Page 103 of Mermaid on Heels

A few gasps broke out around the table.

“Missing?” Cedric exclaimed in disbelief.

“That’s not possible. We saw her last night. How…” Lady Riley trailed off, utterly baffled.

“Everyone, I’m sure there’s no reason to panic. She’ll be around,” Luke assured the table and turned back to the guards and Polly. “Did you search the entire palace and the grounds?”

The other guard stepped forward, hesitant and extremely nervous. “Your Majesty,” his voice croaked. “It sounds impossible, but Princess Aeira’s guards and maidservant are gone too. Their carriage is not to be found, either.”

“What?” Luke blinked in disbelief.

“And you’re letting us know about itnow?” Cedric asked, his tone equally disbelieving.

“That’s the thing, Your Lordship, no one knew until Polly couldn’t find the princess in her room. We searched everywhere and realized the Garbian party has assumedly gone,” the second guard answered Cedric.

“Gone? How on earth could they have made it out of the gates if no one was aware of this? Let alone a party in carriage and horses!”

“That’s what we do not understand, my lord,” the first guard answered. “The guards outside the guest wing promised us that Princess Aeira has not passed them since going inside last night. The guards at the gate say the same; no one has been let in or out during the night, and none other than the servants have come through the servants’ gate.”

“Oh no, you do not think she was abducted, do you?” Ella asked, glancing at Cedric, her eyes wide.

“By her own guards and maidservant? No. It’s likely they fled. Butwhy? That is my question. Did you find a note or something?” At Polly’s headshake, Cedric blew out a frustrated breath. “She could’ve waited till morning, or told us if she had to leave last night! Did she evenknowwhat she was doing?”

Luke sat unmoved in his chair like a statue, in shock. He tried and failed to process what had happened. He couldn’t understand; it didn’t make sense. Why would Aeira do this to him? They were friends and she had taken his decision of not choosing her rather serenely, assuring him that she understood, and that he would still have Garbia as his closest ally.

His uncle, Duke Rufus, said something about questioning the guards, and that made Luke compose himself from his shock. His gaze traveled to Liriya, who hadn’t spoken a word while Lady Riley and Ella had.

She was staring at the table, her furrowed eyebrows indicating that she was deep in thought. Luke wondered what was going on in her mind. He felt an enormous urge to hold her close and tell her he would take care of the matter, that there was nothing to worry about; but he couldn’t, not in front of Lady Riley, to whom he yet had to break the news of his choice.

Luke wished Liriya would look up and meet his eyes. Hewantedher to look at him. She had always made things easier for him with one look and he longed for that comfort now.

He waited, but she didn’t look at him.

Cedric’s voice brought back his attention from Liriya to the chaos Aeira had left him in. He exhaled. All Luke could do was send up a silent prayer, asking the Creator to be in control, as he instructed his men to send messages to the borders and collect information.

A war breaking out with Lectoria’s long-term ally was the last thing he wanted.

Chapter 23

Liriya woke up with a headache. She touched a hand to the side of her head where she felt a searing pain and felt the strange texture of dry blood coating her hair. Slowly, she opened her eyes. It was dark, with sunlight filtering through somewhere on top of the…

Liriya pushed herself up from her laying position on the hard surface and looked around. Where was she? What was this place?

Memories began flooding into her mind and things clicked into place. She was abducted.

Something told Liriya that she was far, far away from Lectoria, her sisters, and the love of her life. And her evil half-sister was pretending to be her. How could Liriya have let Faelina do this to her? Would Luke or her sisters realize that she had been abducted?

Liriya knew the answer. They wouldn’t.

Faelina was smarter than she had given her credit for. She had been observing Liriya throughout the selection so she could make a perfect pretense. Not even her sisters would be able to tell them apart.

Tears pooled in Liriya’s eyes and she blinked at them angrily. Crying wouldn’t help her. She must find a way out of this.

Liriya started to rise to her feet when she realized her feet were chained. And the chain was jingling. In fact, the suffocating smallroomshe believed herself to be in happened to be bouncing.

Liriya registered the sound of hooves. Panic clawed at her. Was she in some sort of carriage? Where were they taking her? Who were these people?

Faelina hitting her was the last thing Liriya remembered, and this was the first time she had opened her eyes since.How long has it been?She sank back onto the wooden floor, leaning against the hardwood.

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