“Yes, of course, yes,” Sebastian said impatiently. “But also you. And then I will raise my claw, so…”
It hit the Queen of the Sea like an orca slamming into a plate of ice.
“I have it!” she cried. “I know what to do! Somebody, go find me Jona…Sebastian, you have the helm. I’m surfacing, but just for tonight!”
“But my aria…” Sebastian called out sadly.
She was already gone.
Eric had trouble falling asleep. He had the beginnings of a brilliant idea for a plan, and no way to contact Ariel!
It was late when his dreams finally overcame him, and it seemed like only a few moments later when he was woken up by Max.
“Mmm, what’s up, boy…？” Eric murmured, turning over.
Then his eyes shot open.
The old dog slept a lot now, and always through the night. He never begged for walkies when it was dark.
The prince pushed himself up on his elbows. Max had risen on his hind legs with one front paw on the wall for balance. He was staring out the window, gesturing at it with his lolling tongue and interested muzzle. Outside was a gull, its white wings flapping as delicately as a moth as it hovered there.
“You?” Eric whispered. “From…Ariel?”
The seagull bobbed as best it could. Then it peeled away from the castle. Eric watched it descend and then look back at him and give a quiet cry.
It wanted the prince to follow it.
Eric didn’t bother putting on shoes; he hastily pulled on a pair of trousers and tiptoed out of the room and down the stairs. His bare feet made no noise on the floor and for a moment he reveled in that; it was like being a young prince again, sneaking out to see the full moon.
Outside, the gull, glowing a pale unlikely white in the night, waited patiently drifting through the air.
He followed it south, past the castle beach and into the stony area with the basalt cliffs. When sand gave way he had to clamber on the rocks; the waves broke over seaweed-covered boulders and got deep very quickly.
Holding on to one of those boulders was Ariel, strangely placid in the turbulent water. Her tail snaked sinuously out behind her, keeping her level and on the surface of the water like a kraken.
“This is amazing!” he said, as delighted as a child. “This is how you really are.”
“This is how I really am,” she agreed, touched that he had phrased it that way. She was no longer a human girl who became a mermaid to him; she was a mermaid first and foremost, and a human occasionally by choice. “But listen, we need to talk.”
“I know, I know!” Eric said excitedly. “I had an idea!”
“So did I! I was thinking of some sort of performance, which Ursula would attend, giving a speech or something pompous that would put her in front of a huge crowd.”
“Exactly! Something where, for a moment at least, she is the absolute center of attention—”
“Something that really tickles her vanity, so she absolutely agrees to go—”
“Like the encore performance of La Sirenetta,” Eric finished.
“Your opera!” Ariel said with a gasp. “It’s perfect!”
“It’s so perfect. Everyone will be watching. The only problem is that I just don’t know how to turn her back. Maybe the altos can bring in a giant tub of salt water on their heads and splash it on her? I don’t know, though, some of them are surprisingly dainty and delicate. Maybe they could each carry a small tub of salt water on their heads…”
“Or…since it’s a concert for the people, you could have it outside in the town square, right next to Neptune’s Fountain. And we could just knock her in,” Ariel suggested lightly. Sebastian and Eric were more similar than she had even guessed. Always leaping to the most complex and fussy ideas when a simple one would do.
“Oh, right.” Eric grinned sheepishly. “I hadn’t thought of that. You’re sure it will work?”
“Absolutely, and it’s foolproof, because the water comes straight from the sea. So you need to make that fountain part of your opera, or at least stage it around it.”
“Easily done. This is great.” He laughed and punched the air. “I can practically feel the happily ever afters coming for us!”
“Slow down there,” Ariel said cautiously. “This is Ursula. Nothing is over until it’s actually over.”
“I know, I know, but it seems so…perfect! Artistically, too,” he added thoughtfully. “You know, ending it with an opera that’s actually about the two of you, and there’s singing, so it’s all about your voice, and that’s what does her in…”