Oh, yes, she was being stupid. So very, very stupid.

But, galloping across the plains on a borrowed horse toward the one place in Emerrane where she actually felt wanted, Erin didn’t particularly care.

In any case, Aeriemaster Gunu had never been the micro managing type, so she doubted he’d known she was missing the whole two times she’d played hooky. Well, three times, counting that day. After stopping in early to take care of Phoebe, she made a few brief appearances looking busy at work in front of witnesses in case someone asked for an alibi. Then, horse time.

Once she reached the wooded area near the pond, she made sure to approach from the side opposite the entrance road and landing area, leaving the horse tied well back out of sight and sound in the event that it decided to neigh. This was the iffiest part, creeping through mostly-empty stretches beneath shading pines before she got to the thicker brush, hoping no one was patrolling the far side of the pond close enough to spot her. After that, she cringed her way through the crackle and crunch of sticks and the rustles of foliage as she tried her best to move quietly the rest of the way.

The rushes at the water’s edge had grown tall and thick, the brown sausage-like cattails at their tips getting ready to start shedding into fluff. Squatting in a most unladylike fashion, she sort of crab-walked her way into them, focusing on moving the stalks as little as possible as she went. Just a few steps in, her boots squelched into deep mud, and she groaned in disgust. She was definitely not going to look her best by the time she caught Imyra’s attention, but at least she had the comfort of the fact that Coyrifan couldn’t see her when they had these water-side chats.

Stopping deep enough in the water that it just touched her ribs as she crouched, Erin reached out and parted the reeds just enough to take a peek across the pond at the landing area. She counted four people seated on the barrels, so it was likely there wasn’t anyone else left to be patrolling at the moment.

Knowing there was no way they could see or hear it at this distance, she dipped her fingers into the water and gently splashed them about. A short while later, Imyra appeared, her head craning out of the water in a manner eerily similar to images of the Loch Ness monster that Erin had seen a million times.

The eel-like animal had gone through a growth spurt since she’d come to live in the pond. She was over six feet long now but had yet to fill out. Her frilled fins still hadn’t caught up either, giving her the look of a lanky teenager with a too-short haircut. Her energy hadn’t diminished, though. Rings of yellow rolling across her pearl-white body from nose to tail tip, she quickly swam over to where Erin hid in the rushes.

“Shhhhh,” the girl hissed, holding up one palm in hopes that the seabeast would understand. If she started her happy leaping or lit herself up like a beacon, it would definitely draw some unwanted attention. Erin reached into her collar and held up her moonstone necklace, now with a few misshapen links from where she’d broken and then roughly put it back together. “Dial Coy for me, please?”

Sea green eyes going unfocused, Imyra briefly sank as she mentally reached out for her bondmate. When she came back, she began to swim from side to side, almost as if pacing.

“Is something wrong?” Erin asked.

Imyra looked at her, a single orange ring blinking in before she returned to her usual yellows. The girl didn’t quite know how to interpret that, but waited semi-patiently until the seabeast stopped moving and silently reached out again.

“Erin! Erin, are you there?”

“Here,” she said, unable to hold in the grin that split her mouth wide open.

“I apologize for taking so long to respond. I had to find a place far enough from the others to obscure my thoughts enough. It’s quite hard to keep them quiet enough to be private and still reach you from here.”

“No biggie.”

“I wasn’t expecting to hear from you again so soon. Is anything amiss?”

“No. I just wanted to talk to you.”

Coyrifan didn’t say anything, but Erin had become so attuned to Imyra’s “signal” at that point that she swore she could feel a well of warmth rise up around her, almost like a hug. She closed her eyes, suddenly wishing terribly that it was. She couldn't even remember the last time someone had actually hugged her.

“That was… sudden,” Coy said, a twinge of concern in his tone. “Are you crying?”

Darn it. Obviously, he could pick up on Erin’s feelings, too. She crossly swatted at the water with her knuckles. “No, but I definitely will be if we keep talking about it.”

“Then let’s talk about something else.” He paused. “And let’s do it in person.”

“Wait, what?” Heart instantly racing, she very nearly stood up, which would have brought her head well above the rushes. “Really?”

“Yes. I’ve been meaning to ask you to bring Prince Koben to the shore, but I’ll admit, I’ve been purposely putting it off. The news I have for him isn’t exactly pleasant. Seeing you would soften the blow for me, at least.”

“I mean, sure, but if I tell him he needs to meet you, he’ll want to know how I know. He’s gonna take my necklace if I admit we’ve been talking.” Belatedly, the full meaning of his words sunk in. “What news? What’s going on? Is everything all right?”

“I promise you, I am fine. Please, Erin, just bring Koben. We can work everything else out later. I’ll be waiting by the tree on the southern shore.”

“All right.” Erin stared at the heart-shaped moonstone, unsure whether that pounding in her chest was excitement or fear. Maybe a bit of both. “It might take a few hours, but I’ll get him as soon as I can.”

