"Serena," Talia said from the doorway, "Parents have been chosen for the children. They are here. Are the children ready?"
"Oh, yes, of course." Serena cleared her throat and looked at the children, a little sadly. It had been over a year since they had been placed in her care. Sometimes, that happened when the appropriate parents were not deemed ready. She was glad that they were finally going to their permanent homes, but she knew she would miss them. They were playing with sea shells, so she took each child by the hand and turned to Talia. "We're ready."
Talia nodded and backed away from the door, allowing the couple to enter. Serena caught her breath as she recognized the Glemoran king and queen.
"Your majesties." She bowed her head, immediately. "I didn't realize it was you."
The queen laid eyes on the little girl and smiled. "She's perfect." She scooped her up without a second thought, forcing Serena to release her hand. "Isn't she beautiful?" she asked her husband, who nodded.
"We couldn't have asked for a better heir," he agreed.
Serena held fast to the boy's hand as she waited for them to leave so his new parents could enter. They turned to go, but Talia stood in their way.
"Forgive my rudeness," she said, "but Spiro says you are to take the boy, as well."
The king and queen seemed to be frozen solid for a second. Slowly, they turned back to look at the red-tailed boy whom they had been content to ignore before. Now, they faced him with identical looks of horror.
"You can't be serious," the king said, "We can't be expected to raise such a creature."
Serena held the boy's hand more firmly at their words, not wanting to give him to such people.
"You know that Spiro's word is final," Talia spoke firmly, "He says that you must take the boy, as well, or you will not take the girl, nor any other child. He says you must take both or you will be left with no heir, at all."
They glared at her as if it was her fault. There was a long silence as she returned the cold gaze. Finally, the king spoke, "Very well. We will take him." He turned back to Serena and took the boy by the arm.
She held onto his hand for a moment longer, not wanting to give him up to such a person. He looked up at her with his big, dark eyes, not understanding what was happening. She offered him a warm smile as she released his hand.
The queen held the girl as they left with the king dragging the boy behind them. Serena watched them go with a pit in her stomach. A minute after they left, she had a vision. It was more intense and painful than any she'd had before. She cried out and doubled over.
"Serena?" Talia rushed over and placed her hands on the girl's shoulders. "Are you okay?"
"We can't let them take him!" She struggled to pull away, but Talia wrapped her in a firm hug.
"We don't have a choice," she said, calmly, "It's Spiro's decision."
"You don't know what's going to happen to him," Serena insisted.
Talia took a breath and held her close. "Yes, I do."
Serena looked up at her, barely able to breathe. "You saw it, too?"
"I probably saw more than you did," Talia admitted, "But there's nothing we can do about it."
"We can stop them and bring him back!"
"No." Talia shook her head. "We must trust Spiro's decision, no matter how difficult it is."
"We can't..." Serena felt her voice fading with her strength. "How can we allow that?"
"Because we are the seers," Talia said, "This is our duty."
Two boys held Alizarin's arms and pushed him to his knees, holding him there by his shoulder. One looked back at Alexander. "What now?"
Alexander held up a small, brightly-colored object. "I found this earlier. It took me a little while to figure out how to use it, but look." He clicked a button and a small flame shot up.
The other boys stared at it in wonder. "Is that..."
"Fire," Alexander confirmed, keeping the button pressed down, "Now, hold him still. I touched this thing earlier and it hurt. I want to see what kind of damage it can do." He knelt beside Alizarin and held the flame under one of his bare arms.
Alizarin struggled against the hands holding him, but to no avail. The flame burned through his skin quickly and he had to bite his tongue to keep from crying out.
Alexander released the button and the flame disappeared. "Confess what you were doing to the princess and promise not to do it again or I'll do your other arm the same."
When Alizarin remained silent, Alexander clicked the lighter on again and held it under the other arm, watching the skin sear on the heat. He removed it again and noted that Alizarin's breathing had become labored. "Confess, red-tail."
There was more silence and Alexander lifted Alizarin's hair to expose his neck. Careful not to burn his own hand, he clicked the lighter on and brought the flame to the exposed skin.
"What are you doing?" a voice demanded from behind him.
Alexander and the other boys turned to see Kai walking over with Aria. She was glaring daggers at them, having obviously been the one who spoke.
Alexander just smiled at her. "This is Glemoran business. It's no concern of yours."
