Chapter Text
Mia crept into the doors of the contessa’s estate invisibly. She couldn’t believe she was back here again. Violetta had left all her baby pictures, and Vittorio really wanted them.
So now Mia was committing some light B&E. The joys of her daily life.
She crept past Franca’s old office and towards the glass doors that led to the actual house.
Then a voice stopped her in her tracks.
“Hey!” a girl said behind her.
Mia froze, quietly turning.
A pale girl, about Mia’s age, with chestnut-brown hair, wearing sunglasses, was facing her.
Mia stayed silent, the invisibility spell tingling in her palm.
The girl groaned. “Seriously? I heard your footsteps.”
Mia’s eyes latched onto the folded white cane in the girl’s hand.
She snuck back towards the girl. “Hi,” she said, still invisible, keeping her voice low.
“Hi,” the girl said. “Who are you? I don’t recognize your voice.”
“Um-” Mia swallowed. “My name’s Mia.”
“I’m Sara Poletti,” the girl replied, voice still flat.
“Nice to meet you,” Mia said. She would’ve shaken Sara’s hand, but Sara wasn’t offering hers, and the invisibility spell was still tucked into Mia’s anyway.
“Why are you sneaking into the estate?” Sara said. “My mom’s the secretary, so don’t try to say you work here. I would’ve heard if you got hired.”
Mia bit her lip. “I’m her daughter’s- Violetta’s- friend, and I have to-”
She was interrupted by Sara’s face transforming. Her eyebrows picked up and her mouth split into a smile. “You’re the Mia who beat the contessa at show jumping?”
“Yes,” Mia admitted.
“Oh my god she hates you!” Sara said. “I know why you’re being sneaky now.”
“You’re…not gonna rat me out to the Contessa?” Mia asked tentatively.
“No. I hate her.” Sara said. “She’s mean to my mom and she thinks I’m stupid. She talks around me like I can’t hear and tells my mom to keep me in the office so she doesn’t have to ‘deal with me’.”
“Sounds like her,” Mia said, curling her lip. “She’s awful.”
“Yeah, she is,” Sara agreed. “But Violetta moved away, right? Why are you here?”
“She forgot her baby pictures,” Mia sighed. “She said they’re in her room, but she doesn’t know where.”
“Well, you’re really nice, going to get them,” Sara said, her voice growing a bit smaller. “But don’t let the contessa catch you!”
“I won’t,” Mia said. “Thanks!”
“Good luck,” Sara whispered as Mia crept into the main part of the house.
Jeez, it was big.
She snuck to the first floor, moving down the line of doors, trying each one. Most were locked, a few were too small to be Violetta’s, and some were bathrooms or closets.
“This house is the worst,” Mia whispered to herself. “There’s not a shred of personality anywhere.”
She moved to the second hallway, trying each door.
“Mia!” a voice called in a whisper.
Mia stiffened and turned to see Sara standing like a shadow in the center of the hall.
Mia’s hand left the knob as she ran towards Sara. “What are you doing here?” she hissed.
“I heard you going towards the contessa’s bedroom door,” Sara whispered back. “It’s at the end of this hall and she’d be so mad if someone opened it.”
“Oh,” Mia said. “Well- thanks for rescuing me.”
“Violetta’s room is on the other side of the house,” Sara said. “Come on.”
She had her cane in her hand still, but didn’t use it, obviously used to navigating the house without it.
She led Mia up some stairs and towards a closed door.
Mia reached out and twisted the handle.
She’d never been here before, obviously, but she’d been expecting it to look like Violetta’s dorm back at the school, at least a little bit.
But- no. What little that remained of Violetta’s influence had clearly been covered by the contessa.
“It’s dusty in here,” Mia commented.
“Obviously,” Sara said. “The contessa never comes in here. And she doesn’t let the cleaners do it either.”
“I gotta find these baby pictures,” Mia said. She started towards Violetta’s dresser, then stopped. “I…don’t think it’s useful to ask you to keep an eye out?”
Sara snorted, then looked surprised at herself. “That- that was a good one,” she said.
“Thanks!” Mia said.
She slid open Violetta’s dresser, but all that was inside were the old clothes Violetta had worn back in Mia’s first year of school. Mia was surprised they were still here, actually- Violetta used to never wear the same outfit twice.
But there was no photo album, and Mia closed the drawer.
Her bracelet began to glow a rosy pink.
Mia slipped into the bathroom, thankful that she’d brought her backpack with her.
