Sable stood suddenly and angrily from her desk, kicking over her wastebasket in frustration.
"Still no luck?" Eric asked, uninterested. He picked up one of the many scrapped letters, all of which were now scattered across the room.
"No!" She exclaimed redundantly. "I've been at it for two hours, and nothing I write seems like it will move him!"
"Nothing you write will move him." Eric pointed out boldly. He hated being in Florin when he could be searching for his mystery maiden, and he hated bringing his cousin along even more. Thus, he had slowly but steadily elapsed into a state of uncharacteristic cynicism. Sable ignored him.
"I should be there, taking care of him! What if he's fallen, or run out of food, or--"
"Jim can handle himself." Eric insisted, a tad harshly. He ally-ooped the wad of paper into the trash can, which was put to rights by the servants on hand. "Besides, I severely doubt that Jim would appreciate the way YOU would handle him." Sable blushed, lashing out when one of the maids had the audacity to snigger.
"None of you would understand the pressures of being royalty in love!" She cried, "Taking into account your lover's wealth and social standing, weighed against personality and looks!"
Eric rolled his eyes, but seeing how the opportunity for her to vent in a private place might not come again, let her continue; "My lover is at home, bedridden, unable to do anything for himself, and yet I was stripped from his side--"
"Your choice of words is impeccable." The prince commented under his breath.
"He must be so lonely, alone on that beach, with only a stupid dog to keep him company--" Eric tensed visibly "--and no human affection. You do not know how I yearn to be by his side in his pain, comforting him.." She heard her cousin harumph a laugh and turned on him. "But you had to go and drag me to this God-forsaken country as some kind of consort!"
"You would have only been an annoyance to Jim!" Eric erupted, jumping from the window seat to tower over the duchess. "I would have been only too glad to let you stay at home if I hadn't been convinced that nothing short of a locked cell would keep you from pestering him, no matter how much you promised!" The maids stopped snickering, and Sable stared at him in amazement as he settled back into the window seat's cushions. Noticing her stare, Eric's wrinkled brow smoothed and he relaxed again.
"If you're going to write to any man, especially Jim," he said quietly, "just tell him the truth. That you miss him, and wish he could be here. And leave out any innuendos, OK?" Sable sat down at the desk and, without another word, began to write.
Jim didn't get through Ariel's original questions (which had been about stairs and wheelchairs and how he was feeling), because she came up with a fresh set before he could answer even one.
"You're not from around here, are you?" He asked, sewing up the sail for his solar surfer. He'd answered at least twenty inquiries about the sail alone, and explained as much as he could without giving away its real purpose. The girl, whose name he'd learned was Ariel, jumped slightly then shook her head. She scribbled a bit more on her pad, which was already halfway full. It wasn't even half past ten.
'I'm a traveller from another country. Here for tres more days. Must meet the prince. Saved his la vie in storm. Need to find him before my dias are voryber. Can you assist me?' Jim's eyes widened, not even noticing her switch between languages in his shock. She was the one Eric was looking for, and she's landed right under his nose. The spacer wondered how she'd turned up naked on his beach days after saving the prince. He asked her (minus the naked bit). She chewed on the end of her pen a bit, wondering how much to disclose, before finally answering,
'I was swimming the other day when I was caught by the currents. Took all my tsuyosa to escape. Lost my voice by inhaling much sea agua.' Jim nodded slowly. This made sense... sort of. Ariel fidgeted anxiously, and he remembered her previous request. "Well," he sighed, sitting back from his sowing to stretch his arms behind his head. "The prince won't be back till the day after tomorrow." The girl's face dropped, and Jim hastened to say, "But when he gets back, I can get you in to him, whether you are this mystery girl or not." She brightened a little bit and gave him a hug that made Jim's heart jitter a bit. He ignored it, instead asking,
"Where are you going?" She gestured that she was going for a walk and made her way out the door.
Ariel managed to walk stiffly down the shore to where Flounder and Scuttle were and sit down before bursting into tears, sobbing even harder when she couldn't hear herself sob. Her friends were silent; Scuttle had overheard Ariel's conversation with Jim through and open window and told Flounder before she came out, so they both knew as well as she how doubly impossible their task had become. She had known from the beginning that the odds against her were incredible, but more than anything she wanted those precious few days with her prince to tide her through the countless years of servitude she was in for. Now that three days had been reduced to one, and she saw how stupid she'd been. She missed her sisters. She missed the familiar. She missed her Daddy.
