THE sand beneath her bare toes felt like heaven, as Ariel sat on the edge of the beach, waiting for Eric, her eyes moving from the sand to the stones, from the rock pools to the breaking waves. To rest on the beach like she was right now felt like a cozy hug, one that was only matched by the sunshine-filled sky.
She sat as close as she dared to the lapping waves. They felt both warm and cold, like a cup of herbal tea that has been forgotten and returned to, after a time. Ariel let her fingers wiggle in the water as the ocean seemed to sing to her.
She thought she could remain out here forever, scooping the sand that ran like cold lave through her starfish-spread slender fingers and onto the shore, though she waited for him. A voice from behind her shook her from her thoughts.
"Didn't I tell you that an afternoon off would do you good?"
The sound of the man's voice hit her like molten lava. Ariel would know it anywhere.
She turned and found herself staring directly into the adoring gaze of Prince Eric himself. Ariel smiled, enjoying the humor the Prince was exhibiting as he took a seat beside her. Not missing a beat, she shrugged.
"It's peaceful out here. Restful. Quiet." She smiled, a playful smile on her lips Eric longed to see more of. "Why? Did you miss me so much that you couldn't even wait the full hour? You came. I thought perhaps you would not," she asked.
She had the satisfaction of seeing him surprised, as a light pink blush speckled along his cheeks, but only for a moment before Prince Eric quickly regained his composure. His warm smile only grew and warmed Ariel several times over.
"Of course I come, Ariel. I gave you my word. It was my idea in the first place. I'm sorry that I am late to meet you, Grimsby took longer for me to sneak away from, though Steffan, thank the gods, is keeping the master occupied."
His palms brushed over the skirts of her dress, and even through the thick fabric, she could feel the heat his skin radiated. She hesitated, unsure of where to begin speaking, and what she could possibly talk about with the land's Prince, for she was not of royal blood as Eric was. She began to think that Eric was trying, perhaps his best since bringing her back to the castle, to help her feel relaxed. Ariel lowered her head at the very thought, part of her feeling grateful, and part of her feeling perhaps a bit guilty at all the trouble she had caused him with his Heads of House.
Finally, after an interminable pause, by some miracle of the gods, she found her voice. She was surprised at the question that was ripped from her lips, seemingly not of her own accord, and dripping with jealousy, which wasn't like her at all.
"You are certain, Your Highness, that no Princess has claimed your hand or your heart? Why do you want to spend time with me so badly, Eric? Tell me that," she asked, clumsily blurting out the question, but she needed to know.
Eric stared at Ariel, hardly daring to believe the jealousy his new maid was exhibiting, though he mentally kicked himself for his disregard for her feelings.
Well, of course, Ariel would ask him that, what else was he expecting the mermaid would ask him?
"No, my lady, there is no other woman in my life. No Princess."
He longed to take her hand and hold it, but his courage failed him, and in her current vexed mood, Eric was unsure if Ariel would allow him to.
"Please forgive me," he begged. "It—it was not my intention to upset you in any way, and if you think that I am here with the intent of dishonoring you in any way, then may the gods strike me down this very instant if I am," he promised. He waited and looked to the sky and when nothing happened, he flicked his gaze back to the young redhead seated beside him and shot Ariel a little grin.
Now, it was Ariel's turn to feel foolish for having suspected the worst. She could not bring herself to look the Prince in the eyes, though she felt the burn of the man's gaze as the Prince could not bring himself to take his eyes off of her.
Eric was trying his best to be kind, but still, she could not bear for the man to see the tears that were now welling behind her eyes, stinging and blurring her vision. Ariel let out a shaky breath she did not know she'd been holding and looked instead out at the endless sea, finding solace in the sound of the waves.
She did not wish to think that she had offended him just now by asking.
"Forgive me, Eric, I am the one who should apologize. I am…ah…not used to such attention from—from men my age," she whispered, shamefaced.
"Why not?" he asked, cocking his head to the side. Eric's voice was calm and gentle, a soothing balm that she did not know she needed, a tiny beacon of light in the murky darkness of her life. Ariel did not understand why, but it comforted her, and for better or worse, she reached for that light, desperately.
She let herself have a moment to get her emotions under control, though her mind felt like it was still reeling from how quickly her life seemed to be changing before her eyes in a mere matter of days. Ariel returned her attention to Eric, remembering that she owed the Prince an answer still.
