Part II
Chapter Seven
Ariel had a dream that night.
It was soft and flitting, gentle and serene, and yet, she had been frightened. The dream had been lovely, but still, it held all the unknowns of life that the young mermaid could fathom. She had been to the surface. She had been trapped on a fisher's net. She had been rescued by a human boy. She had fallen in love.
Ariel now sat alone in her bed, playing the dream over and over again in her mind. Her knees were pressed to her chest and she rocked herself gently trying to calm her fast beating heart. A cold wind blew outside the asylum, shaking the windows. Dora breathed shallowly from the bed across the room. Ariel fixed her wide eyes upon her roommate, mulling over the peculiar reverie.
There was something oddly familiar about that dream. In fact, she knew it better as a memory, lost in a year's worth of billowing thoughts. She had been fifteen at the time and it had been her first time to the surface. She remembered it so clearly now: the rising sun, the lagoon, the fisher's net, even the boy. But still, she didn't understand. Why was she dreaming this now and after all this time? It didn't make sense. No sense at all. She dwelled on it for a moment and lay back down, staring at the ceiling, lost in her own thoughts. Before long, she fell back asleep, but the dream did not continue. It was lost forever. But the memory lived on, stored silently away for safekeeping.
…
It was nearly midnight when Eric finally reached the office of Dr. E.B. Franklyn; Winter View's proprietor. He had since parted company from the frightening butler and had been placed in the capable hands of the doctor. Dr. Franklyn, Eric decided, was far too cheery. Everything he did was with a smile.
"What is it that you require?"
Eric told him of what he wanted.
"We have several girls like the one you've requested..." Once in his office, the boney asylum owner walked across the floor and over to a filing cabinet in the corner. Opening a drawer, he began to rummage around inside. "No family, sixteen or older, not in her right mind, walking, submissive," He paused, "Breathing."
Eric wasn't amused. He found such senses of humor dry and uninteresting.
"Mute…" The doctor carried on as he shuffled some papers and returned to his desk with a sizable stack, "Yes. There are several girls. Probably as much as a fifty fitting that very description."
"It's no bother really. I have time to look around." Eric lied as he sat in an overstuffed chair. He tried to act calm, though inside, his blood was pumping with urgency. He knew he needed to be in and out of there, quick. The ball was only hours away and he still had to get back to the castle and prepare. He proposed a hasty idea. "How about having the young ladies line up and I can go down the list?"
Dr. Franklyn nodded slowly and Eric frowned. Could the old fossil move any slower? "That could be arranged."
"Good."
"If you will wait here while I fetch all the girls?"
"Of course." He couldn't appear rushed. He had to be calm and patient. He needed to be cool, composed and unfazed; he couldn't afford to be too hasty in his selection either.
"I can send a maid in with tea?"
"Don't bother yourself. I can wait alone." Eric crossed his arms over his broad chest and looked around the expensively furnished office. It appeared that Dr. Franklyn spent his tax dollars well, if only he spent his time in the same way.
"Alright. I'll be back soon to fetch you."
Eric only nodded and waited until the doctor had gone before rising from the chair and walking over to the window. He looked out into the white-blanketed backyard of the estate. The storm was getting worse, but he refused to let that bother him. He would make it back in time for the ball or die trying.
"Prince?"
Eric turned as the doctor's head poked back through the doorway.
"We are ready."
Eric got up, and went with the doctor. Not at all sure what to expect.
