Page 109 of Mermaid on Heels

“What in all of Garbia are you talking about, Aeira?” King Titan asked as he approached. Queen Waverly enveloped Aeira in a hug as Prince Dyran stepped back rather unwillingly.

Aeira returned her worried mother’s hug before pulling away and answering her father. She motioned a hand towards Liriya whom none of them seemed to have noticed until now.

“If it wasn’t for Princess Liriya, I would have been in an underwater prison at this precise moment, perhaps even till my very last breath, and none of you would’ve known! I cannot believe how the three of you didn’t recognize my imposter and thought it was the real me whileIwas underwater all this time and never set foot in Lectoria!”

Aeira was fuming. Liriya realized that she couldn’t accept how her family was unable to tell apart her duplicate.

Queen Waverly turned to glance at Liriya and her eyes widened slightly—probably recognizing her mermaid traits. She turned back to Aeira. “Starfish, what are you talking about?”

Aeira sighed. “I was kidnapped by a siren.”

Queen Waverly gasped aloud. “What?”

Aeira glanced at her brother who looked aghast, and continued, “My new lady’s maid was apparently a siren, and we never knew. Her real name is Faelina, not Felicia, and she’s Princess Liriya’s evil half-sister—half-siren and half-mermaid.”

Prince Dyran’s gaze snapped to Liriya and she nodded, whether he was looking at her for confirmation or not.

“She knew witchcraft and she used an ancient artifact that she stole from Liriya to transform into my replica. She had her men—ourmen who were under her spell—to kidnap me, and her mermen—Liriya’smermen—to throw me in an underwater prison. What did she want with that? She wanted to rule a kingdom on land and Lectoria was her best shot. My form turned out to be her key, and when I refused to attend the selection, it shattered her plan to make it there as my lady’s maid.

“Right now, she’s duplicating Liriya at Luke’s castle because Liriya was Luke’s choice for his bride and she wanted it to be her. Whatever letter you received from poor Luke, the Aeira who went missing is actually Liriya. Faelina had her lady’s maid and guards under her spell—probably all the Lectorian guards too, that must be why they didn’t know anything—to kidnap Liriya and dump her in the prison with me. But she saved us both rather heroically. And, here we are!

“Oh, and by the way, Liriya is a mermaid, Crown Princess of Pearltuna. She can’t speak now, because Faelina stole her voice when she took the transformation. My voice was stolen too, over a month now as far as I calculated it, and I got my voice back just a few days ago when the witch dropped my replica to take Liriya’s.”

The shock was palpable. The royal family was dumbstruck at Aeira’s words, their eyes darting between the two girls. But it was Prince Dyran who seemed to have the most difficult time. He was one-sided in love with Faelina, according to Aeira.He must be heartbroken,Liriya thought and she pitied the prince who was glaring down at the floor.

Behind them stood a few older men, assumedly lords, by the dais and murmuring to each other. They glanced at Aeira as though she had lost her mind.

Of course,Liriya thought sarcastically.We are a myth to them.

“Thank you, Princess Liriya, for everything you did for our Aeira. How can we ever repay you?” King Titan broke the silence, glancing at Liriya sincerely.

Liriya smiled awkwardly and shrugged, and the king suddenly remembered she couldn’t talk. His eyes widened.

“Oh! Forgive me, Princess, I apologize for not remembering that you have lost your voice.”

Liriya nodded with a gentle smile, to assure him it was alright.

Aeira spoke for her. “Actually, thereissomething we can do for her, but food first. We both are starving.”

King Titan glanced at one of the guards at the door and sent him to the kitchen, to tell the servants to bring them food into the dining room.

Liriya and Aeira set off to the dining room with Aeira’s family behind them. When they entered, the servants were setting food on the table. Aeira led Liriya towards a chair when, suddenly, there was a gasp, followed by the sound of something tumbling to the floor.

Liriya’s head snapped up to see what had happened and paused in her tracks. A familiar pair of aquamarine eyes met hers across the room. It was an older man in servants’ uniform, looking outwardly familiar to her.

He froze in the middle of the room and stared at her wildly, a hundred emotions crossing his face.

“Liriya?”

At the sound of his voice, recognition clicked into place. Liriya’s eyes bulged out of their sockets.

This is impossible,she thought.

Because standing before her on the other side of the grand dining table was the man she had long believed to be dead, quite unrecognizable with his typically long hair and beard trimmed.

Papa?

Chapter 24

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