She opened the book and held it up to the bathroom mirror, eyeing the runes glowing on the page. It looked strange seeing only the book floating in thin air, reminding Mia to release the invisibility spell.
Then she pressed her bracelet.
“Hi, Mia. Say your password,” the bracelet said, and Mia couldn’t help but notice that the voice was quieter now, like it knew Mia was sneaking around.
“Not all who wear the crown belong, truth is buried, deep and strong,” Mia recited, and vanished into the golden dimension.
She soared through the golden portal, the sounds of laughter and splashing water immediately reaching her ears. She looked down.
The portal had placed her right above Flank River, where dozens of elves were swimming and playing and sunbathing by the banks.
Mia grinned, tucking her wings against her back.
“CANNONBALL!” she shouted loudly, folding into a small ball. She hit the surface of the water with a loud splash, soaking the surrounding elves.
“Mia!” a familiar voice shouted, and then Yuko was there, paddling over to her easily. “That was the biggest splash we’ve seen all day!”
“Glad you liked it!” Mia laughed. “My clothes are completely soaked now, though.”
“That’s what dry spells are for!” Mo said from behind her. “Nice to see you, Mia!”
“Nice to see you too!” Mia said. She kicked her feet lazily in the water, her boots growing heavy as they were soaked with water. “Hold on, I’m gonna get rid of some of this stuff.”
She swam easily against the current, pulling herself up onto land in front of Mayla and Raynor, who were perched on a small ridge overlooking the water.
“Hello, Mia,” Raynor said, smiling. “Nice to have you drop in!”
Mia snickered. “Is there anywhere I can leave my stuff?” she asked, peeling her soaking boots off. “I don’t want it to be too heavy if I’m swimming.”
“Right here!” Mayla pointed next to them, where Mo’s crown sat atop his and Yuko’s folded clothes.
Mia nodded, shedding her corset, her skirt, her belt, and her boots, leaving just her white shirt and pink shorts. She tied her hair up in a ponytail to keep the soaking wet mass off her neck, and dried off the bundle with a spell. Then she picked up Mo and Yuko’s clothes and added her own items to the stack, placing them back down.
“Mia!” Yuko’s voice called.
Mia ran off, following the sound of Yuko’s voice to where she was standing with Mo next to a tree with a rope hanging from one of the branches. Now that the two of them were out of the water, Mia could get a good look at what Mo and Yuko were wearing.
They were obviously swimsuits, both of them in one-piece halter tops, shorts tacked onto the bottom. Mo’s was gauzy, a silver suit with red markings, and Yuko’s was more streamlined, a golden suit lined with yellow.
“Nice suits,” Mia said.
“Thanks!” Mo said, picking at one of the ruffles of his suit. “It’s one of the things I miss most about our childhood patterns. Clothes are so much harder to swim in.”
“No, you’re right,” Mia said. “But my dad and I used to jump in the water with all our clothes on whenever we went somewhere in early spring- right when the snow began to melt and the water was still freezing cold. It was fun!”
“That’s crazy!” Yuko said. “I wanna try that.”
“Sure, we can do that sometime,” Mia said. “Not now, though, it’s summer where I live on Earth, so it’s very warm.”
Yuko stepped up to the tree and reached out for the rope. “Watch this!” she yelled, backing up and running forward, placing her weight on the branch and the rope as her feet left the ground.
At the apex of her swing, she let go, crashing down into the water with an almighty splash!
After about a second, she resurfaced, shaking her hair out of her face and grinning. “Woo-hoo!”
“My turn!” Mo said as the rope swung back, and he caught it in his palm. He did the same thing, taking a running start and jumping from the rope. His splash soaked the giggling elves around him, including Yuko, who immediately began splashing him back as soon as he surfaced.
“Go, Mia!” Mo cheered, taking his revenge against Yuko.
Mia caught the rope as it swung back towards her. She tugged on it, then backed up and ran.
The rope held her weight, swinging her out to the opposite bank, and Mia let go, heart pounding at the feeling of falling for a second, before she dropped into the water.
She kicked her way to the surface, coughing out a laugh as she paddled away from the splash zone. “That was fun!”
“We do that all the time!” Yuko said. “Remember? This was where we went to find the piece of the Trumptus that was hidden in the clam shell!”
“You’re right!” Mia said. “Wow, that was ages ago. And it definitely looks a lot nicer with water actually here.”