When her back finally stopped heaving she looked up at them and smiled a small, sad smile.
"I brought a present for you." Flounder announced sheepishly, swimming as close to her as he could without beaching himself, and tossed her something that had been tucked under his right fin.
Ariel caught it clumsily, then nearly dropped it in amazement. It was the pipe with the initials on it that she'd found.
She cradled the treasure against her chest. 'But it was...' she mouthed, dumbstruck.
"I know, that's what I thought too." Flounder said, a tad excitedly. "But when I went through the grotto looking for Sebastian, it was just right there, under--"
Ariel's eyes widened and waved her arms for him to stop talking. 'What about Sebastian?" She asked frantically, grabbing her friend's fins. 'What's going on?'
"Well," Flounder flustered, "he, um, well you see, the thing is--"
"The little bugger run off!" Scuttle accused. "When we weren't lookin, I'm guessin."
The princess smacked her forehead with a palm. Sebastian doubtless went back to her father. Could the day get any worse?
"I'm sorry, Ariel." Flounder said dejectedly. "We looked everywhere, but we couldn't find him." Ariel looked as if she were going to cry again, then she reconsidered.
'If he did go back to Atlantica, and did tell my Father,' she wrote in the sand. 'Then why hasn't Daddy come to get me by now? There have been no dolphin escorts, no storms, not even a shift in the tides. Why hasn't he acted?'
"Becoz there are tings at risk dat you dont even know." Came a familiar voice from just beneath the waves.
"Sebastian!" Flounder exclaimed in surprise. "Where have you been? And how long have you been there?"
"You are right," Sebastian admitted, half ignoring the fish's question. "Ah did go bock to se sea king to tell 'im wat you are up to." Ariel frowned, and the crab continued hurriedly, "But it was only becoz ah was worried about your safety, princess."
"So is the big man comin to get her?" Asked Scuttle in his abrupt way. Flounder and Ariel leaned forward eagerly.
"There is a force at work 'ere," Sebastian said, after a pause, "Dat King Triton 'as agreed not to hinder, so he must not act. He sent me bock to make sure you didn't coz too much truble."
'What force?' Ariel mouthed, in awe of anything that could keep her father at bay.
"Ah cannot tell you. Let's just say," Sebastian mused over his next words; "Dat de boy you are staying wit is no o-dinary 'hooman'."
Morph was back into his pink form right after the door closed and wasted no time in squirming all over Jim's face. Jim chuckled, pulling the little alien away from his neck to tickle him. He wheeled to his room and uncovered the solar surfer's improvised, half-finished engine.
"Finally," he breathed, picking up his toolbox and settling down to work. As he did, seeds of doubt that he couldn't even entertain in the strange girl's presence tried to take root.
The wreck was about a week ago, right? He remembered as he worked. And all that time Eric was looking for this mystery girl. How could she have escaped his detection? He was fairly certain that many women would do anything to get the prince's romantic attentions. Ariel could very easily be a part of his expansive fan club. She was obviously a foreigner, though. Come to think of it, what exactly had happened to strand her on the beach that morning? Was it really the ridiculous yarn she'd fed him earlier? If she had saved the prince, Jim sincerely doubted that she'd be so weakened after a swim. Jim exhaled and shrugged in indifference. Well, if Eric was looking for a "mystery girl", he would be hard pressed to find anyone more mysterious-- and intoxicating-- than Ariel.
Jim looked up from his work abruptly, almost burning Morph with the welding gun.
Did he seriously just think she was intoxicating?
Fifteen minutes later Jim gave out a long sigh of ill-placed boredom. Yes, he had been looking forward to the alone time, but he couldn't keep his thoughts from wandering to his houseguest and what she was doing.
"She is quite inept," Jim said at last after a thoughtful time of sky-gazing. He sighed again, a half-hearted sigh of exasperation. He hid his tools and the engine again and turned the chair around. "Better at least see what she's up to."
Morph rolled his eyes at Jim's faux disinterest but followed, shifting into a yellow canary.
When Morph caught up with his human, Jim was at the French doors to the balcony.
