“You looked appreciative enough to me,” said Demelza.
“And you look extraordinarily pleased with yourself.”
“I am,” said Demelza. “I’m discovering that I enjoy feeling… ‘useful’ isn’t quite the right word… vital, perhaps? Instrumental without being a literal instrument?”
She looked triumphant, and although she was caked inmud and smelled like a pond, there was something commanding about her. Something that made Arris stand up a bit straighter.
“In any case, I like it,” said Demelza.
“I can tell,” said Arris.
Arris looked from Demelza’s beaming face to the surface of the tranquility pond. No one had ever drowned in it, and it would be shocking if the first to do so were a pair of sirens, but they had been gone for a little while now.
“I know they tried to kill me, but I’d honestly feel terrible if they drowned,” said Arris. “Should we try to fish them out?”
A bubbling sound interrupted their conversation. The surface of the tranquility pond wrinkled. Out popped Thalassa and Pearl, wearing matching smiles of utter peace.
“Oh, hello,” said Thalassa.
“You are not dead,” observed Pearl.
“I am sorry to disappoint,” said Arris.
“We would only be disappointed if it happened by another’s hand,” said Thalassa.
“In your own mind, I am certain that is a kindness,” said Arris. “I’m afraid I must ask you both to leave Rathe Castle. Your belongings will be packed up and delivered to your home, but it’s best if you leave immediately. On your way out, if you could inform the guards to come and collect Lady Oona as well that would be deeply appreciated.”
“With pleasure,” said Thalassa.
“Goodbye, sweet prince,” said Pearl. “I will forevermourn that I will never know exactly how sweet you might have been.”
A pair of previously unseen vines grasped hold of Thalassa and Pearl. Their time at the tournament had come to an end. Thalassa blew Arris a kiss as she and her sister were yanked—rather politely, it must be said—out of the pavillion.
Arris and Demelza were alone. They glanced at one another. Demelza slumped to the floor. Arris copied her. He wasn’t sure who began to laugh first. All he knew was that the sound of Demelza’s laugh was as startlingly bright as her singing was shockingly bad. When all the laughs had tumbled out of them, Demelza unlooped her shoes and began to put them on. She glanced through the pavilion’s arch.
“I wonder when I’ll catch the next contestant,” she said.
“You seem awfully enthusiastic about more attempts on my life,” said Arris.
“Not enthusiastic,” said Demelza. She paused. “Well, not exactly.”
“I’m flattered,” said Arris.
“I only mean that I can see a future for myself,” she said, her voice quiet. “I’m not sure I’ve ever felt that before.”
Demelza’s presence—despite the bizarre circumstances—was oddly comforting to Arris. It wasn’t like being with Ursula, where he felt that she amiably permitted his company but otherwise held him in as much regard as she would a tail on a cat. Demelza sought him out. She spoke openly. Excitedly. And in return, it made him want to speak. Hewondered if it was the aftereffects of her truth magic hanging in the air that almost compelled the need not merely to understand her but also to be understood by her. Arris reasoned that such a response was because she had been enlisted to guard his interests. Of course he would wish to know her better.
“What are you feeling right now?” he tried to ask, but instead he said:
“I need to know what you’re feeling.”
All his life Arris had felt as if he was swimming from one day to the next, always looking for something to grasp hold of to make sense of his surroundings. Whenever Demelza spoke, things felt different. Her honesty had a way of crystallizing a moment. Perhaps it was her truth magic that made the world feel a little more real when he was in her presence.
If Demelza was taken aback by how he had phrased his question, she did not show it. Her smile was almost beatific.
“I feel like I can want and want and want,” she said. “You?”
Yes, thought Arris, and his whole soul felt like an exhale.
