Part of Your World (Twisted Tales)(89)
Back on the dais, Eric was gracefully making sure Vanessa was on his right side, closer to the saltwater fountain. They stood together, every inch a mighty power couple.
“Good people of Tirulia,” he cried. “Thank you for joining me this afternoon. That I could give you this performance fills my heart with no end of gladness….I only wish I could do more for the greatest people in the world!”
The crowd went wild, stamping and hollering.
“No artist can create without an inspiration; no man can work so without a muse. So it is with your prince. Everything I’ve ever done, every piece you’ve ever heard, every tune I’ve ever scribbled in the wee hours as a Mad Prince does, they are all because of one woman, who owns me heart and soul.”
This was met with awwws and cries about the power of love.
Eric looked out at the crowd, but his eyes didn’t find hers. It didn’t matter. Ariel knew he was speaking to her, and she felt her eyes moisten.
He let the moment drag out and then turned dramatically to Vanessa, making a very distinct break between what he had said before and now—but only to those who knew.
“I hereby dedicate La Sirenetta to the most unforgettable princess in the world. For Vanessa, and for Tirulia!”
He took out his ocarina, toasted her with it, and then hurled it into the crowd.
There was a little bit of a scuffle, but it wound up in the chubby hands of a toddler on someone’s shoulder. Everyone cheered madly when she raised it above her head in triumph.
Eric laughed. He bowed and kissed the princess’s hand.
Ariel felt her stomach turn. Despite his vow of silence, Sebastian muttered and clicked angrily.
Vanessa curtsied low, then sashayed forward.
Flotsam and Jetsam were suddenly behind her. They held a chest between them.
“Thank you, Prince Eric,” Vanessa said sweetly—or as sweetly as she could, shouting in Ursula’s voice. More than a few people looked confused. “And thank you, good citizens of Tirulia. Bear with me while I hack and cough through this…the summer cold I had destroyed my lungs.”
Did anyone really buy that?
Sneaking a glance at the people around her, Ariel saw a mix of reactions: surprise, skepticism, and horribly enough, pity.
“Could a princess be any luckier to have found such a prince? Truly, I am honored to be the…inspiration for his art. I have just a couple of words to say before we begin.”
Ariel tensed—the sea witch had to be pushed into the fountain soon. But Vanessa was sort of in front of Eric now, moving diagonally away from where she needed to be. With Flotsam and Jetsam up on the stage with her, it might become even more difficult. Could Eric handle them if they saw their mistress was in trouble?
“First, I would like to thank Lord and Lady Savho, who have generously loaned the government of Tirulia two of their heaviest cargo vessels to fill in while we rebuild our fleet. They are on maneuvers right now, even as we speak, heading toward the open waters….Testing powerful new munitions we plan to use against enemies of the state.”
Ariel felt her heart stop. Ursula’s eyes glittered and she looked carefully out over the crowd—hoping to see a reaction, hoping to catch out the mermaid, hoping to gloat.
“What does she mean? So what? I don’t…” Sebastian whispered.
“She means to blow up Atlantica. She means to do it now, while everyone is at the opera—including me!”
The Queen of the Sea thought quickly. If she ran, she could dive into the water, summon a storm, and possibly stop them in time. But the moon wasn’t in the best phase; it was already taking most of her effort to remain human.
And this might be the only chance they ever had to stop the sea witch. Ariel needed to be there in case something went wrong. Vanessa said heading to open waters. They still had a little time.
Her heart pounding, she decided to stay. For at least a few more minutes.
“Secondly,” Ursula said, looking disappointed as she failed to spot Ariel, “I wish to announce the winners of our special fishing contest—to find the magic blue-and-yellow fish. Unfortunately, and somewhat embarrassingly, the prize goes to my own servants, Flotsam and Jetsam.”
They knelt forward and threw open the top of the chest they held, sickly grins on their faces.
Flounder tried to leap out.
“But that’s—” Sebastian started to cry.
Ariel squeezed his mouth shut with her hand and tried not to cry out herself.
Eric’s eyes practically popped out of his skull. He shook his head desperately, looking for Ariel in the crowd. He had managed to stop the contest, but not Ursula.
The crowd booed. Cries of “Cheaters!” and “It was rigged!” were hurled at the dais. Vanessa deflected them with a cool grin.
“Of course this looks bad. My servants are highly skilled hunters—I mean, fishers. Fishermen. Best of their people.”
As she said this she came forward and seized Flounder violently but securely around his waist. He threw himself back and forth, but behind Vanessa’s weak and skinny little arms was the might of the cecaelia, and she didn’t even flinch.
He screamed silently—his words killed by the atmosphere of the Dry World.
“Flounder,” Ariel whispered. She put her hand to her hair, feeling the trident. If only…
The moment dragged out. The crowd grew impatient and grumbly, but not prone to violence—yet. And Vanessa just stood there calmly, not so much gazing at them as scanning them. Looking for the mermaid.