Page 58 of Mermaid on Heels
“He was nice.” Sessa giggled.
“And handsome,” Ella added shyly.
“Oh no,” Sessa’s head shot up from Liriya’s chest and she looked at Ella. “Youcannot fall in love with a human, too.”
“Sessaletta!” Ella gasped and admonished her. “I was not going to!”
Liriya laughed heartily at their refreshing banter. “Even if she does, we have another sister who can be the queen of Pearltuna, right Sessa?”
Sessa shrugged uncertainly. “I think we do?”
“Of course you do. Now let us go to sleep.” Liriya dropped her arms from them and slid off the bed to arrange it. “Seems like Kitty is going to sleep with Bia,” she said amusedly, unintentionally listening to a helpless Bianca telling herballroom adventuresto Kitty. “So you, little Sessa-fish, are going to sleep with us.”
Sessa’s face brightened with a grin, and while Liriya thought it was because she was finally getting to sleep with them, she spoke and proved her wrong. “And tomorrow night, we are going to sleep in anairycastle.”
Liriya burst into a fit of chuckles. “Airy castle it is.”
* * *
The next morning, when Liriya was helping Bianca prepare their breakfast and updating her about her time with Luke and his story—where she freaked out silently to know that their late queen was a mermaid and their new king can breathe underwater—she heard the sound of the hooves and carriage wheels halting outside their courtyard.
Liriya shot up from her chair, where she sat peeling the potatoes clumsily. “Cedric is here!”
“Oh no, is it nine already?” Bianca wiped her hands on her apron hastily. “I forgot to keep up with the time. Oh Liriya, you three aren’t ready yet!”
“It is alright Bia, we overslept out of exhaustion and anyone can understand that.” Liriya strode out of the kitchen with Bianca at her heels when there came a knock at the door. “You go and let him in. I will go get the girls ready.”
Not waiting for a response, Liriya dashed upstairs inelegantly, as carefully and fast as she could. She should ask Cedric to add stair climbing to their tutoring sessions. Shehadmastered the noble human art of walking, but there was dancing and running yet to learn.
Liriya stumbled into their room and caught hold of the door in time before her legs tangled and she fell face-first into the floor.
“Careful!” her sisters and Kitty sang together, jumping to their feet to aid her.
“I am alright.” Liriya panted, trying to catch her breath. “I am alright, but Cedric is here. We need to get ready.”
“Already?” Ella cried. “I am not ready!”
“Well, get ready now. We cannot make him wait!”
After a fuss of almost fifteen minutes, Liriya led her sisters downstairs with Bianca and Kitty right behind them, dressed in the finest clothes they had purchased—though not close to the fancy ones theyshouldbe wearing for a trip to the castle as princesses. Liriya had a bag hung from her shoulder that she had borrowed from Bianca, with hers and her sisters’ sea-jewelry that Bianca refused to take when she gave it to her. Aside from that, they had nothing else to pack.
When they landed at the foot of the stairs, Bianca pulled Ella into a hug, then Sessa, and at last Liriya. “Promise you’d write to us, atleasttwice a week.”
Liriya sighed as she hugged Bianca back, closing her eyes as they watered. “It is only going to be for two weeks, but I promise. Do write back.”
“I will.” Bianca squeezed her and pulled away to look at her. “And hey, as much as I’d miss you terribly, I’m crossing my fingers that youwon’tcome back.” She winked.
Liriya knew exactly what that meant and her heart skipped a beat. Nevertheless, she gave her a small smile. “I will miss you too. And I want you to know that I have never had a friend like you, Bianca Bartholomew. You are the truest friend a girl could ever ask for—especially a mermaid-turned-human.”
Bianca gave a gentle laugh and hugged her again. “Thank you, for—”
“Do not even start—”
“—for everything,” Bianca finished and pulled away, touching the sleeve to her eyes to catch the tears. “You should go. He’s waiting.”
Liriya stepped back from their hug. “I will come back—wewill come back, I promise.” She then turned to Kitty who, unlike her sister, was barely composed with tears streaming down her cheeks and hugged by Ella and Sessa from either side. One look at them, Liriya realized how close as a family they had become in mere two weeks; they were more than friends to each other. They were sisters.
Liriya drew level with Kitty, her own eyes watered, and opened her arms for her. Kitty immediately threw herself into her and hugged her neck. After promising they would meet soon, Liriya rose and wiped away her fallen tears.