It is amazing how fast a week can go.
In all fairness, it was far less than a week.
Ariana had allowed herself one morning of happiness as she dared ignored the impending problem. Eliza had always been an early riser and wished for everyone to travel down to the beach. Bernard was the opposite of a morning person and had to be physically dragged. Eliza took great joy in this. It was rather amusing to see how much stronger she was than him. Especially as she had such a small frame compared to him.
"Is either of those two aware of how much they love each other?" Ariana asked Eric.
"I have asked myself that for years," he said with a smile. Things were quickly turned romantic between them and she hastened her step, seemingly in an attempt to catch up with the other two.
Eric spoke nothing of it but it was obvious that again something was bothering her. This was not such a wild accusation. There was any number of things that could be the culprit. But he knew better then to ask for he knew that he would be granted nothing. With these thoughts came a realisation. He really didn't care. He loved her too much to care.
Upon reaching the beach, Ariana's troubles only heightened as the smell of the sea created a deep yearning inside of her. She longed for the return of that peace that could only come form being surrounded in the depth. She did not dare even stick a toe in the water for fear that she would never leave it again. She thanked the spirits that she was not Bernard at that point. He was given no choice over being thrown into the waves. Eliza could only do so much herself and she quickly called Eric over to help her. Ariana feigned shyness and a sudden feeling of cold and told him to go on without her.
Suddenly alone, she studied her surroundings. It seemed an age ago that she had woken up here. So much had changed. She laughed at her past self who had thought life was complicated at that point. If only she could have warned her past self of what was to come.
The water continued to taunt and she looked in any other direction possible. A figure off toward the distance caught her attention. The silver hair stood out horribly. Christobelle had returned. With one quick glance to check Eric was preoccupied, she ran off to meet her sister.
'You have some nerve, showing your face here. If Eric saw you he could kill you."
Christobelle scoffed at the idea of a pathetic human having any power over her. "Well I am not here to see him am I? I came to see you." Both mermaids seemed on edge. "Now I am aware that I granted you a week for this task, but I spoke to Castilar. He told me that the council has not accepted this." Ariana was given no chance to interject. "They have given you three days to get the key. If you have not completed the task at this time, Castilar will be sent to kill your Prince."
A shiver ran through Ariana at these words. Castilar had a reputation. No matter how much Christobelle enjoyed killing humans, she was nothing compared to Castilar. Death would be kinder for such a luxury would not be granted from Castilar until a multitude of pain had been given.
"We had a deal!" Ariana said angrily.
There was a change in Christobelle. Gone was the angry soul from yesterday. The only explanation seemed to be that she was scared. "You are in over your head. For goodness sake, please think for once." The momentary sign of weakness was gone and Christobelle returned to her previous haughty self. "But since I am such a kind sister, I have decided to help you."
"I have seen your 'help' and I have no wish for it."
"For goodness sake, in three days you have to leave. Use this. Let him know that he could lose you and see what he will do to have you stay."
Eric had finally noticed the confrontation on the beach and was quickly racing to Ariana's side. "You are not welcome here," he said in a dangerous tone, sword in hand.
Christobelle let out a deep giggle. She may love her sister and want to help, but this could never mask her hatred for humans. How easy it would be to reach over and let the magic flow. Ariana was young, she still knew little of what a fully-grown mermaid could accomplish. Christobelle had loved to learn. Upon gaining her legs, she had not gone straight to see her sister. First, she had taken the time to meet a few humans. These humans had not lived to tell the tale. It gave her a rush to see what she could do to them. Some of the bodies had been unrecognizable. Her dark smile faltered a little when she saw Ariana and Eric together. Something changed in her sister the moment he was beside her. Christobelle hated to admit it, but she could almost feel something simply being in their presence. She hated this.
"I was just leaving," she said in a bored tone. She enjoyed how on edge he was and this brought back that dark smile. Turning back she called, "Oh and Ariana, do not forget. Three days."
Eric refused to lower his sword until she was almost out of eyesight. "Three days until what?"
Ariana could not look him in the eye. "Until I have to leave." The other two could see something big must be occurring and they kept their distance. Ariana found herself wishing that they were, simply to distract from this disaster. Eric clearly needed some kind of explanation and what could she possibly tell him? "It is not safe for me here. You have seen what my sister will do. Try and understand, she is one of the nice members of my family. It is just easier if I leave."
This apparently would not do. "I can protect you!" he told. "I hate that you are in trouble and not trust me enough to let me help you."
She sighed, hating that she would have to take her sisters advice. "Well what future is there here? For the short time I have been here, you have already left me for another woman and almost married her."
'That is not fair!"
"But it is a truth. I'm sorry but I need to know that if I stay, there will be a future."
She could see how deep in thought he was. Soon he would think of the key. After all, it would be the only logical answer. The key was more simply a means to open the gate. It was a symbol of trust. A future ruler of a kingdom trusts someone they love with something that could easily destroy everything. Ariana hated how this trust was so falsely placed. Now she was only making it worse as he seemed so proud of himself upon coming to this solution.
