Chapter 10 - Running Out Of Time
Erica sat perched on the balcony rail of the palace, playing her flute again, desperately hoping to catch one last glimpse of the mysterious boy who had saved her. After the accident on the water, her and Arron had reluctantly retired to their bedrooms, and Erica sat by her fireplace as Grimsby gave her a cup of tea. She had felt so disappointed. She was just about to kiss Arron, and not only had she missed out on her first kiss, but she had almost betrayed the boy who had saved her. Wherever he was.
She had changed into a black skirt and a thick, baggy grey sweater to keep out the cold that would come at this time of night, and grey woollen stockings and black boots. Just then, Grimsby walked up to the small girl, and noticed her fallen face as she held her knees to her chest. Her hair blew in the night breeze, her curls mangled and messy after the warmth from the fire had dried them.
"If I may say, Erica" Grimsby said, motioning to Arron's window. "Far better than any dream boy, is one of flesh and blood, one warm and caring, and if I may say... I believe worships the very ground you walk on"
Erica looked down at her flute and then up at Arron's window where she saw his shadow on the wall.
"Maybe you're right, Grim" she began. "But... part of me still wants to know where the boy who saved me is. I need to say thank you. I promised myself that I'd marry him. He had the most beautiful voice..." she sighed. "Arron quickly became my friend. And if I could, I'd make him my King in an instant, but... a mute ruler who no one knows where he came from?" she questioned, and Grimsby nodded.
"I understand, dear. But you still have time to sort your feelings out" he said. "I must retire myself. But, please don't fret about this all night. Tomorrow, you should ask the boy anything you want. Just because he can't reply verbally, doesn't mean he has nothing to say."
Grimsby stroked Erica's hair and turned to leave, and the little Princess looked out at the black ocean, letting the sound of the night numb her mind. Just at that moment however, she heard a voice. A voice that sounded extremely familiar. A voice she had been aching to hear. She looked back over the balcony and hopped onto the wide railing, craning her neck to get a better look. She saw a young man... a boy... walking along the beach, singing the exact same tune she had heard the day she washed up on the shore. She couldn't help but simply stare after him as a glowing ball of light emitting from a necklace he wore sent a string of magic into her black eyes, turning them a slight shade of gold. Erica felt herself go numb and slip into blackness, letting the spell of the sea sorcerer pull her under...
Back in Arron's bedroom, he sat with his back against the bed, still in his wet clothes that had dried somewhat due to the fire blazing in the hearth next to him, although he had abandoned the heavy sweater and now wore the white shirt but rolled up the sleeves, unwilling to change out of it but wanting to keep the chill off of him as much as possible. His head was buried in his knees. His beloved shell necklace had come off in the lake, never to be seen again. Just another thing he had lost. Stella tried to comfort the boy and placed a claw on his shoulder.
"It's gonna be okay, child" she said reassuringly, although she too was beginning to lose hope of Arron winning this bargain. If he failed, the boy would be sentenced to life imprisonment under the rule of the sea sorcerer, voiceless forever more. God, this deal was unfair. Suddenly, Stella thought of something. She didn't truly believe it would work, but it was worth a shot, if mind-over-matter really did exist.
"Arron, tell you what" she began. "You're gonna try to talk!" she said. Arron looked at the crab in confusion. He had tried the previous day, and it had failed miserably. "Hear me out" she said. "That mark on your throat. It's from the skeleton hands, yes?" Arron winced at the reminder. "Well, It's disappeared a bit now. Maybe your voice won't be in that shell forever. Maybe since you would have kissed dat Princess if certain people hadn't intervened, maybe da spell recognised dat and gave it back?" she suggested. Arron thought about it, and nodded. It was unlikely that it was going to work, but it was worth a try.
