“My servants have decided to give up the prize to the good people of Tirulia!” she cried.
With skeletal leers, the two eel brothers reached into the bottom of the chest that had held Flounder and pulled up dripping handfuls of gold coins. They flung them into the crowd.
There were immediate cheers—and a few shrieks as the heavy coins struck some in the head and face.
Ariel frowned. That was an unexpected move. The sea witch never cared about the feelings of the commoners, even when she was under the sea. She generally referred to them as riffraff. Her goal had always been to rise far above the masses, as princess, queen, or god. Why did she care what they thought of her now? Why was she trying to buy them off?
Unless it was just to keep the crowd calm and happy for some other reason…
Eric moved toward Vanessa, slipping in between her manservants while she was distracted, enjoying the cheers.
Flotsam and Jetsam were not distracted; they immediately pulled out daggers with their free hands, crossing them in front of the prince.
Most of the crowd didn’t notice this; they were too busy looking for missed coins, arguing with their neighbors, cheering, or watching Vanessa.
Grimsby noticed.
“Prince Eric!” he cried, his thin voice barely carrying over the crowd. He thrust Max’s leash into Vareet’s hands and tried to push his way to the stage. Max howled and barked and lunged forward, also trying to get to the prince.
Ariel put a hand up to cover and protect Sebastian and also started to move forward.
A gull called from overhead. Suddenly, Jona dove like a porpoise right into Flotsam’s face. （Or maybe it was Jetsam. Honestly, Ariel could never tell them apart.） She stabbed her beak into his face like she was spearing an especially truculent fish.
Flotsam （or Jetsam） eerily did not scream—he merely put one hand up to protect his face and very methodically tried to pick the bird off with the other.
Scuttle followed close behind, ripping at Jetsam’s （or Flotsam’s） nose. That eel also didn’t scream; he just knocked the old gull aside with the back of his hand.
Eric threw himself forward, trying to push through.
One of the eels sucker-punched him in the stomach.
The prince doubled over, falling to the floor.
“No!” Ariel cried.
Vanessa was watching all this…and laughing…and then…
Slowly, like a giant ship sinking, she fell over into the fountain.
The splash was enormous.
There were shouts of confusion from the crowd.
“What happened? What happened?” Sebastian demanded from underneath Ariel’s hand.
The mermaid stood on the tips of her toes, trying to get a look.
There, standing at the edge of the platform, panting and exhausted, was Max. Also Vareet, with the empty leash in her hand and a look of triumph on her face.
The dog growled once at the princess he had knocked into the fountain, then wagged his tail and barked happily back at Eric, who was just getting to his knees.
“By the sea,” Ariel whispered, grinning.
“He did it!” Sebastian cried, thrusting a claw into the air. “That little girl and the terrible shaggy dogfish did it!”
Someone screamed.
The crowd grew silent. The Tirulians watched in horror as Ursula emerged from underneath the water, pulling herself up over the side of the fountain with slick black tentacles that glittered in the sun.
“Max!” he gasped. “Good boy.”
Breathing was hard. Jetsam had got him good, up and under his rib. Moving was also hard. The prince gritted his teeth and forced himself upright anyway, leaning hard on his left leg with both his arms. The despicable henchmen had abandoned him to aid their mistress.
Eric gestured Vareet over and used her shoulder to help him the rest of the way up.
He took a deep, painful breath and addressed the crowd.
“Look!” he shouted. “Look at what your princess truly is. Lord Francese, do you see? Savho? Se?or Aron? Do you see the creature before you? The one you gave promises to, and gold, and your loyalty? Look, people of Tirulia. Behold not Vanessa, but Ursula, witch of the sea!”
“It’s real?”
“She’s really the sea witch?”
“The opera—it’s all true?”
The opera singers and orchestra members drew back in horror. The crowd closest to the stage pushed and shuffled, some surging forward to see and others trying to get away. But except for confused murmurs, everyone was silent, as silent as a beach before a tsunami.
And yet…Ursula didn’t seem nonplussed. She sort of floated in the water, her forearms resting on the marble rim of the fountain like a child at a pool. Her tentacles danced in a ring around her, splashing in the water as if they had minds of their own and were deliriously happy. She smiled and grimaced and leered at the people as Eric spoke. Vanessa’s jacket hung in rags around her shoulders.