"In three days, we will hold a ball," he said, thinking to surprise her. "All will be clear then, just promise me that you will be there.
At least she knew what a ball was. If he had said that term a few days previous, she would have embarrassed herself. Such events were almost all that Eliza spoke of. She knew that she could not last three days. The guilt would eat away at her until she was unable to even look upon him.
So she agreed, but only if she was allowed the time to visit Sibra and make her own gown for the occasion. Under this pretense, she would have to be allowed freedom form him as this task was close to impossible. In the time she had already spent with the seamstress, the only thing she had managed to form was an interesting looking pair of gloves. She considered them a success as they performed their task of covering her hands and lower arms. Others laughed at their appearance. Eric frowned at such a request but would grant her anything. He attempted to find a way to suggest she options for the very plausible event of her failure. To Ariana, failure was not an option.
At least in this one small area.
.
.
.
Ariana had never gone through such abuse as she went through over the next few days. Sibra hated failure and it was impossible to meet her standards. Every minor mistake resulted in anger, and Ariana made a great deal of these.
She loved every second of the abuse. In a funny way, Ariana liked to think of it as karma for the lies she had already told and the great betrayal that was coming. In all fairness to her lack of skill, her mind was not often on sewing. All time was spent desperately thinking of a plan.
There seemed only one option. She had to get that key. From there, she would find some way to have everyone in the kingdom taken to safety. She was no fool and knew that this would not be easy. It was extremely probable that she would be exposed during this time but this would have to be the price to pay. She would rather Eric hate her than face death.
This desperate excuse for a plan kept her mind far from the tasks at hand. But she also possessed determination. This determination worked well with the lack of attention, as it seemed to even out and, with minimal help, she completed her gown.
Looking at it properly was not an option. As long as she avoided this, she could pretend that it was going to look good. Sibra constantly pointed to a rack of finished dresses, indicating that these would be available. Her lack of confidence would have hurt if Ariana's mind was not constantly focused on other areas.
The light from outside the window shone in and became tinted with the blood red, informing all present that the sun was setting. It was the third day.
The door burst open as Eliza bounded in, looking stunning in a gown of dark green. Her hair was piled atop her head and her many jewels gleamed in the last fleeting dashes of sunlight.
"You look beautiful," Ariana sighed, almost forgetting her troubles.
"I shall be nothing compared to you, when I am through with you that is. Why aren't you dressed?" Sibra scoffed, expressing her doubts. "Well go on!" Eliza said, barley able to contain her excitement. "Go and try on the dress!" She practically shoved her back, proving how dangerous excitement can be.
A smile passed over Ariana. The action seemed odd under the circumstances. And then she was panicked again. The panic of the night was momentarily pushed aside by the panic of the failure of the dress. Sibra appeared beside the curtain. Her expression was unreadable as she offered to help with the back. Ariana had no idea what qualities made a good or bad gown so she knew not what to expect. It appeared to remain on her body fine. And the fact that Sibra said nothing negative could be seen as a good sign. After all, the woman never passed up an opportunity to express concern. All the while, Eliza grew bored and called out encouragement, hoping the speed along the process.
Finally the curtain was pulled. Eliza was clearly in shock. The question was, good or bad shock? The shock was pushed aside as she pulled up a bad she had been carrying. "The dress is only the first step," she said. Ariana was then forced to sit as Eliza ran a brush through her hair and began twirling sections about. Then jewelry was selected and odd substances were rubbed on her face.
All the while, Ariana was terrified.
"Just look in the mirror," Sibra said, clearly amused.
Ariana forgot to breath when she saw her reflection. She hated to be vain but she had never considered herself more beautiful than she was at that moment. The dress flowed almost like a Rembrandt of the ocean. The colours worked perfectly. Light blue silk had been topped with a thin silver to create a shimmering effect. "I told you blue was your colour," Sibra said. Then she got bored and hobbled away.
Eliza joined her at the mirror. "Now who is beautiful?" she said softly.
"It's the dress, and everything else that you did."
Eliza scoffed. Ariana turned to face her. It was hard to describe the moment. "Thank you," she finally said. "For everything. You have always been so kind to me."
"What are sisters for?" Eliza said. The words cut Ariana like a knife as she was embraced.
They were not alone for long as Clay, Charlene and Dale also burst through the door. They too had never been to a ball and were enjoying every second. Darlene spent what seemed like an age fawning over Ariana as she almost teared up upon seeing her. Eliza took this as the nicest compliment that could be bestowed upon her hard work.
"Just like women," Dale grumbled as he pulled at his new expensive clothing. His grumbling could not mask his excitement.
Clay downed more of his flask and let his eyes wander around the room. Eventually they settled on the clock as he realized how late they were.
"Battle stations people!" he called.
No truer words were ever spoken.