

The warriors regarded him with silence.

He nodded once, a satisfied smile curving his lips, and quietly urged his bride to make her speech. Lucy hid her face behind her hand, communicating with him about something. He tucked a lock of brown hair behind her ear and nuzzled her.

Aya rested between Elyssa and Soren.

Torun should have been the king of Sireno in the Gulf of Mexico. But he had fallen for Lucy, a modern bride, and broken the sacred covenant. Lucy had rescued him from a brutal punishment, and after a series of adventures – including surviving an attack by Blake—they fled to the surface. They had lived with Lucy’s parents until coming to Atlantis so Lucy could have her baby at a Life Tree.

It was nice not to be the newcomer anymore. Eyes were no longer drawn to Aya. Everyone was mesmerized by a sight perhaps none of them had ever seen before, because in the old cities, the brides were always kept locked up in the castles of their husbands — a pregnant woman.

“Thanks for having us.” Lucy glowed, one hand cupping her ginormous belly, and the other hand linked in her husband Torun’s grip. “It’s so nice to be in a city that wants us. Especially since we can’t go back to Sireno. Hi.”

She waved her fingers at Pelan.

He reddened, his skin tone approaching the same color as half his tattoos. Torun also nodded, recognizing the warrior from his former home.

“We’re thrilled to share this joyous time with you. I hope it’s the first of many in this new city. Which, Elyssa tells me, is soon to be recognized by the All-Council. I’m so excited to join you and help make it happen.”

Aya leaned forward and murmured to Elyssa. “They make thirty-seven. Who else are you expecting?”

“Thirty-nine.”

Huh? Oh! Ohhh. “Twins?”

Elyssa nodded.

It still left them short from the number necessary for official All-Council recognition. “Any chance it’s triplets?”

Elyssa grinned and rested her arm over her own belly. King Kadir glanced at her and curved his arm around her shoulders, tipping his head to rest against hers.

They would bring another life into the world too. But not before their enemies attacked. Because their population was too low, there was no point in requesting an emergency All-Council representative review to grant them early city status.

“I hope you’ll all sign up for my new dating site when it’s finished.” Lucy beamed. “Oh! And, we’re returning your Sea Opals.”

A shocked murmur went through the crowd.

Ah. So enough time had passed that that particular bomb of Aya’s had gone off.

Elyssa leaned back and murmured to Aya. “I thought all the company’s assets were frozen from my lawsuit. How did Lucy pull that off?”

Aya bit her lip.

Lucy opened the bag. “Courtesy of Aya…”

Everyone’s gaze swung to her.

Elyssa stared at Aya in shock. “How?”

It had been, complicated, but obviously all the pieces came together because here they were.

Usually mermen gave their Sea Opal jewel to their sacred bride. But to secure the exclusive trade contract and interest investors, Aya had negotiated for a hundred Sea Opals in exchange for each bride. She hadn’t realized that the Atlantis Life Tree was too young. Established cities such as Sireno had ancient Life Trees that had already produced mountains of gems. But the warriors who had escaped their home cities to join Atlantis had only each brought one: the personal gemstone they hoped to give their own bride.

“Considering how we broke our end of the agreement, I thought it wasn’t right for Van Cartier Cosmetics to hold onto the Sea Opals.”

They would only arrive if Aya wasn’t on the surface taking other action to make it right. Such as running another bride pageant.

Lucy continued. “These showed up outside my door a week before we left. I almost didn’t open it. It was this weird, huge, unmarked FedEx box. I thought my parents ordered a new fridge.” Lucy opened the bag and handed it to the closest warrior — Faier—to find his jewel and pass the bag on. “Now you’ll have something to give to the woman you fall in love with. Okay. That’s the end of my speech.”

Lucy smiled anxiously and tucked her hair behind her ear. Torun stood ramrod straight, his gold-tattooed fins hanging beneath him.

King Kadir lifted his hand. “You are both welcome in our city.”

