Part of Your World (Disney Twisted Tales) - Liz Braswell Page 0,77
butler pointedly handed him a folded piece of paper. "A receipt for the postage on a private package to be delivered to Ibria. Very expensive—I believe you stated a desire to approve all unusual expenditures above a certain amount?"
And with that he spun on his heel and clicked out of the room.
Eric sighed. It broke his heart to treat Grimsby this way. But I would feel even worse if something happened to him.
He opened the paper, wondering why the butler thought it was worth his time. It wasn't even that high an amount—although ludicrous, really, for the shipping of a single package. There were international carriages for that sort of thing now. And all the instructions that were tacked on were absurd:
KEEP IN THE SHADE AT ALL TIMES; DO NOT ALLOW TO GET TOO HOT; ENSURE THE HOLES IN THE BOX AREN'T BLOCKED SO AIR CAN CIRCULATE; HANDLE CAREFULLY, LIQUID AND GLASS WITHIN...
Eric blinked.
He reread the instructions:
TO BE DELIVERED DIRECTLY TO THE HANDS OF KING OVREL III OF IBRIA, AND NOT A SERVANT OR FOOTMAN. ALSO CONDOLENCES ON THE LOSS OF YOUR EMISSARY, FROM PRINCESS VANESSA.
Glass... liquid... holes so air could circulate... Vanessa was shipping the King of the Sea out of the castle right under Eric's nose! Grimsby knew. He knew what Eric was lookmg for—and had found it. Good old Grimsby!
Eric's first instinct was to call out a princely order to stop the whole thing. He would head to the Office of the Treasurer immediately to do so.
Then he stopped.
Vanessa had the whole castle on alert: spying for her. If he did anything and was caught—a very likely possibility—Vanessa would punish Grimsby. Or Max. What should he do?
When the time came she changed m the deep channel between thickets of razor-sharp grass on the northern side of the marsh: farthest from the castle—and its guards. The tide was still commg in, so the water hadn't been sitting in the muddy marsh for hours, growing still and stinky.
On cue Jona dropped down from the heavens and settled on the top of a sturdy tuffet.
Moments later Eric came striding on the path through the grass. He looked lost when he didn't see her by the boat as he expected. "Eric!" she called out quietly.
"Ariel!" His face broke mto a wide smile that warmed her from the inside. "I was afraid you wouldn't be here!"
"Have you found him?" she asked eagerly.
The prince took a deep breath and gripped her shoulders.
"I did find some polyps—but not your father. Some other prisoners of Vanessa's. Horrible things, disguised in her cosmetics." Ariel felt the sea inside her retreat mto the depths of her soul.
What a happy ending it could have been—Eric bringmg her father; freeing Triton right there, on the marshes... But life was complicated.
Eric saw her wilt and he held her steady.
"I'm so sorry, Ariel," he said. "Also...Vanessa knows I know about her." Ariel shook her head at the multiplicity of bad news. "But how did that...?"
"Long story. Terrible dinner. Actually, great dinner. Just terribly awkward. But there is a little bit of good news." He showed her the receipt.
"I believe Ursula is trying to sneak your father out of the castle right under my nose...and impress a potential ally at the same time. She's giving Triton to the long of Ibria as a specimen for his zoo." Ariel looked at the paper, the edge of her lip rising m disgust. "A specimen for his zooT
"Yes, and according to a little prying I've done on my own, she even told him directly that it was the King of the Sea, transformed. I doubt he believes it, but still. A lovely story for his noble guests." "Can't you stop this? Grab the, uh, package from her?"
"Ah...yes... well... Besides knowing that I know who she is, Vanesa also knows I'm helpmg you. She has threatened to kill Grimsby if she finds evidence of it." "Grimsby?" Ariel cried. "He's harmless! That monster..."'
"She knows how much he means to me," Eric said darkly. "That's her magic. Not real magic. She's brilliant at finding the thing you love most and threatening to destroy it." Ariel groaned. "I wish I had that insight before I visited her the first time."
"Age brings wisdom," the prmce said with a dry smile. "But look, it's not actually such a bad thing. If I act like normal Eric, like I don't even know what's happenmg with the gift or the mail at all, that makes it far more unlikely that she will suspect