It took Aislin a moment to realize Liv was joking. “You’re being silly.”
Liv laughed. “I know! Isn’t it so much more fun than not being silly?”
“Are you sure you have to have this party?”
“You don’t understand. I want to have this party. I can’t wait.”
“But…why?”
“Because it’s my party.” Liv grinned. “It’s my day. It’ll be like I’m the king.”
“Don’t you mean queen?”
Liv shook her head. “No.”
“I hope I never have a twelfth birthday party.”
“You don’t mean that. Once you see how much fun mine is, you won’t be able to wait for your own.”
“I don’t think so.”
“You know what will get you in the mood?” She waited, and when Aislin didn’t reply, she said, “A new dress!”
Aislin looked down at the dress she was wearing. “What’s wrong with mine?” It had a few little rips and some smudges, but it seemed fine.
“There’s nothing wrong with it for doing this,” Liv said. “But for a party you have to have a new dress.”
“If you say so.”
“Of course, I do. It’s my party, and I get to have it just how I want.” Her smile drooped a little. “Mostly, anyway. I saw a man with a trained bear down at the park, but Mommy—I mean Mother, I’m too old to call her Mommy now—said absolutely not when I asked if he could bring the bear to the party to do tricks.”
“That sounds fun.”
“See? You’re already liking this. C’mon.” She grabbed Aislin’s hand and tugged on her. “You’re going to love getting a new dress. It’s going to be so much fun.”
Aislin pulled her hand away. “Maybe another day, okay? Can we just play for a while instead?”
For the next few bells they played. It was almost like old times, except that Liv kept bringing up her party over and over, and Aislin really didn’t want to think about it. Finally, she told her friend she needed to go back down to the sea and practice with Seaforce some more.
A servant fetched Treylen. There was a carriage waiting to take them back to the sea. Once they got out of the carriage, she took off for the water. She walked in until the water was up to her knees, and then she simply stood there and stared into the waves. Within moments she could see Seaforce, within and somehow behind the water itself. It was a deep, emerald green color, so bright and strong it was practically vibrating. An almost imperceptible hum came from it. Standing there, she had a feeling of limitless power just waiting there for her to reach out and take it.
She pulled at the Seaforce, and it came free of the water easily, a glowing fog that shimmered above the waves. She raised her hands and began to shape the power into an orb. She realized she didn’t really need her hands for what she was doing. They weren’t actually necessary at all. It was all something she did with her mind. But using her hands made it easier somehow.
“Easy now,” she heard Treylen say from behind her.
She pressed in on the glowing orb, packing the power tighter. It crackled and sputtered, and she could feel it trying to escape her grasp. It was like holding onto a living thing. She bit her lip, concentrating. The more she pressed in on it, the harder it was to control.
But then, out of nowhere, something she hadn’t thought of suddenly occurred to her. Brecken will be at the party.
That was all it took…
The orb slipped away from her. She grabbed for it, almost got it back under control—
There was a flash of green light and a sudden shockwave of power.
Treylen yelled. She turned to see him slapping at sparks in his hair. Once they were out, he said, “I thought you talked to Liv.”
“I did.”
“Are you still fighting?”
“No.”
“Then what’s wrong?”
Aislin looked away. “I don’t know. Nothing.”
“Are you sure?”
She picked off some seaweed that was stuck to her leg and tossed it out into the water. “I don’t think I’m going to go to the party.”
He frowned, then his expression smoothed as he figured out what she was talking about. “The princess is having her twelfth birthday party.” Aislin nodded. “And naturally she wants her best friend there.”
“She says I have to wear a new dress and everything.”
“That explains a lot,” he said, ruefully rubbing the burned patch in his hair. “Why don’t we stop for the day? While I still have some hair left.”
Aislin set her jaw. “I can do this.”
“I know you can. But it’s been a long day, and it’s late. There’s always tomorrow. I can’t help you if I’m unconscious.”
Aislin looked down at the waves breaking over her legs. Usually when she was near the water her thoughts felt clear. But right now they felt all muddy. She was excited about the party and terrified of it at the same time. The thought that Brecken would be there was terribly confusing. She both wished he wouldn’t be and hoped he would be.
Without looking at Treylen, she asked him, “How come you never got married? Had kids and stuff?”
He was quiet for a while before answering. “I think I’m married to the sea. There’s not room for other women.”
Aislin thought about this for a bit. “That’s the way it should be.”
“Why?”
She didn’t have any answer to that. Shortly thereafter her mother showed up. She touched Aislin’s hair gently and asked, “How did it go today?”
Aislin shrugged. Treylen said, “Aislin tried to give me a haircut.”
Netra looked at the burned patch in his hair. “There’s probably safer ways of getting a haircut.” She had a little smile on her face when she said it.
“Aislin is a little distracted by the party, I think,” Treylen said. Aislin frowned at him, but it was too late.
“You’re going to go to Liv’s party after all?” Netra asked. “Did you two make up?”
“We played,” Aislin admitted. “I told her I might go to the party.”
