by Orchid Leigh
“But surely your great-grandmother has told you about us?” asked the same merman again.
I sighed. And then I laughed. And then I sighed again. “My grandmother? Who?” I asked with another laugh. “Do you mean Granny Leira? I didn’t even know her,” I said, raising my hands, trying to show them this wasn’t my burden. “I can’t help you guys.”
“But you must,” said the large merman. “You are the heiress.”
I shook my head at him but decided to play along. “So if I’m the heiress . . . doesn’t that mean my mom was, too? Why didn’t you guys contact her or her father before her?”
“Leira’s son, your mother’s father, would not have been able to rule in Glacia as it is only queens who possess the magic. And yes, your mother would have been the next in line,” answered Starla. “We do not know the circumstances leading to it, but she was given up for adoption when she was still a baby. We could not locate her after that, and Razora seemed to have relented by that time, so we did not try. It was just recently, when Razora came back out of hiding, that we sought Queen Leira’s help.”
“So Granny Leira told you where I was?”
“She brought you to us,” said Starla.
I laughed, but I wanted to cry. The house—from my lovely, kind grandmother—had just been a ploy. I glanced at Peter, who was staring at the crowd with narrowed eyes.
I turned back to them. “And what about Granny Leira?” I asked. “How come she didn’t help you herself? Couldn’t she have just killed Razora or something?”
Starla spoke solemnly. “Queen Leira was very old and frail by the time Razora reemerged. Your grandmother’s time with us was short after that. We think Razora may have waited so long for just that reason.”
“And Leira still loved and remembered her friend from the past,” said Levvi. “She refused to come against her.”
“What about before? Back when Razora was ruling as queen here. Granny Leira wouldn’t have been so old. Couldn’t she have come back as queen?”
Levvi spoke again. “The world above was closed to us during Razora’s rule. Because of this, Leira was unaware of our troubles with her at that time.” Levvi paused. “We are not sure she would have chosen us over her life above, anyway.”
“So what exactly do you want from me?” I asked, completely exasperated. “Are you asking me to kill her?”
Levvi shook his head. “It would not need to come to that,” he said. “With you here as queen, her powers would fade.”
I laughed. “But I’m just a kid. I can’t rule a city.”
“It is your destiny,” said a long-faced merman looking at me crossly.
“What about my life?”
“The magic is in you,” said the merman again. “Without you, our world will crumble under Razora’s control.”
There was silence as they waited for me to answer him. I stared into the many sad eyes staring so hopelessly at me. I didn’t know what to say, but a strange burden started to weigh on me, and the pressure to say or do something to help ease their pain was straining my heart.
I continued to stare in silence, not knowing what to do.
Then a quiet voice spoke beside me. “You don’t need her.”
It was Peter.
The room turned to look at him. They each donned the same expression of puzzlement; it seemed they were noticing his presence for the first time.
“I mean,” he continued timidly, “there must be something you’re missing. You say only the rightful heir can be queen, but that didn’t stop Razora. What’s up with that?” he asked.
Bewildered eyes fell upon him, and the room was quiet.
“We do not fully understand it,” answered Levvi, breaking the silence. “We continue to pore over the laws, searching for answers, but we have not yet found anything that will solve this riddle.”
“I think Ellie and I should read the law for ourselves,” said Peter.
The many eyes glaring at Peter turned from bewildered to disapproving.
“Who are you, boy?” asked a merwoman sitting on the edge of the pool.
“I’m a friend,” he answered.
“Well, friend,” she said with an air of condescension I didn’t very well like. “Perhaps you should leave these matters to those whom they concern.”
“That’s right,” another merman echoed in agreement.
More merfolk began to pipe up, throwing their callous disapprovals at Peter. He sank back on the bench, looking scared. Their blatant disregard for him was all I needed to see.
“I won’t do this for you,” I said, pulling their angry eyes from Peter’s and back to mine. I held their gaze.
