Part of Your World (Twisted Tales)(95)

“Nope—no, you don’t,” Ariel said, hoisting him back up and all the way out of the fountain. Grimsby was there instantly, offering his shoulder to lean on. Even in his current state Eric couldn’t help watching the mermaid with her glorious tail thrown out for balance, sparkling in the sunlight. Behind them he could hear oohs and gasps as the townspeople saw her clearly for the first time.

He couldn’t blame them. She was magnificent.

He tried not to put all his weight on the old butler. Things shifted perspective and swam before him—unsurprisingly, there was water in his ears.

“Well done, Prince Eric!” Grimsby said, voice shaking with excitement. “Good show!”

“It was you and Vareet and Max who really got the ball rolling,” he said with a grin. Then he put his arm around the other man and gave him a good squeeze. “You mean so much to me, Grims. Have I ever said that before? I was so worried about you.”

“O-oh, well—there, there,” Grimsby stuttered, smiling but looking around with embarrassment. “You’re a bit out of your head. Shhh.”

Ariel was saying something to the fish in the fountain. Eric felt a strange sense of loss. The fish was truly incredible, unusual by any account. But all he saw was a glaze-eyed animal who apparently was saying something in its silent fishy language, and it made Ariel throw back her head and laugh like a girl. She kissed it on its head and then slipped off the fountain, legs forming as she did.

“I’m getting better at this,” she said, turning to face her human friends and twirling the trident.

“I think this is yours,” Vareet said, handing her the glass ampoule and curtsying. “What is it?”

“This, brave girl, is my father,” Ariel said, kissing her on the forehead. She carefully set the jar down on the ground—then shot a bolt at it.

Smoke—no, water vapor—swirled up and up and up into the sky. On the ground, the polyp grew and lengthened and stretched and hardened into a man.

A man that Eric now remembered: he must have been seven or eight feet tall, broad, and somehow lit from within. He seemed more real than the petty humans around him, the cobbled streets, the fountain; as though they were all a child’s drawings while he was the original, badly copied. His beard was white and flowed down over him, looking the way Eric had always imagined the patriarchs in the Old Testament. His skin was a coppery shade, more precious metal than flesh. His eyes were almost hidden beneath a bushy brow, but sparks shone there.

When Eric saw him last, that fateful wedding day, Triton had the tail of a fish. Now he had two broad, strong legs.

“Father,” Ariel said, and a thousand meanings were in that word: apology, sorrow, joy, love.

“Ariel,” her father breathed, choking on the first word he had said in years. Then without a moment’s hesitation he wrapped his arms around her and began to cry.

All the humans around them felt similarly to Eric, he could tell: amazed but vaguely uncomfortable, wanting to leave the two alone. Even in his emotions, the king of the merfolk was mightier than mortals.

“I am so sorry,” Ariel whispered. She, oddly, was not crying, though she hugged her father back firmly. “For everything.”

“You are forgiven. For everything,” he said, stroking her hair.

“How?” she asked in wonder.

“Someday, you will understand,” Triton said with a smile. “Perhaps when you are a mother.”

Then he looked around and seemed to notice the small crowd of mortals.

“Father, this is Prince Eric,” Ariel said smoothly, taking Triton’s hand and indicating Eric with her other. “He has been a great help in your rescue and defeating Ursula.”

“Eric,” Triton said neutrally, “I thank you for all the service you have rendered to my royal self and the mer of the sea.”

“King Triton,” Eric said, bowing his head. “It is an honor to meet you.”

“All of these people, all of these humans, helped save you,” Ariel said. “This is Grimsby, Eric’s right-hand man. This is Vareet, who, despite her age and size, risked her life to get us valuable information. This is Argent, who knew about mermaids and can apparently wield a shillelagh with no small skill. Sebastian and Flounder you already know. Jona the seagull and Max the dog were both instrumental in defeating Ursula. Scuttle is the reason we are all here today, and why you are now free!”

“I did what I could,” Sebastian said modestly from her pocket.

“I thank you all,” Triton said with a bow. “Would that I could stay and reward you as you so honorably deserve right now—but I miss my home, and must needs return to the sea at once. Ariel, my trident.”

She handed it over gracefully and formally, but might have been gritting her back teeth.

“You will be recipients of my gratitude shortly,” the king added, addressing the townspeople in front of him. “The sea does not forget.”

He put his arm out and Ariel took it. But not until after she gave Eric a quick kiss on the cheek. It was so familiar, so Honey, I’m going out for a few minutes, back soon, that Triton—and not a few other people—gasped. Grimsby looked as delighted as a gossipy old hen. Vareet looked embarrassed, disgusted, and vaguely amused. Max barked.

“See you in a few tides,” she whispered.