The World Above

Chapter III

Several hours later, Carlotta found Urchin and Eric still sitting where Ariel had left them. "Prince Eric, dinner will be served in the dining hall in fifteen minutes. Would you like me to go fetch Princess Ariel as well?"

"No, thank you Carlotta, I'll go get her myself. I teased her a bit earlier and I really should go apologize. Ambassador Urchin will be dining with us this evening, would you please show him to the dining hall?"

"Of course, your highness, I'd be happy to. Come along then child." Carlotta beckoned Urchin to follow and he quickly complied, not too keen on the idea of getting lost in the palace.

Eric watched them go, amused by Urchin's Ariel-like enthusiasm for every human object he saw. Grinning from ear to ear, the prince made his way towards Ariel's chambers. He felt like he'd just met her for the first time all over again after hearing the numerous stories he'd been able to pry out of Urchin.

As Eric approached the princess' bed chamber, he encountered two palace maids gossiping outside the doors, "Did you see that strange man that was here earlier?" the first maid asked.

"What strange man?" the second maid replied.

"I couldn't get a good look at his face, his back was towards me but it seemed like he'd been waiting for the princess outside her bedroom door."

Intrigued by the conversation and not wanting the maids to lapse into silence because of his presence, the prince quickly hid behind a column just as the second maid responded, "Why would a man be waiting outside the princess' bed chamber? Are you sure it wasn't the prince?"

"Of course I'm sure, I've worked in the palace for fifteen years, how could I not know the prince when I see him? Honestly! As for why he was there, who knows. Princess Ariel is an odd one, she shows up here all of a sudden, refuses to talk to anyone, including Prince Eric and then the minute the prince finds a suitable wife, the girl can magically talk again. Not only that but tells him she's a princess?

"How could she possibly be a princess anyway? She's clumsy and awkward not to mention rude, did you see what she did to Master Grimsby the first day she arrived?"

"Catherine, I think you should stop. Princess Ariel may be a bit odd at times, but she's very sweet and she seems to make Prince Eric happy. It's really none of our business anyway now let's go, we've finished this hallway and Mistress Carlotta wanted us to help her set the dining room for dinner."

The sound of retreating footsteps slowly faded and Eric was left alone in the hallway. He had never really thought before about how Ariel's appearance here had looked to the staff or how the sudden return of her voice could seem like a trick. He may have even thought it a trick himself, if he hadn't watched her voice return to her with his own eyes.

He sighed, with the exception of Grimsby, Carlotta, and Louie, none of the palace staff has been present on the wedding ship for his marriage to Vanessa, none of them had witnessed the beautiful bride turn into a giant half-octopus woman. He still shuddered at the thought of Ariel disappearing over the railing of the ship in Ursula's arms. He really had thought he'd lose her for good that day.

No doubt the staff had been dreaming up conspiracy theories ever since he and Ariel had returned to the palace the next morning. He hoped Ariel hadn't overheard any of the gossip, some of the things the servants were saying were entirely off base. They still thought their prince was only marrying this odd princess because of her voice, they had no idea that, until Vanessa had bewitched him, he had been planning to marry her even without that voice.

That's when the thought hit him, if the palace staff thought he was marrying Ariel only for her voice, maybe Ariel thought that too. Afterall, even he couldn't deny that it could look that way. Sighing yet again, he decided he should talk to Ariel and tell her what he had been planning to say the night before he almost married Vanessa.

Approaching the bedroom door, Eric knocked a couple times and waited. When he got no response, he knocked again and called out to her, "Ariel, it's Eric, dinner's almost ready."

Meanwhile, Ariel was in the throes of a terrible nightmare which actually scared her awake. Unfortunately, the moment her eyes opened she had forgotten what the nightmare was about. Her hammering heart and the cool sweat that she had broken into were proof positive that her dream had been terrifying. Still trying to recall the nightmare, she didn't hear the knocking at her door, but Eric's voice did snap her out of her thoughts enough to call out to him, "I'll be right out!"

Climbing out of bed, she ran over to her dresser and quickly pulled on her blue dress with the dark-blue corset that she often wore when she wasn't attending formal functions. Once she was dressed, she ran over to her vanity mirror and gasped at her own appearance. Her eyes were red and bloodshot, the tracks of tears were clearly visible down both sides of her face, and her hair was a mess. If Eric saw her in her current state he'd definately be worried and then he'd ask who or what had upset her. She wasn't about to tell him that his friend had frightened her.

Running into the washroom, she splashed some cold water on her face and ran a brush through her hair. After the incident with the "dinglehopper" in the dining room on her first night in the palace and the odd looks the maids had given her the two nights after that when they encountered her using it, she had made a point of asking Carlotta about it and learned WHY everyone had been giving her strange looks.

