The setting was enchanting, and Sera loved its every detail, but it was the sight of Mahdi waiting for her at the end of the garden that made her heart swell.
He was wearing a dark blue seaflax jacket, fashionable three decades ago, that he’d borrowed from Carlo. He had not wanted to wear the uniform of the death riders for his betrothal. Elena had smartened the jacket by attaching a bright yellow anemone to one lapel. His dark hair was loose and hanging down his back. His face was solemn, but his warm, brown eyes were smiling. For her.
As Sera smiled back at him, she felt her nervousness disappear. Her worries and fears, too. Death riders were nearby, hunting for a talisman. Traho held Cerulea and would not give it up without a battle. She didn’t know what the future held, or if she and Mahdi would live to find out. And yet, when she looked into his eyes, she felt strong enough to face whatever was coming.
Elena was right: love was enough.
“Sera, you look…” he started to say.
“…soooooo pretty!” Coco chimed in.
Sera laughed. Coco was on Mahdi’s left, wearing a pink dress that had belonged to one of Elena’s grown daughters. Abelard swam in circles around her. Elena was next to them in a pretty blue seaflax dress, her silver hair in a braided coil at the nape of her neck.
Sera herself was dressed in Elena’s own betrothal gown. It was made of palest green sea silk and had fitted three-quarter sleeves, a square neckline, a cinched waist, and a skirt that gracefully skimmed Serafina’s curves. She wore a brilliant blue starfish in her short hair and was holding a bouquet of white and red coral that Elena had gathered for her.
Carlo escorted Sera to Mahdi’s side, then joined his wife. Then the whole tiny betrothal party turned to Rafael, who was floating just behind Mahdi.
Rafael nodded at them all, then started to sing. His voice was not the most robust, but it had warmth to it, and a rustic sincerity that conveyed the emotion of the betrothal vows perfectly.
The sea is still and bathed in light
As we begin these hallowed rites.
With Neria’s help, I now will sing
The sacred vows of Promising.
Sera turned to face Mahdi, as tradition dictated. She raised her right hand and he put the little shell ring he’d once made for her on her ring finger. Then he raised his left hand and she put a gold band, studded with emeralds, on his ring finger. Carlo had given it to Mahdi. He’d found it many years ago in a shipwreck. As Mahdi and Sera pressed their palms together, Rafael wound a rope made of kelp around their wrists and knotted it.
Around your limbs these ropes do wind,
Just as your hearts these vows will bind.
What the goddess joins forever
Is not for mortal mer to sever.
Be sure before you sing your oath,
You truly wish to plight your troth.
These vows of love and faith once spoken
Must forever be unbroken.
Rafael paused here to allow his words to sink in, and to give Mahdi and Sera a chance to change their minds. When he was certain they did not wish to, he continued, looking at Mahdi.
Let no rough waters rend apart
Two who have become one heart.
For love’s not love that can’t withstand
A rogue wave breaking on the sand.
Mahdi responded to Rafael, singing his vows perfectly.
As strong as the pull of the tides,
As strong as the wind and the weather,
My love has the force of ten oceans.
I vow it will keep us together.
Rafael addressed the next verse to Sera.
Love must be constant, not ebb and flow,
Like storms and frets, tides high and low.
For love’s not love if one must force
The beloved one to stay the course.
It was Sera’s turn now. She looked at Mahdi as she sang.
As sure as the seabirds in flight,
As sure as the endless deep blue,
My love is as certain as sunrise.
I vow it will keep us both true.
Rafael sang once again.
Stay heart to heart and hand to hand,
As close as water touching land.
For love’s not love if feelings fade
And hearts grow cold, despite vows made.
Mahdi and Sera sang the next response together.
As long as the pale moon rises,
As long as waves break on the shore,
Our love will go on never-ending.
As the whales in the deep, evermore.
Rafael smiled. He was almost done.
You’ve taken vows, you’ve given rings.
Now comes the end of Promising.
Go forth, be true, be kind and strong.
Live a life both good and long.
But most of all, never forget
It’s what you give, not what you get.
In seas below, or far above,
Be guided, evermore, by love.
The last note of Rafael’s song rose and faded. The rope binding Sera and Mahdi unwound and sank slowly to the seafloor. As it did, Mahdi, overcome by emotion, cupped Sera’s face in his hands and kissed her, and Sera kissed him back, forgetting there were others nearby.