Serena screamed, spun in the air, and threw herself at the area where Buffy had disappeared. She hit Thomas, who held an already sputtering and enraged Buffy.
All three of them ended up underwater. At least it wasn't deep. Thomas grabbed Buffy and surged back to the surface before Serena pushed off the sandy bottom and shot back to the surface.
"I've got her. She's fine," Thomas said, heading for the shore. "I'll get her out of the net. Can you follow the gulls? Carefully!"
"Buffy?"
She answered in a growling hiss of cat words that made it obvious she was okay. Thomas had a good idea, but the seawater had soaked her wings and everything else. She fought her way to the shore, used a small spell to dry off, and took to the air.
A flock of noisy gulls had headed off over the ocean, too obviously trying to entice her. Serena swept in a circle and spotted two gulls heading across the island. Serena turned that way.
It wasn't far over the island. Even so, by the time Serena reached the other side, she only found a backlash of magic and some debris. That proved to be primarily papers, and she grabbed as many of them as she could catch before they disappeared into the sea.
When Buffy and Thomas arrived, she sat on the beach and sorted sketches from scribbled words. A few large shells held the papers down.
"They were gone, of course," she explained. "This was all they left behind, and none looks helpful."
"We need to go," Thomas said, looking more worried than before. "See that rocky peninsula straight ahead? It is just a line of black. Around the curve from that is an enormous bay. The capital is there."
"That close?" Buffy asked and looked suspiciously that way.
"Far too close," Serena replied, and Thomas nodded. "And that's the direction our attackers went, too."
"I am not surprised. Serena, I don't mean to take over, but --"
"Yes, time to go," she agreed. "But I suppose that flying in is not the best idea."
"Mom wanted us to keep our wings hidden," Buffy added. "The king would be unhappy enough about our magic."
"She's right. We're lucky that there isn't much in ocean traffic right now --"
"The weather has been too strange," Serena pointed out. "And a lot of people will know it is magic. I sure wouldn't be out here if we could avoid it."
Thomas gave a nod of agreement. "We need to get to the palace as soon as possible. Before we are there, we have to figure out what we will tell the others."
"You're always telling me to tell the truth," Buffy said as she stood up and headed toward the water. "So why don't we try starting with that? The ship went down in the storm. Thomas found us and got us to the palace. We have no idea where the others are or if they are even alive."
"Good idea, Buffy," Thomas said, following her toward the sea. It was, she decided, a good place to start with their story. "But for now, I will have to be very upset. We can't hint that we know Mom and Dad are alive."
"Or maybe," Thomas began, pausing as he kept walking. Just before Serena was about to protest, he started up again. "Or maybe we can hint that I had some help finding you and thought it might have been something from your mother."
"And Serena had a message, too," Buffy added. "That makes it more plausible. But nothing for me. I am just a little furry familiar. Since no one in this area should be used for seeing someone like me, it won't surprise them if I act stupid. Besides, if Mom and Dad are in the building somewhere, I will most likely find them without using magic."
"And what am I supposed to do?" Serena asked as she stood at the edge of the waves, where they just barely tickled her feet.
"Keep the attention away from us," Thomas said. "I'll go back to my usual haunts, which mostly means staying out of everyone's sight as much as possible. Some friends on the staff will let me know if anything unusual happened while I was gone. We shouldn't play this game for long, though. I think we'll all be happier if we can find your parents and get this straightened out. Including the king if this is aimed at him."
"Who else could it be aimed at?" Serena asked.
"Your parents would be my first guess," Thomas replied. "Your family is the kingdom's best-known group of magic users, let alone in the royal family. More than a few of your relatives mistrust you for that reason. The fact that the two of you have made something of a legend has not helped."
"First, we are not legends. And second, I had no idea I was related to the king, and I only barely remember that he doesn't like magic."
"I believe you," Thomas replied as he stepped into the frothy water. "I doubt very many other people will. If you told them they were eating eggs for breakfast, they would swear it was potatoes. Your link with magic can work against you in that case. But we will get around it. Now, give me a chance to get a few miles ahead of you. The two of you can fly far faster than I can swim. Come in on the backside of that peninsula and watch for me on the shore. If anyone is around, just find the best spot you can."
And then he swam off.
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