"Good." said Stella. "Stand up and try to say something." She commanded like an army general, and Arron shot her a smirk as if to say 'Um... ok'. Arron gathered his courage and stood up. He opened his mouth, prepared to recite the name of the girl he loved, and tried with all his might to make any sound. He strained his throat and shut his eyes tight, feeling the pressure in his chest. Stella could see the boy's pain, and felt bad for suggesting the idea in the first place. His voice must really be gone. After trying for several minutes, Arron clutched his throat with both hands and fell to his knees, bursting into silent tears. Stella instantly felt the guilt from the day before come back to her. What was with her and messing up this poor boy's life? She tried to place a hand on Arron's shoulder again, but he just shoved her off and fell to the floor, crying hard but no sound could be heard. Stella took the warning sign and gave the Prince some space. She blew out the bedside candle and scuttled out the window, leaving the boy to his own emotions for the time being.
Arron couldn't believe how selfish he had been. For years, he never appreciated the voice he had. Every choir practice and recital he had tried to slack off through or get away from, he had never realised what he had until it was gone. And now it was. It was almost as if Ursulis had read his mind and saw what he took for granted, and specifically made it his voice that he had to give up just to mess with him. If that was his intent, it had worked.
Arron felt the exertion of the day wash over him and he ended up falling asleep, soon after which, Stella scuttled back into the room. When the crab saw him, he was still in his clothes and tears were stuck to his face. The fire in the hearth had burnt out, and the chill night breeze was blowing in. Stella managed to pull a blanket over him, gripping it in her pincers, and settled down next to him, wanting to offer him her support no matter what.
It had seemed like only yesterday that he had sang at his first concert. He was five at the time, and all the Prince's had sung at their father's birthday. Perhaps that was the reason he had forgotten the concert the other week, maybe he didn't want to remember that specific type of occasion for fear of it bringing up too many painful memories. Stella now wished she hadn't been so hard on him that day. "Hopefully tomorrow will be better…" she prayed on Arron's behalf as she drifted off. But deep down, her hopes were slim.
The Princess is still searching for someone else, her heart belongs to another... She thought to herself. How can a little merman compete with that?
Arron was many things. A talented singer, a handsome face, and a professional brother annoyer. But what he was not was a morning person. So when Sienna flew in threw his bedroom window at seven that morning, eagerly shaking Arron's sleepy hand as he rubbed his eyes, he was not too happy about it. But when Sienna started screeching,
"Congratulations, kid, you did it!" Arron just looked down at the bird in utter confusion.
"Ugh, what is all dis?" asked a sleepy Stella, scuttling off the pillow she was sleeping on.
"As if you didn't know?" said the seagull. "The whole kingdom's buzzing about the Princess getting herself hitched this afternoon!" Stella and Arron looked at each other and then down at the bird, still as confused as before. "Ya know, she's getting married." said the bird, and flew away after rustling Arron's crimson hair and giving him a thumbs up... as best as she could, having feather-wings.
Arron got his bearings as he remembered what had happened the previous night, then a smile came crawling onto his face as something clicked. He stood up quickly and hastily cleaned himself up. He brushed his hair with the dingle-hopper and put on a clean t-shirt (this one blue instead of white), not even bothering to tuck in the hem and letting one of his shoe laces fly free, an ecstatic Stella scuttling after him the whole way.
He came to the top of the staircase but stopped dead in his tracks as he felt his heart practically fall out of his chest. At the bottom of the staircase stood Erica, her arms folded into the ones of another boy. This newcomer was tall, muscular and had smooth, brown hair. Arron hid behind a pillar, listening to the conversation Erica was having with Grimsby.
"Well, Erica, I believe I owe you an apology." Arron heard him say. "I suppose this mystery man of yours, does, in fact, exist." he said, and took the boy's hand and shook it firmly. "Congratulations, my boy." said Grimsby with an approving smile on his face.
"We wish to be married as soon as possible." Arron heard Erica say in a monotone, almost zombie-like voice. His eyes widened in horror as he mouthed a 'no'.