Elyssa waved them over. “Sit here! I have to ask you so many questions.”

Lucy paddled, frowned, and a second later her fins half-unfurled. She shook them, frustrated. They were a creamy, flesh-tone ombre from dark tan to cream. She tugged Torun, and he flew her in harmony over to their location. Elyssa scooted so Lucy could float right next to her, and Torun floated by Aya.

“Hello,” Aya greeted him cheerfully. “How was your trip?”

“Aya. I am glad to see you well.”

“Still cold in my soul light?”

Torun was the one who had evaluated her the week before the bride pageant and declared her light to be cold, off-putting, and unattractive. She’d appreciated his honesty and still did.

He eyed her from the side. “You seem warmer.”

She pressed her hands to her chest. “I don’t feel any different.”

“No? Perhaps I was mistaken before.” He leaned forward. “It is difficult to tell in the air. Underwater, everything is clearer.”

The other warriors caught Torun’s attention to ask about their journey, life on the surface, and other details. Torun greeted the males and they had a low conversation.

Aya rubbed her chest.

She was warmer than before? She had always been warm?

Then…it wasn’t her fault. All the people who abandoned her and rejected her before.

Or being with Soren warmed her so she was easier to get along with. Things had seemed easier since coming to Atlantis. Warriors understood her and gave her the benefit of the doubt. They supported her instead of cutting her down. They were honored to spend time with her.

That was different from the surface.

Aya scooted forward to listen to Elyssa and Lucy. She also had a few questions.

“I know we said March.” Lucy spoke animatedly, hands waving while her brown hair danced around her sparkling brown eyes. “But I keep getting Braxton-Hicks, and we were already at the general coordinates, and I told Torun, let’s get in the water. And then we heard the city rising, and it wasn’t even all that far.”

“Good, good. So Braxton-Hicks are like practice contractions, right? And they could turn into real contractions any time?”

Lucy nodded, accepting a loop of vegetables and biting into the seed. “Mmm. This delicious. Like fava beans and Greek salad and gyros, all in one.”

Aya chewed hers more slowly. She liked the rich, savory slices of fish steaks, but the crunchy coffee-like beans and creamy seeds were also very palatable.

“You have come at a dangerous time,” King Kadir told Torun. “We are expecting judgment by the All-Council. Our enemies may attack before that can happen. And there is risk of not one, but two megalodons.”

The warriors dropped silent at King Kadir’s statement. Aya had heard the news herself on the swim back from the ruin. She hadn’t thought it possible.

“Why two?” she had demanded of Soren angrily. “Isn’t one enough? Two is overkill.”

“It is a nod to ancient times,” he said grimly. “Kadir is invoking ancient legends of humans and mer in harmony to found Atlantis. Some warriors find the legends compelling. Our enemies seek to wipe us from the bottom of the ocean using these same monsters of legend. One would be a message. Two is an annihilation from which there will be no escape — and no one to repeat our folly.”

It wasn’t fair. But they still had the third tier of the city to raise. That noise could scare off two megalodons the same as it scared off one.

That’s what they were all relying on. Whether on patrols, trying to keep the city safe, or eating a welcome feast for a foreign warlord and his very pregnant wife.

“I want to give birth here.” Lucy rested her hands on Torun’s. “Torun says there’s never been a miscarriage or bride’s death in all of your records. I’m sure that’s because you were so close to the Life Tree. And I want our babies to have every possible chance. So, we agreed that we will risk it all to have our babies here.”

Aya couldn’t help asking. “Did you research whether there’s ever been a bride’s death from a megalodon?”

The warriors stiffened.

It wasn’t meant as an insult. It was important data point given their current situation.

Elyssa frowned at her hands.

Lucy focused on Aya. “I didn’t.”

Then, Lucy should be fully aware of what staying in Atlantis meant. “It’s going to be impossible to med-evac you.”

“I am aware.” Lucy smiled. She was not angry or insulted. “We’re facing impossible odds.”