"What is she doing?" He wondered aloud in fascination. A small crowd of creatures had surrounded her, and she appeared to be conversing with them. She was smiling, but even from where he sat Jim could tell she'd been crying.
"It really is important for her to get to Eric," he muttered. Morph chirruped questioningly. Jim focused his attention on the animals next. They weren't bothering her, that was apparent by her silent laughter. Was she actually talking to them, though, or was she just more insane than the spacer gave her credit for? Jim decided to go down there and ask himself, instead of relying on pointless speculation.
'What do you mean, 'not ordinary'?' Ariel wrote in the sand, her brow knit in a frown. He'd been nothing but kind since he'd found her.
"Ah alreddy told yoo," Sebastian reiterated, "Ah can't tell yoo dat. But I do want to kno," he leaned in surreptitiously. "Have you noticed any... strange tings going on in dat house?"
Ariel nodded excitedly. 'He gets around in a strange contraption he calls a "wheelchair"! They also do something he calls "drink" from "cups"! And they set their food on fire, but somehow, it ends up tasting delicious! And guess what?' Ariel gave up on writing and resorted to hand movements and mouthing. 'Jim doesn't eat fish either! He had me try an animal he calls "cow". And he's building a boat without sides that RIDES THE WAVES! He's so smart, and very kind to me. He always seems to know what I mean, and--'
"I thought the whole point 'a you coming topside was to woo the Princey." Scuttle interrupted, a bit confused. Ariel looked confused as well.
'Well,' she wrote slowly in the sand, 'He's my friend.' The princess smiled. My first human friend. She felt unnaturally warm inside and looked up in the sun. It was hot out.
"Why ont yoo lookin for dat prince?" Sebastian asked quizzically. Ariel felt cold again, and brought her knees up under her chin.
"The prince is gone." Flounder said.
"Wot?" Sebastian asked, horrified. He'd planned to help Ariel get her man, after all. Human beat Ursula's slave any day.
"He had ta go on some royal shindig." Scuttle explained. "He'll be back the day after tomorra, but that only gives sweetie here a day to snatch him."
"Den wit out your voice and being short on time," Sebastian decided, "We ah gonna need a killer plan to get dat prince."
'Jim can help!' Ariel suggested, eager to get back into the conversation.
"No!" Sebastian boomed in his low voice. "Dere is no way dat dat boy is going to be of any help. We ah betta off leaving 'im alone."
"But I already promised to help." Said a voice from behind Ariel. She whirled around to see Max and Jim. The boy's steely blue gaze was on Sebastian. "And I always follow through on a promise."
The crab didn't bother asking how the human knew the Atlantean language. It would only arise questions in the others that Sebastian and the boy weren't allowed to answer.
"What's your plan, boyo?" Scuttle asked, hopping to land on Max's head.
"First off," Jim mused, "We need to get you some proper clothes." Ariel blushed slightly, and she made a slight hand gesture.
"And I don't care if you think mine are comfortable, it's not feminine." She pouted, and he took his turn blushing. "We'll go to the market." He said hurriedly, turning away as quickly as possible. He heard her scramble and fall in the soft sand, sighed, and went back to her again.
He extended his right hand toward her and smiled.
"Come on." He helped her to her feet, and he slung that arm around her shoulders. "You need to help me up the stairs."
They made it into town at around one in the afternoon, Ariel following behind Jim as he wheeled through the bustling streets.
"Our first stop will be the local quack." He informed her, not even turning his head as he spoke. "I can't stand the pain in my leg anymore."
Ariel trailed him as dutifully as Max, but she didn't hear a word he said. She was too enthralled by her new foreign surroundings. Her nose burned with all the strong smells of steaming woks, fresh produce, and refuse. She touched everything within reach; the horses, the fruit in the stands, strands of pearls hanging in front of the jewelry stand. There were so many colors. In the ocean, everything was awash with blue, shadowed and pale from being so far from the sun. Here everything shown with its own colors, the people coming in all shapes, sizes, and colors.
She saw a bright red object charge her out of the corner of her eye. She turned and caught it just before it hit her face. It was a ball.
"Hey lady!" Said some children about ten feet away. They were all scruffy and wearing rags, but they were smiling ridiculously. "Pass us back the ball!"
Ariel laughed and obeyed, clapping when the child nearest her caught her throw.
