Her skirt was caught on something, and Ariel was grateful for it, as it meant she had finally slowed her tumble downstream. She flailed her arms about, looking for something to grab and eventually found a sturdy rock. She clutched it, panting, and climbed atop.

"Eric?" she yelled out. "Are you okay?"

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw three small crabs scuttle up and join her on the rock.

"You're still here!" she said with relief, looking at the tiny, life-saving crabs.

"We said we'd stick by you." One of them nodded.

"We're here to help you however possibly, on behalf of your father."

"He just wants you happy, princess. Happy, but also safe." Another assured her.

"Yes, yes." Ariel brushed off, sitting up straighter. "Eric?" she called out again.

"Did you help him?" she said, starting to panic.

The crabs quickly conferred, but confessed. "No, princess. We didn't intend to leave him, but you were our first priority."

"Oh no, oh no!" Ariel exclaimed, whipping her head around. "Eric!" she called out, as loudly as she could.

She was exhausted, physically and emotionally from the frightful tumble downstream, but she knew it didn't matter right now. Eric was still rushing down the river, and he could be hurt or –

Or nothing. Because she was going to find him, and she would keep him safe. Because she loved him. The rock she had crawled atop was only a foot from the riverbank, and it was a jump she should be able to make. She pulled herself into a kneeling position, then to a wobbly standing position, then she fell back into kneeling. She cursed her human body, wishing she could just will it to work! Every second she struggled to stand was an extra second Eric tumbled to the unknown – sharp rocks, waterfalls, and thousands of other terrible things.

Ariel drew herself up into a shaky stand and swung her arms forward, leaping onto the soft riverbank. She didn't have enough force to make it all the way, and she landed half in the water. She felt the pull of the current, but enough of her was out of the water to allow her to army crawl up the side of the bank. She started walking, as quickly as she could, and calling out for Eric, Eric?, Eric!

Scanning the whole river, she prayed that he hadn't gone under water, because she didn't know what to do then.

"Crabs, please!" she called out. "Search underwater, help him if he's there!"

While she had full faith in their ability to spot Eric if he did happen to be underwater, she feared that would mean that she was already…too late.

Ariel sped up, feeling strength through adrenaline. Cupping her hands around her mouth, she yelled, "ERIC!"

…

The ingredients were stewing, tucked under a spare bed no one would see. Marcus knew he had one more potion to make – this being perhaps the most important one of all. While he hoped that somehow his sabotage of Eric's carriage would hurt the sorcerer – crush him, or disable him enough to allow Ariel to run back to the sea, he couldn't count of it. And there would be no risks taken when it came to Ariel's safety, and the need to return her to his arms. No, he needed to make the death draught.

For this, he searched through maid's cabinets for pest poisons, he searched painter's cabinets for paint and its remover, he took every foul smelling liquid stored under sinks, and he mixed them together. He knew he did not have the potions skills of someone trained in the practice, but he knew such a terrible brew would surely kill the sorcerer.

"Potions," Marcus held the basin up the light, smiling a bit. "Wits, sword."

The very final element of his collection. Though the Golden Prince needed the potion, and was unable to use the sword, Marcus hoped that he might be able to somehow do even better, and become a hero in his own right. Such a feat would be…fantastical, and it would surely earn him Ariel.

And while Marcus knew that even the sorcerer was not vain enough to leave some armaments closet unlocked, there were plenty of crests and crossed swords around the castle. They were not intended to be used, but Marcus had no moral obligation to heed the wishes of the sorcerer.

He didn't quite remember which room they were in – he hadn't been focusing too much on the layout of the castle, he just kept switching rooms and praying that a maid wouldn't accidently stumble in on him. He didn't want to hurt anyone but the sorcerer, but he would do whatever he needed to in order to destroy him. If that meant someone else had to be taken care of, then that's what it meant. He wasn't fond of the concept, and he took whatever precautions he could, but the fates had a hand in it too.

Just like they had had a hand in bringing he and Ariel together.

Marcus left on a whim, a push of the fates. He knew, not rationally, but emotionally that it was what he had to do to find his red haired princess. His eyes had always been peeled for her; he had always hoped she was walking around his own kingdom somewhere. But that was not how their story went, and Marcus knew that he just had to accept that.

But he did not memorize that tale, internalize it for nothing. He did not leave every comfort of home to live with new relatives in order to not find his princess. He did not go to the ball that night with the intent of not meeting her, and he did not lock eyes with her in order to just look away. He pursued her until she finally began to bend to him, and he had intended to continue until she was fully won over. He knew the sorcerer was coming – it was inevitable, but it was also a good sign. It meant they were in love enough for the story to progress, it meant that they were finally swirling about each other in a sea of gold and red, gold and red. It meant that everything was solved enough for something else to go wrong.

And Marcus knew that this was the only step between him and his happily ever after. Once the sorcerer was slain, his red-haired princess would be so grateful, so in love, that she would happily drink the love potion, allowing for their saccharine affection to permeate aspect of their lives and continue on for the rest of it. Each dawn would be like waking up to a world where they had never known love before that moment. Each day a honeymoon, each moment together as passionate as their last.

