It was hard to tell that part. Her lips moved as she recounted their official discussion, but her heart wandered away from the conversation. She could still hear echoes of their duet lingering in her mind.
“Help from the human prince,” Attina drawled. “I’m so surprised.”
“All right,” Ariel said mildly. “Do you have a better idea to get our father back? Because if you do, I’m all ears.”
“Now, girls,” Sebastian said, holding up his claws. “It’s good that he’s searching the castle, but…Ariel…he’s the reason you lost your head to begin with.”
“I’m not going to lose my head again,” the queen said with a steely look. No, really. Despite the flutters her heart felt when she thought of him. “I’m older and wiser, and I have a mission. I’m not going to be distracted from rescuing my father by a human boy. Even Eric.”
“Even Eric,” Attina said with a sigh, throwing her hands up. “There are millions of ‘human boys’ up there. You’re the queen of the merfolk. Don’t you ever think about that? Are any of them worth one of you?”
For a dizzying moment Ariel saw things from her sister’s—and her father’s—perspective: countless humans swarming everywhere on the Dry World; only a tiny kingdom of mer below in the World Under the Sea. Losing a daughter to a human wasn’t just tragic on a personal level; it also meant the loss of one of the dwindling mer to the ever-growing mass of humans. Triton had already lost a wife to them—and Ariel, a mother.
“Just…forget about Eric for a moment,” she finally said. “You’ll just have to take my word that my father and my kingdom come first. That’s all I have to offer.”
“I guess,” Attina said uncomfortably. “It’s strange to hear you talking like this, now that you can talk. ‘Take my word’ and everything. Like a queen.”
“I was talking like that before I could speak again,” Ariel reminded her sharply, signing the words as she spoke. “Were you listening?”
“Oh, yeah, of course,” Attina said, unsettled and chastised. “I just meant, in general. The last time you could speak—aloud—you were all…‘Guess what I found, Attina!’ And ‘Listen to this song, Attina’…and all those silly stories about what you saw or thought you saw.”
“And then I lost my father, and my voice, and the boy I loved, and then you made me queen. I guess that will change a person.”
“Yes, I guess so.”
The two sisters regarded each other silently. Ariel had no idea what was going on in Attina’s head, and that was strange. Some secret part of her hoped it was jealousy, that Attina was regretting her decision to make her littlest sister the queen, that she felt she should have taken the crown herself. Jealousy would have been simple—though sad—and easily dealt with.
Not so this quiet reassessment, this weighing and evaluating from her oldest and closest sister.
Ariel swished her tail.
I’m going to rest for a bit and then give an update to the council before I have to leave again. Sebastian, Flounder, I hope you join me. Her hands wanted to sign these things.
“I brought you these apples,” she said aloud, holding out the bag.
Attina’s eyes widened as she peeped inside.
“When did you…how did you…？”
The king’s daughter greedily grabbed one in both her hands, holding it before her face like she was afraid it would disappear.
“There’s enough for all of you. Us,” Ariel corrected quickly.
Attina shot her a look, but it softened almost immediately.
“Thanks. This is—thanks.”
“I’m going to rest for a bit and then update the Queen’s Council on what has happened before I have to leave again. Besides the usual agenda, I plan on opening discussion to possible strategies for rescuing our father, since currently I am at a bit of a loss—maybe heads older and wiser than mine can think of something. Sebastian, Flounder, please work with Klios and Threll to come up with an official announcement about the return of my voice. It’s best if everyone else learns it at the same time. Cuts down on gossip and chatter. After it has gone out, join me in the council.”
She swam away, trailed by her friends, resisting the urge to look back at her sister.
I guess that will change a person.
Something inside of her tore a little.
But there were sharks to manage and taxes to go over.