Jim noticed she was no longer following him when he couldn't hear her footsteps and turned to tell her to hurry up. She was still with the children, only now she had joined their ring. She looked over her shoulder sheepishly as he rolled up. The kids saw their new friend's hesitation and noticed him as well. They were immediately intrigued.
"Wow Mister! That's some ride you've got there!" Said a boy, rubbing one wheel of the chair admiringly. "How fast does it go?"
"What happen to your leg?" Asked a little girl. "Does it hurt when someone pokes it?"
"Can we go fo a ride?" Inquired the youngest, finger up his nose.
"Hey!" Said the loudest of the group, presumably the leader. "Is Red your girlfriend or sum'fin, Mister?" Jim, who had been trying to prevent the other youngsters from taking possession of his wheelchair, now directed his full attention to the leader, who was still standing next to Ariel and holding her hand (much to Ariel's surprise).
"N-no!" Jim finally answered, managing to keep his face from going crimson. "She's a friend."
The leader looked back at "Red" for confirmation. Ariel nodded profusely, pointing to herself and then to the castle, which was visible from almost any point on the city streets.
"You are goin to the castle?" Asked a quiet girl, taking her thumb from her mouth to speak.
Ariel nodded again, then started making rapid hand gestures. The kids looked at Jim questioningly. His lips quirked as he translated.
"She wants to tell you a story." He wheeled over to where Ariel was now sitting on the ground. She waited for the children to situate around her before she made a sweeping motion and Jim said,
"Once upon a time..."
For the next hour Ariel drew the story in the dirt while Jim narrated. The children were enraptured, and soon passersby and venders would stop what they were doing and watch as well as the story of a hapless mermaid unfolded.
The mermaid fell in love with a human, a prince, and saved his life in a storm. Ariel described the storm itself so vividly that Jim no longer doubted that she was the one to rescue their prince. The mermaid was tricked out of her voice by a witch so that she could be with the love of her life as a human. On the surface, the mermaid's visit went horribly wrong when she heard the prince had fallen in love with another girl who claimed SHE was the one who rescued him. Not all hope was lost, however. A knight helped the mermaid expose the impostor, and the prince and the mermaid lived happily ever after.
"What about the sea witch?" Asked a shopkeeper nearby.
Ariel thought for a moment.
"The sea king killed her for tricking his daughter." Jim told their audience, startling Ariel. "Once the witch was dead, the spell was broken and mermaid's voice was returned to her."
The shopkeeper nodded and grinned.
They were applauded loudly and asked to come back the next day for a more public storytelling in the town square.
"Oh, I don't think--" is all Jim could say before Ariel laid a hand on his arm and nodded so enthusiastically he couldn't say no. "Alright," he conceded. "Now can we PLEASE go get my cast fixed now?"
They made it to the apothecary's with the five children; Jimbo, Hannah, Manda, Felix, and Runt still following them. Jimbo, the leader of the group (who had not been too pleased to learn he shared a name with Jim), made one final plead with Ariel to stay with them.
"I know we don't have much," He said, clasping one of her hands in both of his grubby ones, "but I'll get work to provide for you, and I'm sure my parents would love you!"
"You're not getting married kid," Jim said sarcastically. Jimbo shushed him hurriedly around Ariel and mouthed something like 'you don't know anything, stupid' before focusing back on her. She just shook her head for the umpteenth time and pointed in the direction of the castle.
The children all looked slightly crestfallen, but then perked up when Runt stammered,
"Well, seeya ta-mah-wo Pwincess!" And all the other kids echoed this farewell as they faded into the early evening crowd.
'Sweet children,' Ariel mouthed wistfully to herself as she motioned for Max to wait for them, then followed Jim into the shop. Jim caught the short sentence however, and smiled in reluctant agreement.
After about two hours of careful demolition then reconstruction of Jim's cast, it was almost dark. Max whined in hunger when they finally came out, and Ariel would have mimicked him if she had her voice.
"I'm starved!" Jim proclaimed for them all. He grinned. His leg felt SO much better now, and it put him in a better mood. "Come on, I know a friendly place around the corner. We can grab a bite and then go home." Ariel felt like she could eat more than a bite, but figured it was a human joke, so said nothing.