Kai's gaze fell to Alizarin and he touched Aria's arm, speaking softly. "We shouldn't get involved."
She stared at him in shock. "You'd just allow this to happen?"
"It's not our fight," he insisted, "They're Glemorans and he's..." The look she gave him quickly silenced the prince.
Aria turned back to the Glemoran boys. "Let him go, now."
"Do you have any idea what you're getting yourself into?" Alexander asked, calmly, "You're a land girl, right? This has nothing to do with you."
"Yes, I am a land girl," Aria agreed, "Guess what: you are currently on land. That means I have the advantage. You might be able to take one merman down here, but are you are you can handle a land girl on land? Are you sure you even want to try?"
She wasn't particularly big or scary, but she gave off an air of confidence that made them uncertain. They weren't familiar enough with the land to know whether she was bluffing.
Alexander nodded to the other two. "I think we made our point. Besides," he looked at Kai as he spoke, "we wouldn't want to tick off the prince's girlfriend."
The other two released Alizarin and followed Alexander down the beach. Aria glared at them as they walked by. As soon as they were past, she knelt next to Alizarin, her expression going soft. "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine," he assured her in a gruff voice, "You should go back to the party."
"And leave you here if they come back?" She shook her head and looked at his wounds in the moonlight. "Besides, you should get those wounds taken care of and I happen to have some aloe in my purse." She frowned as she remembered where that was. She looked back at Kai. "Could you go inside and get that for me? I set it down in there." Thus far, nobody had tried to steal anything at the parties, so she'd felt comfortable setting it down and walking away.
He glanced at Alizarin. "I don't think that's a good idea."
"And why not?" she demanded.
"Don't worry about me," Alizarin said as he stood up, "I'm fine."
"Those are second degree burns," Aria told him, "You can't just leave them untreated." She looked back at Kai. "Go get my purse, please."
He gave Alizarin another look. "You touch her and I'll kill you." With that, he headed back inside to grab the bag.
"I didn't think anyone could order him around besides his parents," Alizarin commented.
Aria offered him a smile. "I can be very persuasive. Now, don't try to run off or I'll be very cross and you don't want to see me cross."
"You weren't cross before?"
"Oh, please," she said, "I was just annoyed when I told those jerks off." She frowned as she looked at his arms. "I can't believe they would do something like that."
"They felt justified," he replied, calmly.
"They weren't." Her firm tone offered no room for argument.
He shrugged as if it didn't matter. "If you say so."
Aria opened her mouth to ask why he wasn't more upset, but she was cut off as Sapphira came over.
"What are you doing here?" the princess demanded of Aria.
"The better question is: where were you?" Aria countered, "Do you even care about what happens to your bodyguard or is he just property to you?"
"Don't you dare speak to me like that," Sapphira commanded.
"Is everything okay?" Kai asked as he returned with Aria's bag.
"Everything's fine," she replied as she accepted it.
"We're leaving," Sapphira announced, looking at Alizarin, "I'm tired of listening to this land girl."
"You're not going anywhere until I treat his wounds," Aria informed her, digging through her bag.
Sapphira's expression lost its edge, then, and she looked at her bodyguard. "Wounds?"
"They're not that bad," he replied without meeting her gaze.
"They're bad enough," Aria insisted, pulling out the aloe. She frowned as she looked at him. "This would work better if we had more light." She looked back at the brightly-lit building where the party was still in full swing.
"I can't go in there," he said before she could even suggest it.
Aria sighed. "Right. Well, we'll just have to make due. Show me your burns."
"Burns?" Sapphira repeated.
Silently, Alizarin held out his arms. Aria squeezed some of the ointment onto her fingers and gently rubbed it in. When she was done, he allowed her to take care of the other arm and then his neck.
"It would be better if we had some bandages," she commented when she was done.
"They wouldn't last long once I change back," he pointed out.
"Right..." She considered how the salt water would feel on those wounds and didn't envy him.
"We should probably be going," Sapphira said, her tone softer than before. Aria wondered if it were possible that she actually felt bad for her bodyguard.
Alizarin nodded and started to follow the princess, but Aria called out to them.
"Wait." She walked over and stood in front of the pair. "You don't have to change back for several hours, right? We're planning to go to an aviary in the morning. You could join us if you wanted." She mostly wanted to invite Alizarin. She wanted to take him somewhere he could be around people that didn't treat him like a lesser being. However, she knew he wouldn't likely be able to come without the princess. "An aviary is a home for birds. There's a lot of really beautiful ones."
