Disclaimer: I don't own TLM. I do own this plot.

25

Ariel woke to the smell of seawater and filth. Her head throbbed and it took her a few moments to realize that the flashes of colored light before her eyes weren't real, but danced behind closed eyelids. When she drew enough strength to at last crack one eyelid the revealed surroundings weren't much brighter.

Flashes of memory swept through her mind: a goodbye kiss to Eric as he rode off on a rescue mission, the sound of cannon fire and the smell of smoke, harsh breathing and burning muscles and dirty calloused hands dragging her towards the ship.

The ship.

She must be on the cursed pirates ship. That made sense. She had now become aware of a swaying sensation that wasn't completely due to her aching head.

She opened her other eyelid and waited for her vision to adjust to the dimness.

Shadows of towering crates and barrels surrounded her. She was tucked up against the polished wood of the ships hull, surface gently curving as it disappeared to the planks above her. She could hear coarse voices chattering distantly above her head.

She reached out a hand to rub her aching head, remembering again, how she'd come to be there.

The three pirates had dragged her down the gravel path and into the melee in the village. They'd passed unmolested as pirates and villagers alike tended to their own distractions. She'd managed to slip her captors holds once, as they'd tried to load her into a small rowboat on the beach. She'd darted away from them with no real hopes of escape, but instead her last ditch attempt to get help.

"Daddy!" she'd screamed as she made it to the waterline. She'd splashed through foaming waves and wet sand, stumbling and swerving as she tried to avoid capture and stay in contact with the water. "Daddy help!" When her father had first come upon her and Eric on the beach the night of his birthday he'd been able to sense her presence in the water. With any luck he'd be able to do the same now. It was her last hope.

Rough hands clasped her arms and jerked her backwards, her feet still brushing the tops of incoming waves.

"Daddy help!" she shrieked once more before blinding pain struck the back of her head and all was black.

They'd hit her over the head with something. She knew nothing of the events that followed but they'd all culminated with her here, in the dark and smelly hold of the pirates ship. She shivered as a chill set in.

Why was she here? How long had she been here? What would they do to her now? Had her father heard her calls for help? Where was Eric?

Deep breaths, Ariel, she instructed herself. Take this one step at a time. Be logical.

Okay. She could do this. What answers could she find out for herself?

Well, time. She was still human; Ariel wiggled her toes now as if to prove the fact to herself. As she did so she became aware of a weight around one ankle and reached a blind hand down to discover a chain binding her to the hull. Casting that thought aside for a moment she proceeded with earlier thoughts. She was still human which meant that it hadn't been a day since she was taken. Ursula's deal was up soon but obviously not yet.

Alright, less then a day. Which means Eric may not have learned about the attack yet. Or he has and he's searching for me. She felt absolutely certain that once Eric learned of her kidnapping he'd move heaven and earth to find her, expiration on her deal notwithstanding.

And then there's Daddy. She had to believe that he'd heard her. The sea was a large thing and her father wasn't privy to everything happening at any given moment—so much information inundating one person at once would drive the person insane—but he'd undoubtedly hear a direct call for his aid. He hasn't come to my aid yet which means that I haven't been here too long. A few hours at most.

A few hours. Okay that was one question answered. Now if only she could find answers to the most pressing questions: why was she here and what would they do with her now that they had her?

She'd questioned the pirate's intentions briefly during the initial attack. Was Eric their target? If he was then why hadn't they continued their attack on the other village and captured him when he was least protected away from the palace? Did they seek to use Ariel as a bargaining chip for something? Word of her and Eric's engagement had traveled fast; the pirates were as likely to know her value to the prince as anyone else. Did they intend to use her as leverage while Eric did as they bade on land? Eric couldn't do many things, such as grant pardons, pay ransoms and pass legislation if he himself were captive but he might do it for Ariel.

The idea had merit but it didn't feel right to Ariel. Eric had mentioned the pirates before, mostly as pesky nuisances. Until recently their impact had been slight, attacking merchant ships, raiding the odd seaside village or so. They'd caused damage and impacted livelihoods but they hadn't been killing many people. Mostly they seemed in favor of blitz attacks and getting away as quickly as they could without worry of pursuit. If they'd been so concerned in the past with avoiding capture why were they playing such a risky game now? They'd traveled enough between kingdoms to avoid true pursuit in the past. But now? Their recent actions in the past month or so had forced Eric's hand into dedicating naval forces to the task. They'd been quickly making their ways towards the palace. Why change tactics so quickly when they'd been operating safely for years?

There was only one thing that she knew would entice a pirate: profit. Yes, that felt right to her. They'd headed towards the palace in search of profit. That again left the idea of them using Ariel as leverage for Eric to empty the kingdoms coffers. That might be it but Ariel still was unconvinced. No, something in those men's eyes last night, something in the way they'd lit up as they crowed "Oi, it's 'er I reckon. That red 'air's a dead give-o-way" that made her feel as if this was solely focused on her alone and had nothing to do with Eric. Her stomach dropped at the thought.