The "friendly place" in question was a bar where the sailors hung out. To be honest, Jim missed their sweaty vulgarity, and so when they entered the tavern he inhaled gratefully. Ariel was equally delighted. The smells and sights here were much more earthy, heady, and DANGEROUS than the ones in the streets. They ordered after Jim explained everything on the menu to her, and then they ordered both of Jim's favorites, on the agreement that they would share both meals. "I'm sorry we didn't get you any new clothes today," Jim said when the hostess sauntered away. "We'll get you some tomorrow, since you have to come into town again tomorrow anyway."
Ariel nodded ecstatically, then jumped as something pinched her trying to fight its way out of her pocket. She smacked her pocket in annoyance, then reached in to extract Sebastian.
"Wot was dat about?" He asked, rubbing his sore head. "Ah put up wit a whole day in dos suffocating tings and den you HIT me?" The ex-mermaid, quite over her anger by now, smiled and patted him on the head as an apology.
"You weren't in there the whole day, though, were you?" Jim pointed out. He'd asked them to check and see if Sable was anywhere around.
"De woman from your description was not among de crowd today, hooman," Sebastian reported, "but ah still do not see de point in searching for her."
"Because if any human were to try to thwart Ariel's mission, it would be Sable," Jim growled, but more at the sound of her name than at the crab.
'Who's Sable?' Ariel asked, tired of feeling out of the loop.
"Just a girl," Jim dismissed, pretending to be preoccupied with the tablecloth. Ariel wasn't buying it. She tapped Jim's forehead to regain his attention. Some hair fell into his face as his head tilted, and the girl pushed it back without thinking, stroking Jim's temple.
The spacer jerked back, catching her hand in his and pushing it away.
"Don't," he said, looking away. Ariel felt her heart drop. Had she done something insulting or wrong? They sat in awkward silence until their food arrived and the barmaid commented on how cute their pet hermit crab was. Sebastian went into an amusing rampage and the two had fun teasing him until--
"Well, if it isn't Sable's pet." A group of sailors loomed over their table, glaring at Jim.
Great, thought Jim. The one thing I didn't miss about sailing; Sable's fanboys.
One of the sailors noticed Jim's injuries. "Serves you right, boy. Should never have moved in on our woman."
Jim wanted to make a sarcastic comment about how she couldn't belong to all of them, but seeing the fright on his companion's face, decided not to risk it.
"You have nothing to worry about," he replied in a dull tone. "I was never interested. I turned her down." This did not have the desired effect.
"YOU turned down SABLE?!" They all yelled in unison, drawing the attention of everyone else in the store.
"You have no right!" Said one with an "I love Mommy" tattoo on his left shoulder and "Independence" on his right. "Go to the palace right now and apologize!"
"No way," Jim scoffed, taking a drink of his coffee with great show. "I would never apologize to that cow. And you all have no pride if you think this embarrassing display of loyalty will woo her. She used you and you're done, plain and simple." The men exploded.
The tattooed one swung Jim roughly away from the table, his wheelchair tilting precariously as he skidded across the wood floor. Even before the chair was completely on the ground Jim's assailants formed a daunting circle around him, obscuring him from view.
Having overcome her initial awe and fear of these strange, new humans, Ariel was the first to jump to the cripple's aid.
'Jim!' She tried to yell over the fray, waving her arms and trying to shimmy between the other sailors. Though Jim made no sounds of pain from within the ring, the mens' accusations and their body language told the ex-mermaid that they were hurting him. Heat rose into her face in anger, and she attacked the nearest sailor with nails and teeth, pulling at his ponytail and covering his eyes to confuse him. At this point many customers left before the fight got too serious, but others-- namely constables and sailors who knew Jim-- began to protest and help.
Ponytail caught Ariel's wrist and dragged her from his back. He growled and threw her to the floor like a sack of potatoes. He returned to his prey once satisfied that she was too spooked to try anything else. Ariel pushed the hair backed from her face to reveal a determined scowl. Every muscle in her body tensed for action.
He was wrong.
Inside the fray, Jim was doing anything he could to free himself, cursing his arrogance with each blow he received. Why had he felt it necessary to patronize them? He knew full well what they were capable of. Usually he just took their insults and a couple blows, and they went on their way. Was it because Ariel was there?
Wait, he thought hurriedly, ducking a particularly forceful swing. Why would that matter?
