Part of Your World (Twisted Tales)(64)
KEEP IN THE SHADE AT ALL TIMES; DO NOT ALLOW TO GET TOO HOT; ENSURE THE HOLES IN THE BOX AREN’T BLOCKED SO AIR CAN CIRCULATE; HANDLE CAREFULLY, LIQUID AND GLASS WITHIN…
Eric blinked.
He reread the instructions:
TO BE DELIVERED DIRECTLY TO THE HANDS OF KING OVREL III OF IBRIA, AND NOT A SERVANT OR FOOTMAN. ALSO CONDOLENCES ON THE LOSS OF YOUR EMISSARY, FROM PRINCESS VANESSA.
Glass…liquid…holes so air could circulate…Vanessa was shipping the King of the Sea out of the castle right under Eric’s nose!
Grimsby knew. He knew what Eric was looking for—and had found it.
Good old Grimsby!
Eric’s first instinct was to call out a princely order to stop the whole thing. He would head to the Office of the Treasurer immediately to do so.
Then he stopped.
Vanessa had the whole castle on alert, spying for her. If he did anything and was caught—a very likely possibility—Vanessa would punish Grimsby. Or Max.
What should he do?
When the time came she changed in the deep channel between thickets of razor-sharp grass on the northern side of the marsh, farthest from the castle—and its guards. The tide was still coming in, so the water hadn’t been sitting in the muddy marsh for hours, growing still and stinky.
On cue Jona dropped down from the heavens and settled on the top of a sturdy tuffet.
Moments later Eric came striding on the path through the grass. He looked lost when he didn’t see her by the boat as he expected.
“Eric!” she called out quietly.
“Ariel!” His face broke into a wide smile that warmed her from the inside. “I was afraid you wouldn’t be here!”
“Have you found him?” she asked eagerly.
The prince took a deep breath and gripped her shoulders.
“I did find some polyps—but not your father. Some other prisoners of Vanessa’s. Horrible things, disguised in her cosmetics.”
Ariel felt the sea inside her retreat into the depths of her soul.
What a happy ending it could have been—Eric bringing her father; freeing Triton right there, on the marshes…
But life was complicated.
Eric saw her wilt and he held her steady.
“I’m so sorry, Ariel,” he said. “Also…Vanessa knows I know about her.”
Ariel shook her head at the multiplicity of bad news. “But how did that…?”
“Long story. Terrible dinner. Actually, great dinner. Just terribly awkward. But there is a little bit of good news.”
He showed her the receipt.
“I believe Ursula is trying to sneak your father out of the castle right under my nose…and impress a potential ally at the same time. She’s giving Triton to the king of Ibria as a specimen for his zoo.”
Ariel looked at the paper, the edge of her lip rising in disgust.
“A specimen for his zoo?”
“Yes, and according to a little prying I’ve done on my own, she even told him directly that it was the King of the Sea, transformed. I doubt he believes it, but still. A lovely story for his noble guests.”
“Can’t you stop this? Grab the, uh, package from her?”
“Ah…yes…well…Besides knowing that I know who she is, Vanesa also knows I’m helping you. She has threatened to kill Grimsby if she finds evidence of it.”
“Grimsby?” Ariel cried. “He’s harmless! That monster….”
“She knows how much he means to me,” Eric said darkly. “That’s her magic. Not real magic. She’s brilliant at finding the thing you love most and threatening to destroy it.”
Ariel groaned. “I wish I had that insight before I visited her the first time.”
“Age brings wisdom,” the prince said with a dry smile. “But look, it’s not actually such a bad thing. If I act like normal Eric, like I don’t even know what’s happening with the gift or the mail at all, that makes it far more unlikely that she will suspect anything, or try to stop us.”
“Good point. So what do we do?”
It didn’t even cross her mind for a moment to trade Grimsby for her father. Throwing an innocent under Ursula’s chariot for her own gain would make her no better than the sea witch herself.
“Well, when I said ‘we,’ I really meant ‘you.’ The carriage leaves for Ibria tomorrow. It will stop in the market to pick up other packages for delivery beyond the kingdom at midday and leave from the tavern at one o’clock. You could waylay it with your storm powers and grab your father, and no one would be the wiser! At worst they might think it was the work of a highwayman looking for gold.”
“I can’t,” Ariel said gently, although she was amused by the image: Queen of the Sea and Highway Robber. “My powers don’t work on land. Only water. Just like hers.”
“Oh.” Eric’s face fell. His lower lip was stuck out a little. It was a tiny bit childish but terribly endearing. She almost felt bad that her godlike powers had presented this limitation to him.
“Couldn’t you…stay in the sea…and direct a single, tiny wave or wind to hit it?”
“It’s not that precise. And it’s less like shooting out a bolt with my trident than encouraging the powers of nature to do something of their own accord. It’s not…neat. But if it’s just one or two men in the carriage, I think I can manage, with some help from my friends.”