She took a look around. The sunlight glittering off the water cast them all in a bright, beautiful summer’s-day glow.
And then the sunlight faded.
A shadow descended over the island.
All the elves looked up.
There was something hovering in the sky.
It looked almost like the Niaday, the traveling barge, but instead of being a rotating, ever-changing ship, this one was shaped almost like a bird, large wings outstretched from the main body of the ship. As Mia watched, large runes blazed like fire on the underside of the ship, two massive flight runes keeping the ship aloft.
Dozens of black specters descended from the ship in perfect formation, resolving themselves into elves in gray jumpsuits, adult elves with Iriditopia emblazoned across their chests in citrine orange.
Their leader, a pale woman with a lion's mane of curly brown hair, stopped, hovering above the river, where all the elves were treading water, anxiously looking up at them.
“My name is Captain Savia, of the Iriditopian guard,” she announced. “Who is the ruler of this kingdom?”
“That would be us!” Raynor said with a friendly smile, standing up and helping Mayla to her feet. “This is my wife Mayla, and I am King Raynor of Centopia.”
For an almost imperceptible moment, the current of the river stopped pulling at Mia, then resumed.
Savia made a small motion with her fingers.
Four guards broke ranks, landing beside Raynor and Mayla.
The soldiers clamped their hands over their wrists.
“What's going on?” Raynor shouted, reflexively struggling against their grip. “Release us!”
“Raynor and Mayla!” Savia announced, taking a scroll from a pouch on her hip. “By order of Queen Linoa, King Alul, and King Isdi of Iriditopia, you are under arrest. You will return with me to Iriditopia and stand trial for impersonating a royal and usurping the throne.”
A gasp rippled through the elves.
“Captain,” a guard said. “Look.” He stooped and picked up Mo's circlet from where it had been sitting on their clothes.
“They have an heir,” he said, offering it to Savia.
“Then the heir will need to return with us to Iriditopia as well,” Savia said.
“Oh, hell no,” Yuko hissed through her teeth. Mia agreed.
Savia addressed Raynor and Mayla. ”Now, who is your heir? We won't hurt anyone, I swear on my badge. But Centopia's magic is unbalanced, and-”
Mia's fist closed around an illusion rune.
“Scatter!” came a fake voice from by the treeline. Savla whipped around to see who it was, and all the elves scattered.
Mia took Mo and Yuko’s hands, dragging them under her illusion as the three of them huddled in midair, elves and soldiers zipping around them.
“My…my parents…” Mo said, half in shock.
“I know,” Mia said. “We’ll get them out of there.”
Yuko bit her lip, then lunged forward and grabbed a kid - a boy named Braivarn, if Mia remembered right - under cover of the illusions. “Help me grab the others,” she instructed, and Braivarn nodded.
He yanked Taro under as Yuko dragged a green-haired girl into the circle. Mia kept her fist shut tight, the pink creeping out from between her fingers.
They began to haul more and more elves under the illusion, Mia expanding it more and more, sweat running down the sides of her face.
Eventually, Savia’s guards began to slow, then stop chasing, their targets now out of sight, either with the trio or hidden across the island.
“...Prince Mo?” Sable asked. “What do we do?”
But Mo looked helplessly at Mia, and Mia took charge. “Okay,” she said, drawing the kids’ attention. “Who here knows Polytheus?”
Four elves raised their hands- Braivarn, a yellow-haired boy, and two twin elves Mia recognized from the last Blushflower Princess Ball, Welthar and Wythar.
“You four, go find him. We’re gonna need anything you can find that’ll help.” She took a moment to breathe and steady her magic, before reaching out a hand and concentrating.
Two euros, an American dollar coin, a Brazilian reais, and a Czech crown from her dad’s old coin collection dropped into her palm. “He’ll want these, they’re from a whole different dimension. Take them, trade them for something good, okay? Now’s not the time for him to haggle.”
Welthar scooped the coins from her palm and slipped them into his pouch. Then he drew an invisibility spell, and all four boys linked hands, vanishing from sight.
“As for you all…” Mia heaved out a breath. The spell was too big. It was getting to her. “As for you all, we need somewhere safe to go.”
An orange-haired elf raised their hand. “Um- I heard Rhea say she was taking all the newest kids she could find to Blackwood Forest,” they said.
“That’s a good idea,” Yuko said. “Tessandra could protect them, and Sato, Yolika, and the Earth Unicorn won’t let anything happen to them, either.”
