"What is this outburst?" Thalassa asked with a hand pressed to her chest. "This isn't like you, child. You know the songspell inside and out. All you have to do is cast it!" 

Aelia could see the frustration written on her twin's face. Though she and Sera often shared their deepest secrets, Aelia had heard nothing about the feelings that had swirled within her twin until now. She felt a pang of disappointment, wondering what she had done to warrant Sera keeping her feelings hidden from her. 

"Yes. Right. That's all." Sera's voice was scathing, like when a lava lamp had fallen and broken. "Just cast it. In front of the entire court. And the Matalis. And oh, I don't know, ten thousand Miromarans! It's too hard. I won't be able to pull it off. I'll bungle that trill. My voice isn't strong enough. It's not as beautiful as other voices are. It's not as beautiful as . . . as . . ."

"As Lucia's?" Thalassa raised an eyebrow, speaking the name Aelia had drifted in the back of her mind as Sera spoke. 

Sera nodded, her displeasure written on her face. Aelia half-expected Thalassa to begin a lecture or to scold Sera, but she laughed. It was a short, barking laugh, a bit like a seal was talking, but it wasn't mocking. 

"Tell me, where does the voice come from?" the older mermaid asked.

"From the throat. Obviously." Sera rolled her eyes. 

"That's true for many. And it's certainly true for Lucia." Thalassa said. "But it's not true for you. Either of you." Thalassa gave Aelia a pointed stare, before touching the place over Serafina's heart. "Your voices come from here. It's a beautiful voice. I know, I've heard it. All you have to do is let it out. Show me your heart, Serafina. That's where the truest magic comes from." 

Aelia knew this to be true, Thalassa had told her as much since they had begun training together. But she wondered if Thalassa wanted Sera to show her heart, in the middle of a court who would pounce on any sign of weakness. Thalassa of all people knew how dangerous it was, having experienced the scathing words of the court. Aelia could still remember when Thalassa explained why she struggled when she initially came to court. 

"Show my heart? Here at court?" Serafina laughed bitterly. "Why? So Lucia Volnero can stick a knife in it?"

"I heard what Lucia said. Ignore her. She wishes she were principessa. She wants the power, the palace, and the handsome crown prince." 

Aelia watched as her twin's eyes darkened at the words, the crown prince. Her twin tried to blink it away, and maybe someone else would have missed it, but Thalassa was not anyone else and Aelia knew her sister better than she knew herself. 

"Ah," Thalassa said sagely. "So that's what's behind all this." 

Thalassa floated over to the settee that Aelia had long since taken a seat on, patting the empty spot on the other side. "Tell me, does he love you?"

Aelia could see the tears in her twin's eyes as she prepared a response, swimming towards the settee. "Yes. No. Oh, I don't know, Magistra! I think so. I thought so. But now I'm not so sure. Not after what Lucia said. 

"Oh, Serafina," Thalassa wrapped an arm around Sera's shoulders. She paused and turned to look at Aelia. "Perhaps it would be a good idea for you to swim outside? Just to give Serafina some privacy." 

"Yes, Magistra." Aelia tried to hide the sting of pain at the words, moving quickly to get out of the room.

She floated through the doorway to the antechamber and ensured the doors closed behind her. Though it pained her to leave, a sting of pain she hadn't felt since her grandmother had begun attempting to distance Aelia from the rest of the family, she would give her twin the privacy to talk with Thalassa. 

Aelia was grateful Tavia was stationed outside of the antechamber, not entirely sure if she'd be able to handle the questions Tavia would have for her. She was certain that she'd break down crying with even one question, and there were already enough rumors going around about Aelia and her relationship with the rest of the family. Though Aelia couldn't be sure, the former Regina had never done much to spend time with her youngest grandchild and the court had noticed right away. Rumors that there was something wrong with Aelia when she was born, that at barely more than five-years-old Aelia had proven that she could not be trusted with any sort of position within the court. There were more, others that were far worse and more damaging. 

The entrance to the antechamber opened, and Aelia saw another mermaid floating there, a beautiful merl with glossy jet-black hair down to her tail fin and her skin glowing a pretty pale blue. Aelia brightened immediately, rushing to embrace her. 

"Neela! Oh, I'm so glad to see you." Aelia said, smiling brightly at her closest friend. 

Neela embraced Aelia, her yellow sari floating gently. "Hello, Aelia."

