"Halt!"
In place of the usual mermen guards that ran the palace, the security had evidently been upped for the arrival of out-of-sea guests. Two fearsome swordfish patrolled the palace' main doors, glaring down at Joe.
"I have an invitation," Joe panted, running his hand through his hair in a way that he hoped made it look posh.
He hadn't taken the time at the cavern to dress, and in his haste to get to the palace before sunset, probably looked more than a little current-swept with his bare chest and tide-ripped coif. His tentacles twitched agitatedly. He had only minutes before dusk. If that idiot eel prince was going to succeed in potioning Ariel, it would have to be any minute now.
"Right," the bigger swordfish said, scowling sharply down his nose at him. "All of the proper-papered cecaelia arrived at their scheduled time. Didn't you read the invitation?—if you even have one."
"I do have one."
Joe produced the papers Ariel had given him. Though he'd only received them the day before, they were crumpled and a little water-torn from the night they'd spent in his hair, but the seals they bore were no less official. "And no, it doesn't have an arrival time. These were given to me personally by Princess Ariel."
"Hah!" barked the second sword. "Now that's a story for you, Earl! Princess? I bet this whelk's one of Ezra's guards late on his shift. Well, you'll just have to take the stripes for missing work this time, boy! Don't you know we have important people here tonight!"
"He couldn't have gotten that invitation from Princess Ariel," Earl reasoned dumbly. "She's one of them getting hitched!"
Joe gritted his teeth hard enough it was a miracle they retained their points. "I am not a guard; I'm one of the kingdom mages. I am papered. I have an invitation. Let me through."
The fish scoffed, barring his entry with their blades, when he tried to march past them.
"Well, no magic allowed tonight, either!" barked Earl.
Joe crossed his arms, glowering. "Then why are the potions that the depths and the arctic staff use allowed? Or the lighting, the cooking fires, or the airdome, for that matter?" he argued, desperation for entry starting to make his tentacles curl. "This event is riddled with so much magic, it's making my ears buzz!"
"How do you know about the potions? Are you a spy?" the second fish pointed his blade a little too close to Joe's middle, and on instinct Joe seized with a tentacle, and easily deflected.
"Because I brewed them," he snarled. "I have important news for the princess. Let. Me. Through," he snarled, snapping his teeth in the guard's face.
"Hey, that's assault on a guard, that is!" cried Earl, over Joe, although he clearly regarded Joe as more of a threat than before when he saw how easily Joe parried the other fish. "Can we get some backup here? Backup! And a lockbox!"
Joe snarled again. Neither he, nor Ariel could afford any more time wasted with these fish—nor with any of the actual guards who brought a lockbox either. That would take him hours to break out of, and something was telling him he had only minutes—if any time at all.
"Nevermind," he grunted, throwing down the second fish's sword and swimming off. The bubbles blocked the swordfish's parting jeers from his ears, but he was still in trouble. The palace security looked nothing like when he and Ariel would sneak in and out when he was younger. There were ostentatious species of guard at every open balcony, window, and parapet. The only place there weren't guards posted were the air-dome above the ballroom, and a cecilia being seen above the dome on a night like this would get him hunted first, and his papers checked post-mortem.
He slunk into a kelp bed in the palace gardens where security was more lax, and watched the shifting guard. It wasn't hard to see the pattern, and it was even easier to see that after an already long day, many of the guards were bored, or even dozing. The shifts were due to change, but whether that would be before the light died down, there was no guarantee.
Ariel would be in the ballroom, in the middle of all of the security—possibly even inside the air-dome itself. He sighed, wishing he'd thought to put on something that at least made him look like he belonged, whether as a guest or a servant, it didn't really batter. The best he could hope for would be to get close to the ballroom via one of the side-corridors, and then try to spot Ariel before the inner-guard spotted him. At worst, he could grab a tray of drinks and hope that at least some of the servants that night were Cecaelia, and that none of his usual clients recognized him.
