“Look down,” Nix said.
The flats were on my feet. “Whoa!”
“What’s your favorite color?” she asked.
Before the word made it from my brain to my mouth, the shoes turned purple. I started laughing. “That’s wild!” I moved my feet around, and in my reflection the shoes did, too.
“Do you like stiletto heels?” Nix asked.
Not necessarily, but I pictured them on my feet, and they appeared in the mirror.
“I could do this all day,” I said, admiring my reflection.
A fairy walked out of the back room. I noticed her taking in Nix’s shabby school robes before she even noticed who I was.
“Let’s go to the hat shop,” Nix said abruptly. She took the shoes from me and put them back on the shelf, then dragged me out the door and down the street, past shape-shifters—manananggals whowere flying around without their lower halves, and a group of what looked like male sirenas, judging by the gills and shimmering scales on their necks, who were walking on land for a change.
“Berberoka,” Nix whispered in my ear. Swamp creatures who drowned the unsuspecting. “Steer clear.”
A couple seconds later, she pointed at a shop. The sign in the window saidAlthea’s Apothecary.
“Althea is my friend,” Nix told me. “If you ever need anything, go to her. Or summon her to the palace. She makes house calls.”
We stopped and cupped our hands over the glass to peek in the window. There were two women standing side by side with their backs to us, looking at a display of herbs and bottled liquids. One had wavy salt-and-pepper gray hair all the way down her back and wore a long, brightly colored cotton skirt. She reminded me of an old hippie from back home. The other was holding a baby.
“That’s Althea,” Nix said, motioning to the gray-haired hippie.
Althea put her arm around the mother, who appeared to be crying by the way her shoulders were shaking. I noticed she was cradling the baby in her arms. Then Althea walked around to the other side of the display, picked up one of the bottles, and wrapped it up in brown paper. She closed it with some twine and held it out to the mother, who seemed to be protesting taking the package. But Althea insisted and the mother accepted, thanking her profusely.
“I told you she was nice. She helps people whether they can afford it or not. Like me,” she said as we entered the store.
“You?”
Nix shrugged. “Not all of us can live in the palace.”
I thought of her frayed uniform and felt abashed that I hadnever offered to help. I never thought she needed any—she was so confident and self-contained. “Oh, Nix... if you ever need anything... I’m so sorry...”
Nix laughed and dismissed my concern. “It’s fine, I’m fine! Mostly thanks to Althea, who helped me get settled here.”
The mother with the baby turned around to leave, so we moved on before they caught us watching them. Althea noticed Nix, though, and greeted her warmly. “How are you, sweetheart?” she asked.
“I’m okay,” Nix replied, beaming.
Althea smiled. “You figured out that spell that was giving you trouble?”
Nix laughed. “Yeah, I was pronouncing it wrong.” She turned and introduced me. “This is my friend MJ.”
Althea bowed. “It’s good to have you back, Princess.”
I still wasn’t used to people bowing to me, so I bowed back. “Thank you.”
The old healer scrutinized my face. “You have her eyes. Your mother’s. She was a good friend to me.”
I flushed with pleasure to know someone who knew her. “Did you? When she lived here?”
Althea nodded.
I wanted to ask more questions, but Nix was already out the door. I followed reluctantly, thinking I would have time to talk to Althea in the future. Even though my mother taught me its history, she never spoke much of her time in Biringan.
