• Marian rounded the bend and suddenly came upon the river, just as Aaron had said she would. It swept towards the sea in a wide, thin sheet that made the pebbly bed shimmer and dance like fish scales. In the deeper areas, though even those went not much higher than the knee, the water became a translucent, light, icy azure – the sort of blue you get only from mountain melt water. As she proceeded along the river, now walking upon dry rock, now wading through the shockingly cold water, the tiny pebbles gave way to larger boulders – the size of a man, the size of a coach-and-four, the size of a cottage, larger; then even the largest boulders melted into cliffs striped in crazy white-black-red-orange. The river became deeper as the cliffs mounted higher and the water stopped being a shallow sheet and became a deluge, the color transcending a lucent blue-green in the deeper pools, so crystal-clear that she could see the pebbles of the riverbed and the tiny black fish, their scales tinted green by the light falling through water. Full white foam leaped up before and around the boulders planted hither and thither in the river and turned spray into rainbow. She felt she could cross the river and traverse its entire length by leaping from rock to rock, so many were they in number, though only the largest protruded from the cold, blue waters. The rest lay beneath the surface of the river, creating valleys and mountains within its depths.

    She turned her head, laughing, delighted, and saw a waterfall pour its foaming white liquids into a series of stepping-stone terraces. Each was nearly circular, with the basins worn deep by years of falling water, and the lip worn into a spout where the water decanted into the next terrace. The cliff below and adjacent to the waterfall was worn away, creating a deep cobalt-emerald pool recessed into the cliff face.

    And there, perched upon the lip of the highest terrace, was Aaron, bare-chested and gloriously bronzed by the sun, her own personal Adonis. His pants cuffs had been rolled above his knees, and he dangled his feet in the water.

    He saw her and waved, inviting her to join him. She laughed aloud, so that her voice echoed crazily around the cliffs, and clambered across the river, using the enormous rocks to keep her clothes from getting wet. When she reached the terraced waterfall Aaron helped her up; then, before she got her feet, he shoved her into the pool at which he'd been sunning.

    She surfaced, soaked and spluttering and half bilnded by the rainbows glancing off the water on her lashes. Aaron's mischievous laughter rang in her ears.

    "Idiot!" she cried, but with more affection than anger. She tried pull him in but was pulled up instead, so that his sun-bronzed arms wrapped comfortingly around her and drove away the water's icy shock. His hair was beautiful, silky and golden in the sunlight.

    He grinned at her, as guileless and lovingly as any child. From within the depths of the pool he fished out a ring. "Marian, darling, will you marry me?"

    She knew that he was going to say it before he did, and smiled. The ring was bright silver, seemingly pure moonlight; its single, simple stone reflected the green highlights of the river rushing past. Silver and emerald, her two favorites. He remembered, though it had been so long ago when she'd said it.

    A smile touched her lips as her fingers closed around the ring. Both their hands seemed to glow: one like the sun on cloudless day, the other like moon at its fullest cycle.

    "Did you even have to ask?"