Slowly, Joe drifted through the kelp, careful to keep his camouflage the same dark green as the plants. As soon as he touched the shadow of the palace far wall, he shifted to the blues and golds of the palace walls, and ascended as fast as he dared to a curtained window that opened into one of the outer corridors. If he remembered correctly, it would take him to a servants' passageway right under the ballroom thrones.
The only obstacle to his entry were a pair of blennies on the edge of the balcony beneath his entry point. Clinging to the palace wall, he hung upside down just above the window frame, and colored himself the same as the curtains. All he could do was pray Poseidon gave him an opening with the changing shift before it was too late.
Eying the blennies, waiting for a moment of their inattention, Joe was both relieved and horrified to hear the voices that drifted up from the corridor below.
"Prince Ellian, you're hurting me. I'm sure you could show me this…thing tomorrow. There's a luncheon planned with Sebastian."
Hurting her?
Joe swallowed hard, fighting a new urge to simply knock out the blennies and swim through the window, but Ariel's senses were clearly still her own. He still had a little time before the light died, and the death warrant that would come from actual assault on a palace guard, on top of a blood contract with Ursula would take away both his and Krill's chances of escaping this kingdom—although he was less sure of whether any of that was worth it when he heard the eel's voice answer her.
"What, and have every moment chaperoned by that old turtle? I think not, Princess," the eel scoffed. Although he wasn't low enough to see through the overhead window, Joe could practically see the arrogance dripping off the eel's ugly orange tail.
"This isn't proper! If you're seen taking me away from the ball early, it isn't going to help your suit," Ariel protested.
"Ah, because you've been so receptive to my suit, princess," said Ellian. "Come along. Surely you don't want to hurt my feelings so early in our courtship?" "
An angry shiver rippled through Joe, and it took all of his will-power to control his camouflage and stay blended in the outside curtains.
"Oh, that's…that's really lovely, I've always liked the Sunfish." Ariel's voice was timid, and he could hear her desire to escape strong enough that it pulled on his hearts. Then, Ariel made the mistake of laughing nervously, which the eel no doubt took as some sort of encouragement.
"I see you'd like me to fasten it for you? No need to ask, love. I am already well informed on what will make you happy."
"What are you talking about, Prince Ellian?" she demanded, moving a little farther from the prince.
That's right Ariel, he silently urged. Get away from him!
But, now, Ariel was angry, and she held her ground enough to scold the snake, unaware of the danger. "You do not impress me, Prince Ellian, and I have other suitors to consider. Please go back to your far better-run palace. I won't be marrying you."
Too little, too late. Joe almost groaned aloud. Ariel had always been too sweet for her own good. The idiot eel had probably taken her politeness all evening as some sort of go-ahead for his advances. Then again, if he was just a little more stupid, maybe he would decide he could win Ariel on his own merit and not by using some mind-altering potion.
A potion that you brewed, Joe reminded himself coldly.
"I'd hoped to give you a choice, Any mermaid would give their senses to be with me—and you will!"
Ariel yiped in pain, and it was all Joe needed to decide that being spotted by the blennies, or even the whole palace guard wasn't worth more of this.
He shot over the lip of the curtains. Black and lilac coloring returned to his limbs as he dropped his camouflage in one hot rush of blood to his tentacles, leaving the blenny guards fish-mouthed shock behind him. He descended just in time to see Ellian snap one of Ursula's containment pendants in half, and in the last dying rays of the sun, its iridescent powder soaked the waters around Ariel's gills. Ellian flapped his tail hard, sending it in her direction as he, himself, backed away from the stuff.
Coward!
"Stop!"
Joe heard the word ripping from his own chest as he descended into the corridor with all of his tentacles unfurled. Though he sped down to where they stood with a speed that would make a sailfish envy, he knew there was nothing he could do. Ariel blinked hazily, shaking her head as she looked between himself and the eel. Joe's chest seized as he watched the magical blue haze creep over her irises. No one but a sea-mage or witch would be able to see the potion's effects, and although he proudly watched her fight the potion's effects, as the last of the sunlight winked out, the potion's effects were sealed.
