Under other circumstances, the early morning flight would have been perfect. Light clouds and a pleasant breeze kept them from getting too hot. The calmness of the day finally gave Serena a chance to think clearly about what had happened.
Serena went through everything she remembered of the disaster and afterward. This included the storm (magical), the ship coming apart (also magical), and the magical message from her parents.
Thomas and Buffy were right. Everything, except the shortness of the message, pointed to Mom and Dad not being in immediate danger. Also, they were together. How Mom got that dress from the ocean raised new questions, but overall, it looked better than expected.
They had an enemy to deal with, though. Time to turn their attention to finding out who was behind this trouble.
"There it is!" Buffy shouted and did a spinning dive toward a dolphin. She must have been practicing, but it did not impress the dolphin when she used his head as a launching point.
Serena started lecturing the cat, but there was no point in it now. Buffy had been higher in the air and had spotted their goal first.
Straight ahead stood a green-covered island outlined by the sea and sand. Seals had control of one beach, but others were clear of all but gulls. Those took exception to Buffy flying straight over them and shouting, but they took to the air and disappeared over the island's ridge line.
Buffy made no friends there. And they would not be impressed that she was a princess, either.
Thomas found the beach where they had landed and sat down by them with a sigh of relief as he tried to wring water from his hair. Serena suspected that he might be a bit of a dandy when he wasn't a fish. She mimicked Thomas and tried to force water out of her hair.
Buffy just shook herself vigorously and never mind where the water hit. Serena again brushed drops from her face.
"Now what?" Buffy asked.
"I've been thinking about that divan and the pillows," Thomas said as though they were still in that conversation. "I've seen them, maybe at the palace. You've never been there."
"Never," she agreed. "Though Buffy must have been there as a kitten."
"I don't think I remember."
"It doesn't matter," he replied. "Besides, I am obviously not a member of the Princess Club."
"The what?" Serena and Buffy chorused.
Thomas laughed. "The two of you even have the same expression sometimes," he said. Then he frowned and shook his head. "I don't want to say anything more. You can make up your own minds about the girls."
"I wouldn't mind a bit of warning about something that might be a problem," Serena replied. Buffy watched a pair of gulls that swept in closer.
Thomas still frowned, but then he gave a quick nod. "You know the king doesn't trust anyone with magic, so it's been a genuine surprise that he asked you and your mother to return to the palace, even for just a visit. Princess Neva, the leader of her little clique, has been making rude remarks about the country girl and her wise woman mother. The other princesses follow her because she's the only entertainment they have. Besides, it's a good way to stay out of being the subject of her vicious little temper. But really, you need to make up your own minds about her."
"We have girls like that back home," Serena replied. "But if they don't have magic, they can't be part of this problem. Thanks for the warning, though. I would hate for that behavior to come as a surprise."
"I know where I saw it. The divan," Thomas explained, but he looked troubled. "But it makes little sense. I've been to that room before, which is at the palace. It's the king's private sitting room."
"This could be a real problem," Serena replied. "There was no sign of the king being there, and he couldn't be the one doing the magic. Why would someone choose that room to make contact with us?"
"I don't want to think that something happened to the king. Besides, your parents didn't look at all upset. Well, except that they were worried about you and Buffy."
Serena wondered if anyone worried about Thomas. He had been with them for several days, and he didn't mention his parents and what they might be doing. She almost asked questions, but that would just be a distraction.
Like the gulls moving in closer, first two and then several others swarming not far behind.
"Buffy."
"I see them," the cat replied, slowly stretching out her wings. "I'll --"
The first two gulls screamed and dived at her, perfectly in sync and with a net attached to their webbed feet. Before any of them could react, the gulls had trapped Buffy and were flying off with her.
Buffy yelled not-too-helpful insults at her captors while the rest of the gulls swarmed in after Serena and Thomas. Although they did not have nets, they drove the two back.
"No!" Serena waved an arm and sent a number of the gulls tumbling and crashing into the sand. "Thomas --"
"Follow her. Be careful. These aren't ordinary gulls. I'll see what I can find."
Serena ran but quickly took to the air where her size alone frightened off almost all the gulls, although they screamed in protest. She didn't care where that group went as she followed the two who carried Buffy away.
Buffy had stopped cursing and was now frantically biting at the net, trying to tear it open and get out. When her head poked through, the gulls suddenly changed direction and flapped frantically out over the ocean.
And they dropped her.
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