Yes, Marcus knew what laid ahead for the Golden Prince, and he so assumed that, should he follow the steps as deftly as he had been doing, it would be quite the same for him.

…

Ariel had never felt so slow before! She was running, she was sure she was, but her whole body ached and she wanted to burst into tears. She scrunched up her nose, bit her lip, and knew that the time for tears was not now, that she couldn't be afraid, and that she couldn't think of anything but finding Eric, and finding him completely okay.

She kept checking with the crabs – every thirty seconds or so one would pop up and say that, sadly, they had no sight of him. Ariel would nod, try to see the bright side – at least he wasn't underwater! – and push on. But she knew that she was going too slowly. And she knew she wasn't getting any faster. Her legs ached, both from her lack of knowledge on how to use them, and from being battered as she was swept downstream, and from kicking and kicking as she was trying to save herself.

Another crab popped its head up.

"Did you find anything?" Ariel panted, still running.

"No, princess." The crab said sadly.

Ariel spoke without thinking.

"Then I'm getting back in. The river is faster than I am."

"Princess, no-" one of the crabs cried, but it was too late.

Ariel dove into the terrifying water, using all of her strength to keep her head above water. The crabs will grab me if anything happens, I'll be fine. She tried to reassure herself, but it did nothing for the fear she was feeling. There were a good amount of crabs, and they really did help, but she was too big and moving to quickly for them to rescue her alone. They were good help, but they could only help. They couldn't rescue her or Eric, despite what they tried to assure her.

"Oh no," Ariel moaned, spotting a clump of brush. It had overgrown into the river, and was prickly and very much in her way.

She tried to lay on her side and kick fiercely to get away from it, when she noticed that Eric, barely out of the water, was clinging to it for dear life.

Immediately reversing her trajectory, she flipped to her other side and reached out for the brambles, snagging herself onto them. It was thorny and cut up her hands, but it was sturdy enough to hold both her and Eric, and that's all that really mattered.

"Oh, thank God!" Eric yelled, removing a hand to reach out for her.

Ariel grabbed his hand to steady herself and to keep him secure.

"I was so worried about you!" she said, feeling herself near tears again. "But we can talk later, let's just get out!"

"I'm trying!" Eric insisted, trying to scoot along the bramble while still holding Ariel.

"Here, here." Ariel tried to tug her hand away, but he wouldn't let her go. "It's okay, I'm holding on very tightly. You can't climb with only one hand. The crabs are here-"

"The crabs?"

Ariel shook her head dismissively. That wasn't important now. "They'll help you out, and then they'll grab me."

"No, you get out first-"

"Eric, go! The longer you argue, the longer we'll both be in here. I've already been out of the water for a few minutes, and it's cold in here."

"But-"

"It doesn't make sense for me to climb over you just to get out first. We'll both be safe!"

Eric nodded, hesitating, but he let go of Ariel and started scooting to the side. The crabs grabbed the hems of his pants and the lose part of his shirt and helped tug him over to the bank. With one strong push, he was out of the water and rolled to his hip.

"Now scoot over, and I'll grab you once you're close." Eric shifted to his knees and held out his hand.

Ariel nodded, moving slowly. The crabs held her dress and the scooted only a few inches at a time, hoping that light hand placement would make the prickles hurt less. And she was almost close enough to grab Eric, when the brush gave way.

…

It was a beautiful summer day, and tomorrow was set to be one as well, so Carlotta sent most of the staff home for a small vacation. There were no dignitaries being hosted, no meetings for weeks, and the only guest was Ariel. While Carlotta was seeing how important this girl actually was, she didn't seem very fussy and would be able to be managed fine with an extra maid and Louie staying on to cook.

The castle had been through its overhaul spring cleaning months earlier, and that standard had been kept with weekly deep cleans – polishing, scrubbing, and beating of rugs. Carlotta did all she could to supervise, as it became more and more clear that she didn't need to pitch in. Eric only really wanted the castle absolutely spotless with events were being held, and Carlotta was confident he wouldn't mind if there was a day without dusting.

Family was more important, the most important, and giving the staff some unexpected time to spend with loved ones would be a benefit to all, and a booster to morale. And while Eric was still formally Carlotta's boss, their relationship was personal enough that she seldom felt the importance to ask his permission for anything. Preference, sometimes, but she knew him well and seldom had to ask him for desired colors of menus. He liked blue, and his favorite main course was steak and potatoes. He hardly even needed to pitch in on event planning anymore.

There'd be no one to stand attention at meals, there wouldn't be as many people ducking in and out of hallways and empty rooms, and the breakfast dishes might sit on the table a little bit longer. But Eric never really cared too much about the formality. He respected it, which is why he kept it up, but he felt no need for it. And, not to mention, he was so engrossed with Ariel that Carlotta doubted he'd even notice the presence of the staff was missing.

But Eric wasn't looking out for these sorts of changes as much as Marcus was, for Eric had neither need nor desire to exploit them.

Review, please!