Servants were flanking her, Aelia noted, some buckling under the weight of the gilded boxes, beribboned clamshells, and gossamer sacks they carried. Aelia reached to help, but they waved her off. 

"Now, I must go greet your sister!" Neela smiled, turning towards the door and pushing it open before Aelia could object. 

The door banged against the wall, and Aelia grimaced. 

"Serafeeeeeeeeeena!" Neela squealed. 

"Great Neria, who on earth—" Thalassa began. 

 Aelia swam forward, joining Neela as she stood in the doorway. Sera had turned, startled, but the worry on her face turned to joy. 

"Neeeeela!" Serafina shouted. 

"Spongecake! there. You. Are!" Neela said. "I brought you soooooo many presents!"

The two mermaids swam towards each other and embraced, whirling around and around in the water, laughing. Aelia tried not to feel jealous at the difference between how Neela had greeted her and how she was not greeting Sera. Neela's skin was bright blue now, her bioluminescence making itself known. She glowed a bewitching light when her emotions were running high, or when other bioluminescents were near. 

"Princess Neela, you're not supposed to be here," Thalassa scolded. "We're right in the middle of songspell practice! How did you get in?" 

"Tavia!" Neela said, grinning. 

Thalassa frowned. "How many bags on bing-bangs did it take bribe her this time?" 

"Two," Neela replied. "Plus a box of zee-zees." 

"And you, Aelia, could have also stopped her. Or were you also bribed?" Thalassa turned her stern gaze on Aelia.

Aelia sighed. "Neela got the door open before I could stop her." 

Neela had released Serafina and plucked a pretty pink box from a teetering pile. She swam to Thalassa, successfully taking her attention from Aelia.

"I'm so sorry to interrupt, Magistra, really. May I offer you a zee-zee?"  she asked, opening the box. 

"You may not," Thalassa said sternly. "I know what you're up to. You can't bribe me with sweets." 

Aelia stiffened a laugh. Oh, how wrong Thalassa was.

"A chillawonda, then? How about a kanjaywoohoo? You can't say no to a kanjaywoohoo. And these are the very best. They take the palace chefs three full days to make. They have eight layers and five different enchantments," Neela said, popping one of the sweets into her mouth. "Mmm! Krill with caramalgae filling . . . sooo good! See?"

"What I see is that our minds are elsewhere at the moment." Thalassa sniffed, taking a sweet from the box. "You cannot stay long, you know, Princess Neela. Only a minute or two. We really do have to practice." 

"Of course, Magistra. Only a minute or two," Neela said. 

Mollified, Thalassa sampled the sweet. "Oh. Oh, my. Is that curried kelp?"

Neela nodded and handed the canta magus another. "Beach plum with comb jellies and salted crab eggs. It's invincible." 

Thalassa bit into it. "Oh, that is good," she said. "I suppose, perhaps half an hour's break might be in order." 

Her fingers hovered over the box, and Neela gave it to her. Aelia smiled, her shoulders shaking with the effort of keeping back her laugh. Only Neela could successfully bribe Thalassa. As Thalassa called to her cuttlefish servants to bring her a pot of tea, Neela grabbed Serafina and Aelia's hands, pulling them out of the antechamber and into a wide hallway with windows on both sides. All the windows were open to let in freshwater. 

"Tail slap, merls!" Neela whispered, closing the doors behind them. "My evil plan succeeded. I thought you could use a break from practice."

"Gods, yes." Aelia groaned. 

"You thought right," Serafina said, grinning.  

"Uh-oh. Opafago at twelve o'clock." Neela said. 

It wasn't an Opafago, despite the panic it brought to Aelia, just a palace guard who was swimming towards them with a concerned expression. 

"Your Grace? Is there something wrong? You shouldn't be in the hallways unescorted." the guard said. 

Serafina groaned. Aelia understood where she was coming from. Privacy, solitude, time alone with a friend, all these things were hard to come by at the palace. In these things, Aelia was glad she was the second daughter. Her privacy was easier to keep, solitude easier to find, and time alone with a friend easier to earn. 

"Great whites at nine," Neela whispered, nodding towards the group of maids advancing with mops and buckets. 

"Good morning, Your Graces, good morning," the maids said, curtseying. 

"Good morning," Aeliareplied, quietly. 

"A giant squid at six." 

