Disclaimer: The characters from the Little Mermaid belong to Disney and Hans Christian Anderson. Not me. Thank God! My house isn't big enough to have a pool the size they'd need. And I don't live anywhere near the ocean.
A/N: Last night I was trawling through an art site called Elfwood, looking for inspiration, and ran across a picture of a mermaid balanced on a rock playing with butterflies. The mermaid was young and blond so I have no idea why this idea hit me. It's silliness to the extreme.
King Triton swam through the specially built waterways of Prince, now King, Eric's palace book tucked firmly under his arm. They weren't expecting him to visit today but during the spring cleaning of his own palace he had found something that he just had to show to his son-in-law.
He popped his head above the pool in the throne room. It was placed right beside the Queen's throne, as it should be. But, there was no one in the room except for one lowly guard.
Feeling inexplicably mischievous, King Triton grinned and drew a deep breath. "Where's my son-in-law?" He boomed out and then chuckled lowly when the guard fell to the floor, gasping for breath. "Well?" He thundered again.
The guard struggled to his feet and bowed in King Triton's direction. "I-I sh..shall fetch him, M-milord."
King Triton grinned as the door shut behind the departing guard. That was fun! He should definitely scare the land walkers from often. Settling down to wait he opened the book and his smile grew.
"King Triton?" Eric strolled into the room and stood beside the pool. "We weren't expecting you or I would have met you earlier. The guard said you sounded as though the matter was urgent. What's wrong?"
King Triton tore his attention away from the book and looked up at his favorite son-in-law. "Nothing's wrong, my boy. Come sit beside me." He waved a hand at the cushioned wall surrounding the pool. "I found this book while we were cleaning out the attics at the palace and had to share it with you."
Eric seated himself on the wall and looked over Triton's shoulder. The beginnings of a grin crept across his lips. "Is that…?" He asked.
King Triton nodded. "Yes, that's our Ariel. She's about one here, I think. She spread sea weed jelly all over herself." The two men laughed and Triton turned the page. "This was just after that. Her mother was giving her a bubble bath to get the jelly off and Ariel decided she didn't like the bubbles."
An hour later Queen Ariel, in search of her husband, followed the sounds of male laughter into the throne room. Catching sight of the book upon entering the room she blushed as red as her hair and covered her face. "Father!" She groaned. "Why?"
"Ariel!" King Triton called. "Come. You must remember these."
Ariel started backing away towards the doors. "I was just coming to tell Eric that I have to go see…Lady Muriel. I'll be back this afternoon. Love you, Daddy, Eric." Ariel bolted from the room. There was no way to stop her father but she didn't have to be present while he humiliated her.