Like the caress of a passing breeze that faded away at the end, she felt his goodbye, rather than heard it.

“Thanks,” she said to Imyra, reaching out to tickle the animal under the chin. “Gotta go. I’ll be back for guard duty in a couple of days. I promise we’ll play a ton, and I’ll bring you some mussels.”

As usual, she wasn’t sure if Imyra actually understood or not, but the white eel flapped her front fins with that same innate enthusiasm she always seemed to have.

The girl crept back the way she’d come, constantly alternating between trying to wipe the sticky mud off of her pantlegs and checking over her shoulder every so often. Passing beneath the umbrella-like pines, her eyes were locked on the tied horse who’d take her back to Nilvar. She couldn’t help but run the last stretch, suddenly filled with a thrill of anticipation—or was she running from fear?

Her emotions continued to run the gamut as she led the horse out of the woods, trying to decide where she would look for Koben first, and what she would say to him. Her thoughts were focused so deeply inward when she reached the open grass and mounted up that it didn’t even register when a griffin landed nearby, followed by another a few seconds later. She witnessed the same thing many times every day, after all.

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“What were you doing, rolling around in the mud?” a strong female voice called out, demanding her attention.

Erin looked up and startled so hard that her horse squealed and half-reared, nearly unseating her. Resting upon her black griffin, General Xavara took off her flight goggles and looked over at her companion, who rode a red griffin. Trying not to wince, Erin turned to face the grin she knew would be waiting for her.

“I hear it’s good for the skin,” Koben said, nodding to Xavara. “Well, my friend, it seems the tip we received was legitimate after all.”

Instinctively clutching her moonstone through her shirt, Erin was already burning with no small amount of ire. “I am gonna slug that Leslyn next time I see him,” she growled.

“Leslyn?” The name came out of Xavara as a laugh.

“Don’t tell me it was Arlis?” Erin had been so certain the truth-telling boy was completely oblivious to her secrets.

She shook her head. “Try again.”

When she realized who of their little group of renegades was left, the rush that flushed through Erin was so hot that her horse sidestepped and threw its head. She quickly got down, knowing that the sensitive animal wasn’t going to enjoy her body language at all for a while.

The general leaned forward and braced her elbow against her griffin’s neck, an amused look on her face. “I realize you feel quite betrayed now, Erin, but you’ll want to know that Kaleit spared quite a few reputations by coming to us, instead of Tannoran or Esmor.”

“He shouldn’t have tattled at all if he’s so concerned about reputations,” she answered sourly. “Can I punch him when we get back?”

The woman laughed again, and Erin was sure she heard a hint of girlish delight in the sound. “I’m almost tempted to say yes.”

Koben’s eyebrows arched knowingly at his aunt. “I suspect there’s a captain somewhere out there whose nose narrowly avoided being rearranged, once upon a time?”

“Perhaps.” Resting her chin upon her palm, the general’s smile was very telling.

Then, the thing that Erin had feared most actually happened. The prince got down from Romo’s back and walked over to her… and held out his hand for her necklace. She reached back and undid the clasp. What else was there to do, run away?

As the heart-shaped stone dangled from her fingers and just above his palm, she was already in tears and couldn’t let it fall. “It’s my mom’s. Please don’t take it away. It’s all I have from my old wor—“ She bit her lip, glancing down at the ground. “My old life.”

Koben was smiling, but he lifted his palm, gathering the necklace into his hand and slipping the chain off of Erin’s fingertips. “I understand its value to you, but we need to cure you of a particular enchantment—as well as the temptation to continue shirking your duties at the Aerie.”

She’d been staring mournfully at the prince’s big hand as it closed around her treasure, but at his words, she looked up and frowned at him. “I am not bewitched. Coy said it was something else, and I believe him.”

“You would believe him, were you bewitched.”

Erin chose to disbelieve that.

“It’s for the best, girl,” Xavara said kindly. “When you’ve been removed from him long enough, the fever will wear off. Perhaps by then we can return the seabeast to the ocean, and then you can safely have your necklace back.”

The general walked off with her griffin and the horse, leading it to the landing area for one of the people on guard duty to ride home. Meanwhile, Erin was bid to join the prince upon Romo’s back. She supposed they weren’t taking any chances that she was going to run off or something, not that she intended to. In fact, this was working out quite well, as Koben was the one she wanted to speak to.

“So, uh, I’m not trying to get out of anything,” Erin began as she got up onto the saddle behind Koben, “but when I was talking to Coy, he said he has some news. He wants us to meet him at the shore with the tree, where we took the rowboat.”

“Does he now?” Koben looked over his shoulder at her. “News of the Medelapura, I assume?”

“He didn’t say.”

“Good news?”

“I’m not sure,” she lied.

“Somehow, I feel as though I shouldn’t believe you.”

