Red Tide -The WaterFire Saga

[0.3]

"What is this outburst?" Thalassa asked with a hand pressed to her chest. "This isn't like you, child. You know the songspell inside and out. All you have to do is cast it!" 

Aelia could see the frustration written on her twin's face. Though she and Sera often shared their deepest secrets, Aelia had heard nothing about the feelings that had swirled within her twin until now. She felt a pang of disappointment, wondering what she had done to warrant Sera keeping her feelings hidden from her. 

"Yes. Right. That's all." Sera's voice was scathing, like when a lava lamp had fallen and broken. "Just cast it. In front of the entire court. And the Matalis. And oh, I don't know, ten thousand Miromarans! It's too hard. I won't be able to pull it off. I'll bungle that trill. My voice isn't strong enough. It's not as beautiful as other voices are. It's not as beautiful as . . . as . . ."

"As Lucia's?" Thalassa raised an eyebrow, speaking the name Aelia had drifted in the back of her mind as Sera spoke. 

Sera nodded, her displeasure written on her face. Aelia half-expected Thalassa to begin a lecture or to scold Sera, but she laughed. It was a short, barking laugh, a bit like a seal was talking, but it wasn't mocking. 

"Tell me, where does the voice come from?" the older mermaid asked.

"From the throat. Obviously." Sera rolled her eyes. 

"That's true for many. And it's certainly true for Lucia." Thalassa said. "But it's not true for you. Either of you." Thalassa gave Aelia a pointed stare, before touching the place over Serafina's heart. "Your voices come from here. It's a beautiful voice. I know, I've heard it. All you have to do is let it out. Show me your heart, Serafina. That's where the truest magic comes from." 

Aelia knew this to be true, Thalassa had told her as much since they had begun training together. But she wondered if Thalassa wanted Sera to show her heart, in the middle of a court who would pounce on any sign of weakness. Thalassa of all people knew how dangerous it was, having experienced the scathing words of the court. Aelia could still remember when Thalassa explained why she struggled when she initially came to court. 

"Show my heart? Here at court?" Serafina laughed bitterly. "Why? So Lucia Volnero can stick a knife in it?"

"I heard what Lucia said. Ignore her. She wishes she were principessa. She wants the power, the palace, and the handsome crown prince." 

Aelia watched as her twin's eyes darkened at the words, the crown prince. Her twin tried to blink it away, and maybe someone else would have missed it, but Thalassa was not anyone else and Aelia knew her sister better than she knew herself. 

"Ah," Thalassa said sagely. "So that's what's behind all this." 

Thalassa floated over to the settee that Aelia had long since taken a seat on, patting the empty spot on the other side. "Tell me, does he love you?"

Aelia could see the tears in her twin's eyes as she prepared a response, swimming towards the settee. "Yes. No. Oh, I don't know, Magistra! I think so. I thought so. But now I'm not so sure. Not after what Lucia said. 

"Oh, Serafina," Thalassa wrapped an arm around Sera's shoulders. She paused and turned to look at Aelia. "Perhaps it would be a good idea for you to swim outside? Just to give Serafina some privacy." 

"Yes, Magistra." Aelia tried to hide the sting of pain at the words, moving quickly to get out of the room.

She floated through the doorway to the antechamber and ensured the doors closed behind her. Though it pained her to leave, a sting of pain she hadn't felt since her grandmother had begun attempting to distance Aelia from the rest of the family, she would give her twin the privacy to talk with Thalassa.