Then King Arryn and Queen Sophia stood on the platform together, smiling from ear to ear—a very handsome couple, Ellie thought once again—and the King proclaimed: “Tonight we ask you all to share our joy in announcing the betrothal of our son Omar Jibran Tazim Zeidan, Prince of Khenifra, to Marielle Yvette Toulouse, Crown Princess of Auvers.”
A great cheer arose, for the capricious crowd delighted in the tale of a lost princess found and had already forgotten its condemnation of an hour before. First to congratulate them was Prince Briar, who embraced his sister and spoke into her ear: “He will spoil you with kindness, but as your brother I am bound to keep you humble and cross.”
“Like old times,” Ellie said, and kissed his cheek. “I remember more about your peskiness now and promise to screech insults at you regularly.”
He gazed fondly into her eyes. “Some things never change.”
She hugged him again. “Thank you, Briar. For everything.” Then she remembered. “But . . . the throne? Do you mind very much?”
He laughed softly. “Marielle, why do you think I have searched for you so diligently all these years? Aside from the minor fact that I missed you, I mean. Becoming heir apparent to the throne was the worst thing that ever happened to me. I have no desire whatsoever to be king.”
Ellie had to laugh. “And you think I want to be queen? All because I was born a few minutes before you? You are soooo lucky Auvers doesn’t demand a male heir to the throne.”
“If it did, neither of us would be heir, since our mother wouldn’t be queen.”
“There is that,” Ellie agreed. “I suppose I’ll just have to accept my role, which won’t be so bad with Omar at my side.” She looked proudly at her fiancé, who was now a few paces away, accepting congratulations from a crowd of friends.
Briar gave her his usual wry smile. “You two are a great match. Confronting Mother is not my favorite thing, but I promise to stand with you during your transition. And I’m one-hundred percent behind Omar. It’s a good thing you two are officially betrothed.”
“You think Mother will object?”
His amused expression told her much. “I merely advise you to prepare for the worst. Only you have the right to choose your husband, and you have chosen well. Omar may not have magic, but he has a strong backbone. He’ll handle the pressure. You’re the one I worry about, soft-hearted as you are. Mother will use that and your sense of obligation against you.”
Ellie appreciated her brother’s honesty. He didn’t even try to soothe her with magic, which she appreciated. “Thank you,” she said. “Thank you for everything, Briar.”
He accepted her quick hug with a brief smile. “Yeah, yeah. I’m doing it for myself too. You’ll notice, the director discreetly disappeared, poor old thing. And your magical friends are gathered to celebrate with you. Now go dance with your fiancé.”
The band began to play a romantic song, and several couples took to the floor. Omar turned, caught Ellie’s gaze, and raised his brows. She hurried to take his hand, and they joined the dancers, moving cheek to cheek. Ellie was tickled to see, moments later, the King and Queen of Khenifra dancing nearby.
Even as she relaxed into Omar’s arms, Ellie noticed faces in the crowd surrounding the dance floor. Four dwarfs, her particular friends Chuck, Tasha, Sten, and Nillie, all wearing their glamours, stood at the edge of the dance floor and smiled their approval.
“It’s a wonderful party,” Ellie told Nillie, the resort’s event-planner, as she and Omar danced past, and all four dwarfs gave her two thumbs-ups.
Sira and other brownies had worked their way to the front of the throng and waved to her and Omar with evident delight despite their mournful faces. Even Geraldo perched on the edge of the band platform and glowered at her, his twiggy arms crossed over his chest. She winked at him, and he rolled his eyes, which made her smile.
Ellie could only imagine how pleased her cinder sprite friends would be to hear her news, and the Gamekeeper, who had orchestrated this entire evening, she appreciated most of all.
“Omar, I do not see how I could ever be happier!” she murmured into his ear.
His arms around her tightened briefly, and she heard a smile in his voice as he replied, “Oh, I think we’ll find a way.”
But wait! What about Tor and his siren? Whatever happened to those two?
Find out in J.M. Stengl’s upcoming novel—
COMING MAY 2018
Turn the page to read Chapter One!
What is happening to me?
Sunlight fell in beams through the roiling green water around me, bubbles rising to the surface as I flailed about. I was in my own lake, but frightened and confused and . . . My tail! Oh, such pain—as if someone took a knife and split me from my tail fins upward. I screamed, but there was no sound. There was no one around to hear me anyway, not even any fish. No one came to help me. I thrashed and fought, but there was no one to fight.
“Mother!” I cried. I thought I sensed her near, but I heard no answer.
My familiar surroundings seemed blurred and foreign. Then I tried to breathe and choked on water. Wait, what? Why couldn’t I breathe like always?
My body had changed; I knew it now. My tail was no longer a tail, and it felt different. The lake water against my skin felt cold because I had no scales anymore. I had bare skin on my lower half too, like a human, and something wrapped around my hips. But these changes were minor.
Not being able to breathe, now that was a problem! Pulling with my arms and kicking a little with my new legs, which didn’t go very well, I reached the surface and coughed until I could suck in a long breath without choking. It had never felt so good to breathe air before, and the blue sky above was a comfort after the cold, threatening green depths of . . . my home.
Oh, this was so not good. And I had no idea whatsoever why it was happening to me.
Paddling with my arms and hands, I turned to locate myself. I floated in a northeast bay of Faraway Lake, still within sight of the castle, but far enough away that the people on the beach and docks looked like grains of sand. A ski boat approached slowly; I saw three human faces staring directly at me. That was a shock, since humans can’t usually see me unless I speak to them. Staff members at the castle can see magical beings like me, since they have a little magic of their own. But the guests? Almost never.
I couldn’t truly be human, could I? I mean, I was born a siren, and everything I knew about life was from my merfolk perspective.
Mother had done this—she turned me into a human. She must have. But why? What had I done to deserve having my tail chopped in half and being nearly drowned in my own home? I was terrified and angry and shivering with cold, and wet hair plastered my face and shoulders.
“Are you all right?” The voice sounded feminine.
“What happened to you?” another female asked.
“Strange to see a girl out here alone in the lake.” That was a deep voice edged with amusement. “She doesn’t look like she’s drowning.”
I flung hair out of my face and peered up at the boat. One of the females was driving, of course. Men were forbidden to drive any of the resort’s boats, and for good reason: My sisters loved to siren call any young man who got close to our island, smile and beckon to him, then send a whirlpool or wave to crash his boat or canoe against the rocks. They never harmed anyone, yet such activities were generally frowned upon. By the human women, anyway. Mother once told us that some humans talked about banning us, but everyone knew that the sirens at Faraway Lake attracted new young men to the resort every summer. Even though few of them ever caught a glimpse of us, there was always that chance.