The Queen And The Mermaid

Chapter 4: Declarations

Galatea's point of view.

You never slept on a bed before, but you are pretty sure you like the comfort it has. It also helped that Berenice held you close all through the night.

You roll over and find her gone. You sit up and look around you. There she stands, looking out the window. It is not quite dawn yet, and a cool night breeze blows against the billowy curtains. It also blows prettily through her hair. It makes her look like a vision of a goddess.

An expression of pensiveness, is written on her face. The woman is deeply lost in thought. You go to her and hug her from behind. You have to step on your tiptoes to rest your chin on her shoulder. Her hands cover yours and she leans against you.

"What is on your mind?"

"After all these years you can still read me like an opened book."

You nuzzle the crook of her neck.

"I am tired of the pressure, Galatea. I am tired of the council thinking they know what is best for me." She turns around to look you in the eye.

"No matter how many times I firmly say no. They won't take it for an answer."

You cup the side of her face. Which makes her close her eyes. You catch your breath, when watching her kiss your thumb.

"All I want to do, is show I am the good queen I was trained to be. That I do not need a marriage alliance to a man and I do not need an heir. Is that too much to want?"

Slowly, you shake your head. The two of you are different, but you both are going through something similar.

"I want to marry the woman I love. I want to grow old with her. I can take in a child. An orphan perhaps and raise them as my own, with my wife."

"Princess Lydisi does not seem like the wife for you." Why does your chest hurt when you said that?

You are surprised by her sudden laughter. She presses her forehead to yours. "Her being my wife would come with attachments I definitely do not want."

"Attachments?" You pull away to look in her eyes.

"Namely, her brother the king. That wants me to carry his child as an heir to both our lands." She lifts your chin up tenderly, "She would never love me. She is only trained to please me."

You glance at her lips and back up at her eyes. Your breathing feels off. There is something about the way she holds your chin, that feels really good.

"The wife I would want, doesn't care about me being a queen. The wife I want, became my only true best friend. She could kill a man with a dangerous song, but will not, because she has a conscious. Unlike any of her kind."

Her eyes flit down to your own mouth, "She became my first love before I had to leave to become the woman I am now."

That is, you. You are that woman.

Before she goes on, you lean in and kiss her lips. They feel like everything you have hoped and dreamed for.

"All these years. All this time, it was always you, Galatea. It wasn't just a silly crush a teen girl would have. The moment you saved me; we were connected." Her words come out breathlessly.

You share a kiss again. Over and over and over. Until she moves you to the bed.

After you lie down, she gets on top of you and continues to kiss you.

"I wanted this for so long. I wanted you. I needed you. I am sorry I couldn't get to you sooner."

You kiss her at first in reply, "I am here now. That is all that matters."