Part of Your World (Twisted Tales)(96)

Eric grinned and then kissed her back firmly on her lips, tipping her head back so he wouldn’t accidentally bleed onto it.

The townsfolk cheered.

When they were done, Ariel scooped Flounder out of the fountain, holding him under her arm. She and her father walked through the crowds—which parted, almost everyone bowing to the mer couple. They went straight to the docks and leapt off together, tails slapping the water as they dove down.

“HA!” shouted the old woman with the club. “I got to see two! TWO mermaids!”





This was the second time in a month that she had been conscripted by a foreign entity to carry a message of grave importance. The gull winged her way out over the sea laden with a sense of historic gravity, the special roll of paper tied to her leg and tucked up into her feathers. She was probably the only bird in the world who carried regular communiqués between two of the major—though somewhat self-important—civilized races of the world. It was something to think about.

Crazy joy overtook her, and she allowed herself exactly one loop-de-loop and a single long whoop! before returning to her original heading and task.

She was, after all, her great-grandfather’s great-grandgull.

Sometimes the crazy was hard to keep in.





There were terrible, terrible messes to clean up afterward.

For the first and perhaps only time in history, a seagull was used to deliver a message to the ships sent out to sea—to prevent them from bombing Atlantica. While the prince was fairly certain Ariel and her dad would stop it in time, it didn’t hurt to offer an official order to prevent them before another deadly storm was unleashed.

Carlotta was rescued and royally thanked. She was given a vacation (which she didn’t take), a snug country house (which she did), and a significant raise.

Eric had his men chain Flotsam and Jetsam together and toss them into the ocean. Either they would be found and treated appropriately by the mer, or…not. Not really his problem.

Then he oversaw a careful scripting of the official record of events of the day, to be read, announced, distributed, shared, and generally understood by all the good citizens of Tirulia who had borne witness to the events. There was no mass hypnosis spell to make everyone forget the existence of mermaids this time. Now everyone knew. It was important that they all knew the same thing, and didn’t concoct potentially dangerous fake news about what happened.

Except that he did have to draft a fake formal announcement for the death of Princess Vanessa. Tirulians would understand what really happened; the rest of the continent would only know the faintest details: she died. Possibly drowned.

Troops from everywhere had to be recalled immediately.

Ambassadors and emissaries had to be thoroughly debriefed, and in some cases exiled.

It was endless and exhausting work. Eric stayed up until the wee hours of the night trying to get everything done. Sometimes, given a spare moment, he would glance ironically at the moon and think about how he used to compose music at that time. But that was all right. He had a duty to his kingdom. Being prince wasn’t just fun and games.

There were a few bright moments—like when he summoned Vareet into his office.

The little maid had passed out from exhaustion the afternoon after everything happened, and slept for over a day. Eric couldn’t imagine what was going on in the poor girl’s head, in thrall to a witch-princess for years and then saved by a mermaid girl.

She came in wide-eyed and understandably suspicious when the prince smiled at her and shook her hand. “Nice to meet you, formally.”

She continued to look confused, but her eyes widened in interest.

“Vareet, you have borne more than any of us, in some ways, and come through it all bravely, helping us out in our darkest hour. Of course you shall have whatever you like—fresh, ahem, drawing paper, toy soldiers, a pony—you have but to name it.

“But also: I have hired a tutor from the Academia to come live at the castle. She will teach you how to read and write and do maths. And probably Latin. Sorry about that, but it’s part of the package. Then you can make a choice, when you are caught up: either stay here as my personal secretary, or go to university and attain whatever else you wish to do with your life.”

Vareet remained silent.

The prince suddenly felt awkward, something he had rarely experienced. He had no idea what the little girl was thinking. Should he repeat what he had said, slower? Would that be insulting?

Then suddenly she flung her arms around his neck and buried her head in his chest.

Eric laughed and hugged her back. That was the happily-ever-after moment he had been waiting for, and it wasn’t even his.





Triton’s arrival was epic, although a truly epic official parade was planned for the next day. Flounder, once returned to the sea, shot ahead and told every fish he met. By the time Ariel and her father got close to Atlantica, a massive crowd had already formed: most of the mer, and many, many other people of the sea. Whales and sharks and minnows and sardines and tuna and cod and octopodes…Even all the little corals, anemone, and barnacles came out to wave their fronds.

“FATHER!”

Five slippery, sparkling mergirls shot out of the crowd and wrapped themselves around him like the fat tentacles of a kraken. Attina hugged Ariel.

“You did it,” she whispered, pressing her forehead to her sister’s like they used to when sharing secrets. “You actually did it.”