Page 37 of Mermaid on Heels
Bianca’s eyes stared at Liriya through her mask. “You just… you just spoke like adanghuman!”
A wide smile stretched across Liriya’s face at Bianca’s words and her eyes absently went up to the elevated platform. King Luke was still watching her. Her heart did a backflip and she averted her gaze from him.
It landed on an older, beautiful woman at his left, dressed regally and clad in jewels, her graying dark hair pulled in an intricate updo, wearing a blue mask over her eyes that matched her gown.
Is she his mother?Liriya had never asked Bianca anything about the king more than she knew. She had always been hesitant to bring up the subject and let the urge to know more subside.
Her eyes then caught a young man she recognized as Cedric approaching the woman and kissing her cheek, before moving towards his brother and occupying a less grand chair on his right. He wore a black mask now and leaned over to whisper something in his brother’s ear, distracting his attention from Liriya.
Liriya turned away immediately and let her ears strain to hear their conversation, as hard as possible, amid the sound of the music and the restarted chatter of the crowd—then paused. It was rude to eavesdrop; she had eavesdropped on the brothers once and she should not do it again, as much as she wanted to know what they were talking about. To know if they were discussingher.
“What am I going to do when someone asks me to dance?” Liriya asked Bianca anxiously, avoiding looking at the king again.
“You mean, the king?” Bianca smirked with a raised eyebrow.
Liriya stifled her groan. She was teasing her.
“You can always tell him you can’t dance; that, the times you ever danced, you fell and twisted your ankle and dragged your partner along with you in the collision.”
Liriya’s eyes narrowed playfully at her best friend. “That is not true.”
“No, but you asked mewhat to do. I was merely answering that.”
Liriya heaved a sigh. “Then I think I will tell him—or anyone who asks—that Icannotdance.” She let her gaze wander all over the ballroom and realized that she had never laid her eyes on anything so lavish before.
Her eyes stopped on a certain young woman across the room and their eyes locked.
Liriya offered her a small smile out of politeness, but the girl’s face was grim. She was dressed elegantly in a golden gown, her dark hair was done in a half-up half-down way with pearls woven through her long tresses like Bianca had done with Liriya’s and her own.
Even though she wore a golden mask that obscured half of her face, Liriya could tell that the girl was exceptionally beautiful, more than anyone else in the room. Something sparked in the back of her mind.
Was this Princess Aeira of Garbia, the one known for her beauty and discussed among the people of Lectoria?
The longer their eyes locked, the icier the other girl’s stare grew. Liriya looked away and nudged Bianca gently in the ribs. “I think I found Princess Aeira. And you are right, she looks like a monkey.”
“Where? Which one?”
“That one in the golden gown across the room.”
Liriya kept her gaze averted from the foreign princess, wondering why she glared at her.She probably saw you as competition, that is all.Her inner-self said and she rolled her eyes mentally at it.
Suddenly the music stopped. The dancers swaying in the middle paused midway. Liriya’s eyes followed everyone’s gaze to the wide staircase and saw King Luke standing on the platform in all his kingly glory—except no crown.
That was when Liriya noticed that no other girl was announced into the room after the triplets and a few after them. She was pretty sure there were a lot of them in the line when she and Bianca left. Where were all of them?
“My beloved people of Lectoria and my friends from our neighboring countries who are present here today to celebrate the new era of our kingdom,” King Luke began. “I stand here, yet again humbled and immersed by your love and support. Thank you, to all of you who have come to partake in this moment. On this day, since I rose to the throne without a partner, as tradition, I am to choose my bride—your future queen—from all these lovely candidates present. I’m not ashamed to admit that I am overwhelmed.”
He laughed, eliciting a chorus of laughter from the crowd that died out as immediately as it rose, eager to listen to the king’s next words.
“I am overwhelmed, as any man would be at a time like this, but I trust in the Creator. We have a few more hours before I announce the elites and end this event. Every candidate in this room is a true beauty to themselves, and I pray to the Creator that, among them will be the one I’m looking for. The woman after my own heart; the one who would make me the luckiest man than I would make her because of my title, the one who will see me for who I am and notwhatI am, and would love me like my mother loved my father—may they rest in peace.”
“May they rest in peace,” the crowd repeated, and some womenawwwedat his words.
“For, a woman who would love me truly will love our kingdom as much as I do and will stand beside me through all highs and lows, I believe. And, to all the single men present in this room I want to say, this is your night as it is mine; find your woman from all the candidates present. I declare myself ready for my first dance.”
King Luke descended the stairs with effortless grace and Liriya’s eyes followed his every movement. When he reached the bottom, he turned to his right where Princess Aeira and other foreign princesses stood. They all sent him sweet smiles, fluttering their fans below their noses with poised grace. The young king dipped his head at them in a respectful bow and whirled around, turning to meet his left, where the candidates from his own kingdom stood.
The entire room had fallen into a hush, eagerly watching the king picking his first dance partner. Every girl in the first row immediately straightened their backs and Liriya literallyheardtheir smiles as they patted their hair, faces, and gowns to make extra sure they were presentable.