They had never danced together before—there hadn’t been the occasion—and Alison worried for a moment that Keir would decline.
But he took her hand and led her to an empty space, and he placed the other hand on her waist and began to lead her around the bonfire with a surprising grace.
“I’ve successfully avoided having to do this for years,” he whispered to her. “I always hated it, not least because at court, it’s less of a fun bit of exercise and more of a dangerous politicalgame. Dance with the wrong person in the wrong order and it’s a wild scandal. I’d rather face the king’s armed forces in open battle than go through all of that again.”
“And yet,” whispered Alison back, “you’re just so good at it.”
Keir moved so well that it didn’t matter that Alison didn’t know the steps. He made up for any awkwardness happening below Alison’s ankles, leading her round and round as the fairies looked on.
“Perhaps I was just waiting for the right partner,” he said and lifted her hand to his mouth to kiss.
“May I cut in?” asked Genn. They had left the fiddle behind, but the band played on.
Keir looked at Alison, who nodded. He let go of her hand.
“No, no,” said Genn. “She’s lovely, but I meant with you.”
“Oh,” said Keir, his face flushed in the firelight. “Sure, I suppose.”
Chapter Eleven
THE LITTLE MERMAIDS
Rinka
The second mermaid surfaced nearer to Drystan. They were young in appearance—the same as teenaged humans or orcs—with bigger, rounder eyes than any of the peoples of the land. One was fair-skinned and blonde where the other had dark brown skin and black hair, but there was a similarity between them, both in their full figures and their attire, which appeared to be made from an iridescent material similar to the scales of their fish tails.
“You’re getting nowhere fast,” said the darker-haired girl, and both girls started giggling again.
“Our mother said we shouldn’t talk to humans, but you’re not human, are you?” said the other girl.
“No, we’re not. Are you mermaids?” asked Rinka.
The girls laughed and then said in unison, “Obviously.”
Rinka had seen a picture show with a mermaid, but she was certain they had just used an elf in a costume. There were rumors that ships encountered them from time to time, but there were rumors about all kinds of things that almost certainly weren’t real: kraken and giant squids and creatures with mouths so big they formed whirlpools.
Unless…
“Oh Gods, they’re all real,” said Rinka.
“What?” asked Drystan.
“They’re all real. All the creatures. The kraken, the sirens, all of it.”
“The sirens are mean,” said the girl with dark hair. “They took Cordy’s seahorse.”
Cordy, the blonde one, looked sadly into the water. “He was my pet, and his name was Randy. I’m Cordelia, by the way, but you can call me Cordy. And this is my sister Maisie, but you can call her Em.”
“No, they can’t.”
“Yes, they can!”
The girls lunged for each other. Rinka shot Drystan a helpless look.
“Hey!” he shouted. “No fighting.”
Rinka waited for the girls to laugh at him, but they didn’t. They stopped in their tracks, somehow impressed by his authority. Cordy stuck her tongue out at Em, but she retreated back to a safe distance.
