Clarita laughed, pushing her hair back against the sea breeze. “It was a wild first meeting.”

“What happened then?” Mouse asked, enraptured.

“I slapped her. No one treats a princess like that!” Clarita chuckled.

Mouse shook his head. “She really hasn’t changed at all, has she?”

“No. She really hasn’t.” Clarita shook her head and chuckled one last time, but her smile faded. She pressed her lips together and gazed into the surf, at the distant horizon.

“I can see… how that would be hard,” Mouse murmured gently. If Moss died, and remembered nothing, but was still herself… Well, it’d be a hell of a lot easier to get her to take my place in the palace, but that aside, it would be torture. Knowing she was dead, but alive, but the her I knew, the her who knew me, was dead… and that’s only my sister. If it was a lover... it would be torture.

Clarita nodded.

They walked on in silence. Only the rush of the surf broke the soft rasp of sand underfoot.

He glanced at Clarita. “I know it hurts, but… for all her childish antics, Brittany really does care about you.”

“I know. I know. I just…” She shook her head.

Mouse took Clarita’s hand. Soft paw pads pressed against his sword callouses. “If it’s too much, tell me. I’ll make sure she stops.”

Clarita met his eyes. Liquid brown eyes gazed into his. She glanced down and shook her head. “I… It’s not that I hate her, it’s just…”

“I got the ball!” Spar hollered.

Mouse and Clarita exchanged a look, and Clarita giggled nervously. “Shall we?”

Mouse gestured for her to go ahead.

Several princesses gathered on the court. Eleda, Brittany, and the winged princess took one side, while Mouse, Clarita, and a princess with huge, overlapping flower petals for hair took the other. Spar tossed Mouse the ball. He slapped it, knocking sand off. A bit worn, the soft brown surface stained, it held up well to the slap. The dragon princess settled beside Spar with a huff, quietly settling in to watch.

“Mouse, Clarita,” Mouse introduced himself to the third member.

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“Leaa,” the flower-petal princess replied. She extended her hand, and Mouse took it. Her smooth, pale green skin remained dry despite the heat.

“And you?” Brittany asked, smiling at the winged princess.

“Toni,” she replied haughtily, flicking hair so white it glowed out of her face.

“Play to five?” Mouse suggested.

“Of course. Standard rules?” Toni replied.

Mouse shrugged. “Works for me.”

He backed up to the rear of the field, bent down, then leaped up. Smacking the ball with one hand, he sent it flying over the net.

The winged girl caught it with her knee, juggled it to her elbow, and slammed it back over.

Mouse’s brows furrowed. Is that… standard?

Clarita rushed forward to meet the ball. She hit it to the ground with her chest, then booted it back under the net. “Yes!”

Eh? That’s definitely not allowed.

Across the net, Brittany caught the ball with her foot, snapped it up, and passed it to Eleda. Eleda threw herself forward into a handstand and hit the ball with her heel midway through. It hurtled over the net.

“Got it!” Leaa jumped and hit it with her head. The ball flew sideways, toward Mouse.

I guess… anything goes? He ran for the ball and bumped it back across the net with his fists.

Toni dodged out of the way. The ball hit the ground.

Mouse pumped a fist and turned to his team. “A point!”

“Eh? Mouse, you can’t touch it with your hands,” Clarita chided him.

He furrowed his brows. “What? Weren’t we playing volleyball?”

Clarita frowned at him. “What’s volleyball? I’ve only ever heard of bounceball.”

“Bounceball? We’re playing netball,” Toni replied, equally confused.

“We called it ‘knees and shoulders,’ but it should be about the same. You could only hit the ball with your joints, right?” Brittany replied.

“No, you can hit it with anything, you just can’t hit it over without passing,” Leaa replied. “At least, that’s the way it is in aa-ball.”

Mouse put a hand to his forehead. “Was anyone playing the same game?”

Eleda raised her hand. “I was playing airball, too—wait, did you say airball?”

Leaa shook her head. “Aa-ball, aa-ball.”

Mouse laughed. “What a mess.”

“Well… shall we?” Brittany suggested, picking up the ball. She knocked the sand off it and bounced it in one hand.

“What, keep playing? But no one knows the rules,” Toni replied, taken aback.

“Everyone plays by their own rules,” Brittany suggested.

“What do we do for score?” Leaa asked.

“We can each keep our own score,” Mouse said.

“There’s no way that can work,” Toni muttered, annoyed.

Clarita grinned. “Why don’t we give it a try? It sounds fun.”

Brittany beamed at her. Clarita glanced away, smile vanishing.

Undeterred, Brittany tossed the ball up, then kicked it as it fell. It popped back up, spiraling into the sun. Toni jumped after it, flapping her wings once, then spiked it over the net. Mouse dove, throwing a fist out, and bumped it up, only for Clarita to head-butt it to the ground and roll it under the net. Toni grumbled something under her breath, but swooped down and scooped it up with her foot to toss at Eleda, who kicked it over.

Mouse jumped. Leaa leaped at the same time. They smashed into each other and fell to the ground. Shouting, Clarita jumped over them and bodyslammed the ball. It caught on her hip, flew up, and slammed into the net, then plopped back down on their side.

“Dammit!” Clarita muttered.

“Argh,” Leaa grumbled.

“That’s a loss for all of us, then, huh?” Mouse chuckled.

In the distance, a bloodcurdling scream rang out.