Page 116 of Mermaid on Heels

Liriya watched him kiss Mama’s forehead and then turn to her.

Be safe,she mouthed tearfully.

I will, little fish,he mouthed back. Pressing a kiss to her forehead, he dived into the depths.

Chapter 25

Aeira urged Liriya to accept that her plan was the best plan, and Liriya thought that maybe it was. They discussed it with their families and everyone agreed to it.

They were going to give the imposter bride a wedding surprise.

Liriya thought her heart might burst out of her chest as she pulled the hood of her midnight-blue cloak further down so that the shadow would obscure her face and no one would recognize her. She couldn’t yet tell whether her heart was pounding because she was only a night away from the wedding day, or that she was finally in Lectoria, so close to seeing Luke and her sisters, or that she was now walking through the cobblestone streets of Ornwall to her best friend’s house.

All of it together, I assume,she thought.

Quickening her pace, Liriya hoped that her parents were right behind her and hadn’t lost sight of her. She couldn’t turn back, risking anyone glimpsing at her face, because the street was crowded with people who knew her and thought she was in the castle, as they had gathered to celebrate hers and Luke’s wedding eve. She couldn’t track her parents’ voice, not amid a noisy crowd, and definitely not past the thundering of her heart in her ears.

Liriya’s heart rested a little when she spotted Bianca’s house. She had had no hope of finding Bianca here, but seeing the windows aglow meant she was home—that Faelina had done something to strain their friendship. Because Bianca and Kitty weresupposedto be at the castle now.

However, instead of fuming at the thought, Liriya felt relieved. She needed her best friend at her side.

Liriya climbed the porch and looked over her shoulder. No one seemed to have noticed her, and her parents were right behind her, entering the courtyard whilst occasionally glancing back at the crowded, torch-lit street in awe.

She smiled, forgetting her worries for a moment.

It had taken a lot of time to make her mama understand what had happened, that day they rescued her. She got hysterical after learning Liriya was mute and refused to wait until Papa returned, demanding Liriya write in the sand everything that had happened.

Telling Mama what happened was one thing, but telling her about their half-sister was another thing. Therefore, Liriya gracefully skipped that part and left it to Papa when they returned to the Garbian castle. Her mother was shocked when she learned that her husband had a child with his former lover, though she took it rather easier than Liriya had expected. Mama knew about Faelina’s mother after all, so Liriya assumed that the information wasn’t that hard for her to grasp.

Papa told the Pearltunians about his half-siren daughter after he returned from Oceantuna, as he had promised to tell them of what happened. Everyone was shocked to learn that their great ruler had had a forbidden affair with a siren, but no one questioned him. Instead, to Liriya’s heart-warming astonishment, they all looked at him with respect in their eyes, seeing a king who was admitting his wrongdoing rather than one covering it up or aggressively defending himself.

Therefore, when Papa announced that Princess Faelina would be brought to Pearltuna after she was stripped of her power, no one raised a protest.

Their plans had gone all by smoothly so far. King Alton of Oceantuna willingly handed over their artifact, the Dolphin’s Songflute. He was astounded to hear about Luke, and desperately asked if he could meet with him. Papa, of course, invited him over to the surface to join them on their journey to Lectoria.

King Alton agreed. He came to the surface a day before, with one of his sons and a guard. The Garbian royal family gave them clothes and Papa trained them how to walk. Together the next day, they journeyed to Lectoria in three Garbian royal carriages.

After approximately two days of travel, when they reached Lectoria, the Garbian royals split ways with them and went to the castle—after arranging an inn for Liriya’s family and King Alton’s group to stay for the night.

Liriya could only imagine Faelina’s shock when she saw Aeira.

Aeira had squeezed every detail from Liriya on how Faelina had acted towards her as Aeira, saying that she was going to drive the Liriya-Faelina insane with her acting familiar and friendly towards her.She deserves a taste of her own medicine,Aeira told Liriya before they parted ways about an hour ago.

Although, it would be after tomorrow that Faelina would get therealtaste of her own medicine.

Aeira had also promised Liriya to help in getting her sisters away from Faelina and telling them the truth. However, Liriya doubted they would believe her, given how Ella and Sessa didn’t like the Aeira Faelina had played.

Moreover, if Faelina had played Liriya perfectly, without a slip to cause suspicion, then her sisters would definitely not believe Aeira. They would probably think she was crazy, but Aeira was up for the task anyway.

Telling Luke or Cedric and getting them to play along was another option, and Dyran had agreed to help with it. Liriya prayed that he would be successful. She could only imagine Faelina’s face when she realized that the people she had been fooling were now fooling her back.

Liriya pulled herself out of her thoughts and turned to her best friend’s door. Inhaling deeply, she knocked.

Bianca and Kitty’s voices murmured to each other from inside, wondering who it could be. Liriya frowned.Is not she even expecting Gezer?

Then she heard Gezer’s voice. “I’ll get it,” he said, and Liriya was relieved to know that their courtship hadn’t fallen apart as she feared just a second ago.

The door opened and Gezer stood on the other side. He squinted, confusedly for a moment, before his eyes widened in realization.

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