Page 114 of Knight's End
“Disguise spells don’t change what you breathe,” Lizza retorted.
Avia looked stunned. “I have to stay like this?”
Lizza rolled her eyes. “I have to stay the most beautiful and powerful being under the sea? Try again. You won’t get any pity from me, Princess. You’re a queen down here now, you realize. With Mayi gone …”
Avia and I exchanged shocked glances. I’d known that the mer creatures considered themselves their own kingdom. I hadn’t realized they considered Mayi their queen.
“Now, why don’t you two sleep on things? We can talk about destiny in the morning.” She walked toward the door as she spoke.
I gathered Avia into a hug. Her eyes welled up. This was too much. I wished I had a shield and a freezing spell and a magical genius who could take all of this away from Avia and put it onto me instead.
My sister was only eighteen. She didn’t deserve this. Didn’t need this. Couldn’t handle this.
Sarding hell. I hugged her closer. I’d never felt more powerless. I opened my mouth and turned toward the undead hedgewitch, about to demand that she spend the night brainstorming solutions with me so that we could spare Avia.
But Lizza grabbed a bit of dirt from one of her pouches and tossed it toward us. Avia fell backward, eyes closed, sleep upon us both before I could say another word.
The next morning, everyone was feeling better and we gathered in the royal sitting room for breakfast, just outside Avia’s bedroom. Apparently, Lizza had found my knights and given them the same enchanted dirt sleep. Only, she’d let them fall over on Avia’s floor instead of having them climb into a bed somewhere first.
General Enderson joined us for breakfast, reporting that the castle was secure, the mer creatures seemed to accept Avia’s rule, that the gargoyles were running amok out front, stomping all over the place as siren men tossed sea stars for them to catch.
“I’ve also gathered up those who wish to get that peace you offered,” the general said after he slurped up some cooked seaweed. “The others will head home today. Except for Posey, of course.” Enderson nodded toward Avia. “Got a half-flower sprite in the ranks. She’d like to stay and help for a bit, she says. Says there’s a bit of half-sprite stuff that you need to know.”
Avia’s eyebrows lifted, but unlike me, she didn’t blurt out the first thing that came into her head. She smiled. “That sounds wonderful.”
Wonderful? What the sarding hell? I leaned forward to talk to her but then an entire group of people walked in. Blue arrived. Posey entered. Two giggling mermaids with pink tails served us a breakfast of clams on a table made out of the side of a shipwreck.
Blue came over and gave me a kiss on the forehead. Then pulled out a chair carved out of orange sea sponge and sat, saying, “Couldn’t find your spy.” He shoved aside a candelabra that somehow magically danced with flames as he grabbed a platter of clams and dragged it closer to himself. He ate ravenously.
My other knights immediately pelted me with questions. We hadn’t discussed the stranger in the aftermath of everything.
I set down my clam gently and thought, ignoring their words as Blue projected my request yesterday to the rest of them.
My mind felt heavy as I tried to think about it. Everything had happened so fast. Had I really seen someone? Or had I just imagined it? I tried to remember the man from yesterday, to pull up his image in my head. But I couldn’t. I sighed and set my hand on Blue’s. “I’m sorry. I think … maybe I …”
He put his hand over mine and leaned in. He kissed my cheek. “Don’t worry, Bloss. We were all at our wit’s end yesterday.”
When I turned back to the conversation at the table, Avia and Declan were having a heated debate.
“I will not use you or any of the knights. You all belong with Bloss. Besides, I’m eighteen. I’m not a child.” Avia glared at him.
“I’m not saying—”
Avia interrupted Declan and turned to me. “Weren’t you always saying I’d make a great queen?”
I hesitated, but seeing the fury color her cheeks, I quickly tried to appease her. “Well, yes.”
“Well, welcome to my realm.” She lifted her hands. “I’m stuck here—due to a shite need to breathe water—so I’ve decided, may as well rule the place.”
We all erupted into laughter.
But Avia stood. “I’m serious. I thought over what Lizza said. This is my birthright. I might not have known it before, but now I do.” Her wings fanned out behind her, gorgeous and translucent, with just streaks of orange and purple. Her scales glinted in the glowing lights. In that moment, she looked more than royal. She looked magical.
But she was my little sister. She hadn’t known until last night that she had any power at all. She hadn’t trained all her life. She had no idea what she was getting into.
“Avia,” I told her, “Trust me, you don’t want to be queen.”
My little sister narrowed her eyes. “Don’t tell me what to do, Bloss. If I want to be queen, I’ll be queen.”