Aelia rolled her eyes. The code word Neela used for Tavia was slightly ridiculous, but Aelia wasn't about to complain. 

"Serafina? Aelia? Princess Neela? Why are you floating around in the hallway like common groupers?" She bustled towards them, glowering.

"We're surrounded, captain. I'm afraid there's only one way out of here," Neela said under her breath. 

Serafina giggled. "You cannot be serious. We haven't done this since we were eight years old. And even then we got into trouble for it."

"I call Jacquotte Delahaye," Neela said. 

"You always call Jacquotte!" Serafina protested, and Aelia laughed. "She's the best pirate!" 

Neela rolled her eyes. "Don't be such a baby. You can be Sayyida al-Hurra." she paused. "What about you, Aelia?" 

"I'll be Æthelflæd, Lady of the Mercians," Aelia replied. 

Neela nodded, swimming to a window on the north side of the hallway. She narrowed her eyes at the twins, and said, "Abandon ship, chumbucket! Las one to the ruins is a landlubber!" 

She hadn't heard these words since the three were little, pretending to be pirate queens and challenging each other to a race. Sera turned to Aelia, and they exchanged a silent conversation. 

Serafina swam to a window on the south side, and Aelia on the north, a few windows down from Neela. "Eat our wake, bilge rat!" 

"One . . . two . . . three!" the mermaids shouted together. 

They dove out the palace windows and were gone. 

· ─────── ·𖥸· ─────── ·

Aelia whooped as she dove under the bridges and zipped around the turrets of the palace. She startled a few maids and a few dignitaries. She smiled as she made for the ruins of Merrow's reggia. Neela was close in front of her, with Serafina somewhere behind, gaining on them. Aelia went up instead of down with the last obstacle, letting her gain more speed and giving herself an advantage. She knew going this fast was probably a horrible idea, but the adrenaline rushing through her veins was a welcome feeling.

Neela put on a burst of speed, but it wasn't enough to stop Serafina from catching up or enough to make it past Aelia. They touched the front wall of the old palace—well, as much of the old palace that was still standing—at the same time. The mermaids collapsed on a pile of red coral weed, laughing and out of breath. Aelia's cheeks hurt from smiling. 

"Beat you!" Neela shouted.

"You did not! It was a tie," Serafina argued. 

"Sure, except I got here first," Aelia responded, turning her head towards her twin. 

"I can't believe we dove out of windows. We're in so much trouble." Serafina remarked. 

The merls all knew that swimming out of windows was bad form. Civilized mer came and went through doors. Aelia cringed at the thought of the words Thalassa would have with her, or the disappointed look her father would have on his face when she saw him next. 

"Yeah, we probably are, but it was worth it," Neela said, pulling three sweets from her pocket. "Here—purple sponge with pickled urchin. So good, you have no idea. Better than boys."

"That good?" Serafina asked, taking two sweets and handing one to Aelia. 

"Mmm-hmm." Neela bit into hers. 

Aelia popped the sweet into her mouth, laying down and stretching her arms out. Her spine popped quietly as she arched her back. She sighed, letting the tension ease out of her body. She didn't need to worry about Mahdi, Yazeed, or the Dokimí when she was under the sun-dappled waters. 

"It's so good to finally be here," Neela said. "The trip was totally nerve-racking. The dragons we rode spooked at every guppy. The sea elephants carrying our trunks bolted twice. I couldn't sleep, because I was having bad dreams the whole time."

"Really? What kind of dreams?" Serafina asked. 

"I don't remember now," Neela said. "And Uncle Bilaal was seriously freaking out about Praedatori. He expected Kharkarias, their leader, to jump out at every turn. Even though he doesn't even know what Kharkarias looks like since no one's ever seen him." 

"You weren't attacked, were you?" Serafina asked. 

Aelia knew the answer, she'd seen Mahdi and Yazeed just last night, safe and unharmed, but it was nice to hear it from her friend. 

"No, we were fine. We had lots of guards with us. But I was so glad to see the spires of Cerulea last night, I can't even tell you." 

"I'm really happy you're here, Neela," Serafina said. "I can't imagine going through the Dokimí without you." 

"How's the songspell? Are you nervous? What are you wearing?" Neela asked, looking at Aelia and Serafina. 

"Not great. Very. I don't know." Serafina said. 

Aelia shrugged. "Same as Serafina." 

