Part of Your World (Twisted Tales)(88)
“My lady!”
Ariel turned to see Argent hurrying down the avenue to catch up with her. Despite her old age it was easy with her long legs. She swung a heavy walking stick in the air enthusiastically—with little need for it, apparently.
“You’re here to see the show?” the apple seller asked with a smile.
“Oh, yes. I promise you, it will be a…show that everyone will remember for years to come.”
“I sense there’s something beneath those words.”
“Today it will be revealed who your princess really is,” Ariel said, feeling mysterious and queenly. “You shall be witness to something amazing. Watch closely, and be ready to tell the story of what you saw.”
“Oh, I can do better than that,” the woman said with a wink. “I’ll ink it, if asked.”
“Yes, I think you’ll find it very inspirational,” Ariel said, thinking about the other sea-themed pictures on the woman’s arms. She was pretty sure there wasn’t an octopus…not yet, anyway.
“Well, I’d better get a front-row seat,” the old woman declared, striding forward. “EXCUSE ME! Old lady coming through! Make way for a grannie.” She handily pushed people aside, forcing her way to the front.
No frail biddy, she.
Ariel also wanted a close view, though not so close that Ursula could pick her out of the crowd. She smiled and slipped sideways and murmured apologies and, yes, flashed a beautiful mermaid smile at large in-the-way boys when she needed to. She succeeded in getting halfway into the main square, about a third of the way back from the stage. A low platform had been erected behind Neptune’s Fountain for the singers to stand on, and stand only. It would be a far less dramatic performance than in the amphitheatre—not much moving around. Ariel felt a little disappointed despite knowing just how ridiculous she was being. But from the way Jona had described the original show, it had sounded like a lot of fun—and she was curious to see how Eric and the humans had re-created her ancient underwater world.
The orchestra was grouped against the wall of the indoor market; their music would echo off its stones and back to the audience. There’s a pun in there somewhere about songs and dolphins and their singing-sight…. But she was too excited to think it through.
On the side of the fountain closest to her and the audience, raised just a smidge higher than the impromptu stage, was a jewel of a box seat, canopied in cloth of gold and purple velvet. A banner even flew from the top. Ariel’s eyes narrowed when she saw the sigil of the black octopus on it.
The sky was blue, the crowd was happy, the air was crisp and fresh. Everything was bright and pretty and happy, and she was caught up in the mood despite the dire reasons for her being there.
It was like attending the markets and fairs when she was a child, when it was all new and everything seemed exciting. Back then she darted everywhere and begged for treats and admired strange merfolk she didn’t know. She missed that and it was nice to recapture it again.
The royal carriage pulled up, the crowd breaking into cheers when Eric stepped out. Ariel hoped they would react poorly when Vanessa emerged, but she was disappointed. The false princess looked stunning. She wore a very modern, highly corseted ocean-blue dress with a half dozen underskirts, and she had jewels and shells intertwined with her hair that looked…almost…tentacle-y. She flashed a sly, toothy smile and the crowd ate it up. No one believed the truth of the opera, but they all loved the idea of a villain modeled on their princess. An antihero.
Flotsam and Jetsam oozed to the sides of the box seat, flanking it.
Vareet was right behind them. She wore a simple, pretty frock and her hair was arranged like her mistress’s, her naturally curly tresses tightly wound around her head with ocean-blue ribbons. But she was very pale. The little girl could tell something was up, or she knew something was about to happen.
Grimsby made his way to the royal seats from a different carriage, gradually and strangely carefully—and then Ariel saw that he was leading Max, who was nearly blind but still wagged his tail, excited to be there.
She thought her heart would break. He had been there when it all started, and Eric obviously wanted to make sure his friend was there when it all ended—no matter how it ended. She felt tears bead up and her heart continued to flutter.
And flutter.
A lot. Scritchily.
Panicked, Ariel put her hand to her chest.
“HEY, WATCH THE FINGERS!” a voice snapped as she touched a strange, hard lump below her clavicle.
“Sebastian?”
The little crab scuttled up so his eyestalks popped up above her neckline. It itched and tickled mightily but the queen restrained herself.
“What…What are you…What…?”
“I couldn’t let you do this all alone,” Sebastian said matter-of-factly. “I have done nothing all this time but rule the sea in your place and worry. I had to do something.”
She carefully reached down her front and unhooked him from the rough wool, then held him up to her face.
“Sebastian…” she said, trying not to smile. Trying to look frowny and fierce.
The crab put a claw over his antennule. “Can’t talk. No oxygen out of the water. I have less than a day before I need to go back. Have to conserve.”
“Well, thank the sea for something,” she said, then kissed him on his carapace and carefully placed him on her shoulder. First a seagull, then I’m hosting a crab. Am I the Queen of the Sea or of random sea creatures?