Ariel cast her gaze to the floor as she toyed with a lock of her hair.
"Because I am…alone in the heart. Because I am different, and not one of many," she told him, a fat tear escaping from the edge of her left eye as she kept her eyes closed, and fell onto her lap. "The villagers here in Ipswich think that I am a witch. They look at my hair and mock me for remembering nothing, literally nothing of my life. The people here have never referred to me with any kindness. Except for Elsie, and now she's gone. I have nothing and no one left."
Her voice cracked and broke as she cut herself off as her throat tightened. Unable to face Eric any longer, she jumped up from her spot on the beach as though the ground around her were on fire and walked a few paces away.
She paraded her back to him and folded her arms across her chest, a gloomy ominous silence befalling the two of them. Eric cursed himself for having lost the moment. Ariel's blue eyes were turning glossy and held a far-off look, as though she were lost in her past that she seemed to not remember anything of.
It pained him that she couldn't. He wanted to hear her say it, to confess the truth that she was a mermaid, that she had saved his life, he knew the siren from the sea who had rescued him all those months ago was her. But how she came to walk on land as a human, he did not understand.
Eric felt rooted to his spot, unable to move or think. He could not even speak.
Though after a few moments, he rose and followed her, wanting only to apologize and make amends for his grave mistake. He itched to take Ariel in his arms and kiss the girl, to kiss away the pain and ridicule she had suffered since coming under the care of the old woman now gone. His body began to react to the maid's presence and for a moment, he stood an inch away from Ariel, falling under the siren's spell without even realizing what was happening.
Ariel flinched, though she knew she could not hold Eric responsible for the shame and discomfort that now washed over her better than any tidal wave ever could. She could not speak of such painful topics when she could not remember a thing of her life that had come before Elise finding her.
Who was she, Ariel, awkward, short, and shy? Was that…was that Eric's hand around her waist? Were those his lips that grazed with the most feather-light of touches softly against the flesh of her neck?
Ariel could already feel herself succumbing to the desires of her own heart as she fell back against his chest, her legs feeling like jelly beneath her, her eyelids fluttering closed to savor the Prince's nearness, a sigh of contentment escaping from her barely cracked lips. She thought that here and now, Eric was all she wanted.
But then, before she could let herself succumb fully to her longing, she stopped herself from becoming lost in the heat of the moment and snapped herself back to her usual stoicism.
There was a wall around her heart. Unable to face Eric, she could not even force herself to turn and look at the Prince in his pleading blue eyes. She did not think she could stomach it.
"I…I don't think this is a good idea, Eric. This. You and me. Us, like this," she whispered, a fiery heat seeping to her cheeks. The words she spoke to the Prince were tinged with hurt as an abrupt bitterness seeped into the pit of her belly.
Every inch of Eric wanted to protest as she pulled away, though he made no move to stop her.
"Why?" His voice was calm, determined, and affectionate. "I thought that you liked me, Ariel. At least a little," he confessed, his tone hurt. When she did not speak, he continued. "I sense that you're concerned, Ariel, but I give you my word, that my intentions for wanting to spend time alone with you are pure." His face twisted and contorted into a pained grimace. " I…uh...I fear that you are becoming someone I cannot live without, and I was hoping that you could…that if you would like to, that I could…court you, that you would say yes," he confessed and cringed as the heartfelt words left his mouth. He would have wanted to take back his confession the moment all the blood drained from Ariel's face and her blue eyes widened in shock and disbelief. She looked to the sand and wriggled her bare toes in the sand, suddenly too shy to speak. He stammered and immediately began to try to correct his mistake.
"It was selfish of me to ask, to even mention the word, but I do not want to deny how I feel. I—I know that you can't remember anything of your life, but I beg of you do not take in my words and think me a fool when I know you're the siren that saved my life. Even if you can't remember, and I don't know how you came to have legs and walk on land. N-not that I'm complaining, mind you, but I would wait as long as it took for you to remember and feel comfortable around me. I would never force you into anything, Ariel. Please believe me." Eric flushed and reached up a hand to gingerly rub the back of his neck as his cheeks began to burn. Oh, gods, this was not going at all how he'd pictured.
"It's not that," Ariel tried to protest. "It's because it's not fair. It's not that you are Prince of these lands and I am...this," she whispered, gesturing wildly to her yellow dress, her bare feet, and unruly red hair flowing loose and free in the wind. "I am a nobody in your life. Surely, the laws will not permit you to just marry anyone. You have a duty. How is that fair?" she cried, her voice cracking. Ariel sounded as though she were on the verge of a mental breakdown.