A loud squealing noise broke her thoughts and she gave a muffled cry of surprise as light blossomed through a trapdoor above her. She closed her eyes against the burning light and heard the voices, distant until this point, sharpen into focus. Obnoxious laughter and crass comments filled the air as a ladder was dropped through the door and two figures descended it.

She recognized the scrawny man from the night before but his companion was unknown to her.

"Glad ta see yer awake, sweetheart. The captain will be wantin' a word wit' ye."

"Well your captain can come down here and ask me himself if he feels so inclined," Ariel spat, drawing up closer to the hull.

The man laughed.

"Would ya look at that," he crowed. "She has claws." He reached for Ariel and she lashed out, raking her fingernails across his grimy face to show him just how sharp her claws were.

"Yes I do," she agreed as he pulled away with a shout. She kept the hand, now red with his blood, stretched outward in a staying gesture. "And next time I'll go for your eyes." She had no idea where the confidence was coming from but she hoped that it stayed with her.

"For the love of the Almighty, Anderson you best bring her up here now or I'll have your entrails for chum!" a booming voice echoed through the trapdoor. Ariel looked up at the door, startled. The voice that spoke was unlike the other pirates, cultured and sophisticated. She caught a glimpse of a tall shadow topped in a wide brimmed hat leaning over the door briefly before it retreated. The man she'd scratched, Anderson, scowled furiously at her.

"Gettin' me in trouble with the captain, wench!" he jerked his chin forward and his companion lunged for her, grabbing her hands in iron fists. She struggled feebly as Anderson came forward and bound her wrists together with rope before turning to her chained foot, key suddenly in hand.

She didn't make it easy for them. The fact that they had to get her up a narrow rickety ladder made her struggle seem stronger than it actually was but it resulted in the same. She was tossed unceremoniously onto the sun-bleached wooden deck of the ship amid a ring of shadowy figures. The afternoon light was bright as it glared down on the scene below and Ariel could see nothing beyond the specters before her.

One stood taller then the rest. Through watery eyes Ariel made out the figure that had leaned over the trapdoor. The captain was tall and well muscled. His hair was loose and fell to his shoulders in greasy tendrils. He wore a large black hat, wide brimmed and decorated with random trinkets: a few pins, an earring, a gold coin. He smiled at Ariel and she saw that, unlike his counterparts, he had no missing teeth but instead a blinding white smile that shown out of a sun-darkened face.

"Ah," he said when she leveled her gaze with his own brown eyes. "Miss Ariel, at last."

She felt ice weigh down her heart as he spoke. He addressed her by her name, not that it was hard for anyone to discover her name, but the use of such a familiar term struck her. Be strong, she told herself. Act like a weak little girl and that's how they'll treat you. Whatever they want from you they'll take it. Might as well act strong along the way. Easy to say, another to do. Her knees were quivering beneath her tattered nightgown.

"You take up a familiar tone," she said casually, straightening her back up so that she wasn't in as much of an undignified heap at his feet. She also inflicted her best haughty tone into her voice. "But I'm sure we haven't met."

He smiled again. "No we haven't, but I've heard much about you."

"As I'm sure everyone in the kingdom has," she said. "But none of them have seen fit to kidnap me."

"That's because they do not know what I know about you." Ariel's mouth went dry. He couldn't possibly mean that he knew that could he? But…but it would make sense. Everything would make sense. Everything except for one thing that was. How had he found out?

He studied Ariel's face carefully as she thought. "Yes," he said. "I can see that you know what I speak of."

Ariel willed some moisture to her mouth. "I," the syllable came out cracked. She cleared her throat and tried again. "I am afraid you are mistaken," she said. "I do not know what you're talking about."

The man crouched down in front of her, his eyes level with her own. "I believe you are many things, Ariel," he said, his deep voice a rumble of foreboding. "But ignorant is not one of them."

"A kindness," she responded, pinned by his gaze. She felt as if the shackle had been restored around her ankle and now held her against the deck. "But I fear that, despite what you may believe, you actually know nothing about me."

He struck before she had time to blink. The crack of his hand against her cheek preceded the sting of pain. When it came she stared dumbly at him, unable to recall his movement, let alone the actual slap.

"I may speak more eloquently then my men but let me assure you that I rival them in ferocity," he spat. His manner, congenial until that point, shifted and suddenly, she was sitting before a pirate captain. "I have not come to my position on weak words and feeble threats. I make you a promise here and now. I promise you that I know what you are and I will do everything in my power to prove it to the world. Such a spectacle would draw any amount of people willing to pay to lay eyes upon it."

He knew. He knew. But Ariel had to hear him say it.

