Chapter 4: A Small Escape
"Mr. Bech, could you take care of these?" Eric tiredly asked, handing the papers over to the adviser. "Just deliver them. There's no need to do anything else. I have a pounding headache and have to go lay down."
The man nodded, watching as the young king rubbed his temple and squinted in pain as if the light was too much for him. No doubtfully the early morning meetings had gotten to him. "I'll take care of them, Your Majesty. Just go rest."
"Thank you," Eric said before heading out of the office and towards his room, rest just a staircase away from him. Not long after exiting he saw Grimsby. Giving him a bright smile and a cheery wave, he passed him without a word.
Grimsby, noting that Eric was headed the wrong way, questioned him. "And where are you going, my boy?"
Eric looked back, but continued walking. With his thumb he pointed down the hall. "To go lay down. I have a headache," he said, almost too excitedly.
"Eric!" Grimsby called him back, causing the boy to stop in his track. He saw Eric release a sigh before walking back towards him. Once Eric was in front of him, he continued. "It doesn't seem like your headache is severe. Are you sure you need to lay down?"
"Of course," Eric replied. "You never know if it's going to get worse."
The old man shook his head. "Eric, you have work to finish."
"Oh, don't worry about it, Grim. I have everything taken care of and there's nothing urgent I have to worry about at the moment. Just let me have this afternoon to spend with Ariel."
"If you must," Grimsby replied. There wasn't much else he could do to get him back to work. While he wished that Eric would be more productive, he certainly had made an improvement compared to when he first got married. Both of them, in fact, had taken upon their duties rather well. Still, there was one duty they had yet to fulfill. "But, take this time to consider how the people are still waiting for an heir, rather impatiently, if I might add. You could be productive yet today."
Eric blushed at what he was implying. "I know. I know. We've talked about it, but it's a big deal, having a kid, and Ariel doesn't want to be tied down for nine months. You know how she is."
"It's also a big deal to secure the royal line. Think about what would happen if something happened before you had an heir."
"I'm not worried about it," Eric confessed. "I have a cousin or two who don't have a major title. I'm sure they would be happy to become king."
Grimsby shook his head. "Then there wouldn't be a smooth transition of power. You must think of your people first."
"I know," Eric said with a sigh.
Eric had finally made it up to his room without anyone else stopping him to pester him about having children. He walked in to find Ariel already sitting on the bed, waiting for him. She smile upon seeing him, glad he had successfully faked a headache.
Kicking off his boots, he laid down on the bed next to her. With a sigh, he began, "I would have been up sooner, but Grimsby was bugging me about an heir."
"A lot of people are," she replied, almost as if she was brushing it off as if it was not an important issue. Quite frankly, she did not feel like dealing with it at the moment.
There was a silence between them before Eric asked the question that had nagged in the back of his mind as he walked up to their room. "Do you regret marrying me?"
Ariel looked up at him, confused. "Why would you even ask something like that? I love you more than anything."
"It's just that, you like to explore and go on adventures, but with me, you're stuck here, in this castle, surrounded by rules and pressure from society. Our life doesn't revolve around us; it revolves around the kingdom. You didn't have to marry me. You could have found someone else, someone who had the freedom to take you wherever you want to explore the human world."
"You don't understand," she began to try and erase his absurd thought. "I had to marry you because I love you. Even if we could never step foot out of this castle, I would have married you. I never would have become human if it wasn't for you. If I hadn't fallen in love with you, I would have just stayed as a human-obsessed mermaid for the rest of my life. Your love was all I needed, so no, I don't regret marrying you. I'm happy beyond words that I married you."
He smiled at her, relieved that she didn't regret marrying him, and placed a kiss on her forehead. Eric still didn't feel better, though. "I just can't help but feel like I'm holding you back."
"Well, I don't feel like you are," Ariel shook her head. "I feel like you gave me everything I ever wanted."
"Even if you don't get to go off exploring whenever you want?"
"I suppose that is the one thing I wish I could do, but most people can't do that. Besides, we still get to see so much of the countries, much more than a lot of other people get the opportunity to, even if there is lots of politics involved in our trips," Ariel explained. They laid there a little bit until she spoke again, deciding there was a matter that had to be taken care of. "And I suppose I am excited to give the kingdom an heir because when we have a new, little prince or princess to dote on, I can teach it all I've learned over the past year and a half."
"So, you're ready?" Eric asked.
She nodded with a smile. "Only if you are."
