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?
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.