Mia’s mind was whirling. “But we can’t fit all the elves into Tessandra’s little clearing,” she said. “There are too many of us.”
“The tunnels,” Mo said quietly.
They all looked at him.
“The tunnels?” Mia repeated.
“The ones under the palace,” Mo said, his voice stronger now. “They’re new enough that anyone who didn’t face Panthea wouldn’t know about them- and we know these elves didn’t face Panthea.”
“Because they’re too old!” Mia realized. “Mo, you’re a genius!”
“Santi! Andem!” Yuko barked, and a girl and a boy, maybe two or three years younger, but with the determination of older elves, pushed through the crowd.
“What do you need us to do?” the girl, Santi asked, and Mia suddenly realized that these were the two elves she had comforted before the siege on Panthea’s castle over a year ago, the ones who had been new arrivals to the island.
“I need one of you to lead the elves to the crater,” Yuko said. “The other one needs to go to Blackwood Forest and find Rhea and the others. Anyone else you see, tell them to come back to the tunnels.”
“You’re faster,” Andem told Santi. “You go find Rhea.”
“Try to get Tessandra to come with you,” Mia interjected, “but if she doesn’t want to, don’t fight. We don’t have time to waste.”
“What will you guys be doing?” the orange-haired elf said.
“I’m sure Mia’s got an idea,” Yuko said, grinning at her.
Mia did- but she also needed to get rid of her illusion. Holding one this big was like lifting a twenty pound weight over her head while treading water. “Are you ready?” she said.
They all nodded.
Mia dropped the illusion, and just like that, they all vanished.
Yuko was holding the invisibility now, pressed close to Mo and Mia’s shoulders. “So what are we doing, Mia?”
“We have to go find Ono,” Mia said. “If anyone would know about royal issues, it’d be him.”
⚭
Soldiers clicked handcuffs around Mayla and Raynor’s wrists, shoving the rings of the cuffs onto their fingers to prevent them from casting any spells. They took off Mayla and Raynor’s water glares, and one even slipped the necklace from around Mayla’s neck, squinting at it suspiciously.
Savia stood over them, arms crossed. “What are your names?” she asked.
“M-Mayla,” Mayla volunteered weakly.
“Raynor,” Raynor said after a beat. “What are your plans for the island?”
“I could be asking you the same thing,” Savia said impassively. “And I will be. But we are the forces sent from Iriditopia to restore the magic of Centopia.”
“Restore?” Mayla said. “Restore what? What’s wrong with the magic?”
Savia didn’t say anything, but a brief twitch of her eyebrow betrayed that they had said something wrong.
“Show me your spells,” Savia commanded.
Mayla brought a lavender glow to sit in the cup of her palms, and Raynor did the same, his cuffed hands glowing an ocean blue.
“Are you in league with Drakon or the Dark Elves?” Savia said. “What are your spell skills?”
“Mine is illusions and hers is levitation,” Raynor said. “And- and no, we aren’t! Never!”
Mayla’s cuffed hands were trembling as she let her magic melt away. “I don’t know what’s going on, I don’t know why you think we’re in league with- with him.” She spat the word like a curse, so different from Mayla’s usual demeanor.
“I’ll tell you why,” Savia said. “You two couldn’t possibly be the real rulers, because you’d know this. Every island is connected, able to communicate and hold council together through a chamber in the palace. Centopia hasn’t had a ruler arrive to these royal meetings in almost seventeen years.”
“We didn’t know the room existed-!” Mayla tried to say, but Savia held up her hand.
“Then tell me why the Centopian rulers have died twice,” she said dangerously.
They fell silent.
Savia raised her chin. “The crystal will make a sound when the ruler dies and the throne is passed on. It made that sound seventeen years ago, though soon after, it relayed that there was an heir immediately ready to take the throne. The rulers of Iriditopia knew Panthea was a problem, and assumed that the knowledge of how to access the chamber had been lost between rulers. It wasn’t deemed a major problem in that moment, since so much of the world was under attack by Drakon. Then, a year ago, the crystal relayed again that the throne had been vacated, with no heir. Imagine the rulers’ surprise when Captain Kadi of the Niaday reported that the rulers had not changed. Almost as if they were never truly the rulers to begin with.”
⚭
The trio landed in front of Ono. The unicorns had evidently been grazing in the meadow, but were now looking up worriedly at the airship hovering in the sky.
“King Ono!” Mia said. “We need your help.”
