Ariel floated above the sea bed, her long red hair haloed around her head, as she watched the scene play out several hundred yards away. Her father was on the war path, because of a errant palace guard. The mermaid princess flicked her tail which moved her body forward cautiously. The guard had been doing her a favor - taking a 'break' so that she could sneak some friends into the royal Home. She bit her lip, feeling a desperation claw at her stomach. The eight-year-old red head wanted to tell her father the truth, but she was afraid that he would make her friends leave.

Flounder, Penelope-Anne and Felicity were waiting for her in the princess playroom. Ariel felt torn. Her father was yelling at the guard, holding his trident in a white fisted hand. With a gulp of fear, blue eyes wide, Ariel turned and swam as fast as she could to the room where she had left her friends. It was the one place in the castle where the King never went.

"Where have you been, Ariel?" Flounder asked, the yellow and blue fish swimming to meet her with a grin. "We waited for you."

Ariel thought up a quick white lie. "My father wanted me for something. Doesn't matter." She tried to smile brightly, but it came off as anxious. "Lets play."

Flounder gave her a searching look. Ariel silently begged her best friend not to ask what was wrong. He must have seen it in her expression because with a shrug of one fin he turned and rejoined the others.

With a heavy heart, but the knowledge that she had pulled of the deception, the young princess followed.

-THE END