Part of Your World (Twisted Tales)(67)
Vanessa crossed her arms. “You’re up to something. I can tell. You’re trying to cheat, somehow.”
“How does that feel?” Ariel asked innocently.
“If you’re going to play a game of knives, you had better prepare to win,” Vanessa growled. “All you have ever done so far is lose. Lose your voice, lose your prince, lose your father….Don’t for a moment think you have gained the upper hand just because you have a crown now. Content yourself with ruling the merfolk; they are about all you can handle.
“Go back to the sea, little mermaid. Go back and leave the human world forever. Leave them…to me.”
She made a suitably dramatic exit, stepping languidly up into her carriage and having Jetsam slam the door and Flotsam whip the horses to move off.
It was a little bit uncomfortable in the carriage, it being a mail coach and not made for the transporting of royal princesses. Also, there was indeed a large wooden crate for eventual delivery to Ibria, random and delicate polyp within.
But at least it was dark and cool inside. She pulled down the isinglass shade, which cut the glare further and also amused her: its translucent material was made from the swim bladders of fish. As she ran a finger down its textured surface she grinned at the number of lives given just so she could avoid a headache.
The coach slowly began to roll off—and Ursula’s smile faded. She had come out on top in their verbal spar…she should have been exultant. She should have celebrated the fact that the stupid mermaid princess—excuse me, queen—had appeared just as she predicted. And did the sea witch ever show her! She had all the cards, all the leverage, and the mermaid had none. Ursula was at the top of her game. There was nothing Ariel could do but swim back to her little home under the waves forever.
“Stupid minnow,” she said aloud.
“Ridiculous hussy,” she added a moment later.
But she was uneasy.
It wasn’t a feeling she liked.
She looked out the window at the passing scenes: gigantic ancient trees with their hard stems and their weeping branches, a group of soldiers sharing a flask, a school of little brats chasing each other around in the dirt. Almost in the way of the carriage. Tempting.
Being among the humans for all these years had been fun. There was a learning curve, of course, but that was fine: up till then it had been literally decades since the witch had been forced to learn anything new. Her mind had relished the opportunity and the chance to start again. In the Dry World she had remade herself into a ruler. In the Dry World she had no magic powers—yet—but something almost better: power over people. In the Dry World, blood flowed down, in a stream, to the ground, and pooled and dried there.
But…that stupid little mermaid. Just when Ursula was about to launch her wars and move up the ladder to queen, or empress, Ariel came back. To take it all away. Just like Triton had taken it all away from Ursula: the kingdom, her title, her entourage, her life.
What was wrong with the two of them? Why couldn’t they just leave her alone?
Ursula twisted in her seat, really thinking about the sea for the first time in years. The place where she once had power, and where the stupid mermaid should have stayed. All of Atlantica just sat there, smugly, under the water, not caring if the sea witch was exiled to a nearby cave or the Dry World or the moon. She didn’t matter to any of the merfolk at all anymore, except for Ariel and her father. It was like her revenge counted for nothing.
She began to drum her fingers on the ledge of the window. Thoughts ponderously swirled in her mind, like the slow circling current that foretold an eventual whirlpool.
Real revenge would be wiping the mer off the face of the planet. All of them.
Even if the humans never found out or understood what she had done, she would know. Anyone who survived would know. The fish would know. They would all know about an ancient, mysterious civilization that had just…vaporized one day, leaving relics and mysteries behind them.
And…if Ariel were on land when it happened, trying to find her father, and escaped the destruction of her people…She would also know. And so would her father. They would have to live with that for the rest of their lives.
And merfolk—even as polyps—lived for a very, very long time.
But if Ariel were in the sea and died with her people, well, that would mean a tidy end to all of Ursula’s problems. She would be free to play with her humans, unimpeded, until the end of time. Or until she grew bored. And bonus: Triton would be extra miserable.
A hideous grin began to spread across Vanessa’s features, far wider than should have been possible with the lips she had.
How perfect! No matter what happened—she won! Those were the sea witch’s favorite odds. And no messy spells involving the Elder Gods were needed.
“Flotsam!” she shouted, knocking on the window. “We’re making one stop before the castle. Take me to…the shipyards.”
Flotsam touched his hat.
Ursula began to laugh, feeling like her old self again.
She lay in the warm sand, exhausted and not a little stunned. Clean, fresh seawater lapped at her feet.
Flounder turned sad circles just off the shore. Jona stood close by Ariel’s head, obviously resisting the urge to comfort-groom her.
“What now?” Flounder eventually asked.
“I thought this would be it this time, I really did,” Ariel said, a little hollowly. “Once again, I thought I would rescue Dad and he would forgive me and we would return home and everyone would be happy. Am I stupid?”