Chapter Seven

Melody was silent as she followed her mother and their new guest back to Archimedes and Alex. Archimedes was just as excited as her mother to learn that Mr. Andersen had been the man trapped in a submarine all those years ago. Apparently, they, along with Triton and Sebastian's crab troop, had saved the writer when the submarine had sprung a leak and was unable to rise back to the surface.

The young princess' discomfort was overlooked as the attention was on Mr. Andersen and explaining about Atlantica and how they all came to have feet today. The conversation lasted the entire carriage ride back to the palace where they all were going to have dinner.

The meal was held outside on the grounds, overlooking a beautiful view of the ocean. Special instructions had been given to Louis for tonight's dinner. Most of the dishes were vegetables or land animals. Fresh bread, still steaming hot, was served with creamy herbed butter. To avoid any chance of insulting Triton, there were no seafood dishes except the kelp and seaweed salads.

Most of the dishes served were some of Melody's favorite. Still, the young princess could only pick at the food, giving small peaks across the table to Alex. He only nibbled at the "land" food, piling his plate high with seaweed salad and kelp rolls.

"Ariel mentioned you wrote a story about the merfolk. Could you read it for us?" King Eric asked when everyone was done eating. The writer heartily agreed as the idea was met with enthusiasm from the other guests.

There was time before the fireworks, the final display of the celebration. A chair was set up so Mr. Andersen would read to the party guests as Carlotta and the other servants cleared the table. Coffee and hot chocolate was served as Mr. Andersen pulled out another copy of his story and began to read.

"Far out in the ocean the water is as blue as the petals of the finest cornflower, and as transparent as the purest glass," the storyteller began.

Melody sipped her beverage as a story uncannily similar to her mother's was told. A young mermaid was entranced with the world above. One day, she saved a prince from a violent shipwreck and fell hopelessly in love with him. Desiring the chance to be with him, the mermaid decides to go to a sea witch for legs.

And then the story became very different.

Unlike her mother, the mermaid had great pain with each step she took, but she wasn't limited to three days. If the prince fell in love with her, she would also gain a soul. But, if the prince married another, she would die and become sea foam the first morning after the wedding.

The mermaid accepted the terms and allowed the witch to cut out her tongue in exchange for legs. The prince found her and took her to his castle where they became friends. Only friends. The prince fell in love with the woman who had found him on the seashore, and he proposed to her. The mermaid was helpless as she silently watched the man she loved pine after another. And this woman wasn't Ursula or another sea witch in disguise. Just a regular woman whom the prince adored. A wedding was held, and the sad mute was obliged to carry the train of the bride's dress during the procession. The mermaid's sisters had gone to the sea witch to allow the mermaid to return to her original form. In exchange for their hair, the witch gave them a knife.

The knife was to be plunged into the prince's heart and the blood supposed to flow onto the mermaid's feet. Then she could jump back into the ocean and become a true mermaid once again. Rather than kill the man she loved, the mermaid jumped overboard to become seafoam just as the sun rose.

But instead of ceasing to exist, she joined the daughters of the air where they waited three hundred years to be allowed into heaven. Unless a child misbehaved. Then a day got added on to their sentence.

"The end." Mr. Andersen closed the book. The audience politely clapped.

Melody knew she should clap. She should smile and give exclamations of delight. But how could she? It was an awful, terrible, horrible story! Stories were supposed to begin with "once upon a time" and end with "happily ever after". The prince married the princess and there was singing and dancing. Not turning into seafoam because of unrequited love.

"Amazing. He got some things right," Alex said to Melody.

"I bet you have better stories in Atlantica," Melody said through gritted teeth. Her anger and frustration only rose when she noticed Alex's mug of hot chocolate was still full. "Didn't like it?"

"Not really. In Atlantica…"

But Melody didn't wait to hear the rest of the sentence. She got up from her chair and ran inside the palace. Her mother, father, aunts, or grandfather might have called out to her, but she ignored them. She used her legs to run; run to her room as fast as she could where she flung herself onto her bed to cry.

In her anger, Melody hadn't noticed she kept ahold of the copy Mr. Andersen gave her the entire time. She threw it behind her, not caring where it landed. By now her cries were quieted enough so she could hear the door creak open.

"Not now, mom," Melody could only whisper.

"Mumsy isn't here." A familiar voice said.

Melody turned around in surprise and gasped at seeing Morgana, smiling in her doorway. The smile was terrifying, but that wasn't the worst part.

The sea witch was holding the trident.