Why wasn’t she scared? Aya rubbed her palms on her thighs. A pregnant woman in Atlantis right now was the worst. Soren, beside her, tensed like a drum. Aya couldn’t think of any way to save them if something went wrong. Her mind flipped around and around. What if, what if, what if?

Lucy continued. “But Torun and I have always faced impossible odds.”

He nodded.

She pointed at Aya. “You have always faced impossible odds. Atlantis has always faced impossible odds. An idea this powerful,” She indicated herself, Elyssa, and Aya, “is terrifying. To a lot of people. All we can do is stand here, survive those impossible odds, and shine our light. And someday, it will shine so bright, no one will be afraid anymore.”

Her wish rang through the castle. Everyone who heard it lifted their heads.

“And that’s why,” she said softly, “I’m going to stay here and fight.”

She was resolute. And powerful.

And absolutely right. The idea was terrifying. To Aya, right now.

Aya pinched the bridge of her nose. “I just wish we had a more concrete plan. With executables. And action points.”

“Well.” Lucy swung her ring around and chomped on the next fava bean. “That’s something for you to…” Her eyes widened. She turned white and dropped her food. It drifted for the gardens below.

Torun jolted. “Lucy!”

She blinked rapidly and rubbed her belly. “Oh. Ha ha, another Braxton-Hicks.”

He touched her belly. “Are you sure?”

“I’m fine. Sorry for startling you. I’m not having these babies before we renew our vows. I dropped my dinner.”

Faier kicked down, snagged the beans, and flew it back up to her.

“Thanks.”

Torun settled behind her. “I will massage your back. Like we practiced in the classes.”

“Torun, really. I’m … oh. Ohhh, yes, left shoulder. Oh, ahh, mmm.” Lucy’s protests melted into pleasurable moans.

The surprise of a possible sudden birth was the breaking point. Everyone started talking amongst themselves.

Strategy. Plans. Protection.

No one talked about leaving. No one screamed about how they weren’t going to survive.

How could they have such faith it was all going to work out?

The bag reached Elyssa. King Kadir pulled out his Sea Opal — a large white pearl-shaped stone with a silvery sheen — and handed the bag on. He presented his jewel to Elyssa.

She softened and gazed up at him. “I do. Again. And forever.”

“My queen.” He cupped chin and they kissed.

They both seemed so strong. Powerful because they had each other.

Was that the secret of Elyssa’s power?

Look at how Torun devoted himself to Lucy. He should be king of Sireno. Instead, he was an exile. He had broken all the rules to be with Lucy, and Sireno was still ruled by tradition — although the new king they had left behind was sympathetic enough that Aya thought he would agitate for change one small step at a time.

Now, look at how in sync Lucy was with Torun. She, like Elyssa, had humbleness and warmth that led her to form good relationships. A chip of Torun’s Sea Opal gleamed with a gold sheen in a ring hanging from a silver chain around Lucy’s neck.

Aya wanted that faith.

Fierce protectiveness burned in her chest. She would never let someone like Blake back in. She had failed to protect the Life Tree in the trench, but now she would stand with it and never let go. She swore it.

The problem was how to make her wish a reality.

Soren and Elyssa swore the power was in her. Like her fins, she just had to find the right angle and then her mind would unlock this supernatural protective force. How could she do it?

Was the answer right in front of her all along?

The bag reached Soren. He reached in, pulled out the last Sea Opal, and held it up. A huge sphere filled his hand, so dark it almost seemed black. Like his tattoos.

His jaw clenched. His nostrils flared. He fixed his intent gaze on her.

Was accepting his proposal how she captured her power?

If she accepted and then he rejected her, she would die.

He held out the gemstone to Aya. Resigned to her refusal. Determined to ask again anyway. “Accept my mating jewel and become my bride.”

She placed her hand on top of the stone. It was warm and smooth and exquisite, just like him. Believe.

“Okay.”