An uproar ensued among the merfolk, and Levvi and Starla exchanged a look of frustration directed toward the angry crowd.
“Quiet! Quiet everyone!” shouted Levvi.
It took a moment for the group to calm. They turned disgruntled faces in Levvi’s direction.
“How could this come as a surprise to any of you?” he asked through pursed lips. “We have gone over this hundreds of times, knowing full well this was likely to be the answer.”
“But we need her!” a voice demanded.
“Yes, perhaps we do. But she does not need us.”
Levvi turned to me and then to Peter with a kind smile. “We are asking the world of her, quite literally. Perhaps we could do a little more than treat her best friend as an outcast.”
Levvi’s eyes fell to his feet and he was quiet. His sad, forlorn expression broke my heart. I turned to Starla, who met me with kind eyes, and I glanced around the room at some of the individuals who had remained quiet during the uproar.
“Do you have anything to say?” I asked. My gaze was directed at a young mermaid who was sitting opposite us on the bench.
She glanced up timidly and rose from her seat. She spoke in a hushed voice. “Please forgive us, Princess. We are just scared. Fear does not suit us well, as you can see.” She bowed gracefully and sat back down.
I glanced around the room at the poor souls in front of me. They didn’t look so angry anymore; they just looked scared and sad.
“I’m sorry, but I can’t do this,” I said. “I’m just a girl. I am not this princess you are talking about—even if it’s true that I’m the heiress.”
Unexpected tears fell from my eyes as my words hit each of them like tiny daggers to their hearts. With sunken shoulders and forlorn eyes, they were now quiet.
“It is okay, my princess,” said Levvi. “But would you perhaps think on it a little more?” His voice was dry and crumpled with despair, and it broke my heart.
“Okay,” I said. “I can do that.”
My answer came as a surprise to both of us.
Levvi met my gaze with gratitude. “Thank you,” he said, and there was a resounding echo of thanks around the room. “Then we will leave it at that. And we will wait for Princess Cordelia to decide in her time. Now, she must be heading back.”
~
“I will not come again,” said Levvi. “It is up to you to decide. We will wait and accept your decision, whatever it may be.”
We stood on top of the frozen lake. The night sky above twinkled with millions of stars, and the bright moon beamed upon us. I ran my fingers through Midnight’s warm mane and stared into his big eyes, thinking.
“How much time do I have?”
Levvi smiled. “The sooner, the better, since your time here will move the days along for us very quickly. But we can wait for our princess. Razora will have to yield to you . . . whenever it is you decide to come.”
“Where is she now?”
“She is hiding for now, but she emerges as she pleases, to threaten and attack.”
“She is toying with you?” I asked. “Why? Why not just take over now?”
“I do not know her reasons for any of it,” said Levvi. “But I do know from the stories of my father and his father before that she only ever desired to destroy. We must assume that is still her plan.”
“It is,” said Levvi with a smile.
“How would I get back?” I asked.
“Use your locket,” said Levvi, smiling even bigger now.
“My locket?”
“Yes, it is the key to the gateway here at the lake. Leira told me she would leave it for you. Did she not?”
“You mean the heart locket from my closet?”
“Yes, I am sure that would be it,” he said. “Take it with you and lower it into the water near this boulder here. The same as Midnight did with his horn. It will start the descent.”
Levvi then smiled at me. It was warm and kind, and I knew at that moment he was a friend.
He took my hand in his. “And now,” he said, “it is time for me to part. You, Cordel—”
“Call me Ellie.”
He nodded. “You, Ellie, are the princess I knew you would be, and I am very glad to have met you tonight.” He bowed low and kissed my hand. “Midnight will lead you the rest of the way home. Farewell, my princess, and you too, Peter. I hope to see you both again soon.”
“Bye,” I said.
Levvi started to go. He stopped, turning back to me. “Ellie,” he said. “Did you like your room?”
“My room?”
