Page 3 of Mermaid on Heels
“Papa, who is she? How do you know her? Why is she calling youfather?” Liriya demanded Papa, her voice shaking from fear and the emotions she couldn’t register.
Papa tore his eyes from Faelina to Liriya, still frozen. He opened his mouth to speak but closed it, opened again and closed it. Taking time to compose himself, he found his voice, diverting his gaze to the siren who had a mocking smirk on her lips.
“It cannot be. This is not possible.”
“Oh, I am sorry but itis.” Faelina sneered at him. “She died giving birth to me and gave me her name. Let me guess, you did not know she was pregnant.”
Liriya’s wild and wide eyes snapped to Papa. “Papa, what is she talking about?”
“Silly, I told you I am your half sis—” Faelina paused as she turned to Liriya and saw Ella and Sessa behind her. “Oh,hey!You two must be my baby sisters, Ella and Sessa! I guess this is a long-awaited family reunion after all, so let me fill you in with everything. Why not we all take a seat?”
No one moved.
“If you do not want to, suit yourself then.” Faelina shrugged and began, “So, your kingly father here—oh pardon me,ourfather—fell in love with a siren before he was married to your mother. However, you know, they were caught and were forced to separate because, of course, he was the only heir to the throne of Pearltuna and could not disgrace his family. The siren, my poor mother, learned that she was with his child; but there was no way she could inform him. I mean, the stupid enchanted pearls you Merfolk have in your borders prevented her from sneaking in. Therefore, she gave birth to me and died right after giving me her name,Faelina.
“Our father here did not know any of this, and of course, I do not blame him that I was raised an orphan all my life instead of a princess in a castle—thiscastle. He got married a year later and had you three. And it looks like you have been living a pretty, happy life until this moment. Scared about our future now, are we?”
Faelina released a malicious laugh.
“I wanted happiness too, in my own way, and that is why I came here. Oh, I did not want to try fitting into the family, not at all—wait!I almost forgot! You are definitely wondering how I got past the enchanted pearls in the border that wassupposedto burn Sirens, right? Perquisites of being a half-blood, you see.” She smirked smugly. “Alright, back to my reason for coming here; since I am somewhat a princess, I wanted a kingdom too. I have been trying to pursue that dream for a very long time now, and what I need to achieve that dream is here—in your right hand, Liriya.”
Liriya gripped the artifact tighter and gritted her teeth to control herself.
Faelina shot her a sweet smile and turned to Papa. “I promise I was polite, but your daughter is an arrogant princess. She refused to hand over the artifact. How selfish of her! She is actually sitting onmythrone, and she refused me, crushing my dreams of becoming a ruler myself, of my dream kingdom—and that is certainly notthisone. Overthrowing you or her or enchanting these people was never on my list, not unless my request was rejected, of course. And now, I am ticked off, pushed to my edgeandrejected—the fault is your precious daughter Liriya’s.”
Liriya looked at Papa and saw him dumbstruck and helpless. She had never seen that look on his face, magnanimous as his name, before. He was a great ruler and a loving father, he always knew what to say at the right time; he was wise and intelligent, the one she could always count on, and did justice for his people. Why was he silent in front of this siren, unknown daughter or not, who had put his wife and his people under her spell?
That evoked another thought in Liriya; how did Merfolkfallunder her spell? Siren songs never affected Merfolk. Moreover, why were just the four of them spared from the enchantment? Was it Faelina’s doing?
As though reading her mind, Faelina spoke, “And in case you are wondering how my song worked on your merfolk, let us call it another perquisite of being a half-blood, shall we? And the reason why you four were spared is because we share the same blood—my apologies for your mother, by the way. I could not enchant my own blood, unfortunately, or else I would have simply enchanted you, Liriya, and gotten my artifact. But where would be all the fun? I love playing!”
“You look like her.”
Liriya’s eyes snapped to Papa and saw him looking at Faelina with compassion and love in his aquamarine eyes. Blood boiled in her veins. She didn’t like that look a bit.
“Ohplease,do not flatter me.” Faelina spat at him, her voice malicious and cold.
Her response strangely calmed Liriya. Call her jealous and selfish, Liriya didn’t care; she didn’t want Papa showing any empathy to this vile being who had ruined her special day and put her mother and her people under a spell.
“I am not here for any of your fatherly affection or concern.” Faelina snorted. “I am past that.”
Papa flinched slightly at Faelina’s unkind words and Liriya saw the hurt flashing in his eyes. She immediately regretted what she felt.
Papa composed himself. “Forgive me, I made a mistake; you are not like Faelina. She was quite your opposite.”
Whether he touched a nerve or not, Faelina’s eyes narrowed at him for a fraction. Then, she lifted her chin in pride. “I am here for the artifact.”
“You will not have it.”
Liriya held her family’s precious possession to her side and felt Ella clasp a hand over hers protectively from behind.
Faelina jutted out her chin with mock confusion on her beautiful face. “Oh, I will not?”
“No.”
“Watch me.” She seethed before calling out, “Guards! Seize them!”
Liriya’s eyes darted around them and panicked as she saw the guards—theirguards—swimming towards them. Papa glided over to her and her sisters swiftly and held them protectively against him. Sessa began sniffling and clung to him.