Neela sat up suddenly, startling the curious needlefish that had come close. "You don't know what you're wearing? How can you not know? Hasn't the Dokimí been planned for years?"

"My dress is a gift from Miromara. The best craftsmer in the realm work on it. Only my mother sees it in advance." Serafina said. 

"I don't know what it's gonna look like. I know it might be a bit like Sera's, maybe fancier?" Aelia shrugged again. "It's not the most important part anyways." 

"The Dokimí isn't about the dress, Neela," Serafina replied. 

"It's always about the dress." 

"We're casting songspells, not competing in a beauty contest. This is serious, you know." Serafina rolled her eyes. 

"Merlfriend, nothing is more serious than a beauty contest. Life is a beauty contest. At least that's what my mother says," Neel said. "I can't wait for you to see what I'm wearing. It's totally invincible. It's a dark pink sari—the wrap is sea silk, but the top and skirt are made of thousands of tiny Anomia shells stitched onto tulle. I wanted it to be royal blue, but my aunt insisted on pink. I made it myself." 

Aelia gasped. "You made it yourself?" 

"You did not," Serafina replied. 

"I did. I swear it. But shh, don't tell anyone. You know how it is in Matali. Gods forbid a royal should actually work at anything," Neela said unhappily. 

"Trouble with your parents?" Serafina asked. 

"That's an understatement. We fought about it for weeks. Major drama. I bet I ate twenty boxes of zee-zees. In one day." 

Since they had been small merls, being a designer had been Neela's dream. Her parents wouldn't let her be a designer, let alone anything else. From what Aelia had been told by Neela herself, Matalian princesses were to dress well, look decorative, and one day marry. Aelia knew that wasn't what Neela wanted.

Aelia sat up, pulling the blue-skinned girl into a hug. "I'm so sorry." 

"I'm sorry, Neels." Serafina took Neela's hand. 

"Oh, well. I can't ever be a designer, but I can pretend." 

"You are a designer," Serafina said, suddenly fierce. "Designers design. That's what you did. And it doesn't matter who likes it and who doesn't." 

Neela smiled and squeezed Aelia before letting go. Sera and Aelia had the same look on their faces, despite the differences in their face shapes and such, anger and protectiveness for their friend written on them. 

"I just hope Alítheia doesn't like pink. I don't want her thinking I look like a large and tasty zee-zee. Is it true she's ten feet tall?" Neela said.

"Yes," Aelia responded. 

"Okay, like . . . why?" 

"Quia Merrow decrevit," Serafina replied, reciting the words as Baronessa Agneta had earlier in the morning. 

"Why the long, tortuous songspell?" 

"Quia Merrow decrevit." Aelia this time, her gaze far off. 

And the songspell was long and tortuous. It was one of the hardest songspells to learn because it wasn't a simple repetition. The singer had to put their spin on it, a difficult task on its own, let alone the long notes and difficult trills. 

"Why a betrothal at sixteen? That's totally dark ages. Wait . . . don't tell me. Let me guess." 

"Quia Merrow decrevit." Sera again. 

"But Merrow decreed it, like, forty centuries ago, Sera. The tides have come in and gone out a few times since then, you know?" 

"I do. Believe me, Neela, I've listened to so many conchs on Atlantis and Merrow for various courses, and I still haven't figured out why she made all her weird decrees. The whole Dokimí thing is barbaric and backward. It's from a time where life expectancy was short and principessas had to be ready to rule at a young age," Serafina said. "The weirdest thing is, this ceremony declares me an adult, fit to rule, and yet I have no more an idea how to rule Miromara than I have about flying to the moon. I can't even rule my own court." 

"What? What's wrong?" Neela asked, having turned towards the elder twin. Her eyes searched Sera's.

"My court," Serafina began, making a face. "There's this merl . . . Her name's Lucia . . ."

"I remember her," Neela said. "The last time I was here, my skin had just started to glow. She told me I looked like a fog light. In the nicest way possible, of course." 

"That sounds like Lucia," Serafina said. "Neela, she said some things, about Mahdi."

Aelia watched as the concerned expression on Neela's face turned from concern to nervousness. 

"Hey, you know what? Let's swim," the bioluminescent said. "Why don't we head into the ruins? Stretch our tails? We can talk as we go." 