“What is it, Mia?” Ono said. “Is there another Dark Elf? More of Drakon’s forces?”
Mia shook her head. “They’re- they’re elves from Iriditopia. They took King Raynor and Queen Mayla- they arrested them!”
Ono tilted his head. “Arrested them?” he said.
“The captain of the guard, Savia, says that they’re not the real rulers. She says that they usurped the throne. We need you to come up with us. I can translate, and you can explain that this is all a big misunderstanding. They’ll listen to you, you’re the Unicorn King!”
Something seemed to change in Ono’s eyes, and he shared a look with Lyria, who had just cantered up. “Oh…Mia…” he said. “I- I’m sorry, but I can’t.”
Mia’s heart stuttered in her chest. “You can’t?” she said slowly. “Why not?”
“I can’t lie to the Iriditopian soldiers. Not like that.” Ono said apologetically.
“What are you saying?” Mia said. “What do you mean you can’t lie to them?”
“Mia-” Yuko said behind her, already grabbing for Mo’s hand.
Mia wouldn’t be stopped. “You wouldn’t need to lie to them! Just tell them that Mayla and Raynor are the rulers!”
“They’re- they’re not,” Ono said, and something inside Mia crumpled. “I am…so sorry, Mia.”
“But- but why didn’t you- why didn’t-” Mia said, struggling to make sense of it all. “You didn’t say-”
“Soldiers,” Mo said, the first thing he’d said in minutes, drawing out an invisibility spell and whisking the other two close.
With the soft sounds of boots on grass, a pair of soldiers landed in the meadow, purposefully striding over to Ono.
“Your majesty,” one said, kneeling. “I’m glad to see that there is a unicorn ruler on this island.”
“Not just one,” Ono said, though the soldiers showed no signs of understanding him. “My son is the other king, the King of Life.”
“We wanted to ensure your safety as we work to get the balance restored. We’ll be taking the usurpers back to Iriditopia.”
Ono inclined his head.
“As soon as we find the false heir, we’ll leave, and begin work on getting another ruler instated. Please stay safe, your majesty.”
They bowed and left.
“So, what, then,” Mia spat at Ono, breaking out of the invisibility spell. “You just weren’t going to tell us? What if they’re dangerous?”
Yuko stepped back into visibility too, looking uncomfortable. “I just can’t believe it. There’s no way they’re evil. They fought Panthea and Rixel and Midos. If they were working with Drakon, why didn’t they just give up and let any one of them take the throne?”
“Does it matter?” Mia said. “Ono confirmed it. Raynor and Mayla aren’t the true rulers. Savia’s right.”
“I don’t give a damn if Savia’s right,” Yuko said. “She wants to take Mo. If we don’t fight back, they’re gonna take him with them.”
“I know, that’s not happening!” Mia said, “but you don’t feel even a little betrayed? They lied, Yuko! They lied to all of us! For what? Power? The throne? Who are they, really?”
“ENOUGH!”
Mia and Yuko looked over, towards where Mo’s voice had come from.
He released the invisibility spell.
His cheeks were stained with tears.
“This isn’t important,” Mo said, even as his breath hitched and his voice broke. “None of this is important. We need to protect the elves. I’m not going with Savia and leaving all the Centopians here alone. So right now, the kids are the most important part.” He fixed Mia and Yuko with a glare. “Understand?”
They both nodded.
Mo turned, trembling, and bowed deeply to Ono. “Thank you for the information, King Ono,” he said. “I- I hope-”
He shook his head and turned away, flying back towards the crater.
After exchanging worried looks, Mia and Yuko followed.
They landed on the ground outside the crater, dodging behind a waterfall and entering the tunnels.
Mia’s mouth opened in shock. “Right,” she said breathlessly. “The Earth Unicorn made the tunnels bigger.” She had nearly forgotten in the terror of losing the Earth Unicorn, and then almost losing Yuko.
“It was a good thing she did, too,” Mo said. “I don’t think all of us would’ve fit in here otherwise.”
“Do you think she knew this was happening?” Yuko asked.
“...I don’t know,” Mia admitted.
They stared at the kids gathering in small groups. Mia offered what she hoped was a comforting wave to Taro, who was clinging to Om’s arm.
“Prince Mo?” an elf asked. “What are we supposed to do?”
“Savia wants you,” another said. “Why?”
“Because-” Mo started. “Because my parents are not the true King and Queen of Centopia.”
