“But this is the job for an ambassador or an emissary, not a princess…”
“Who better? I have royal blood. I have interacted with humans. No one, no one of the mer is more qualified.”
“But…you’re my youngest daughter…”
“Dad, let her go,” Attina said softly. “She doesn’t want to be here. If you want to keep her at all, this is the only way. Otherwise she will just leave. And not come back.”
“It’s true,” Flounder agreed. “She’s got itchy fins.”
“As much as I’m probably gonna regret what I’m about to say,” the eldest princess continued hesitantly, “what about this? I’m no Ariel, but if you need help now and then, and it needs to be from a royal princess, I’ll swim up to the task.”
“Really?” Ariel asked in surprise. “You mean it?”
Her father looked doubtful. “But—”
“Let Ariel start by being our official envoy to the idiot humans whom her idiot prince rules. That will give her time with him, and we can see how good her negotiating skills are—like keeping them out of our hair and the Great Tides that feed us.”
Triton and Ariel both looked at her in surprise.
“Well, that’s…” Triton said, scratching his beard. “That’s…”
“A really good idea,” Ariel finished, smiling. “An excellent compromise.”
“Yeah, well, I’m second in line to rule, you know, so…” Attina said, stretching. “I’m sort of a natural at this.” She winked at Flounder.
“I haven’t agreed to anything yet,” Triton growled.
“It’s okay,” Attina said, kissing him on the cheek. “We have. Say, do I get a necklace or day-crown or something for my new job? I need to look the part.”
Triton looked at Sebastian helplessly. “I thought I was getting my kingdom back. I don’t even have my daughters back listening to me.”
“Ah, women. What can you do?” Sebastian said in displeasure.
“Listen to them,” Flounder suggested. “Since they both outrank you.”
Ariel laughed, and so did Attina.
And eventually even Triton joined in with a chuckle.
A full moon gleamed over the bay. Eric leapt onto the banister of the long stairs that led to the beach and slid down it, balanced on his stocking feet with arms outstretched. Ariel, standing in the shallows, laughed softly.
“Aren’t you getting a little old for that sort of thing?”
“I feel like a kid again,” he said, scooping her up in his arms. He spun her around and she laughed again, drips of water flying off her toes like diamonds in the moonlight. Then he put her down and they kissed. Properly. For a long time. For the first time Ariel understood the human expression “making one’s toes curl.”
“So what’s the story?” Eric asked when they finally parted.
Ariel shrugged and sighed. “I’m to negotiate a path for your ships to take when entering the open sea, past the coastal shelf—to not disturb us. Also to work out a schedule so humans avoid the beaches at turtle and plover nesting times. After this week is up, I then get to make an exploratory trip to the territory held by the Neraide. We never lost complete contact with them, but we haven’t exchanged diplomatic pleasantries in a long time, or officially visited.”
“Neraide…Greek? Are they like the ancient Greeks?”
“No, they are mer,” she said with a smile.
“Of course.” Eric bowed. “I should absolutely know better than to say things like that now. Forgive me!”
“Forgiven. And you? What have you been doing?”
“I’m trying to set things in order, too, so I can eventually make a trip…to the islands of Arawakania in the lands to the west. My father would prefer I go to Ranahatta, but I want to see what tropical waters are like. I hear there are reefs you can just walk out to, as colorful as a rainbow.”
“You’ll have to tell me all about it,” Ariel said with a touch of jealousy.
“I thought you would come along and lead our ship into safe harbors,” he said, tweaking her nose.
“Maybe. Mer move slower than human ships, and mer kings slowest of all.”
“So is there a chance? That we could ever be together? Forever?” Eric asked, trying not to sound childish. Trying not to sound desperate.
It was adorable.
“There is always a chance,” Ariel said, kissing him on the cheek. “And each day, it looks better and better.”