Page 113 of Mermaid on Heels

Liriya scribbled down her reply.

She probably realized you were here and avoided the chances of coming face to face with you. Or maybe, she borrowed some other human’s appearance. And, this is Faelina we are talking about. While I do not know her well, from my experiences, I know she is clever.

Papa released a humorless chuckle. “She is impossible. And I wonder what will happen to her when we break the enchantment and stop her.” He paused before taking a deep breath and continuing, “But I do know one thing.”

Liriya craned her neck to look at him.What?

Papa looked down at her affectionately. “That, I am going to be your voice to fight back for what is yours when we get to this Lectoria of yours.”

Oh, Papa…Tears dampened Liriya’s eyes.

“Now, now.” Papa caught a lonely tear that slipped from her eye. “Tell your papa—sorry,writeyour papa all about your handsome king and everything that has happened since we last saw each other. I hope your fingers can handle that much?”

Liriya threw her head back and laughed tearfully at his light-hearted comment, despite her shock at his silent approval of her and her Luke. The next few hours passed as they sat on her bed and caught up on the times they had missed.

* * *

Queen Waverly set off to the siren kingdom of Valthimesia with Prince Dyran the very next day and requested an audience with the siren king.

King Valdemar of Valthimesia, to Liriya and Papa’s astonishment, agreed in making peace with a mer-kingdom. He offered to help save Pearltuna from the wayward siren—that was what they called the sirens with bad intentions like Faelina who didn’t stick on the good side—who had caused a historic mess.

Their royal library had ancient scrolls that contained information about Sirens with a unique bloodline, and he believed they would find a way to break Faelina’s spell with the knowledge contained in Valthimesia. King Valdemar therefore appointed a royal librarian to search for the information.

Liriya’s supposition about Faelina being raised by the wrong people was confirmed after learning about Wayward Sirens. Maybe there was even a coven of them out there, she thought. They ought to be captured.

The day after next, as planned, Liriya and her papa sailed with the Garbian royal family far away from the land, for a secluded meeting with the siren royals and Queen Waverly’s family who awaited them in the waters.

Liriya raised her chin and straightened her posture as she spotted the chorus of sirens from afar. She felt a thrill coursing through her body and slipped her hand, that didn’t hold her notebook and quill, into Papa’s. He held it tight, offering her an assuring smile.

This meeting was going to be a significant and historical event, and she couldn’t feel more privileged for having a part—a big role—in this.

Although bringing peace between all their three races was in the contract, this particular one, peace between Sirens and Merfolk, was more important and needed to be hastily done—with Liriya’s future at stake. Convincing the humans who believed them as myths would take more time, so they decided to come to it after Faelina was taken down.

However, the ship crew and the royal servants on board were now aware.

When they approached the sirens, greetings were exchanged and introductions were made. Then, Papa and the siren king made oaths of peace between their races. Once that was settled, King Valdemar revealed what they had found in their ancient scrolls, one that would help them to break Faelina’s enchantment and strip her off her power.

At the words,strip her off her power, Liriya’s eyebrows rose high. Her eyes traveled to Prince Dyran by instinct and met his gaze. He looked equally taken with this news.

“What will happen to the siren once she is stripped of her powers?” he asked King Valdemar.

Liriya noticed the stiffness on Prince Dyran’s shoulders. She wasn’t oblivious to the fact that he still cared for Faelina, he just didn’t want to admit it. After their conversation on the first day, Liriya had approached Dyran the day after he returned from the ocean, to ensure that she hadn’t upset him. He had smiled and assured her he was all right, apologizing for the misunderstanding caused by his action or words. Things between them had been good since then.

Liriya’s eyes went to him involuntarily every time Faelina was mentioned. And each time, his actions confirmed that his feelings for Liriya’s evil half-sister went deeper than any infatuation he claimed. Now, he was a heartbroken man trying to move on but failing.

“She will lose her voice, permanently,” King Valdemar answered him solemnly. Glancing at Papa he added, “It will be for the best, I assure you, and it is the only way. Or else, she will do even worse in vengeance, given the nature of Wayward Sirens.”

“We will do it,” Papa announced, and Liriya noticed how pained he sounded. “Besides the muteness, no physical harm will come to her, right?”

“According to what the scrolls say, no physical damage will come to her besides the muteness.”

Papa straightened. “Alright, then. What should we do?”

“To break the enchantment on your merfolk, you need to bring them all to the surface,” King Valdemar explained. “I have assigned my men to help you with that if you wish it, King Magnanimous. Each and every one of your people needs to break through the surface to undo the enchantment.”

Liriya’s jaw dropped. That was all? As simple asthat?

Here she was thinking that it was going to be a big deal, like finding a powerful object that Faelina extracted her power from and destroying it. But, of course, Faelina’s songs were her natural gift, not something she earned from witchcraft; so it made more sense than Liriya’s conjured up imaginings of destroying certain objects.

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