"It rarely is," Eric murmured, moving to stand close to her and reaching up an index finger to stroke the skin of her cheek. Eric swallowed, overcome with desire, and felt himself move as if instinct.
Without thinking, he leaned forward, wanting to press his lips to hers, but he pulled back, pausing just a few inches from her mouth. Ariel flinched and Eric blinked, observing her face closely.
A light smattering of freckles dusted along the bridge of her nose, and her blue eyes were alight with confusion.
She had fair skin, was pale, and her eyes were displaying more vulnerability than he had seen in a girl in a very long time, yet she was trying to be strong, but Eric was not fooled.
He knew she felt the same for him, this pulling feeling towards her that he felt, he knew that she felt it for him. He could not stop what was happening between the two of them any more than Ariel could.
He held his breath as she made no move to pull away as he leaned in and tilted his head to the side. He was actually going to get to kiss her. Excitement flooded through every orifice of his body as it tightened as it reacted to his overwhelming urge for her.
As their lips met, it felt like he was walking on air. It was witchcraft, magic, the way Ariel's lips connected with his.
Her mouth was so warm, the caress of her lips softer than he could have ever imagined, and he opened his mouth with a low, surprised moan. He tried to kiss her back, but a woman had never kissed him in this way before.
He had no idea what he was doing, and he feared it showed, but she didn't either, as her movements were just as clumsy and awkward as she moved against him, though it felt to him as though Ariel were moving on instinct alone.
Sparks flew in every direction as their kiss deepened. Ariel's hands looked like they were moving of their own accord, her hands wrapping around Eric's neck as she pulled him closer, closing off the gap of space. Her hands on the back of his neck played with the ends of his hair. A smile grew on Eric's face as it startled to tickle and she pulled apart.
As they parted, Ariel saw the Prince's azure blue eyes sparkle with an emotion she had always longed to see there, directed at her. For her. He wrenched apart from the embrace violently, and the hurt and shock must have registered on Ariel's face, for Eric felt his drain of what little color remained as Ariel's cheeks burned, and he stammered, immediately trying to correct himself.
"I…that was…I hope that you liked it. I have wanted to do that since I first met you, and I should have done it days ago, Ariel. D—did I…did I hurt you? Did you like it?"
Ariel bit her tongue, not sure if she should answer truthfully. Honestly, she had expected Eric to pull away the minute his lips had pressed against hers. To tell her that this was all a mistake, but he said nothing. Eric merely smiled at her.
She took that as a good sign and nodded shyly. "I...yes," she whispered timidly, not sure what else to say. He hesitated.
"Would...would you let me do it again?" Only when she nodded, did he continue, still wanting to hear Ariel say it. "I-is that a y-yes?" he stammered, still sounding hopeful.
She shyly nodded, her cheeks flushing pink with color as her smile widened.
"Did that kiss not answer your question?" she asked him incredulously, unable to resist teasing him a little, and chuckled under her breath as his skin flushed a deep cherry red, even deeper than before, if such a thing was possible. "Yes, Eric. I—I'd love to stay with you, you silly man. I would love it if you would…court me, with Grimsby's permission," she told him, letting out a good-natured chuckle as Eric pulled a face of disgust at the thought of having to ask.
"Ariel, as far as I am concerned, I am the Prince of these lands, Ariel. Grimsby does not rule Ipswich or the rest of the world, for that matter, and the man does not rule me. He is a family friend and in charge of my estate's financial affairs but no more and nothing less than that, though he likes to think he is," he snorted. "I should be able to decide my own fate, and that includes whom I want to spend my life with, and what I want, who I want, is you. Just you."
The smile the Prince then graced her with was one she knew she would always cherish. She heard him let out a sigh of contentment as he looked out at the ocean with her, and then asked the same question he still wanted an answer to.
"What are we going to do now?" he questioned somberly.
"Nothing," Ariel murmured, for the first time in her life, truly happy. "Nothing at all."
She leaned her head against his shoulder as the Prince snaked his arms around her waist and moved to stand behind her, resting his chin on top of her hair. She felt the man smile and could not stop a smile of her own playing at her lips.
She thought she could stay like this forever, but if only she could have known that their secret moment hidden away from the rest of the world was not to last, that there were still dark forces laying in wait who wished to tear them apart.