This would, I guess be kind of a royal AU? Armin is a prince of a seaside kingdom and Annie is training to become the Royal Magician on his future council. If I had enough creativity and time, I'd have loved to make this into something more, but as it is, here's the ending. XD

"You're a prince, Armin! You know what that means, don't you?" Annie cursed how weak she sounded. "Your marriage isn't just about joining two families; it's about doing what's best for your whole kingdom."

"I know my duty."

"Then why are you here?"

"Because you're my oldest friend in the whole world," he whispered, taking her into his arms. His cheek touched hers. "And I love you."

"Don't say that."

"But I do." The words were strong and sure. "I've been in love with you since I was fifteen, Annie." She'd loved him two years longer. "For five years, I've spent every day falling more and more in love with you. Even if I wasn't in love with you, though, I'd never hurt you for the world. You're my best friend. Why wouldn't I come after you?"

"It's inappropriate, unbefitting our stations."

"We're not in the castle right now."

"That doesn't change who we are."

"And who are you, Annie?"

"What kind of question is that?"

He smiled, and her blood went cold. It was his scheming smile. What did he have up his sleeve? He stood as erect as one could and gave the royal salute, right fist over the heart and left across the back. She'd seen it a thousand times. Strangely, he looked more regal doing it now with his lopsidedly buttoned shirt and bare feet than he ever had in his princely garb.

"I am Crown Prince Armin Arlert, heir to the throne of Caenleigh. My two greatest passions are learning and the ocean that gives my kingdom and its citizens their thriving livelihood." His eyes pierced her. "My best friend is a strong, clever woman who has been my companion practically all my life. The woman I love is that same woman, and only now, after years of believing my feelings to be unrequited, have I discovered she feels the same." He smiled and took her right hand, drawing her to his heart. "And now that I know, I have every intention of marrying her." He kissed her hand. "If she'll have me."

She looked away, her heart and mind at war. He was offering her everything she'd dreamed of for seven years. How many nights had she spent practicing her magic until she collapsed of exhaustion to keep the hurt of seeing him smile and accompany visiting princesses at bay? How many hours had she spent foolishly gazing out the window of her workshop tower at him as he visited the townspeople, longing to stand by his side? How many times had she fantasized about hearing these words of love fall from his lips? And yet…was satisfying the love of one person, even that of the man she loved, worth jeopardizing the good of thousands? As Royal Magician, she'd never have his love, never feel his touch, never give him a family, but she'd be by his side every day, she'd be able to protect him and those whom he'd build his life with, and order, peace, and prosperity would reign. Tears pricked at her eyes. She knew her duty. Annie squared her shoulders bravely and looked up at him. "The kingdom—"

"Would greatly benefit from having a sorceress queen, especially one who can facilitate negotiations with sea creatures and practice sea sorcery," Armin interrupted. "Considering that our economy is dependent on the sea, an alliance with the merpeople is far more advantageous than securing relations with another trade partner or increasing our land buffer in the case of a war."

She frowned. She didn't have to be queen to help forge an alliance with the merfolk. Not that he'd likely be willing to budge on that point. "The King and Queen—"

"Adore you. My Queen Mother even expressed the desire to see us wed after that visit from the Princess of Glowerhaven."

"That woman was a fright," Annie retorted with a roll of her eyes, folding her arms across her chest. "She ordered around even the noblemen and counselors like they were stable boys. Her Majesty would probably prefer a toad for a daughter-in-law over that hag."

"That's not the only time she's lamented that you aren't her daughter-in-law."

She mulled that over for a moment before rejoining, "The King—"

"Worships the ground my Queen Mother walks upon."

"The Council—" she tried again.

"Doesn't have the authority to naysay their own precedent." He smiled smugly at her confusion; she'd had to read virtually all the same law books as him; how could she have missed a law that would grant provisions for a member of royalty wedding a commoner? "Royal Council Proceedings Volume Fifty-Eight: 'If there comes a time when a person not of noble blood is presented to the court as a candidate for marriage to the Heir Apparent—whether due to the Heir Apparent's own selection or lack of otherwise suitable partners—the candidate shall be granted a hearing to defend the merits of the union. The union shall be permitted if the candidate unanimously gains the favor of the monarchy, Council, and nobility.'"

She could feel a migraine coming on. "You do realize that's virtually impossible to accomplish, don't you? Even if you were able to convince their Majesties and the Council, how do you expect to get the entire nobility to ratify this absurdity? A good quarter of them are suspicious of magic, and another half are hopeful you'll choose their own daughters if you get desperate enough."

"Everyone has his price, and I know all of theirs."

"Unbelievable," she huffed. Her eyes narrowed. "Supposing, just supposing, you were able to convince the nobility to support this hare-brained scheme of yours, what about my father? He's always chased away anyone that came near me."

Only then, did Armin's confident look falter. "Did…did you actually like any of them…?" he asked hesitantly.

Darkness gathered around her. "What did you do?"

He coughed uncomfortably. "I, uh, I may have, hypothetically of course, asked him if, umm, he'd be, err, willing to, well, to keep other suitors at bay while I, erm, worked out the particulars of my own, umm…bid…for…you…" his voice faded to nothing as he cowered under her fury.

"You did what?" she snarled.

"I'm sorry!" He bowed so quickly he almost fell on his face.

"I can't believe you two!"

"I'm sorry! I know I shouldn't have, but I couldn't stand the thought of—"

She jabbed a finger into his chest, face frighteningly close to his. "I should turn you into a fish. No, a slug. And drop you somewhere so far from the ocean you couldn't ever see it again even if you spent your whole pitiful life moving toward it."

"I know. I know. It was wrong and selfish of me, but please understand that—"

"In fact," her aura chilled, the hair standing up on the back of his neck, "I think I'll give you your just desserts right now."

He screwed his eyes shut and stiffened in dread. He'd been on the end of some of her nastier spells before. This wasn't going to be pretty; he just hoped her love of Caenleigh would keep her from murdering the Crown Prince. He flinched as her low voice hissed directly into his ear.

"You are going to inform the Council that we'll be married this upcoming June and I'm going to wear my mother's dress. Hang the traditions; I refuse to wear that ridiculous getup they forced your Queen Mother to wear. You've got less than a year to get this all done, so you better be as good at talking as you think you are." Her lips twitched in amusement as he stared at her stunned. "I hope I've made myself clear." And with that, she brushed past him and strode back toward the castle.

He stared stupidly out at the horizon for a long moment, trying to process what had just happened. "She said, 'Yes.' She said, 'Yes.' She said, 'Yes!'" "Yes!" he crowed, throwing his fists in the air before chasing after his bride-to-be, catching her from behind on the steps to the castle.

So apparently, there's a castle name generator online. I think the main thing that kept me from uploading this ages ago was what to name the kingdom, so that was a handy find.