in the kingdom

"I don't know if I can do this."

It was midday, the ceremony having ended only moments ago. The Sun was shining bright over the placid ocean waves. Selena, her chin resting on her knees, stared off into the distant blue sky. Next to her lounged a napping Nami. The words echoed with truth, but she was ashamed that she allowed herself to say them.

"What do you mean?" asked Finn, his feet dangling carelessly into the water. He seemed much less shaken up by the ceremony, but that was to be expected; it wasn't his life on the line, after all.

Selena swallowed, her throat suddenly dry. "The Queentide. They were so powerful, Finn. Cressida summoned a pack of wolves out of nowhere, and she somehow managed to grow the tallest rose bushes ever seen. And Nova, she could burn down our entire House without even blinking. She took away the water just like that," the words accompanied with a snap of her thin fingers.

"And Callisto?" Finn prompted her gently.

Selena shook her head, an icy fear spreading through her bones. "She's dangerous. I think she hates me."

"Why would she hate you?" Finn asked, his tone bewildered.

Selena glanced at him and found that he was smiling at her while shaking his head. But she couldn't bring herself to smile; she had been terrified earlier today, standing among her sisters for the first time in years. Pure power had radiated from them, power of the likes Selena had never before felt.

"There's something wrong with her," she said softly. Then, she shook her head and angrily plunged her feet into the water, feeling slightly better as the water reverberated with her anger. "There's something wrong with all of them. Willing to kill just for a crown."

"You say 'crown' like it's nothing," Finn said wistfully.

"You say 'crown' like it's something of worth," retorted Selena, not bothering to mask the harshness of her words. "It's insanity, Finn, it really is."

"Then do something about it."

To Finn, it was simple. Because how could he be expected to know how it feels? To be cursed with a battle just because she was born? To be expected to kill sisters without remorse? No, the Queentide was anything but simple, a fact that Selena knew she had yet to learn in its entirety.

"It's not that easy," Selena sighed, twisting her hand to raise a small bead of water into her palm. She rolled it around, admiring its simple beauty.

"Maybe it is," said Finn after a long pause.

The water bead fell apart in Selena's hand. She turned towards him like a compass spinning north.

"What do you mean?" she asked, frowning.

Finn looked at her, hesitating to speak. Selena contorted her face back to its normal expression, silently willing her friend to continue. But he remained silently staring, his face a mask of stone certainty.

"Finn, this is the part where you tell me," she said, playfully nudging his shoulder, as if to rekindle the youthfulness they had once possessed. But Finn stiffened against her touch, as if she were made of ice. He stood up quickly and began to walk away from Selena.

Frowning, Selena scurried to her feet, stumbling along the wooden dock to catch up to him. Nami trailed behind her, growling quietly at the newfound tension. Selena's hand reached out, her fingers grasping onto Finn's shirt. Selena grabbed on and pulled him close to her.

"This is my life we're talking about, Finn," Selena said, mustering every bit of regality that she had into her voice. "And if you think you might have found a way to get me out of possibly dying, I would love to hear it."

"Four queens," was all he said, as if that were an answer.

Selena rolled her eyes as she released his shirt. "It would help if you weren't so damn vague!"

"Calm down, princess, I'm getting there," Finn smirked, finally sounding normal.

"Get there faster," Selena grumbled, but she was internally relieved; a teasing Finn meant a normal Finn.

"There can only be four Queens at a time, right?"

Selena nodded. "The Earth cannot handle the combined power of any more."

"Right. So, isn't it obvious?"

Selena looked at her friend blankly. "Isn't what obvious?."

The beginnings of a deep crimson blush crept onto Finn's face. For the first time, Selena noticed that he was adamantly avoiding her gaze.

"There can only be four Queens at once," Finn said, stumbling on the words.

"You already said that," the Queenling pointed out, her tone vacant of annoyance. "What are you getting at?"

"Dalos, Selena, do I have to spell it out for you?" Finn suddenly exclaimed, the water churning slightly below him in response to his embarrassed exasperation. "If you have a child, she will be a Queen, and Callisto will die without you killing her!"

Selena fell into a stunned silence as Finn turned around and stalked away, fully intending to leave her there. "That's your solution?" she asked quietly, but she was suddenly feeling lightheaded, like she could no longer stand on her own feet. Nami was there, suddenly, close enough for Selena to lean on. "To become pregnant?"

Finn stopped at the edge of the dock, the water still moving. Selena could gain control of the waves; she was much powerful than him, after all. But she allowed her friend to have whatever grasp of control that he could find.

"It's better than your plan," he retorted without turning to face her.

The Sun was nearly blinding as Selena took an involuntary step towards Finn, towards the closest friend she had ever known. Towards the only thing in this god-forsaken world that she would ever kill for.

"My plan was to run away before any of this began," she murmured softly, her words nearly drowned out by the waves. "And to keep you far away from the Kingdom."

"You said it yourself," Finn said, continuing as if he hadn't heard her —and perhaps he hadn't. "Callisto is the most dangerous. Get rid of her, and your job will be that much easier."

"You're forgetting that I don't exactly have nine months to spare."

"You're forgetting that a pregnant Queen is the most dangerous kind," Finn countered, his back to Selena and the Sun, "capable of the most damaging powers."

Selena shuddered at the mere thought of it. There were legends based around the enemies that Queens were able to defeat far too easily while pregnant; the combined power of the Queen and their unborn Queenling created an instrument for destruction. Selena would be able to kill her sisters before the child was even born, without exerting the limits of her power.

"What you're suggesting is madness," Selena said weakly.

Finn finally turned around, and there was an emotion lingering deep inside his eyes; it was something akin to desperation. Now, there was a courageous fire burning, and Selena was unsure if this was the same boy who had been standing with his back to her. Now, he was a warrior crafted from the explosion of dying Suns.

"What I'm suggesting is survival, Selena," Finn breathed, "and you know it. Do you really think that even a Flame would like kindly to anyone killing a pregnant Queenling? That's blasphemy, a guaranteed path to damnation. This is your path to survival."

Selena forced herself to take in a shaky breath. The world felt so small, all of a sudden, as if it were a flower that someone had crushed in their hand. The very air was untrustworthy, too small to stay in her lungs.

"The thing is, I can't exactly will myself to become pregnant," she said, already feeling the blush on her face.

"You're the biggest idiot I know," said Finn, that familiar gleam of mischief in his eyes, and it was accompanied by that familiar feeling in Selena's stomach. "I've never been all that great at keeping secrets, Selena. I thought you'd know that by now."

Somehow, the distance between them had closed, leaving barely enough room for air between them. Selena felt breathless, like she was standing at the edge of the cliff with nothing but open air beneath her. Something about it had always seemed so terrifying, something about the mere prospect of jumping off. But she took a step closer to Finn, to the boy she had always loved, to the boy she would protect until her very last breath.

And she leapt.

"This isn't exactly great timing," Selena murmured, her lips close enough to brush against Finn's cheek.

He released a small laugh. "It never is with you."

Selena couldn't tell who had closed the distance, her or Finn. But somehow, their lips collided, and his hands were pressed against her back, and her arms were wrapped around his neck, and the waves below were roaring like thunder. And thought the Ball was tonight, and though the Queentide had begun, Selena had never once felt more safe than she did in Finn's embrace.