“What are we going to do?” he moaned. “If Ariel doesn’t return soon the whole kingdom is going to collapse.”
“One annoyed barracuda does not a collapsed kingdom make,” Threll said with a sniff.
The amanuensis saluted them and swam off into the depths, done for the evening. The little seahorse followed suit. Sebastian raised a weary claw in goodbye.
“What’s with everyone being so mopey-looking?” Flounder asked, scooting in from the side.
“FLOUNDER!” Sebastian leapt up in excitement. He looked behind the fish, back and forth, eagerly scanning the sea. “How is she? Where is she? Does she have King Triton?”
Flounder stopped where he was in the water, hovering there. “Uh…no. She hasn’t found him yet. And she’s not with me. She’s…um…made progress, but still has…some work to do…”
Sebastian frowned at the large, brightly colored fish.
“Flounder. You are lying to me about something.”
“Me? No. Nope.”
Sebastian clicked slowly, sideways, up to the fish. Hunting.
“Is she…really all right? Did you lose her? Has something happened?”
At has something happened, Flounder’s face began to swell. He felt all the blood rush to his front and swished his tail to try to stay calm. He wouldn’t betray her. He wouldn’t.
“I didn’t lose her,” he said tightly. That was true, at least.
“Yet you are not with her. You are supposed to be with her. If she is not here, you should not be here, either. You should be there. With her. Protecting her.”
“I don’t know how much good I could do protecting the Queen of the Sea,” Flounder said, a little archly. “She sent me back to give you an update, Sebastian. Scuttle and his, uh, great-grandgull are keeping an eye on her on the land.”
“YOU LEFT HER FATE TO A PAIR OF SEAGULLS?”
“Settle down, Sebastian. She’s fine. More than fine. And she’s not a helpless little mer anymore—even you should see that. These things just take time.”
“Well, I hope they don’t take too much more time,” came a voice from behind them.
Attina hovered in the water, arms crossed. The look on her face was as spiky as the decorations that stuck out from her thick auburn hair.
“I want Daddy back,” she announced grimly. “And failing that, I want someone ruling the kingdom who can actually command a little respect around here.”
At this Sebastian looked utterly defeated. Flounder saw his friend shrink into himself and frowned.
“Princess Attina, perhaps what is needed is an actual member of royalty ruling the kingdom in their absence,” he suggested coldly.
Sebastian gawked at Flounder. It was so…not…Flounder.
Well, old Flounder, anyway.
The mermaid glared at him.
“Nice try, Flipper,” she said with a sniff. “But you know that being queen was part of Ariel’s punishment for losing our father. She can’t escape it by turning into a human and running away to the Dry World forever.”
And for the second time that evening, a tailfin was flipped and someone swam angrily off.
Sebastian and Flounder exchanged weary looks.
“This is all…very hard,” Sebastian said, without his usual loquaciousness.
“I know,” Flounder said with a sigh. “But the moon is waning and we’re approaching the neap tide—when the ocean is pulled farthest back from the shores.”
“Flounder, I know what a neap tide is.”
“My point is that the trident’s power will also be at its lowest, so she has to come back soon! With or without her father. Or she’ll suddenly turn into a mermaid, flopping around on the land.”
“That would be a sight,” Sebastian said thoughtfully. “A very, very bad sight.”
And for once, the fish didn’t disagree with the crab.
The first part, at least, was easy. There was no issue trailing along with the other servant girls and boys as they finished up their errands and returned to the castle; many were already gossiping and flirting, done with work whether or not they were officially done. A couple of young men were definitely looking at her. She tried not to smile.
But then…several girls were looking at her, and whispering to each other. And they didn’t look appreciative or jealous.
Ariel began to feel uneasy.
She had filled her apron with pretty shells, thinking her excuse could be that Vanessa wanted them to decorate her bath. She had thought that she fit right in with the other servants carrying piles of wood, bins of garbage, baskets of eggs…But maybe not?