Most of the sailors were so drunk their hits were no more than glancing slaps, but it only took one sober man to hurt another. Jim fought back the best he could, but his fists could only reach so far, and he couldn't turn his chair sufficiently in such a small space that was made smaller as some turned around to fend off would-be rescuers.
The spacer recognized one of the fighters as Ariel. She was on the back of one of the sailors, her teeth sinking into his left shoulder. Jim watched in horror as the brute pulled her hair until she cried out in pain, pried her from him, and shoved her into a nearby booth.
Ariel doubled over in pain, leaning against a table for support. She wasn't built for fighting. She huffed and wiped blood from her lip. She wasn't even sure how to go about it. In the ocean when faced with danger you were never confrontational; survival depended on the wit of your head and the speed of your tail.
Maybe THAT was the way to win here. They needed a plan of escape, not a battle strategy.
That still left a big problem though; how to get to Jim. She must have attacked the men from every angle, but nothing Ariel did got her any closer to him.
"Aryal?" Came Sebastian's voice from her right shoulder. He looked afraid, but also disgusted and angry. Ariel smiled suddenly, her mind lighting up with an idea. She HAD been approaching this from the wrong angle! Or to be specific, wrong angles.
'Hey, Sebastian...?'
Jim was still recovering from his shock and fury when a bony man had the bright idea to knee their prisoner in the cast-- over and over again. The pain brought Jim back to himself... and also let him loose. He growled at the bony drunk, grabbed him by the waist, and threw him bodily into another man. Jim smirked and hoisted himself from the wheelchair into a half-standing position to punch an advancing attacker as hard as he could in the face.
"Ariel!" He yelled as the men descended on him in full force once again, "Ariel, run! I'll meet up with you at--" he was pulled down into the huddle and he had to hit a few more before continuing, "--the house! Go!"
He heard a shrill whistle
Suddenly, two of the men, one in front of Jim and one behind, yelped in pain. The one the victim could see was grabbing at his shirt, the other his buttocks. Jim, as well as the other sailors, looked around frantically for the phantom attacker as more and more of the men collapsed in pain. The sailors had halved in number, and he could see Ariel a few feet away from him, grinning like an idiot.
"What's going on?" Jim murmured under his breath.
As if in reply, Ariel whistled again and a whooping yell erupted from the sailors' ranks as Sebastian catapulted from a man's head and into Jim's lap.
"'Old on!" The crab cackled as Ariel took hold of the wheelchair. "Dis might git a bit bumpy." With a final whistle for Max to drop the man he was antagonizing, Ariel swerved the chair around to face the remaining sailors and, with a sadistic grin from both the driver and passenger, barreled through them and into the night.
Ariel kept running until they were well down the beach and she was producing her own salt water from her skin. She stopped and they all just panted for several minutes, Ariel and Max collapsing in a heap on the wet sand.
Jim looked down at them all thoughtfully for a moment.
Then his face cracked a smile, he chuckled, and he finally let out a full-out laugh.
"Look at us!" He eventually managed through waves of hysteria, "An apprenticed sailor, prince's dog, talking crab, and a crazy foreigner fresh out of a bar fight." He guffawed again, clutching a now-aching side.
Ariel was a bit confused; Jim was hurt, that much was evident. His face was bruised and his knuckles swollen, yet he smiled, even laughed, which she'd never heard him do before. He was happy. Jim noticed her staring.
"What is it?" He asked, thinking that the events of the night may have put her into shock.
'I like your laugh, it sounds nice,' she explained.
The young man coughed to have an excuse to cover his blush. "We should, ah, get back to the villa," he said gruffly, wheeling away. Ariel scrambled to her feet and caught up with him in a few strides. They walked in silence for a while, and then Jim said,
"That was a nice story you told earlier. Clever, telling your story in the form of a fairytale."
Ariel nodded in gratification, smiling at the memory. The humans were interested in the merpeople and their welfare. Many had told her so after her tale had been completed that afternoon. Maybe there was hope for them yet. She looked over at Jim; he seemed nervous about something. He caught her looking at him and gulped.
"In your story," he asked abruptly, "was I-- your knight?"
Ariel's smile turned into a grin and she felt her heart flutter a little. She nodded.
'In shining armor.'