Smoke and Mirrors (14)

Fourteen

There were mermaids

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Never before in my life had I ever seen an underwater concert.

In the center of the room, protruding from the floor, was a glass tank. It seemed to be connected to the glass floor, so that the inhabitants of the tank could freely come and go.

I had expected to walk in and see a piano in a corner or maybe a violin or two, but what I saw blew all of that out of the water.

There were mermaids. Their voices sounded beautiful--silver and lovely, like a sweet syrup that spilled from their lips like honey. They were dressed in flowing, silk dresses of bright colors, as if they were the crowning jewel of the evening. One had a tail with scales that had the sheen of a pearl. Another’s tail looked like slivers of mirror and glass. Another looked soft and flowy, like a goldfish. Each of the four mermaids varied greatly, as if they weren’t even from the same kingdom. Maybe they weren’t. I didn’t know how many mermaid kingdoms there were.

“Announcing the arrival of her royal Highness, Princess Tanwen!” The guard before me announced over the balcony. I blinked at the crowd of people before me, unsure of what to do, and offered a little wave before slowly making my way down the stairs.

As I began to walk down the glass stairs, water began to swirl around the banisters like coils of garland, although not a drop of it splashed me. I saw my father at the head of the room, seated in his throne and guiding the water along the banisters with gentle twists of his giant hands.

I smiled at him once I’d made it down the stairs without tripping. That had been one of my biggest fears about tonight.

The glass walls were decorated with strands of coral and silk draperies. But really, when the backdrop was the moonlit sea, what decoration could one use to improve things?

I walked to dad, being careful to not step on either my own dress, or other womens’ dresses. There were a lot of them with long, flowing trains, and it made things kind of difficult in a room full of people.

“You look beautiful, my dear,” his gruff voice rumbled. He stood from his throne and offered me his arm.

I beamed. “Why thank you, Father. As do you. Look handsome, I mean. Not that you’re not beautiful or anything. I mean--I’ll just stop.”

He chuckled. “Care to dance with me?”

I nodded. “Of course! But, uh, little warning here, I can’t dance.”

Winking one of his bright, misty eyes, he said, “Then I’ll teach you.”

This all felt so strange. Never before had I dreamt that I would one day dance at a royal ball under the ocean with my father. Or that he was the king of said ocean. It was all so much!

He showed me how to move my feet and told me to watch how he did it. I stumbled a few times at first, but caught on fairly quickly.

“You’re doing well!” he commented.

We danced for a while. Every now and then, he would subtly gesture to a couple and say things like, “Do you see that man over there? The one with the blue tie and matching shoes? That is the duke of Ethadia, one of the cities in our kingdom. He is a loyal and devoted man, and as long as he gets plenty to eat, he’s happy.”

I snickered.

We spent most of the night like that, going back and forth as he filled me in on the visiting guests. Some royals there had come from other kingdoms. There was a man who looked almost translucent. Scratch that, he was translucent. I was told that he was the king of the Shadow kingdom. I shivered. At first, I thought he had to be the oddest man I’d ever seen, but then I remembered Sterling’s odd, almost reflective skin.

The next odd-looking character was the exact opposite of the Shadow king. It was a woman with golden, glowing hair, and shining, bright skin. The walls sparkled when she passed them, laughing as she danced. She was the queen of Light--or so father said.

There were many kings and queens, dukes and duchesses, lords and ladies that Father pointed out. I lost track of who was who.

“I want to announce you,” Father stated suddenly.

I blinked up at him dumbly. “Uh, what? What do you mean?”

He grinned and released me from our dance. Suddenly, he stepped back and we shot up into the air a couple of feet as a stage of water poured from his hands and held us up. The water seemed as if it were solid beneath us!

I stepped behind him slightly, carefully eyeing the glimmering water beneath me. All eyes were on us.

Father’s voice boomed throughout the room when he spoke. “My friends! Allow me to make a delightful announcement!” He turned and smiled at me. “The Lost Princess of Water has returned.”

There was a moment of silence before applause and cheering broke out across the room. From the edges of the wall, the staff also applauded. Slowly, I stepped out from behind father and beamed down at the crowd of people. Each person looked so different. Some were cloaked in fire--likely inhabitants of mother’s kingdom--some dressed in fall leaves and some in flower petals. Each person looked different from the last, although occasionally there were two or three whose apparel matched each other.

When the applause faded, father added, “She will have her Testing soon, to determine where she belongs. But for now, let us rejoice that my daughter is home! We have waited for this moment for many a year, and now it is here!”

An older man--a king, by the looks of his crown--raised a question. “What is to be done with the traitorous queen? Surely this shall not go unpunished!”

Father nodded. “It shall not, King Geold. Justice will be brought. Tonight, however, is a night to rejoice and make merry. It’s a night to celebrate!”

He lowered our watery stage and the applause was joined by the mermaids’ songs. Gradually, the floors began to move with dancing couples again.

Father was pulled into conversation by a tall, thin woman with a crown made of long spikes. I tried to guess where she was from, but gave up after a while and began to track down the horderves table.

A figure bumped into me.

I turned to see who had crashed into me, but the figure pressed something into my hand and was gone, blending seamlessly with the crowd of people around me. Any one of them could have bumped me.

I looked down at my hand and noticed that the figure had given me a piece of paper.

Meet me after the ball. You’ll know me.