Page 107 of Mermaid on Heels

Faelina. She mouthed, her grin vanishing at once.

Aeira’s eyes widened. “Andwherewas the witch pretending to be me if you have never been here before but have seen my duplicate?”

Lectoria.

Aeira frowned. “I’m sorry. I don’t think I caught that. Come again?”

Lectoria.Liriya mouthed again, expressively this time.

Aeira was aghast for a moment before making an un-ladylike snarl. “Please don’t tell me it was for Lu—King Luke’s Bridal Selection.”

Liriya’s face dropped at the mention of his name and she nodded.

“That witch!” Aeira cried out in frustration before grabbing Liriya’s hand again and swimming towards the shore. “Come on, let’s get out of the water. You must have been a mermaid living a human life in Lectoria, precisely in Luke’s castle as one of his elites, and became a threat to Faelina’s plans. Just a mere guess given the nightgown you are wearing. But I am correct, am I not?”

She was wise. Liriya thought and nodded, before gliding towards the shore with her.

“You can write to me all about yourself on the sand. I need to get to know my new friend so I can introduce you to my family.”

Liriya smiled absently, hearing Aeira call her afriend. She wasn’t the only one who had felt their friendship unfolding.

Aeira reached the shore first and she helped Liriya get to the land as the water level became too shallow for her to keep swimming. Then Liriya transformed.

As they sat to rest, Aeira handed her a small seashell and Liriya began writing on the sand, telling her new friend her name, who she was, and who Faelina was to her.

Aeira couldn’t be more shocked. Once Liriya was done writing her story—briefly, though—Aeira began telling hers.

“Faelina was a maid in our palace, under the name of Felicia, for a few months before she was promoted to be my lady’s maid; it was shortly after my former maid’s mysterious disappearance. Now, I don’t doubt that Faelina had a hand in it so she could get closer to me for her plans. If I’m correct, her months of service were undoubtedly for her to better her human experiences, and to learn about the human royals’ ways. She served as my lady’s maid for three months. Meanwhile, the elderly members of Luke’s court were preparing the Bridal Selection and my parents wanted me to be one of the candidates. They wanted our alliance strengthened by marriage if Luke would choose me, but I refused.

“Felicia, who had always been silent unless necessary, spoke to me one day, trying to persuade me that I should consider posing as a candidate. She said if I was lucky I’d be the queen of one of the wealthiest kingdoms on the continent—to bring benefits to Garbia.” Aeira snorted. “If you heard her, you’d think she was a devoted citizen who loved her kingdom and looked out for her people’s good. Anyways, I refused to agree with her. It wasn’t because I didn’t like Luke; oh, I love him dearly, but as a brother-friend. I was sure he feels the same towards me and we wouldnevermatch as a couple. However, the reason I couldn’t agree with any arranged marriages was that my heart was already engaged to another man—my brother’s best friend, Terrance.

“Only Dyran knew about our secret courtship, and he was a great supporter. Faelina didn’t know that until I told her about it after our talk. She didn’t bring up the matter again. I think she had thought that if I went to Lectoria for the selection, she could accompany me because she was my lady’s maid and she could do whatever she had been planning. But since I refused to go, her plans changed. And that change of plans brought her to me one unexpected night where she tried to put me under her spell to give her my blood so that she could perform some sort of witchcraft with an ancient seashell mirror. Her song didn’t work on me, of course.

“When I realized we had a siren at the palace—despite being partially one myself, I knew how dangerous our folk can be if they wanted to—I tried to alert the whole castle, but she threatened to hurt my brother if I did so.

“She knew how much I loved my older brother, theidiotwho was in love with her, and I surrendered to her helplessly. I watched with my own two eyes as she transformed into my exact replica and realized in the next moment that she had taken my voice too. Then she smirked. The witchsmirkedat me! She said that she was going to put things right andboom—she smacked my head with the mirror and I blacked out. The next thing I knew was that I was in some kind of underwater prison where her puppets fed me twice a day with seaweeds and creatures—raw.”

Aeira made a face in utter disgust. “I ate them. I had to, to keep my strength.”

I am so sorry.Liriya mouthed to her ruefully. She couldn’t imagine what Aeira must have gone through.

Aeira gave a sad shrug. “I’m sure Faelina broke Terrance’s heart before she left for the selection, because there is no other way Dyran would’ve let her—myduplicate—go.”

Understanding filled Liriya’s eyes and she reached for the other girl’s hand. Aeira smiled a little, with gratitude in her eyes, and placed her other hand over Liriya’s. “Does Luke know who you are, since you two are engaged?”

Liriya nodded and wrote on the sand with the seashell.

He is half merman.

“What?” Aeira exclaimed in shock, her eyes snapping to Liriya in utter shock.

Liriya nodded with a small smile and continued to write.

His heritage is a secret held in his family, but I am sure he would have told you if he knew you had a sea bloodline too, or at least that you believed in their existence.

“Oh, my goodness! I cannot believe this!”

His mother was a mermaid princess and she fell in love with his father.

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