Page 48 of Mermaid on Heels

Liriya was in awe, but she smiled back. His late mother impressed Liriya about her fierce love for a human, for whom she left behind her crown and her loved ones.

“Your mother sounded like a fierce mermaid.” She sighed smilingly. “She did not try to connect with her family after that?”

“She wanted to, but she feared her father. She couldn’t risk him hurting my father or get herself captured; let’s say my maternal grandfather was not the best parent. However, she did go to the sea with my father to swim; they both loved it. I do as well. The sea feels like my second home, although I couldn’t imaginemakingit one.”

Liriya laughed at his humor. “So that is why you can breathe underwater, because your mother is a mermaid and you are half merman. I must admit, that possibility did not cross my mind.”

Luke stared at her, stunned. “How do you know I can breathe underwater?”

She gave him a half smile. “The last time you were down there was two weeks ago, was it not?” When he nodded, she continued, “I was there, and I saw you.”

“What?” he whispered in disbelief.

“It is time for my story,” Liriya said, her smile turning into a solemn one. “I am sorry I did not tell you this earlier but, I am… I am the crown princess of Pearltuna.”

Luke kept staring at her for a moment before composing himself from the shock of her revelation. A teasing smile tugged at his lips. “Are you telling me that I’ve found myself a mermaid princess like my own mother who loves to break underwater rules?”

“No.” Liriya shook her head with a sad smile. “The mermaid you have found is a princess stripped from her crown and chased from her home when she refused to hand over her family’s artifact to her half-siren half-sister she did not know existed until her eighteenth birthday.”

Luke’s eyes widened. “I beg your pardon?”

Liriya told him everything that had happened from her eighteenth birthday to the day she first saw him underwater and how it all brought her here. Then she realized what she had gotten herself into.

She was the dutiful crown princess of her kingdom and her duty was to Pearltuna and Pearltuna alone. It was as though telling him her story pulled her out of whatever enchantment that had been cast between herself and him. She could think clearly now, and she didn’t know what she was doing here anymore.

Whyhadshe come to the surface and wanted to meet Luke? It was definitely not to seek his help; while she knew he was a rare human with the ability to breathe underwater, she knew he couldn’t help her overthrow Faelina—King or not.

Then, why?

Liriya knew the answer, it whispered around her brain, and it terrified her.

No.

Shehadn’tcome to see Luke because seeing him for the first time sparked a strange attraction and curiosity in her.

But the more she said that against the words whispering around her brain, she knew she was only deceiving herself.

Seaweed’s tangle, what is this?This and the strange sensations inside her whenever she heard his name mentioned or discussed him beforeandthe magnetic pull between them since seeing him on the balcony yesterday. It had only intensified since their dance.

Now, Luke believed she was the mermaid he had been looking for, the answer to his prayers. He told her that he saw their future in her eyes. He had made his intentions clearandhad chosen his bride.

Liriya couldn’t do this. As much as she wanted to give into the pull between them, found comfort and pleasure being in his arms and at how he looked at her, she couldn’t be his queen.

“I have to go.” Liriya dropped her hands from his that he had been holding the entire time. She shrugged off his coat and handed it back to him before stepping away, taking Luke by surprise at her unexpected action.

“Wait, Liriya.” Luke stopped her and looked down at her incredulously. “What’s wrong? Are you alright?”

Liriya withheld her sigh; the look in his eyes was tempting her to step back into his arms. “Do you want me to be honest with you?”

Luke searched her eyes before saying, “Yes.”

“I do not know what I am doing here. I do not even knowwhyI am here,” she confessed exasperatedly and threw her hands in the low air.

“Oh Liriya, but I do.” Luke’s eyes softened and he took a step forward to lessen the distance she had created. “The Creator sent you here, to me. I believe it.”

“That is the problem, Luke, I cannot be your bride; definitely not your queen, because my duty is to my kingdom, not yours, not here. I could not do it.” Liriya realized how harsh her words sounded—the opposite of how she intended it to be—the moment she saw hurt flashing in his eyes. But he composed himself as quickly as it appeared.

“Liriya, I admire your loyalty towards your people, but can you possibly bring down a powerful siren that has the entire kingdom under her control?”