How One Princess Broke A Spell, Rebuilt A Kingdom and Reunited Several Families

Chapter Twelve: The End, And The Beginning

"Uh, sure, Uma, what do you want to talk about?" Caitriona asked, looking down the hallway in hopes of witnesses to whatever crime was about to take place. By the tone of Uma's voice she was definitely not pleased. I can't beat her in a fight, magic or no, Caitriona thought. I don't know any spells that would hurt her and I don't know how I would compete with an octopus woman in a physical fight.

"Harry," Uma responded simply. Caitriona's breath caught in her throat. What? Does she know? Of course she did, it was obvious. There was no way Caitriona was as good at hiding her little crush as she thought she was.

Besides, if Caitriona was right (which she often was), then Harry and Uma were probably together. Mal mentioned that officially 'dating' someone- calling them your partner, holding their hand, getting jealous of their attractive friends, talking about the future, getting engaged and all that cute stuff- was almost unheard of on the Isle. However Caitriona recalled Jay talking about a brief fling of his from the Isle, and from that it could be determined that while labeling it was uncommon, most people there did pursue a happy ending of sorts.

If Uma's was with Harry, and Caitriona had just revealed herself to stand in the way of that... I'm doomed, she thought.

"Why do you wanna talk about Harry?" Caitriona asked. Uma looked irrationally frustrated for a moment, like she was spelling out the obvious, and Caitriona became frustrated with herself. What is it I'm not getting? And why can't Uma just explain it normally?

"Stay away from him," Uma said. Caitriona paled. Oh no. Please let Evie or Mal or someone be right there to witness the murder and/or assault that is about to take place. She shook her head and tried to laugh, but it just came out as a weak titter.

"Uma, you don't understand, I wasn't- I wasn't trying to take him from you," she said. "I didn't know you two were together, and really, I'm not-"

"Harry and I aren't together," Uma interrupted. "What gave you that idea?" Caitriona sighed with relief and pressed one hand to her heart.

"You just seemed too close to be friends, way closer than Mal and Jay or Carlos," she said. "But if you're not telling me to stay away from Harry because you two are together, why are you telling me to stay away from him?" Uma seemed more than agitated at this point, probably already tired of having an honest conversation about feelings. If I'm honest, I don't want to have this chat either, Caitriona thought. It's a really, really scary one.

"You can only break his heart," she said. "I've seen how he looks at you and I've seen how you look at him, but you're from DunBroch. Your family probably wants you hitched to someone with political sway. You'll only bring him grief. He deserves more."

"Pardon me if I'm overstepping, but I don't see how it's your business to oversee your friend's romantic decisions," Caitriona responded coolly. "Besides, my family learned their lesson regarding arranged marriages ages ago. We'd never stoop so low as to sell off our children for political clout, not anymore." Uma gave her a long look to judge her honesty before nodding.

"Then at least promise me this," she said. "Don't hurt him." That I can do, Caitriona thought.

"Sure thing," she said. "Now, I believe we both have to get to our duties, don't we?" Uma nodded again.

"Yeah, we do," she said. "Now, since we're all coming to Auradon after this, I say we gotta find a way to be friends. Mal and I put aside our differences and Gil and Jay are getting along well so... figured we should too." Caitriona smiled.

"I already consider you a friend, Uma," she said. "You and I are actually pretty alike, all things considered." They shared a glance and a half-smile before they rejoined the group.