“Leira asked us to tend to the house once she was gone. Starla is the one who decorated the attic.”
“Yes,” I said with a smile. “Tell her I love it.”
“Very well,” he said and returned to the lake.
~
At the edge of the yard, Midnight lowered his horn and a burst of light whizzed around us. In an instant, Peter and I were back in our time with the cold, biting air on our skin and the wind rustling the trees in the dark night.
We said goodbye to the magical creature and made our way back to the porch. We had just settled ourselves back in the tent when the back door creaked open.
“You guys all right out there?” called Dad.
My heart stopped. Oh crap. I needed to sound normal. “Yep, Dad, we’re good,” I said, feeling my nerves rattle in my throat and thinking I had given something away.
“Spot any unicorns yet?” badgered an unsuspecting Dad.
I looked at Peter, smiling big. I called back to Dad, “Nope. No luck.” Peter and I started to laugh. “I think you were right, Dad. It was just a deer.”
20
I was staring out the window when Mr. McNeil handed me my math test. He placed it on my desk upside down, which I knew couldn’t be good. He looked at me sternly. “Got to stop daydreaming, Ellie,” he chided before moving down the row.
I turned the paper over and scowled at the big fat F written obnoxiously in the brightest red ink I’d ever seen. As if the F for fail wasn’t enough to drive the guilt home. I mean, did it seriously need to be so bright? I shoved the paper into my backpack. Yes, it was the first F I’d ever received in my life. No, I wasn’t going to worry about it right now. I stared back out the window, waiting for the bell to ring.
School was the least of my worries at the moment, and trying to focus on it or care about it would be impossible, even if I wanted to. I was finding it hard to care about anything. We had been back from Glacia for a few days, but I hadn’t been able to shake the strange night from my mind.
To be honest, I was feeling very lost. Completely and utterly lost, like someone had picked me up, blindfolded me, then tossed me at some random spot in the galaxy—lost.
I wasn’t coping too well with my ginormous new world. It was just so huge. So much. What was the proper protocol for dealing with something like this, anyway? I was sure I was getting it all wrong. My world had expanded substantially, to say the least, but instead of growing with it, I felt like I was being stretched and pulled in order to fit.
And the craziest part was that I wanted to. I wanted to fit. I couldn’t just let Glacia go like Peter had told me to do when he left on Sunday. He thought we should just forget about it. That it wasn’t our problem. I wasn’t having such an easy time letting it go like he was.
It felt like a big piece of my heart got stuck there, and I kept thinking about the strange world with a worry and longing I couldn’t shake. It left me feeling unsettled, and I hadn’t been sleeping well, eating well, or doing anything well, for that matter, since our return.
With the ring of the bell, I shuffled out of math class and headed toward the bathroom. The waft of oniony air moving through the halls worked to churn my already achy and worried stomach, and I was in no hurry to get to lunch.
I peed and flushed and opened the stall to find Bethany at the sink. She was standing at the mirror, repositioning the heap of curls on top of her head.
“Hey, Bethany,” I said, walking over to wash my hands.
“Oh hey, Ellie,” she said. She had an elastic band in her mouth and was smoothing out the top of her hair.
“You should wear it down.”
She glowered at me through the mirror. “This mess?”
“You’ve got gorgeous hair,” I said, turning on the faucet. “I’m jealous.” I frowned at my own drab, flat hair next to hers.
“Thanks,” she said, letting her bouncy curls fall to her shoulders. She combed her fingers through them and scrunched up the ends, sulking at her reflection. “Eh, not today.” She hurriedly pulled her hair back up.
“Sorry about the other day,” I said, grabbing at some paper towels and turning to Bethany.
“So you’re really going out with Peter Evans?” she asked. She finished twisting the elastic around her hair, then pulled a tube of lip gloss from her backpack. She moved the wand over her lips and smacked them in the mirror.
“No, not really,” I said, feeling stupid now for saying that. “We’re just friends.”