Neela pulled Sera and Aelia up from the pile of coral weed. They set off, swimming through what had once been a doorway. Time had crumbled its ancient arch. The walls of the old palace had tumbled down, and the roof went along with it. Anemones, corals, and wrack had colonized the mosaic floors. Soaring blue quartz pillars still stood in what had once been Merrow's Grand Hall, hinting at lost glories. Aelia wished she had been able to see the Grand Hall as it had been. 

"You should see the ruby necklace I'm wearing tonight. It's my mother's. It's completely invincible," Neela babbled as they swam. 

"How are your parents?" Aelia asked. 

"Great! Fabulous! They send their best and wish they could be here. But somebody has to hold down the fort in Uncle Bilaal's absence." 

"And how are the emperor and empress? And your brother . . . and Mahdi?" Sera hesitated with the last name. 

"Truly excellent. Although I haven't seen them yet today. We in around eight last night. I was so tired, I went straight to my room and fell into bed. Everyone else did the same." 

Aelia made a non-committal noise. "I'm sure." 

She loved her friend, truly, but if she didn't know about Mahdi's and Yazeed's trip out through the palace then she likely didn't need to know. Not yet, at least. 

"Neela . . ." Sera was nervous, and Aelia knew the question that Sera wanted to ask. 

"Oh! Did I tell you about the last state visit we all made? Ha! It's such a funny story!" And, without pause, Neela launched into the details."

Aelia tried to listen, she did. But she also knew her twin need her question answered, and Neela's attempts to avoid the question weren't helping Sera.

"So, um, how's Mahdi?" Sera finally broke through the words Neela was rattling off.

Neela's smile slipped. 

Sera stopped swimming. "What is it?"

"Nothing," Neela said brightly. "Mahdi's fine."

"He's fine? My great-aunt Berta is fine. What are you not telling me?" Sera scrunched her nose up. 

Neela pulled another sweet from her pocket. "Oh, super yum. Candied flatworm with eelgrass honey. Try it!" 

"Neela!" Sera yelled. 

"Neels, I know you're nervous," Aelia began, "But please, for Sera's sake, tell us." 

"Well, he's probably a little bit different from what you remember," she said. "I mean, the last time you saw him was two years ago. We're all a little different than we were then." 

"Look, I know you're his cousin.  But you're also my friend. You have to tell me the truth." 

Neela sighed. "All right, then—here it is: his royal Mahdiness seems to be going through a phase. At least, that's what Aunt Ahadi calls it. She blames it all on Yazeed."

"Your brother? What does he have to do with it?" Aelia furrowed her eyebrows together. 

"Yaz is a total party boy. Always the one with the lampfish on his head. My parents are at their wits' end and Aunt Ahadi is furious. She says he's led Mahdi astray. The two of them are out all the time. It started a year ago. That's when they got their ears pierced. Aunt Ahadi went through the roof. She and my mother threatened to beach them for life."

Aelia racked her brain to remember if Yaz's ears had been pierced when she'd seen him last night. When the memory failed to come up, Aelia brushed it aside. She'd see him later, and she'd find out then. 

"That doesn't sound like the Mahdi I remember," Sera said as she fiddled with some trim on her dress. "Neels, I have to ask you something else. Lucia said that—"

Neela found another sweet, biting into it before making a face and feeding it to a passing damselfish. "Yuck. Fermented sea urchin." 

"—she said that Mahdi has a merlfriend. She said he—" Sera suddenly stopped speaking. 

Aelia followed where her twin's eyes were. There were bodies. Of two young mermen. They were stretched out under a huge coral at the back of the courtyard, motionless. Aelia felt a stab of panic, a combined fear of the fact that any movement of their chests was near impossible to see, and who the bodies were. 

"I—I can't tell if they're breathing or not. Neela, we have to get help. I think they're dead!" Sera began swimming closer. 

"No, they're not dead," Neela said under her breath. "But if Aunt Ahadi hears about this, they're going to wish they were."

Aelia agreed. 

🙦 ─────── ·𖥸· ─────── 🙤

Author's Note

hi everyone! 

I hope this was a satisfactory update? anyways, this might be the last chapter update for a bit, my life is about to get very busy. there may be a few, small edits update, but I'm not sure. 

anyways, I hope 2022 is treating you well. have an amazing day! 

(also, as much as I love all of your dedication to the story, please refrain from asking when I'll update. check the "conversations" tab, you'll any information you need about this story there.)