Page 23 of Mermaid on Heels
Liriya stopped and turned to her, annoyed—which was surprising because she rarely lost her cool. “Ellatora, be serious. We have to meet with Prince Luke, and if making fools out of ourselves is the price, then yes, we will do it. If you do not want to be counted, you can stay back in the cave.”
Ella pursed her lips and looked away; she knew better than arguing with Liriya when she lost her cool.
“Good. Now, listen to me. This is our chance, and I believe meeting Bianca is a part of fate. We cannot just go up to the palace without knowing the way or attend the ball without knowinghowto attend it. We need help. We need afriendwho can help us. I believe Bianca is that friend.”
Ella looked up at the sky and heaved a deep sigh. “I get it, I am sorry I overreacted. But, we cannot deceive her, you know?”
“Of course we cannot, we will never do such a thing. We need to tell her the truth.”
“What?” Ella and Sessa nearly exclaimed in shock and looked at each other.
“It is our only chance; without telling her, we cannot get any help from her. We have already made her curious and maybe evensuspiciousabout us in an encounter of merely little time. So, if we are to spend the next two weeks until the ball in her company, we need to tell her.”
“B-but, we barely know her. How can we trust her? How can we know she will not betray our secret?”
Liriya smiled at Ella’s question. She had thought all this over while dealing with her awkwardness at Bianca’s house. “There is always a bright side; if we are exposed, we shall be reported to the prince and…” She let her sisters presume the rest.
Sessa was the first to respond, her eyes wide and bright. “Liriya, you are brilliant!”
Ella smirked at Liriya with a mischievous glint in her eyes. “Thank the Creator for a prince who is looking for a mermaid to marry.”
Liriya forced her eyes to roll. “I did not meanthat,” she said defensively. “We need his help to overthrow Faelina and break the spell.” At least, that was what she kept telling herself.
“Alright then, when are we going to do this?”
“Tomorrow, of course.”
Chapter 6
The next day, Liriya watched Bianca knead the dough for the bread for dinner. Though she had no idea whatkneadingthedoughmeant or what was abread, watching Bianca add the ingredients and mix them gave Liriya the impression that it was a tasty food, and she wished to know what it tasted like. As though reading her mind, when Bianca announced that she was making the bread for all five of them, Liriya felt strangely giddy.
The stew—a strange-colored liquid mixed with several vegetables, salt and spices, and something else—was brewing in the huge pot over the fire that Liriya was asked to stir occasionally. The aroma was so delicious and her mouth watered. The fire was astonishing to her, and so was the heat. Standing near the fiery bed, Liriya thought, it felt like they had a blazing sun in the room.
She had been mentally rehearsing her lines ever since she and her sisters arrived here, waiting for the right time to confront Bianca with the truth. However, Bianca was doing most of the talk, probably because Liriya was barely talkative yesterday, and they didn’t want to sit in awkwardness.
Therefore, when Bianca was done with her topic, Liriya blurted out the words before the summoned courage drained out of her.
“Bianca, there is something I—wewant to tell you.”
“What is it?” Bianca asked, looking up from her work, a little surprised. She had flour smudges on her cheekbone and on a dark red lock of hair that slipped from her pins; the sight amused Liriya slightly.
“I am sorry how I dodged your questions yesterday—”
“Liriya—”
“—and I could not help but feel bad. You are nice and kind and I want us to be good friends. Friends should be open with each other,knoweach other, and loyal; so I have decided to tell you everything,” Liriya hurried to explain.
Bianca stopped kneading the dough and turned to face Liriya fully. Despite the frown between her eyebrows, her eyes were alight. “Are you sure?”
“Positive.” Liriya turned back to the stew pot and stirred it once before stepping away and facing Bianca. She clasped her hands in front of her and took a deep breath. “Can you keep a secret?”
Bianca stifled a laugh at that. “I’m as silent as a grave, I promise.”
Whatever that was supposed to mean, thepromisewas all that Liriya wanted to hear.
“Alright.” She huffed out a long breath and rubbed her hands nervously, wishing Ella was here. But thebravemermaid decided to play with Sessa and Kitty and leave Liriya to handle the whole situation of truth revealing alone—not brave enough.
“This might freak you out a little, and I will definitely understand if you do not want to be my friend after this, though—”