“Don’t you want to know what’s going on? If we don’t go now, he might not be there when you do decide go.” Feeling somewhat desperate now at the prospect of missing out on seeing Coyrifan’s face again, she decided to risk over-sharing a little. “I don’t know if you’re aware of it, but he can’t just come out here whenever he wants. He might not get another chance for a long time.”

“I see,” the prince said, facing forward again. “I’ll think on it a bit.”

Romo took off and headed to the west, straight toward the Aerie. Erin waited and waited for Koben to decide, but lost hope when the building and flight cage grew large before them. They were nearly there when the prince suddenly took a deep breath before signaling to his griffin to veer abruptly south. Feeling fit to burst with joy, Erin held tightly onto the back of his shirt and looked ahead, hoping to catch sight of her merling friend as soon as possible.

When the designated strip of sand was near enough, Erin strained to spot anything in the water that might be the merling, but all she saw was ever-darkening shades of blue the further out her eyes traveled. Romo began to descend toward the single tree that marked the place, the same tree the cart horses had been tied on the day the party came to collect Imyra.

As they touched down and the area under the tree’s canopy came into view, Erin saw a slender figure in a blue shirt and brown slacks leaned back against its trunk. With no doubt as to who it could be, she was down from Romo’s back almost as fast as Koben was and ran for the tree.

Coyrifan caught her in his arms, but either his slight frame or his balance wasn’t quite up to accounting for her fast-moving weight. His back thumped against the tree, knocking the wind out of him with a grunt.

“Sorry,” she said, grinning like a complete idiot even as she stepped back to give him some space.

“No harm done,” he replied, quickly recovering to return her smile in full. To Erin, it was as if the sun had just come out.

“You have legs,” were the next stupid words to come out of her mouth.

Coy looked down. “Ah, yes, ugly things, aren’t they? But they’ve their use, when I need them.”

“You should keep them. They look nice on you.”

Coyrifan was still gracing the babbling girl with an arched brow and deeply amused smile when Koben joined them. “Ah, Prince Koben, I was hoping you’d come.”

The prince nodded a return greeting. “Erin said you had some news?”

“I do.” The merling didn’t quite stop smiling, but an odd solemness washed into his expression. “I regret to inform you that a rival tribe has stolen the Medelapura.”

Similarly, Koben’s eyes did not narrow, but they somehow became sharper.

Erin snapped right out of her happy daze, suddenly very aware of how bad of a turn this spontaneous meeting might be about to take.

“I understand that this puts me in an awkward position,” Coyrifan went on, “but I must ask you to allow me time to put things to rights, and that you would continue to care for Imyra. If there is any chance that I can follow through with my end of the bargain before Dry, it will be done.”

Breathing deeply through his nose, Koben looked aside for a few moments, soberly considering the situation. “Is there anything I can do to help?” he asked, looking the merling in the eye again.

With a quick glance to Erin and a brief touch on her arm to bid her remain next to the tree, Coyrifan stepped aside with the prince, and they turned their backs to her. The two of them conversed for a while, quietly enough that the girl couldn’t hear anything, but she thought she saw their hands meet at one point, as if exchanging money or some other item.

“Right, then,” Koben said as they turned back, his usual blithe smile once again prominent. “The general will shave my head sparkling bald for this particular caper, but I believe we’ve come to the best decision available to us at the moment.”

“Agreed,” said Coyrifan, then promptly snatched Erin’s hand with a laugh, pulling her toward the water.

Caught up in a heady rush of joy, Erin willingly ran along until she realized what was happening. Coy stopped as soon as she did, looking back over his shoulder. “Wait—what’s going on?” she asked, turning to include Koben in the question.

“Not to worry, dear girl,” the prince said, waving dismissively at her concern. “I’ll deal with Tannoran.”

“That’s not what I meant. Can you just—hey, stop!”

Too late. Koben hopped up on Romo and took off.

Just like that.

Now completely alone on the tiny strip of sand, a vast green plain on one side and a vast blue ocean on the other, Erin and Coyrifan looked at each other.

“Uh… Now what?” the girl asked.

Instead of using words to answer her, Coyrifan held up a finger, backing away toward the water. Just as his feet touched the surf, he whirled and dove, and for a split second Erin saw the fusion of his limbs back into fins and his clothes vanish into skin and moonstone scales.

He was gone for what felt like ages before a large peach-pink dome rose up from the depths, paralyzing Erin with terror until she realized it wasn’t an animal, but a shell or similar object that the merling was bringing up. It was vaguely bell-shaped, about the size of a car. Once he had it at the surface, he tilted it just enough for her to see that it was hollow inside. Bubbles escaped from the opening, proving that it was also full of air.

Erin pointed at it with sudden recognition, opening her mouth to say something, but nothing came out.

Oh no.

Ohhhh no.

Nope, nope, nope.