Page 30 of The Mirror and the Curse

Ianthe gasped and stared down into the lake, wide-eyed. “You saw one?” She turned to confront Fidelio and Chasse, who looked equally startled. “You both stay away from the boat’s controls! No chasing after sirens.”

Chasse put his hands up, palms out. “No problem.” He glanced at Fidelio. “I didn’t hear anything. Did you?”

“No.” Fidelio gave Eddi a suspicious look, one brow up, one brow down. “You’re joking, right?”

“No, it was my friend Kamoana from two summers ago.” Eddi felt a bit smug. “We made arrangements to meet and catch up on life.”

“You actually know a siren?” Chasse asked, looking wary.

“Yes, and she’s not dangerous. We met two years ago when she was in human form under a spell for three days. After she broke the spell, she married Lord Magnussen from Hyllestad, and now they spend half their time in the ocean as merfolk and half on land as humans. It’s pretty cool, really.” Eddi sighed. “I just wish Beatrice were here to see her too.”

Later, after they returned the boat and walked along the dock, Fidelio pulled Eddi aside. “Have dinner with me tonight, just us two? We can watch the water-polo tournament together afterward.” His dark eyes sparkled, and he gave her his most charming grin.

Despite the sunblock smeared over his face, even in his beard, that megawatt smile of his made her smile back. “I’m sorry, Fidelio, but I can’t. I’m meeting Kammy at six. She doesn’t come here often anymore, and we need to catch up on life. I really am sorry!”

His long face looked longer when he wasn’t smiling, but he did his best to make light of her refusal. “Guess I should be grateful it isn’t another guy, eh?”

Eddi felt torn. “Any other time, I would have accepted.”

“Well, that’s something. Take a walk with me tomorrow afternoon?”

“Sure! I’d like that.” Perfect. It wouldn’t interfere with her morning plans.

When his sweet smile reappeared, Eddi returned it fondly. One of his big hands reached for hers, then hesitated. “Have fun with your fishy friend, Eduardi. I’ll be looking forward to tomorrow.”

She caught his hand and squeezed. “So will I!”

Just before six, Eddi ran along the trail circling Faraway Lake, located a faint path between trees, and headed to the shore.

At this spot, boulders cluttered the gravel beach and jutted from the lake. Beyond them rose Palau Kalah, an impossible tropical island in the mountain lake. An actual volcano loomed at its northernmost tip, looking both near and distant.

As children, Eddi and her friends had enjoyed jumping off these boulders where the water was deep enough. It was the perfect place to meet with a mermaid.

Hearing a splash, she turned to see her friend bobbing in the shallows and waving one golden-tan arm. Waving back, Eddi ran to the edge of the water. “Kammy!”

“Hello Eddi! Look who I brought to meet you.”

When she noticed that her friend held something shiny in her arms beneath the water, Eddi stopped short. “Is that . . . What is that?”

Kammy laughed, flashing perfect white teeth. As she swam closer, Eddi glimpsed a small creature with a silvery fish’s head complete with round lidless eyes and a mouth that opened and shut to pump water over its gills. Its body was roughly human in shape, albeit covered in silvery scales and with plenty of webbing between digits and behind its arms.

Eddi stared, then realized what she must be seeing and did her best to school her expression into a smile. When Kamoana laughed even harder, Eddi knew she’d failed dismally.

“Don’t worry, Eddi. I know he looks like a monster to you. But watch this.”

Kamoana jumped out of the water onto a low boulder, holding the creature in her arms. Instead of a mermaid, Eddi stared in surprise at a glamorous young woman wearing skinny jeans, a gold-lamé top, and strappy sandals—all quite dry. Feet planted firmly on the rock, she tossed her silky black hair back over her slim shoulders, and her dark eyes twinkled at Eddi’s open-mouthed surprise. “Princess Eddi,” she said in her charming accent, “meet Aksel Bluefin Magnussen, age ten months.”

In place of the fishy monster, she held a baby boy with brownish hair that stood up straight on his head. His skin was an even tan like his mother’s. He wasn’t the prettiest baby Eddi had ever seen, but he looked quite human. His dark eyes now had lids and lashes.

“I thought you might like to meet him,” Kammy continued, unperturbed by Eddi’s continued speechlessness. “He looks a lot like Tor now, but when he was born, I took one look at his eyes and saw my father. We named him Aksel for Tor’s maternal grandfather and Bluefin for my dad.”

“Congratulations,” Eddi finally managed to say. “I’m so happy for you.”

“Isn’t he adorable?” Kammy’s eyes glinted with mischief. “He’s an easy baby, really. Happy both in the water and out of it. Thankfully, he inherited the spell my mother placed on Tor and me, so we can all live comfortably together in our human or mer forms.”

“Good to know.” Eddi sighed. “I’m sorry I was—”

Before she could complete the thought, Kammy’s baby flung himself from her arms into the water. Eddi shrieked, a reflex action, then realized the child had reverted to his fishlike form and was already swimming to the shore at her feet. Kammy jumped lightly from rock to rock until she stood beside Eddi, watching her son with evident pride. “He swims very well, and I’m sure he’ll be walking before we know it. Gravel is hard on his knees, after all.”

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