"Well, yes, Erica," Grimsby began "But, these things do take time-"
"This afternoon, Grimsby." the Princess interrupted, very much unlike herself. "Make it happen. Our wedding ship will depart at sunset."
The word 'sunset' sent a chill down Arron's spine. He knew what would happen if he didn't kiss Erica by then. His hands curled into fists as angry tears appeared in the corners of his eyes. He banged the pillar he was standing behind, and ran back to his bedroom at full speed.
The boy that Erica held next to her looked up at the distraught child as he ran across the landing. A grin appeared on the newcomer's face as he looked down at his nautilus shell and caressed it in his hands, and pulled the Princess closer.
As the wedding ship departed from the dock hours later, the little merman peered out from behind a wooden pillar on the deck and looked longingly out at the ship as it moved towards a slow-setting sun. Arron sank down the pillar and drew his knees into his chest, burying his face in his arms, small, silent tears falling into the water below.
Flora and Stella felt so badly for their friend, as Stella had told the fish the whole story. Arron was heartbroken. Just yesterday, he was so certain he had won the deal in the lagoon, only to be taken by surprise yet again. It was over. He had lost.
Sienna was flying over the wedding ship when she heard a familiar sounding voice coming from one of the windows below deck. She was certain it was Arron's. But that was impossible, as far as she knew the child was still completely mute. She flew over to the window and saw a young man who looked frighteningly like the little Prince, just with brown hair and a more defined face that made him seem older. He seemed to be talking to himself in the mirror, apparently very happy with himself.
"Just one more hour, and that little red-head punk will be no more. Tritannia will come begging to save the son she threw away, but who will be there to give her her poor little boy back? Oh, that's right... me. In exchange for power over the entire ocean, of course." the man said, laughing wildly, and when he stepped closer to the mirror, Sienna could see that the reflection was not the newcomer at all, but none other than the sea sorcerer himself! Sienna flew away as fast as she could back to the dock, frantically trying to get the Prince's attention.
Arron looked up from his misery at the squawking bird as she tried to convey her message to the trio.
"Guys! I- I was flying..." she began. "Of- I mean, of course I was flying-"
"GET TO DA POINT!" interrupted the crab, leaping in the air as she did so.
"Right- I was flying- when I saw the- the sauce bowl— the sorcerer- he was lookin' in the mirror- and he was squakin' with a stolen set of pipes!" she pointed at Arron's throat, and he looked at the bird in confusion. "Don't you get it?! The Princess is marrying the sea sorcerer in disguise!" Sienna cried frantically, picking up Stella and shaking the message into her.
"Sienna, are you sure about dis?" asked the crab when she regained her balance.
"Have I ever been wrong?" said the bird, only to be met with disapproving expressions from the other three. "I mean when it's important!" she said. Flora looked up at the little merman.
"So what do we do?" she asked. Arron stood up and looked at the sunset as the words of Ursulis echoed in his head.
"Before the sun sets on the third day…"
He had a Princess to save, and very little time to do it. Erica was over there, about to be sentenced to doom at any moment. Without thinking, Arron dove into the water, shoes and all, forgetting his fear and trying to stay afloat, but it was much harder to swim without a tail. Stella understood his plan and snipped a rope that held some barrels together and they went tumbling into the water.
"Arron! Hold onto dat. Flora, get him to dat boat as fast as your fins can carry you!" she directed. Flora nodded in agreement as she hooked herself into one of the pieces of rope and began carrying the little Prince to the boat at full speed.
"I'll try!" she said in salute.
Sienna turned to the crab.
"What about me?" asked the bird.
"Sienna," said the crab "Find a way to stall dat wedding!"
"But what are you going to do?" she called after Stella.
"What I should have done in de first place!" called the crustacean as she hopped into the water. Sienna turned over what the crab had asked of her in her mind.
"Stall the wedding…" she breathed. "Stall the… oh!" She flew into the air, squawking frantically as she signalled her other bird friends to help her, and they flew towards the ship.