“To Juna.”
“ToJuna?” Iris yelped. “Rule-following, serious, duty-bound, future queen Juna?OurJuna?”
“Yes.”
“When?”
“A few days after you went to live in the city.”
“Was it mother’s choice?”
“It was a joint decision. As much as anything can be a joint decision when you’re a princess.”
“But they’re just so … different.”
“I never bought into the whole opposites-attract thing until I saw them together,” Shelly said. “She brings out a less vain, more sincere side of Osiren. He brings out a playful side of her.”
“Playful? Juna? The same Juna who used to use her toys to hold court? That Juna?”
“He got her to jump on the backs of dolphins and race for bragging rights. And ‘borrow’ the royal chariot. Only to get caught making out in it. Oh, and he got her to play a game of Truth or Dare. And she had to sing opera in front of visiting dignitaries.”
“But Juna can’t sing.”
“No, no she can’t,” Shelly said, eyes and smile warm.
“I’m sorry I missed that.”
“What have you been up to?”
“Trying to ruin my engagement,” Iris found herself admitting.
“Is he that awful?”
“No. No, he’s not awful. He’s just …”
There was a loud giggle coming from Juna’s room, then a shushing sound.
“Oh,” Iris said, pressing a hand to her mouth, her cheeks feeling warm at the idea of her sister having a man in her room.
“You have no idea,” Shelly said, wincing. “I needed to make makeshift noise-canceling headphones out of giant clamshells. That whooshing sound almost drowns out the … other sounds. Almost.”
“I’m happy for her.” She was. Juna deserved to be loved for who she was, while also having someone at her side who could show her depths to herself that she might not know existed otherwise.
Iris couldn’t help but feel a little envious.
That lack of connection was why she was back home in the first place. She didn’t have that with Finn.
“Me too. But tell me why I can’t be happy for you too.”
“He’s just … he’s all surface, no depth. And you can never know if he’s being real or not. He’s been so coached all his life that I’m not sure there is anything about him that’s genuine anymore.”
“Hmm.”
“Hmm? That’s all you have for me?”
“Well, I have more. I just don’t know if you’re ready to listen to it or not.”
Iris sighed, making a trail of delicate bubbles spiralupward like tiny pearls, shimmering near the ceiling before they popped.
