Part of Your World (Twisted Tales)(83)

“No kidding. And no, this isn’t for the opera. I should really just put that on hold for a while, until other things…clear up.”

“I wouldn’t necessarily do that, Your Highness. Everyone is looking forward to the show. Now may not be the best time to ostracize your subjects. And it’s a convenient way to keep certain people thinking you’re, well, thinking about other things. Distracted, you know, when your keen mind is focused elsewhere…”

“That’s not a bad point, Grims. All right, then! The show must go on!”

“Good for you, sir. You know…I must really get the carpenters and seamstresses to redo the royal box at the amphitheatre. Apparently, it’s been quite…decorated by seagulls and the like. We don’t want to upset the…er…refined sensibilities of Princess Vanessa. You know how she likes everything around her to look perfect when she’s the center of attention. Probably have to add some gold flourishes or something, too…”

“Yes, she…wait…What?” Eric suddenly looked up at his butler. “What did you just say? What did you really just say? About Vanessa?”

“The princess enjoys flaunting her questionable taste and wealth?” Grimsby stammered.

“Grimsby, old man, you’re a genius!” Eric kissed the confused butler on both cheeks, the Tirulian way, and ran out of the room.

“Thank you?” the Bretlandian said, dabbing at his cheek with the napkin.

“Whuff?” Max asked, watching the prince go.

“No idea,” Grimsby said with a sigh.





“Sssso, which one did she wind up choosing to send to Ibria, in Triton’s place?”

The two eels-become-men were walking side by side, shoulders touching, making their rounds of the castle. Paying out the spies, threatening servants who wouldn’t snitch, stealing bits in the kitchen in front of everyone and snickering about it….the usual afternoon’s work.

“Garahiel,” Jetsam answered, thin lips pulled back over a toothy grin. Neither one of them opened their mouths very far when they spoke; they were all teeth and tongue.

Flotsam laughed a long, hissing strain of laughter. “Excellent choice! I always hated him. Of course, I always hated all of them.”

“Oh, but he was a pretty one. He is ssso fit to be in the zoo of a king!”

“Well, he was a pretty one,” Flotsam amended. “And lucky fellow, too, escaping what Ursula has planned.”

“He’ll be the only one!”

They both laughed and laughed, and when a maid looked at them in disgust, they couldn’t quite hold back from snapping their necks and jaws at her like the predators they were.

Transformations only went so far….





It was a puzzle.

Not unlike the puzzle of finding the right member of the Kravi to sing the story of Proserpine in the Equinocturnal Celebrations, but far more important.

(She decided, as Attina had suggested, to have the younger sister sing it, and make the older brother Director of the Celebrations. It was an honor in name only. Everyone already knew what to do and where to stand; they had been performing the Rites for thousands of years.)

How could they expose Ursula’s true nature to as many humans as possible?

She signed bills, listened to complaints, chose chariots, finally worked out an equitable payment plan with the pesky barracuda, and considered the possibilities.

Ursula could…review all the troops. She could give a speech about the prowess of Tirulia as a military force while striding up and down in front of the rank and file of soldiers. But…by the sea! And then a giant wave could come and splash her….And her tentacles and true form would be revealed!

Ursula could…have a new warship built and take it out to christen it! Didn’t humans do that silly thing where they wasted a bottle of wine, breaking it over the prow of the ship? And while Vanessa was there, surrounded by her crew, a wave could lap over the side and…

What if Ursula had a birthday party, and the chef baked a giant three-tiered cake, and Ariel was hiding inside, and when the sea witch went to taste it, the mermaid burst out with a bucket of salt water, utterly dousing the birthday girl?

Ariel laughed quietly to herself. It was a pleasant and deeply satisfying fantasy.

“What’s with you, giggle-puss?”

Attina had been slinking around the public work rooms of the palace more and more often lately. A less forgiving sister might have thought she was hoping for apples, like a semi-feral seahorse—or that she found she liked the taste of power after all.

But maybe she just wanted to hang out and be near her little sister, offering what little support she could.

Whatever the truth of the matter was, Ariel was relieved at this new development and always happy to see her.

“You’re all smiley-faced and, well, not broody,” Attina pressed. “What’s going on?”

It was true—since Ariel got back she had been more lighthearted, smiling and flipping her tail more. But when Flounder and Sebastian asked her why, she felt like she had to keep it a secret.

Isn’t that what sisters are for?

She put down her whelk pen, deliberating. Attina looked like she was going to explode.

Finally the queen spoke.

“I kissed a boy.”