"And what kind of spectacle would that be?" she demanded, tasting the bitter tang of blood in her mouth.

The gathered crew drew in closer as if they expected her to flee at the admission but she had nowhere to go. Hands bound and surrounded by over thirty men of substantial size she was well and trapped.

The captain spoke, voicing what she already knew but dreaded.

"Why," he said. "We've got ourselves a little mermaid."

It all made sense. All of the reports Eric had received the past few weeks had indicated that the pirates were headed north towards the palace, raiding the seaside villages and towns as they went. Nobody had been able to guess why they were doing it but now it made sense. They'd been coming for Ariel. They knew she was a mermaid—how they knew remained her only mystery—and were intent on capturing her and using her has a traveling spectacle to tote around all coastal kingdoms in search of bountiful profit.

At first their travel had been quick with very few raids as they barreled northward but it had soon curbed and they'd begun raiding villages. That change had come about when Eric had announced that Ariel would be joining him on his visit to Ali Abul's kingdom. The pirates had quickly realized that they stood greater chance of catching Ariel when she was away from the palace.

It was no secret that the quickest and safest road to Ali Abul's kingdom traveled along the coast for a few days ride. The pirates had set a trap, knowing that Eric wouldn't be able to resist coming to the aid of a village he anticipated an attack on, especially when it was on his intended path. They'd then drawn him away and come for Ariel when she was practically undefended.

Ariel felt stupid for not realizing it was a trap. She and Eric had walked right into it and she'd been swept up as neatly as shrimp in a cast net. She couldn't blame them, how were they to know that someone had discovered Ariel's secret? Still that lent no comfort to her as she kneeled among the crowd of pirates on the ships deck.

The captain's words were greeted by silence. Ariel gaped at the man, searching for words while the rest of his crew looked at her expectantly.

"Why would you say something like that?" she demanded at last, casting a weary eye around the gathered men searching for a possible escape. None had become available in the past few moments. "Mermaids are myth."

The captain let out a roar of laughter soon joined by his crew. He reached forward and caught Ariel's chin in his rough grasp, forcing her to look at him as he studied her.

"Would I believe that had I not seen them with my own eyes."

Ariel's eyes widened and all sense of duplicity left her. "You have?"

The man nodded and let go of her. He stood up, wincing as bones cracked. Ariel hadn't paid attention to his age before but she realized that the man must be near to her fathers age.

"Aye," he said. "Nye on ten years past." He walked towards the bow of the boat, his crew parting before him. "It was on this boat that we first caught sight of them. It was by happenstance we came across them. We were fleeing pursuit in the north and ducked around a cliff. There was a hidden cove tucked away there with a waterfall feeding it. They were all gathered there on the rocks singing and laughing." The captain's eyes took on a faraway look as he described the past. Ariel's own heartbeat sped up at the memories of the day he described. She'd been there. This man was talking about the day her mother died. She had only faint memories of her mother but her death was something Ariel would always remember: being tossed up into the air by her father, giggling while her mother looked on, smiling and singing. The loud roar of the waterfall cascading over the cliff and into the water at the back of the cove. The ship with no figurehead careening around the cliff and barreling towards the congregation. Ariel knew that if she saw the front of the ship she was on now it wouldn't have a figurehead. These pirates were the pirates. Ariel had the sudden urge to be violently ill on the weathered floorboards.

"I thought they were a mirage," the captain continued. "It had been a long day out in the scorching sun with no pause in pursuit for drink. I could scarcely believe my eyes. But they were real. Many among us witnessed it." There were grumbles of acknowledgement among the older crew members. "So beautiful. So graceful."

"What did you do?" The words were barely as loud as a breath from Ariel's lips. The captain heard. He spun round to look at her, eyes flashing.

"We tried to seize on opportunity," he said. "Tried to capture one. We got close, too, but the ship ran aground on one of the rocks and we lost her." Ariel winced at the caviler tone he took to describe her mother's death. And the purpose. Not only had they killed her mother but now they had captured Ariel with the same intentions. "But fate is a fickle thing and we find it within our fortune to have the opportunity present itself once more!"

Ariel couldn't breathe. She'd mourned her mother's absence but she'd never really felt the pain of her death, having so few memories of her. But now, hearing about her death from the despicable man's mouth, brought pain anew. And anger. She felt white hot fury pour down her spine at the acknowledgement of his part in her mothers death. How could he speak so offhandedly about killing someone? How could he intend to keep her captive without remorse? Did he not see that she was a living, breathing person just like him?

"You're a monster," she said at last, putting words to her thoughts. "Only a truly depraved person can speak so casually about taking someone's life. You stole that mermaids life and you set siege to the village last night without a second thought! All those people! You and your men took their lives just so you could make a profit!"

