Lyssandra cleared her throat, then tapped a spoon lightly on the side of her goblet. “I hate to interrupt your conversation, boys, but we do actually have other important matters to discuss.”
“Why do you even care about this?” Lukas spat, whipping his head up to face her. “You’re no friend of my mother’s. Why are you punishing us all for his cruel actions?”
“Calm yourself, princeling. I’m not finished with my story.” She leaned back in her chair as our attention returned to her. “In our world, magic cannot be created nor destroyed. So when your father gave your dear mother the potion that stripped her of her merfolk abilities, those powers transferred to the one who created the potion.”
“Well, that’s just wrong,” Arenn argued while Queen Amabel nervously sipped from her goblet. “Clearly our mother isn’t a mermaid.”
“Such a clever observation,” Lyssandra shot back, her voice dripping in sarcasm. But she ignored Arenn’s scowl as shecontinued, “Unbeknownst to our innocent mother at the time, she was actually pregnant with yours truly, me! So when Erissa lost her mermaid essence, it flowed right back to my mother and straight into her womb. Can anyone guess what happened eight months later? What about you, dear brother? Since you are feeling so clever tonight?”
Arenn’s arm around my waist tightened. “You were born with a freakish little fishtail,” he answered coolly.
“That’s right. Sweet baby Lyssi was born equal parts mer and fae. How shocked my parents were when the healers had to dunk their newborn baby into a bath full of water just so she could take her first breath.” Lyssandra scowled as Queen Amabel’s lower lip trembled.
I was glad Lyssandra didn’t insist on showing us that particular memory. I’d assisted with more births than I could count as part of my education, so I had no issue with that, but to see a mother who could barely recognise a baby as her own child? The thought of it made my blood run cold.
“Of course, I couldn’t stay here either,” Lyssandra went on. “Merfolk need saltwater to thrive. So, as a mere babe, I was shipped off to the coasts of Ryntook, to live with the others like me, until my parents could find some kind of solution to fix this whole situation. Or clearly, in my case, until I was strong enough to trade away the damned tail myself.” A flicker of fear passed over her features, but I barely had time to notice it before she carried on in a more relaxed tone. “And then, when my parents went to visit their beloved friend Ikelos to come to some arrangement, because surely he and his wife would want to help remove these wayward powers from an innocent baby, even if it meant Erissa somehow claiming them back… What did you tell them, Ikelos?” Lyssandra waved her pale hand towards him.
He grumbled a response that was barely audible.
“What was that?” she insisted, raising an eyebrow.
“A deal was a deal,” he grumbled again, louder this time. “They could’ve come up with a spell on their own to fix the baby. I’d already paid for the potion. Our deal was done.”
“But you weren’t done, were you, Ikelos?” Lyssandra said as her voice darkened. “You grew scared and paranoid that the faeries would come after you. That they’d steal your wife and force her to take her essence back. And by that point, you knew she’d agree, that your wife would doanythingto return to the ocean.” She paused for a moment, then let her chin rest in her palm as a smile crept over her lips. “Why don’t you tell dear Naria what happened when you paid your Corlixin friends a visit?”
A breath caught in my throat. Instantly, my eyes locked onto Ikelos.
“What’s she talking about?” I demanded. “What happened?”
The King stiffened, his already pale face turning whiter than his bed sheets. “Nothing. Happened.”
My heart thundered in my chest. He was lying, clearly he was, so I whipped my head to face Lyssandra.
“Tell me!” I demanded again. “Tell me what happened in my kingdom.”
Lyssandra’s smile grew further, stretching up her sharp cheekbones. The silence was killing me until finally, she broke it with her lilting voice. “Do you remember when I told you of the mages that used to reside in your kingdom?”
I nodded. “The human descendants of the fae.”
“That’s right,” she confirmed. “Your darling king here decided to pay their school a visit, after my parents begged him to help them fix me. He wanted the mages to use their magic to banish the faeries from human soil. Of course, they refused. Ikelos’s idea was mad. But he didn’t take no for an answer. So what did you do, Ikelos, when they told you no?” she prompted him. “Tell her.”
“I…” The frail king tried desperately to keep his mouth clamped shut, but it didn’t take long for the compulsion to overthrow any resistance. “I… I burned down their s-school.”
Burned?
No…
“And when was this?” Lyssandra encouraged him. “Did this happen to be only hours before the famous fire that destroyed poor Corlixir? Do tell us, Ikelos.”
His body shuddered as he feebly attempted to resist the compulsion again. “Y-yes.”
“Father…” Lukas gasped, but I could barely hear him over the thundering in my ears. Suddenly, I felt incredibly dizzy, as if the dining room was spinning in endless circles around me. Too fast. Too much.
“It was you,” I muttered, “it was always you… You started the fire!” My chest seized. Every breath I took felt entirely too short as little stars filled my tear-blurred vision.
“You… You destroyed my kingdom.” The words got stuck behind a choking gasp. In the distance, I could’ve sworn I heard Lyssandra’s cackling laughter.
“YOU KILLED MY PARENTS!”
