The truth is, she didn’t jump into the sea to become an empress. She jumped into the sea because she loved her father. What else could she do? Nothing extraordinary is ever done out of reason or logic, but because it’s the only way for your soul to breathe.
There are many pathways destiny can take. For instance, the path ahead of me leads to the emperor. I can take his hand, and I can become his bride. Or I can follow the path back to my village, to the place where the land meets the sea, where I know now my heart is waiting for me.
Which destiny belongs to me? Which destiny will I grasp on to with both hands and never, never let go?
The emperor must sense my indecision, because he takes a step forward.
Something large passes overhead, casting a great shadow over the cliff. The crowd erupts in screams and chaos, as everywhere courtiers and villagers scramble back, falling down in their haste.
The dragon drops from the sky, landing on the grass. Immediately it begins to glow with a radiant light, heavy wind gusting out from its body.
My braid comes loose, my hair whipping wildly around my face.
The glow from the dragon disperses. Where once was the dragon, now stands …
The Sea God.
He looks magnificent, in light blue robes with the emblem of the dragon stitched silver upon his chest. He looks every part the Sea God, the powerful dragon of the East Sea, just as he looks every part Lord Shin of Lotus House, who accepted a pebble for a soul.
“Mina,” he says, in a voice filled with longing, hope, and love. “The Sea God’s bride.”
And I laugh, remembering the first time we met, how he called me the Sea God’s bride even then.
“No, Sea God,” a voice says from behind us. “She is my bride.”
I turn to face the emperor of my people, noticing as I have before the changes in him—not just in his bearing and confidence, but the small changes of having been awake for two years after sleeping for a hundred. He’s no longer a boy, but a young man. Though still, I notice how the sword trembles in his grasp. After all, to the emperor, the Sea God is not only a god, but the protector of his people. A tenderness rises up within me. He would protect me, even against the god whom he loves most in the world.
As for Shin, he really must remember me, because he steps aside, knowing the one to answer our emperor will be me.
“Your Majesty,” I say, pressing my hand to his as I did that last night in the hall of the Sea God’s palace, when the Red String of Fate dissolved between us, a fate neither of us had chosen. “Your dreams are real. They are the memories of the time we spent together in the Sea God’s realm, where you were the Sea God, and there was no emperor. Do you remember?”
He lowers his sword. “I…” A look of wonder passes across his face. “I remember.”
“If you remember anything, remember this. I saved you.”
Tears begin to slip down his face. “I remember. I was lost, for a long time. You found me. I owe you my life, Mina. I owe you everything.”
I shake my head. “You owe me nothing. Only perhaps, this moment. You don’t need me anymore. It’s time to let me go.”
A pained expression falls across the emperor’s features. I think, perhaps, there will always be a connection between us. Our stories have become inextricably entwined. And even though I belong to myself, I want him to choose this, too. Only then can his story truly begin.
He’s silent for a moment, his gaze steady on me. Finally, he whispers, “Thank you.”
It is enough.
“Years from now,” he says quietly, “I will tell my grandchildren how, a long time ago, I was saved by a goddess.”
“A goddess?” I laugh. “A girl, maybe.”
Placing his hands on his stomach, the emperor of my people bows to me. Then he bows again, to the Sea God, and, with one last lingering look, walks down the great grassy carpet, toward his own destiny.
Turning, I rush into Shin’s arms. My tears are flowing now. “This is less where the land meets the sea and more where the mountain meets the sky.”
His arms tighten around me. “Wherever you are, I’ll find you.”
“I’ll make it easy for you. Because I’ll be right here. With you.”
“That does make things easier.” He laughs, his breath tickling my ear. Then softly he says, his voice hesitant, “Will you be content, being the bride of a god?” His question brings back the memories from two years ago, when he worried that I wouldn’t be happy, separated from my family, living a strange and immortal life in the Sea God’s realm.