Glancing at herself in the mirror once more and finally being pleased with her appearance, Ariel opened her bedroom door and stepped out into the hall where Eric was waiting for her. He flashed a charming smile her way before extending his elbow towards her so she could take his arm. Ariel smiled up at him and wrapped her arm through his, "This is unusual, normally you're too busy to come walk me to dinner."

"I wanted to apologize for teasing you earlier in the reading room, and I wanted to talk to you about something as well."

"Oh Eric, you know you don't have to apologize for that, I wasn't even really angry."

"I know, Urchin said you probably just didn't want to witness my reaction to some of his stories about you."

"He was right. I did a lot of stupid things back home, it's really no wonder father was always sending Sebastian after me."

"I don't remember Urchin telling me about any stupid things you did, maybe some of them were a bit reckless but they were also brave. I think I fell even more in love with you just hearing them."

Ariel had the grace to blush at that statement and it took several moments for her to be able to look at him again, "What was it you wanted to speak to me about?"

This time it was Eric's turn to blush. Granted, he didn't blush quite as noticeably as Ariel usually did, but it was there and it fascinated the princess who had never seen such a reaction from her prince, "There was something... I wanted to ask you."

"Of course, you can ask me anything."

"Do you...ever overhear the maids gossiping?"

"Eric, the maids on your staff are probably the most talkative humans on the planet, everyone in the palace overhears them gossiping."

"That's certainly true but what I meant was, do you ever overhear them gossiping about you?"

The smile that had previously been on Ariel's face dimmed somewhat and she turned her gaze to the hall before her, "Sometimes, but...it's just talk. I'm an outsider here and they don't know much about me, they must feel like I'm invading their space."

Eric looked down at her with sad eyes, "Do you believe any of the things they say? Does the gossip hurt you?"

"I suppose sometimes their words hurt, like when they say I'm clumsy or unrefined. I was always called graceful and regal in Atlantica, up here it's almost like I can't do anything right. I usually just remind myself that they've lived on two legs all their lives, I've only been living with them for a month. As for what they say about you and I, those do give me pause.

"I often wonder if they have some insight that I don't, that perhaps they heard you yourself say those things." Ariel replied, she didn't want Eric to think she doubted his affections for her but she didn't want to lie to him either.

Eric laid his hand over her own which was clutching his arm, "I don't blame you for doubting me. I overheard the maids gossiping just before I knocked on your door and, while I know that everything they said is based on their ignorance of the situation, it made me realize that there are things that you may not realize too."

Ariel looked up at him in surprise, "What kind of things?"

"Well, the staff thinks that I'm only marrying you because I love your voice, which I thought was an obsurd notion until I thought about it from their perspective. Eventually, thinking about things from their perspective lead me to think about things from your perspective. Ariel, it's true that all I could remember about you was your voice. The sun was behind you the day we met and I could barely make out your face.

"It wasn't your voice that made me want to find you and marry you... it was the thought of marrying a girl who was brave enough to venture out in that storm to rescue someone she didn't even know. And then, when you appeared on the beach as a human with no voice, I just assumed you couldn't possibly be the girl I was looking for because that girl could speak and you couldn't. It had nothing to do with your voice.

"That first night, at dinner, I couldn't take my eyes off of you... you were beautiful... you ARE beautiful. Your beauty stunned me, but that wasn't what drew me to you either. You were so energetic and wild and inquisitive, poor Carlotta was going mad just trying to keep tabs on you. It didn't matter that you couldn't talk, you spoke volumes with your actions and your facial expressions.

"On that last night, Grimsby had found me out on the terrace gazing forlornly at the sea and, in an attempt to make me give up my search for the girl with the incredible voice, pointed out that perhaps the perfect girl had been right in front of me the whole time. His words made me realize that, even though you couldn't possibly be the girl who saved me, I loved you anyway... I would gladly give up my dream girl to stay with you.

"So, that's what I did. I was heading into the palace to tell you I had fallen in love with you and wanted you to be my bride when I heard that voice, your voice. I ran to the balcony to see if it was just my imagination and Ursula's spell trapped me. I wasn't going to marry her, I just wanted to prove to myself that the voice I'd heard existed and had come from someone. But you have to believe me; I would never have gone after Vanessa if it hadn't been for that enchantment. You were always the one I wanted, even when you were mute."

Ariel stopped in her tracks after Eric's confession and reached up a hand to cradle the side of his face. Tears welled in her blue eyes as she leaned up and kissed him gently, "In my heart I already knew everything you just told me, but it puts my mind at ease to hear you say it. Thank you."

Eric leaned down and captured her lips in yet another kiss, "You're welcome, princess."

While the prince seemed happier now, Ariel couldn't help noticing that his eyes still looked troubled, "Eric, something else is bothering you, isn't it?"

"Well the maids did mention something else. "

"Oh?"

"Who was the 'strange man' you were talking two outside your bedchamber?"