“We’ll have to get you a new dress. A girl’s twelfth birthday party is kind of a big deal.”
“You too?” Aislin said. “What is it with people and dresses?”
“Usually people like to wear nice clothes to parties.”
“Well, I don’t know if I will. I think maybe parties are dumb. I might change my mind about going.”
“No one’s forcing you to go to the party,” Netra said. “It’s your choice.”
“I know that,” Aislin snapped. She turned away. “Liv is really excited about it. It’s all she talks about.”
They went to Treylen’s hut and ate a simple evening meal. When they were done, Netra asked Aislin, “Do you think tomorrow night you’ll be ready to stay in our home again? At the Tender estate?”
Aislin thought about it. “I guess.”
“It’s a lot closer to Liv.”
The next morning when they went down to the sea, Treylen said, “For today, why don’t we practice a little differently? I want you to try taking hold of very small amounts of Seaforce.”
“I’ll need a lot to fight Lowellin,” Aislin reminded him.
“That’s true. But what if he’s in a roomful of people? What if your mother or Liv are nearby?”
Aislin frowned as it occurred to her what he was saying. “They could get hurt.”
“That’s right. There are times when it’s better to be able to use a small amount of Seaforce, directed to the right spot than it is to let loose with a lot.”
For the rest of the morning Aislin practiced summoning very small quantities of Seaforce, orbs the size of marbles. She started with only one, making it dance through the air. It was actually fun.
“Look,” she told Treylen. “I can do this with my eyes closed.” And she did, making the tiny orb fly around them faster and faster, then flinging it out over the sea and letting it explode in a tiny spray of light
.
After that she added others, two, three, four, holding them aloft as if she were juggling them.
“Impressive,” Treylen said. “Can you shoot them one at a time at different things?”
“I think so.”
“Hit that rock,” he said, pointing at a large rock down the beach.
Aislin concentrated. She chose one of the orbs and willed it to fly at the rock, while holding the rest where they were.
It worked. Mostly, anyway. The one she fired struck the rock all right, knocking a flake of stone away as it detonated, but then she lost control of two of the remaining orbs, and one shot by Treylen’s head, a little too close for comfort.
Aislin practiced on and off for the rest of the day and got to the point where she could reliably control six of the little orbs of Seaforce at once and fire them off rapidly at different targets.
“I don’t think I have anything left to teach you,” Treylen said. “All you need now is practice.”
“Good. Because I want to go see Liv again tomorrow.”
Randel came walking across the beach toward them. The young guard was shaking his head in disbelief. “That was sure something to see,” he said. “Is there anything you can’t do?”
“She learns fast,” Treylen said.
“Your mother sent me to fetch you,” Randel said. “Are you ready to head back up to the estate?”
Chapter Nineteen
“Go up the stairs,” the servant said. “Turn right at the top and go to the first hallway on your left. I saw the princess down there talking with some other children not two minutes ago.”
Aislin paused. Other children? Maybe she should have gone to the sea instead. Maybe today wasn’t a good day.
“Would you like me to show you, miss?” the woman asked, misunderstanding her hesitation as confusion.
“No. I can find her.” Aislin hurried away.
At the top of the stairs she hesitated again. She didn’t really want to meet any other children. If Liv was busy, she could come back another time. She didn’t want to bother her.
But when she looked back down the stairs she saw the servant woman standing there looking up at her, and she didn’t want to answer the woman’s questions if she left, so she turned back and continued on.
When she got to the hallway the woman had told her about, she stopped and peeked around the corner. There was Liv all right, halfway down the hall with several other girls that Aislin didn’t recognize. Liv said something that Aislin couldn’t hear, and the others all laughed. She wondered what they were laughing about. Then she wondered if they were laughing at her.
One of the girls looked to be about the same age as Aislin was, but the others were all at least a year or two older. For the first time in her life, Aislin noticed how other children were dressed. All of them had nice dresses, all bright colors like butterflies, clean, no wrinkles or tears in them. They wore shiny shoes, and two of them had ribbons in their hair.
Aislin looked down at herself and saw bare feet. The fabric of her dress had faded so much that it was hard to tell the original color, and there was a rip in it. Suddenly she felt very shabby. She started to back away. There was no way she was going out there now. They would make fun of her for sure.
But whether it was the motion of withdrawing or something else, right then Liv’s head turned, and she saw Aislin. “Hey!” she yelled. “It’s Aislin! Come here, Aislin. I want you to meet some people.”
Aislin froze as all the girls turned to look at her. “I…you’re busy…” She took another step back.
“No, you’re not leaving,” Liv said firmly, and before Aislin knew what was happening she’d hurried over and taken hold of Aislin’s hand. She pulled her towards the others. “This is Aislin. She’s my friend, but she’s a little shy. Say hi, everybody.”
The girls all said “Hi” politely enough, but Aislin could feel them looking at her clothes and bare feet. She felt she could see herself reflected in their eyes, and what she saw shamed her. She quickly lowered her face and looked away.
“Aislin is my best friend in the whole world,” Liv said, oblivious to Aislin’s discomfort. “We do everything together. We’ve even been to the sea, lots of times.”
