Part of Your World (Disney Twisted Tales) - Liz Braswell Page 0,95
one, for everyone m town? That everyone will come to?"
"Of La Sirenetta? Yes, of course. Why?" He looked unsettled, nervous.
"I was just wondermg. You heard the news about the fleet." It was more a statement than a question. "Er, yes. Terrible," Eric said. "I'm very glad no one was hurt."
"I think there's something you should know," she said, finally turning and looking at him directly. "Yes? What?" the prince asked impatiently.
"As a result of this... incident... with the fleet, I fmd I have time now to devote to another project of mme." She spoke almost lightheartedly. "Something big. Somethmg terrible. Somethmg your puny little human mmd could not possibly comprehend. Far beyond my usual mad little witcheries. And when I am done, Ariel will wish she had taken my advice and fled back to the sea, far, far away from me."
She enjoyed seeing Eric's face go pale. It was the only fun she had all day.
"Pass the info on, if you happen to see the mermaid," she added, walking away, pulling Vareet with her. The girl, resigned to her fate, didn't even look back at Eric.
Eric was already at their meeting place, lookmg nerv ous and fidget}- in the moonlight. He tapped his lips with a piece of paper clutched in his hands. His eyes looked positively ghostly in the moonlight.
"Eric?" She spoke softly. Despite bemg less deft on her feet than anyone naturally born to the Dry World, she moved silently, as all magical creatures did. And from the way he jumped, it was obvious he hadn't heard her at
all.
"Ariel!"
He put out his arms, then stopped.
"What did you do to my ships—to all of our ships?" he cried. Her eyes widened. Not what she expected him to say.
"Sorry, sorry." Eric ran a hand through his hair. "No one was killed. A couple people were hurt. Weirdly, those at risk of drowning were rescued by a couple of friendly dolphins, and, if I am to believe what the cabm boy said, one particularly old and giant terrapin."
"Eric," Ariel firmly interrupted. "I am the Queen of the Sea. I protect my people. There are rules in place to allow us and you to live side by side. But if something threatens my realm beyond the scope of those rules, I will respond with all the force m my power. We must put up with your fishing to some degree. But if I hear anything else about some sort of reward for the capture of my friend Flounder the 'magical fish' and it involves killmg hundreds of other perfectly innocent fish for no reason, I will destroy every boat within my demesne—as well as the towns they launched from. Understood?"
"Oh, the devil/1 Eric swore. "I thought I caught wind of some foolishness like that. Now it all makes sense. Fishermen pulling in great piles of fish: looking for something....I heard the stink was unbelievable. Flounder is... a... friend of yours?''
"Since he was a fry."
"I 11 put a stop to it at once/' Eric promised. "For now and forever. Believe it or not: thmgs like this have happened before. There was a rumor once that the Narvani, to the east believed that the poisonous spine of the chimaera fish would help with...Uh...Let's just say it would help them have babies. It's a deepwater fish: ocean floor, but that didn't stop every idiot from just netting up every fish around and picking through them like an old woman through spoiled lentils."
"The greed of Dry Worlders continues to shock me/ Ariel admitted.
"Yes, well, the greed of some tentacled sea-dwellers contmues to shock me, too."
"Good pomt. I don't know where the mer fall in that. I think their sin is complacency, not greed."
Eric sighed. "I wish I could see them. It sounds like a paradise. My kind of paradise. Here, on earth, m the sea. Maybe... someday... you could take me there?"
He asked so innocently, so plainly, she was taken aback. He sounded like a little boy.
Or a little mergirl, dreaming of the warm sand.
"I'd love to," she whispered.
He took her hand and squeezed it. She held her breath, waiting for whatever was gomg to come next. He started to open his mouth....
"But speaking of tentacled sea-dwellers..." the prince said reluctantly, instead of kissing her. "Vanessa has threatened somethmg... well, large and unspeakable and terrible. Magic, I think. She seemed quite serious. She said you'll wish you had taken her advice and returned to the sea. And she told me to pass it along to you."