Page 36 of Mermaid on Heels
“No—I mean,yes.” Liriya released a laugh, shaking her head slightly. “Let us say, friends talk for each other.”
Cedric snorted with a sarcastic roll of his eyes, all while smiling, and glanced down at his book to write down her name. “What was it again?”
“Lady Liriyalda of Pearltuna.”
Cedric’s gaze shot up to meet hers, this time filled with shock and surprise as though he didn’t catch it the last time. Questions displayed in his eyes and Liriya wondered whether her name or the name of her kingdom that shocked him.
“What are you waiting for, Ced? Write it down and let the lady be on her way. We have a long line behind her,” the old man said and stifled a yawn against the back of his hand. He rose from his chair and pushed it backwards. “I’m going to get some wine.”
Cedric composed himself and looked aside at the man. “Oh, and please ask Gregory to take over my post. I’m bored with this book and quillandI don’t want to miss Luke’s torture,” he added the last part in an undertone but Liriya heard him. She remembered the conversation of the brothers from the shore and recalled Luke detesting the idea of being forced to pick a bride. She assumed Cedric was referring to that.
“Thought books were thelovesof your life, though,” the old man muttered under his breath and moved towards the exit.
When the man was out of earshot, Cedric turned to her in wide-eyed awe. “Pearltuna? Are you really?”
“Y-you know?” Liriya stuttered in disbelief.
“Of course.” He dipped the quill in the inkwell and wrote down her name before meeting her eyes with a soft, secretive smile, as if they held a secret between them. “My brother will be pleased to meet you, milady. Good luck tonight.”
How does he know?Liriya wondered as she moved out of the line towards the exit, offering him a polite smile and waiting until Bianca joined her. When she did, the guard who stood outside navigated them towards the ballroom.
Chapter 9
“Lady Liriyalda of Pearltuna!”
Liriya stood at the top of the wide staircase, sweating, her heart pounding against her ribcage. She had a death grip on her fan as she fell into a curtsey before the king who sat in a grand chair with a tall back—is that the human royals’ throne?—on the elevated platform across the expansive hall.
His eyes were fixated on her through his gold and blue mask, and like yesterday, the oxygen was sucked from her lungs. If this was her condition with his mere attention on her, how in the sea—earth—was she going to survive when she came face to face with him? She was one of his candidates now, for goodness’s sake, and if he asked for a dance…
Oh, no,Liriya thought. She couldn’t dance. But the real question was,couldshe turn down a king, say no to his face in front of all his people?
From the way he was looking at her—since the moment she stepped into the line of his sight through the regal doorway into the elevated platform set for the candidates’ entrance, even before her name was announced—she was somehow certain he would ask her for a dance.
Liriya rose from the curtsey and met his ocean-blue eyes again. The smallest of smiles trembled the corner of her lips and she didn’t fight it. She gathered her skirts and descended the steps slowly with caution; the last thing she wanted was to trip and tumble down the stairs.
When Liriya was halfway down the stairs, the herald announced Bianca.
“Miss Bianca Bartholomew of Ornwall!”
Reaching the foot of the stairs, Liriya looked up at King Luke once more before turning back to see her friend’s entrance. Bianca’s cheeks looked like the color of the apples from her backyard. When she reached Liriya, Bianca linked their arms and fanned her face.
“I swear I’ve never had so many eyes looking at me in my entire life before. Let’s move aside before I collapse. There, to that refreshment table—I need a drink.”
That was when Liriya noticed it. Every pair of eyes in the room—even the ones of the couples that swayed in dance in the middle—was now on the two of them. The entire room had fallen into silence except for the music.
Liriya hadn’t acknowledged the presence of a multitude in the room since locking her eyes with the king when she entered. Heat surged up her neck, spreading onto her face, and she bet her face looked exactly like her friend’s now. Even as the herald announced the next candidates into the room, the eyes of the crowd still lingered on the two of them, in awe and admiration.
“Lady Hannah, Lady Fanny, and Lady Donnie Barrenwood of Ornwall.”
Liriya tore her eyes from the crowd and looked at the triplet sisters who descended the stairs together, their chins held high and eyes on the king with sugary smiles.
Bianca tugged at her arm and led them to the nearest refreshment table.
“Why are they all looking at us as though they have not seen two girls before?” Liriya murmured to Bianca as every young woman they shouldered past stared their way.
“Because my friend, we are wearing something they’ve never seen before. Oh heavens, I’m going to regret the idea of bringing my imaginations to life.” Bianca reached for a glass of wine from the long table that was filled with wine glasses.
“Do not,” Liriya admonished her with narrowed eyes. “They admire it.Andmy friend, let us call this the start of your dream business. After all, what did you say balls are for? Socializing, partner-hunting, and political advances, right? I am sure business can be born out of it, too.”