“You go to the sea?” one of the girls asked. She was very thin with a prominent nose and narrow lips. The way she said the words made it clear she wouldn’t be caught dead near the sea.
“It’s so much fun,” Liv said. “I’m sure you’d love it.”
But the girl was already shaking her head. Then one of the others spoke up.
“I have to go. I told Mother I’d be right back.” Others chimed in with similar words and within moments they were all hurrying away. Aislin heard whispers between them as they went, and one of them laughed, a sharp sound that cut surprisingly deep.
“I’m sorry,” Aislin said when they were alone.
“For what?” Liv asked in surprise.
“You were all talking, and then I came and ran them off.” Aislin was staring at her feet, hating them, hating everything about herself.
“Oh, that? Good riddance, I say.”
That confused Aislin. She peeked at her friend to see if she was joking, but she didn’t look like she was joking. “But you were laughing and having fun.”
“With that lot? I don’t think so.”
“But they’re your friends, aren’t they?”
“I doubt it.”
“But they acted like…and you…”
“They were faking. I was faking. Everyone was faking,” Liv said, throwing her arms wide. “It’s the palace, you know?”
Aislin shook her head. “No. I don’t.”
Liv gave her a look. “You really don’t, do you?” Aislin shook her head again. “It’s like this. Their fathers are rich and important. My father is the king. That’s why they’re faking.”
“They pretend to be your friends because your father is the king? Why?”
Liv laughed. It was a clear, happy sound. “Oh, Aislin, there’s so much you don’t know. It’s like a game everyone plays. People pretend to be nice to you, so they can get more for themselves. My mother warned me about it long ago.”
“It’s a game?” Aislin said doubtfully.
“Well, they take it seriously. But it’s a game to me. I know what they’re doing.”
“What are they trying to win?”
Liv shrugged. “I don’t really know. They all have money, so that’s not it. Power, maybe?”
Aislin eyed her doubtfully. “Still, maybe I should go, and you should play with them.”
Liv’s eyebrows came together. “Why would you say that?”
Aislin struggled to explain. “They’re all…they have fancy dresses and shoes, and you do too and I…” She looked down at her feet and wondered why she felt like crying.
“This?” Liv said, holding her skirt out. “Mother made me wear this this morning. It wasn’t worth fighting about. I don’t care about this.”
“Still…”
Liv’s eyebrows shot up in sudden understanding, and she grabbed Aislin’s hands. “Now I understand! You think that you, because you aren’t…” She shook her head. “Don’t you see? They’re so fake. They’re not like you. I like you because you’re real.”
Aislin blinked at her. “You do?”
“Yes. You’re not after anything. You just want to be friends.”
Aislin wasn’t quite sure how to respond to that, so she settled for saying, “Okay.”
Several servants went by then, all of them carrying trunks and bags. “There’s more people here than usually,” Aislin said.
“It’s for my party,” Liv said. “They’re coming in from all over the place. Country estates, Thrikyl, everywhere. That’s why Mother wanted me to dress nicer. She said she didn’t want people to mistake me for one of the servants.”
A new, frightening thought occurred to Aislin. “Those girls are going to be at your party, aren’t they?”
╬
╬ ╬
The next morning when Aislin got up, instead of simply grabbing the dress she’d worn the day before, or whatever dress was closest to hand, she went to the trunk that contained all their clothes and opened it. She had three other dresses, and her hand went automatically to her favorite one, the fabric so thin from use that it was like wearing nothing at all. But then she remembered the other girls she’d seen, and she changed her mind.
Unfortunately, the other two weren’t much better. She settled for one that still looked a little yellow and put it on. Then she picked up her shoes and sat down to put them on. She could barely get her feet into them, and when she stood up her feet hurt.
“These hurt my feet,” Aislin announced.
Netra looked up from the food she was cooking, and her eyes got round. “You’re wearing shoes.”
Aislin sighed loudly. “Of course I am, Mama. I’m going to the palace today. Don’t act like I never wear shoes.”
“I’m sorry. I was a little surprised is all.” She came over and looked at Aislin’s feet. “You’re growing. I guess it’s time for new shoes.” She sounded oddly happy about that, which made no sense to Aislin.
“We’re going shopping for a dress today. Maybe I can get new shoes then,” Aislin said.
Netra’s mouth actually dropped open. “You…you’re going shopping for a dress?”
“Don’t act so surprised,” Aislin said irritably.
“I am surprised. I thought you didn’t care about dresses.”
“I don’t,” Aislin snapped. “But I have to have something to wear for the party, don’t I?”
“Yes, you do. I don’t know what I was thinking.” Netra had a big smile on her face. Aislin frowned, and she put her hand over it to hide it. “Can I come with you?”
“No. It’s just me and Liv.”
“Oh.” The smile faded. “Are you sure you wouldn’t like some help?”
“I’m sure.”
When Aislin got to the gates of the estate, Randel came out of the little guard hut and greeted her. “Good morning, Aislin. You look smashing today.”
Aislin frowned at him. “What?”
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