courtâ Borin said. âWhen we told our parents what you said, they just laughed and said to forget it. So that made us mad because no one is ever allowed to talk to us like you did.â
âYeah,â Amelie cut in. âSo we stayed just outside the chamber, and we heard old Chance talking to them. It was about the time your parents were fooled into some kind of meeting. The finfolk ambushed them, and put them in prison.â
Borin shook his head. âWhat she means is, the finfolk never meant to have a peace conference. It was a trap. And you were supposed to be captured, too, but you got away.â
Now it was Kiraâs turn to shake her head. This was a lot to take in. âAre you saying that my parents are still alive?â
âYes, theyâre alive! Thatâs what Chance, you know, the chancellor, was saying.â Borin looked at Kira with an earnest expression.
âWe had no idea before this,â he continued. âHonestly, if we hadnât eavesdropped, we would never have known.â
âYeah, so we decided to tell you,â Amelie added. âYou still want to find them, donât you?â
âDo you know where this Hildaland is?â Kira asked.
Borin scratched his head, covered in the same ropes of hair as his mother and sister. âWeâve never been there, weâre not allowed. But our finfolk friends, the younger lot, they talk about Hildaland all the time. Itâs a famous, magical place. They said theyâd take us there anytime we liked.â
Kira pondered this. Those horrid finfolk stories came back to her and she shuddered. If indeed her parents were prisoners of the finfolk, she had a duty to find them and maybe even try to rescue them. But what if it was another trap?
âOkay. Iâd like to see this island, but I wouldnât go alone. It sounds dangerous. And why should I trust you or your finfolk friends?â
Borin and Amelie exchanged glances. âWeâd go with you,â Borin said. âWe want to see it, too. That would be a real adventure and our parents wouldnât even know.â Borin smiled with great pleasure and rubbed his hands together. âAnyway, if they werenât our friends, the finfolk could have taken us prisoner anytime they wanted to. We can trust them. And we just want to see this place, especially since our parents have lied to us.â
âWe never get to go on adventures,â Amelie piped in. She bobbed up and down with glee. âIt will be thrilling!â she squeaked.
Kira appraised the two merrowlings. They appeared to be sincere. âBut youâre already on an adventure. How did you find me? Youâre not allowed outside the palace without guards, are you?â
Amelie snickered. âWe were at the top of the play court when we saw you leave. Hardly any guards at that end of the palace. So we followed you, and here we are on a grand adventure.â She rubbed her hands together, mimicking her brother.
Kira had to choose. Go with these two slippery fish and trust they werenât taking her into danger, or call her dolphin friends to help find her way back home. She was running out of time. But she had come on a quest to find her real parents, the true king and queen of the merrows. And now she had a chance to do it.
âI have an idea,â she said âWhy donât you ask your friends how far it is, and maybe they can tell us how to find the island. I donât have time to make a long trip right now. I need to get back home.â
Borin waved his hands in agitation. âBut donât you want to find your real parents?â
âSure I do. But Iâll come back another time. I donât want my human parents to worry.â
âLook, Iâll just ask our friends. They said Hildaland is not that far away,â he looked at Kira hopefully.
âI donât know,â she started.
âIâll ask them and theyâll tell us.
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