Phoebe

"Can I ask you a question about idol stuff?"

"About Mynah, you mean?" The stiffness in Thessaly's voice was inescapable.

Phoebe slouched deeper in her armchair, her phone hot against her cheek. "I'm sorry, I'm just trying to understand what's happening to me, am I in danger?"

"Danger from what? You mean, like, her fans?"

"Nah. Well, maybe, I've been getting hatemail." She still hadn't talked to Cy about blocking that. There'd been two pieces in the packet he'd brought to the hotel today. But to filter it, someone would have to read it all, and that was a weird thought. "But I meant the management, I think Cy's trying to set me up with her, but I don't know who wrote that song."

There was silence from the other end of the line for a moment. "Normally it's like, we need a song like this, let's workshop a rough theme and then get someone in to actually write it. Like, for 'Perfect Storm', we were pretty desperate to make an impact and I'm a mermaid, so we thought about waves and storms and stuff."

"Did you have any input at all?"

"Some, but that was because it was just me and Brynna, and then we managed to hire a producer to write it. For someone like Mynah it'd be a lot more people."

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Phoebe flapped a hand fruitlessly at her face, trying to fan herself. "So you don't think she wrote it? The new song, I mean?"

"Maybe a few words here and there, but she's not, like, pouring her heart out up there or anything."

"Oh." Screwing her eyes shut, Phoebe wondered if she could trust Thessaly on this. If Mynah could be lying, couldn't the mermaid too? Maybe it was arrogant, but Thessaly – and her manager – probably had more to gain from a connection with Phoebe than Mynah did.

"I can't tell if you want the song to be about you or not."

Phoebe supressed a groan. "I don't know, Thessaly, what am I supposed to think? I don't want her management forcing her into something. I don't want to be forced into something, I don't know if I can trust Cy, I don't know-" She caught herself before voicing other doubts. "I want her to be happy, I don't think she is right now."

"You don't?" Thessaly sounded genuinely surprised.

"She just seems lonely." Phoebe half-rolled, half-slid out of the chair and to her feet. Walking over to the massive window with its view of the forest stretching away to the hills in the middle of the island, she said, "I don't think she likes singing very much."

"She has to, doesn't she?" There was an edge to the mermaid's voice that Phoebe almost thought was fear. "Her performances are amazing."

"Maybe she did once. Now, I dunno. I dunno, Thessaly, maybe I don't know what I'm talking about." She pressed her forehead to the glass, but it wasn't cold enough to help. "This was so much simpler when I first met you, back when I was just a girl with a dragon."

"Would you do anything differently if you could start over?"

Phoebe laughed. "If I could do this all again, I'd perch two laps later at the Imperial City and finish fifth. I'd do that and maybe I'd face the wall at that damn party, but I don't think I'd change a lot else."