Page 96 of Mermaid on Heels
“Is she coming?” Aeira spun to face her with a strange look about her that Liriya couldn’t quite place. She was probably curious. “Your sister Faelina, I mean. After the announcement day as tradition, for your wedding?”
Liriya gaped at her, but Aeira simply shrugged. “I mean, it is obvious that Luke is completely into you, and Riley and I do not stand a chance. You are the only one he has been spending time with besides the meals, after all.”
She made it all sound casual, but the look in her eyes said otherwise.
“How do you know we spend time together besides the meals?” Liriya tried not to sound too shocked.
“I told you before, I am quite observant.” Aeira shrugged again, with a smile. “So, is your older sister coming? I am quite eager to meet her. From everything you have said, she sounds cool.”
“I do not recall talking about her other than on our first day.” Liriya narrowed her eyes at the brunette princess. “Unless you have been talking to my little sisters about us—but no, they would have told me if you did.”
“Would they?” Aeira asked in mock surprise before a smirk curled her lips, the same strange look crossing her face. She shook her head. “Oh, silly. I thought you were cleverer than this. But alas, I was wrong.”
Liriya was extremely confused now. “What?”
“Your big sisteriscoming for your announcement day, or perhaps for your wedding day.Or… I do not know.” Aeira gave a shrug of her shoulder and dropped her smirk into a frown. “She likes surprises, so her arrival should be unexpected.”
Liriya let out a snort-like laugh. “Aeira—”
Aeira let out a mocking gasp, interrupting Liriya, her eyes widening like a little girl’s. “Oh, wait! I almost forgot! In fact…” Her smirk returned, malicious this time, causing Liriya’s hairs to stand in awareness. “She is right here.”
Before Liriya’s mind could process what was happening, Aeira retrieved a familiar looking, bejeweled, hand-size mirror from her robe and said three words in a strange language, looking at it.
Then, the impossible happened.
Aeira’s figure began to morph in a way that was so surreal that it defied all reason and comprehension. She grew an inch before Liriya’s very sight. Her delicate, flushed skin paled and took on an unnatural, ethereal glow like Liriya’s.
The transformation continued, and the dark chestnut braid suddenly stretched, cascading like a waterfall until it reached her waist, now a stunning shade of pure white-blonde. Her dark brown eyes transformed into the deepest sapphire blue, shimmering with a sinister light. Then, her beautiful facial features began to shift and reshape themselves into a beauty of terrifying perfection.
Standing before Liriya now was no longer the princess of Garbia who had been concerned about her and confessed to having envied her for her sisterhood. This was her nightmare taking form, the source of her hatred in flesh and bones.
“Missed me, little sister?”
Chapter 21
Liriya was shocked into a prolonged silence. Both girls stared at each other, Liriya gaping in disbelief and Faelina smirking in triumph.
A moment later, Faelina broke the silence.
“I told you I like surprises—wait,” she paused and made a face. “Scratch that, I likesurprisingothers, not when someone surprisesme. I totally hate it; that is one thing you should know about me as my sister.”
Liriya was provoked by this statement to compose herself from the shock. She broke her silence, blood boiling in her veins. “You are not our sister, Faelina.”
“My, my,” Faelinatsked with a tilt of her head and smirked. “And here I was beginning to worry that a cat had got your tongue—wait,” she paused again, and pinched her brows together. “That is what humans say when one is dumbstruck, right? But—ouch!” She pressed a hand to her chest and faux-frowned. “Is that the first thing you have to say to your big sister you haven’t seen in about—what? Four months? Goodness!Fourmonths! Are you sure you didn’t miss me?”
Liriya glared, searching her head for a suitable retort for the infuriating being who shared her blood—unfortunately.
“Oh well, I don’t know about you butImissedme.” Faelina raised the mirror in the air. Looking at herself in it, she cooed at her reflection. “Oh, my pretty face, how I missed you.”
“Perhaps if you had not been stealing others’ faces—” Liriya paused as her eyes latched onto the mirror. She eyed it carefully. The carvings on its back and the encrusted tiny pearls made her gasp in realization. “That is the Mermaid’s Mirror—the artifact!”
Faelina looked at her from the mirror and grinned sweetly, as if receiving a compliment. “You are not a total fool, after all.”
“Sothiswas the dream you have been trying to pursue? The kingdom that you wanted? What about Pearltuna?” Liriya couldn’t believe it. All this time they thought she was ruling their home kingdom, she was right here with them, disguised as the princess of Garbia. With that thought, another question surfaced. “Where is the real Princess Aeira and what did you do to her?”
“Goodness, Liriya, one question at a time or else you and I will get into a confused tangle. Besides, I don’t like repeating myself—well, most of the time—andthatis the second thing you should note about me as my sister.” Faelina grinned again. “So, why don’t we take a seat and I start from the beginning?”
Liriya didn’t move.