Bethany turned away from the mirror to look at me. “How’d that happen?”
I shrugged. “Just kind of happened. He’s cool, though. Maybe we can hang out sometime, so you guys can get to know him.”
She laughed.
“What?” I asked, immediately finding my patience break.
“Oh, nothing,” she said quickly, turning back to herself in the mirror. “Sure, maybe sometime.”
I huffed at Bethany. She was still smirking a little, and the blood in my veins was heating uncomfortably. I shook my head, deciding to drop it. What did I care what she had to say about Peter, anyway?
“I suppose Jenny told you Alex dumped me?” she said, wisely changing the subject.
“Yeah,” I said. “I’m so sorry.”
“Yeah right. You’re not sorry.” I saw the roll of her eyes in the mirror.
“I’m sorry you got hurt,” I said. “Are you okay?”
“I’m fine,” she said. “It turns out you were right about him. It should have been me that dumped his sorry ass. You know he cheated on me?”
“Oh, really? I’m sorry.”
“Yeah well,” she said, patting her hair again. “His loss.”
“Yeah,” I agreed with a smile. “You’re gonna find someone so much better than him, Bethany. You’ll see.”
She smiled but shrugged. “I’ll have to go somewhere else to find him. This town is seriously dried up. I guess you figured that out pretty quickly,” she said with a raised eyebrow.
“What do you mean?”
“Come on, Ellie. You and Peter? I mean, you can obviously do better than Peter Evans.”
“What do you have against Peter?”
“I don’t have anything against him. I’m just sayin’.”
“Well, don’t,” I snapped. “I don’t want to hear it.”
“All right, gawd. I’ll leave it,” she said, putting her hands up in surrender. She turned to the door to leave, then called back to me, “Are you coming?”
21
There was a knock at the door.
“If you’re Peter and not a robber, come in!” I shouted.
The door opened behind me. “That’s not a
great way to deter robbers,” said Peter as he entered the kitchen.
I glanced over my shoulder at him. “Hi,” I said.
He walked over and grabbed a stool beside me. “Apple crisp!” he exclaimed.
The dessert was bubbling and hot on the center island in front of us.
“Yeah,” I said, smiling at him. “That’s all yours, too. I just pulled it out. Grab some.” I pointed my floury fingers at the plate and spoon I had set out for him.
“Are you making a pie, too?” he asked.
I shrugged. “Trying to distract myself. It’s not really helping much.”
“From what?” asked Peter. He shoved a spoonful of apple crisp into his mouth. “Ah, man.” He closed his eyes and savored the bite. “From what?” he repeated, opening his eyes to look at me.
I shrugged again and looked down. I continued rolling out my pie crust.
He leaned into me. “Glacia, huh?” he whispered, not knowing where Dad or Millie was.
“Millie’s taking a nap,” I informed him.
“That was pretty crazy, huh?” said Peter, staring at his spoon in thought.
“Yeah,” I agreed with a head bob. “Hey, there’s ice cream in the freezer.”
“Ah, man, Ellie. You got to stop,” he said, moving off his stool. “I’m totally spoiled.”
I laughed at him, then stared pensively at my messy fingers. “I can’t stop thinking about it.”
He scooped some ice cream onto his plate. “Yeah, me too.”
“I’m thinking of going back.”
Peter stuck the spoon in the ice cream and eyed me solemnly. “You’re not serious, right?”
I flipped my dough and pressed on the roller. “I don’t know.” I swayed my head a little in thought and landed on Peter’s worried eyes. I sighed. “I’ve just been feeling really weird since we got back.”
I rolled the dough up over the rolling pin and then carefully back out over the pie.
“It was weird,” agreed Peter. “Life-altering weird.”
“Life-exploding for me,” I said bleakly.
Peter eyed me thoughtfully. “Yeah, I bet.” He put his hand on my shoulder and met my gaze. “But we don’t need to go back, right?”