"You are very innocent, are you not?" the captain asked her. "To act as if good intentions are the only thing that matter in the world. Would that be true, many people would be far better off then they are. However it is cold coin that gets you places in this world, Miss, and I intend to see my pockets full."

"Were it not for people like you then maybe good intentions would hold more weight," she snapped, struggling to her feet. They were bloodied and badly bruised after her scramble up the road the night before but she did her best to hide any flickers of pain, instead giving the captain as haughty a look as she could manage.

Ariel barely came up to his chin. Her nightgown was torn and dirty and her hair lay matted down her back, golden comb ensnarled in the red mass at the base of her skull. The captain moved back towards her, boots clicking with every step. He observed her with a critical eye for a minute before tipping his head back and roaring with mirth, the sea of men around them joining in.

"Oh," he chortled after many moments. "Oh with such honeyed words you would make a great queen someday. To bad you won't get the opportunity."

There was movement at the back of the gathered crowd, a scraping sound and sloshing joined in. Ariel watched the men with cautious eyes as they shifted to widen their circle, encompassing a large barrel. Two men came forward as she watched and swung axes at the top of the barrel. The wood splintered and they moved forward to remove it, exposing a liquid surface below.

"Now of course, the only problem with our plan is that at the moment you are not a mermaid. Magic and cunning which I am led to believe with rectify itself shortly," the captain strode away from Ariel and towards the barrel. He rested a hand firmly on the rim. "But some of my men here today require proof before we make our reveal to the palace and townspeople. They were not among the fortunate who witnessed the truth all those years ago."

"And how do you plan to prove such falsities to them?" Ariel asked, breathlessly. The crowd of men had thinned to a single circle behind the barrel and Ariel could finally see through them. Over the right side of the ship she could see the outline of coast and cliffs that were very familiar to her. She'd visited the coastline enough when she'd first began to see Eric. She knew the waterline close to the palace. Before we make our reveal to the palace and townspeople, he'd said. They were taking her back. They believed that, future queen or not, the townspeople, palace staff, nobles that had taken up residence in the palace, advisors and officials present would see her for what she was and deem her a creature for captivity and not their future ruler. She already had an idea what the barrel was for.

The captain released his grip on the rim and instead dipped his hand casually into the water within the barrel, making small splashes as if playing with a small child. Ariel knew his intents were anything but playful.

"I've heard it from a reliable source that while you may appear human it is but a guise." He gave no outward signal but his men seemed to take their cue. They rushed up behind her and grabbed her by her shoulders, forcing her towards the barrel.

Gills. Gills gills gills. Ariel's heart beat furiously in her chest and instinct took over. Cool thoughts or no she couldn't risk them finding out the truth.

"Let go!" she screeched, kicking her legs out in front of her warding off further grabbing hands and slowing their progress. "Let me go I'm not what you think I am! Help!" she hoped feebly that her cries could be heard on the distant shore. "Help me!"

Her struggles did nothing to slow her captors. They forced her closer and closer to the barrel until her body was pressed tightly against it, pinned between the curved wood and the press of the mass at her back. Her bound hands were jammed awkwardly between her stomach and the wood.

"Now come," the captain said. "Our audience approaches and we must have a spectacle for them to see!" Without another word he gripped the back of Ariel's head and shoved her face into the barrel.

The water was colder than she expected. The day was cool, the hints of autumn felt even on the sea breeze, but the sun had kept her warm. The same had not been true for below deck where the barrel had been stored. Ariel gasped in surprise at the contact, unaccustomed to having to hold her breath underwater.

The cold liquid flooded her nose and mouth, burning passages and lungs, creating a pressure in her head she'd never experienced before. She lashed out with her legs, bucking her body in an attempt to throw off the pressing horde at her back. Nothing gave way save to push her head further beneath the water.

Ariel had never experienced such a feeling before. She was drowning, she realized. She, a mermaid, was drowning. Her heart thudded loudly in her ears and the gills on her side ached, operculum spasming feebly in an attempt to expel the water coming through her mouth, attempting to draw the cool liquid over her gill filaments and separate precious air from water, to soothe the burning sensation in her chest. But no water assuaged the pain, instead flooding lungs where it did not belong. What was once life-giving resource to her would now be her death.

Some source, she thought angrily, didn't know enough to say my gills are on my sides and have to be submerged too! Water may enter through her mouth or nose but the mechanism to switch over breathing pathways didn't kick in unless her gills were submerged.

Her brain was clouding, thoughts coming with more effort. She could barely feel her body now but was sure that she had stopped struggling. Why were they letting her drown? Did they think that she was pretending? Were they waiting to see if something would change? Or were they just planning on killing her?

They were doing a fabulous job if that was their goal.

The loud beating of her heart was beginning to slow into only the occasional loud boom... boom… boom.

The pressing mass at her back suddenly disappeared but she no longer had the strength to move away; instead she fell headlong into the darkness below.