"You're inviting us?" Sapphira stared at her in shock. "Why would you do that? Why would we want to come?"
Aria shrugged. "It could be fun. Besides, Kai is coming. I thought you might like to keep an eye on us."
Sapphira glanced at the prince and shrugged. "I don't have anything better to do, I suppose." She looked at Alizarin. "Do you have any objections?"
"I will follow wherever you lead, princess," he replied.
"Alright, well, why don't we meet back here when the sun comes up?" Aria suggested, not eager to spend the night with Sapphira. She was already questioning her decision to invite them at all, but she couldn't back down, now.
"Works for me," Sapphira said.
Kai took Aria's hand and offered her a smile. "I know you wanted some fresh air, but I think it's time we rejoined the party."
She did her best to return the smile as she allowed him to lead her back inside.
Sapphira watched them go and looked back at her bodyguard. "Does it hurt much?"
He shook his head. "That stuff she put on the burns helped. I'll be fine."
Sapphira frowned as she looked at him. "Are you angry?"
"Why would I be angry?" he asked.
"Because they attacked you for no reason."
He shrugged. "They thought I was attacking you."
"You know they didn't really care what you were doing," she told him, "They just wanted an excuse."
"Perhaps," he agreed, "But it may have been a misunderstanding."
"You are too kind to them." She sighed and looked out over the ocean. "Are you angry with me, then? Before you ask why you would be, it's because I put you in that position. If there was a misunderstanding, it was my fault. You tried to warn me and I didn't listen. I really am just a selfish child."
"I'm not angry with you, princess," he assured her, "I promised to obey your commands, after all."
"It wouldn't kill you to be angry once in a while," she told him, "Everyone already thinks you have a violent temper, so why not prove them right? It might stop them from doing things like that." She indicated the burns on his arms.
"I can handle it," he promised, "I'm sorry if it caused you distress."
"Don't do that," she told him, "Don't apologize to me when you're the one that got hurt."
"You seem to be growing soft, princess," he warned, "You must be careful that no one sees you that way."
She offered him a smile. "Well, you'll keep my secret, right?"
"As always, princess."
"Is everything alright?" Freya asked as Aria and Kai returned to the party, "You said you were going out for some air, then Kai came back for your purse. I was worried."
"Everything's fine," Aria assured her, "I just had to take care of something." She set her bag down. "Also, Alizarin and Sapphira are coming with us to the aviary in the morning."
Freya raised her eyebrows at that. "I feel like this is a story I need to hear."
"Maybe later," Aria said with a smile, "For now, I just want to dance." She led Kai onto the dance floor, wanting a moment when she didn't have to think about what she was going to do next.
By the time the sun came up, Freya had managed to corner her and hear about what happened. She wasn't particularly happy about Aria getting involved with Glemoran affairs, but she knew it was too late to undo it.
"You really need to be more careful," she warned.
Aria just shrugged. "I couldn't let them torture him, could I?" She glanced at Kai, who had been pulled onto the dance floor by Echo. "Honestly, I just don't get how they could let it happen. Even Kai didn't seem eager to stop them. I know he doesn't particularly like Alizarin, but still..."
Freya looked at the prince. "Well, you have to keep in mind that it's a different culture. I keep trying to explain that to you. At any rate, he couldn't dare to attack a Glemoran because he is a prince and it would be seen as an act of war."
"I guess that makes sense," Aria admitted, but she didn't look any happier about it.
Freya looked at her friend for a moment and grabbed her hand with a smile. "Come on. I haven't had a chance to dance with you tonight." She dragged Aria out onto the dance floor before she could argue.
A little after sunrise, they headed out with Echo and Kai to meet Sapphira and Alizarin outside.
Aria was a little surprised that the pair had shown up, but she offered them a warm smile. "Ready to go."
Sapphira shrugged. "If you are."
Aria nodded as she looked from the Valadorans to the Glemorans, trying to pretend they weren't likely to kill each other at any moment. "Right, this is going to be fun."
"Lots of fun," Freya agreed with an excessively bright smile, "Let's be off, then." She started walking before anyone could argue.
Thus, the Glemorans and Valadorans walked with a human and a nymph to go see some birds.