A gasp swelled through the gathered crowds, whispers echoing.
“It’s true,” Mia said. “We asked King Ono, who confirmed it. Mayla and Raynor are not the rulers of Centopia.”
“So Savia’s right,” an elf said. “They’re usurpers.”
“That doesn't matter to me,” another elf- Sable, if Mia remembered right, said fiercely. “You’ve saved us so many times, Prince Mo. There is no one I’d rather follow.”
She knelt.
Like a ripple in a pond, it spread, each elf kneeling at Mo’s feet. “All hail the heir to Centopia!” Yuko called loudly, and a cheer went up.
Mo choked on a sob.
“If we’re going to do this, we need to be ready,” Yuko said. “Who knows what Savia will do?”
“She won’t hurt you,” Mia said to the elves. “You’re the kids she came here to protect. But she might ask you questions, trying to find out who the heir is.”
“If you’re all serious about wanting me to be king,” Mo said, “then please, say nothing. No hints, no taunts-“ he leveled a side-eye at Yuko “-just the shock we felt when- when Savia first arrived. We’ll free my- Mayla and Raynor. What we’ll do with them…” he trailed off with a quiet breath. “I’m not sure what we’ll do. But I am with you.”
A little elf, one of the younger ones that had arrived at the most recent Newcomer’s Day, darted out of the crowd, slamming into Mo’s midsection.
“Please don’t leave us too,” she begged quietly.
Mo dropped to his knees, bowing his head in a solemn promise. “I will not leave you,” he swore. “I’ve fought for Centopia since the day I landed here, and I will do it until the day I die. Prince or no, I’m staying right here until you’re safe.”
Mia’s bracelet began to chime.
“That’s my cue,” she said, holding up her wrist. “I’ve gotta go. I’m sorta in a sticky situation in the other world, too.”
“Good luck,” Yuko said, squeezing her hand.
Mia hit her bracelet, and shimmered away.
She soared through the golden dimension, appearing in Violetta’s tiled bathroom. Quickly, she repaired her invisibility spell and snuck out to the main room.
“Definitely not in the bathroom,” she reported, faking a laugh. “Not even sure why I checked there.”
Sara snickered. “Where next?”
“Um…closet?” Mia said. She crept over to the door on the side of the room and pulled it open, expecting a wall of clothes. Instead, Violetta had a walk-in closet, because of course she did. Most of the clothes were gone already, taken with Violetta and Vittorio to their new house, but there were a couple things still left on hangers and folded on shelves, as well as an obscene amount of high heels.
Mia picked one up, cringing. If she tried to wear these, she’d absolutely break her ankles.
Then, behind the other shoe that was still on the shelf, Mia spotted something. A corner of a book, poking out.
Mia reached back and fished it out.
The embossed cover read, Memories of Violetta Rossi-di Nola, May 3rd, and Mia grinned.
“Found it!” she said brightly, popping out. “I’ll-”
There were steps on the stairs.
The door swung wide, and Mia had never been so thankful to be invisible.
The contessa looked murderous.
“What are you doing in here?” she snarled at Sara.
Sara didn’t answer, and Mia held her breath.
“Poletti!” the contessa snapped, and Sara flinched. Mia almost revealed herself right there.
Evidently, the contessa had decided that Sara wasn’t worth it, because she backed out of the room and shouted, “Luciana!”
Footsteps sounded from downstairs, and a woman who looked similar to Sara, with streaks of gray in her brown hair, hurried into view.
“Sara!” she scolded. “I thought we talked about you wandering off!” To the contessa, she said, “I’m so sorry, Contessa, I’ll bring her back to my office.”
“See that you do,” the contessa said, lip curling. Sara and Luciana walked downstairs, Luciana with an arm around her daughter’s shoulders.
The contessa left the room, and Mia heard a key slide into the lock and turn.
Well, that was annoying. Thank goodness for magic.
Mia turned towards Violetta’s bay window, kneeling on the bench and sliding the lock open. She pushed the windows wide, spreading her wings and flying through. Then she hovered in midair, closing the windows and using a lock spell to fix it.
Her eyes strayed down to the office, where Mia could see Sara taking a seat next to her mother’s desk again, staring down at her knees, the same way she’d been when Mia had arrived.
Mia resolved to put it out of her mind and flew back home.
As she landed in her bedroom, she released her invisibility spell and pulled out a phone, texting Violetta a photo of the album.
mia: got it!