"Ariel." Joe took her shoulders gently, ignoring the eel who had been blown back several feet by the current of his arrival. "Ariel, how's your head? Can you remember me?"
"Joe?" Ariel stared dreamily at him. "Joe, why does my head hurt so much when I look at you? You…you're so late!"
A roil of conflicting relief and guilt danced an unwelcome mambo through his middle.
The potion was at least balanced enough that she would have some of her senses, though he couldn't fathom why looking at someone would hurt her head or eyes. At the same time, Ariel was right. He'd been late today—to everything, and it seemed those dearest to him were paying the price for those minutes.
"Do you always try to stop a paying customer from using your products, or am I just special," the eel was saying, haughtily. "Consider yourself lucky. I'd report you and your little business if it wouldn't ruin my little ploy here. But then again, you can't exactly report me, either, without confessing, can you?"
Joe snarled, showing Ellian every one of his pointed teeth. "Triton's pathetic guards are the last thing you have to worry about, eel."
Ellian had the good grace to look terrified before he screamed:
"Guards! GUARDS!"
The blennies had at last come to their senses and come through the window after him, but along with them came several mer-guards down the hallway. Joe backed away from Ariel, trying to look as though he belonged there, and wondering where the guards had been when their interference would have been useful for their princess's safety.
"Saw the whole thing!" one of the blennies was claiming already. "Yes, yes! Just sped right on past us!"
"Fought past us, more like!" corrected the other blenny, clearly trying not to appear as lax on the job as they'd both been.
Joe fought the urge to roll his eyes.
"Princess Ariel! Are you alright?" demanded the guard chief.
Ariel put a hand to her head, looking pale and dizzy. Joe reached out to her in case she fell, and was immediately informed of his mistake.
"Cecaelia! Stay back from the princess!" the guard ordered. "What are you doing away from your post? Cecaelian guards aren't permitted out of King Ezra's escort!"
"The cecaelia did enter rather suddenly. I believe it's sent my betrothed into shock—as you see…" Ellian put forth slimily. "My, my, I did think that the high king's guard would have a tighter hold on security, especially when there are such important guests in attendance."
The chief ruddied a little, and his meaty hand moved to the blade strapped to his white-and-black striped tail.
"I am guest," Joe explained tightly, holding his hands in a peace gesture. "I have an invitation. If you'll just…"
Joe reached for his pouch where the invitations had been, and found to his horror that they'd been kept by the swordfish when he'd tried to enter through the front gate. Raising his hands again, he instead motioned to Ariel, hoping that despite the potion's effects, she would still have the presence of mind to see what was happening.
"I'm here on a personal invitation from the princess," Joe tried again. "Princess?" He raised a brow at her, but she was still looking around, confused.
"Is this true, Princess Ariel?" the chief asked suspiciously. "You invited this…Cecaelia?"
"I did—I think—" Ariel stuttered, raising a hand to her head. "Joe?"
"The princess isn't feeling well—" Joe tried to say, but the guards' ears were trained on the royals.
"What my beloved is trying to say, is that this cecaelia is bothering her. He seemed to have objections to our betrothal, and chose a most inappropriate time to voice them. Wouldn't you say so, my dear?"
When Ariel's gaze landed on Ellian, her confusion melted into a dreamy, dull smile.
"Oh, yes!" she said, clearly having no idea what she was agreeing to.
Anyone who knew her could see that there was something wrong with her. Unfortunately, the guards neither knew her, nor knew that anything was out of the ordinary here except for him, and as he examined the guards' faces, realized there was nothing he could do without making the situation much, much worse.
"In fact, we were just on the way to announce the betrothal, and we wouldn't want anything more to get in the way," the eel continued, giving Joe a smile that Ariel seemed to find dazzling, and that the guards either didn't see, or didn't care, was dripping with malice.
"Right, Prince Ellian," the chief was already agreeing, no doubt pre-informed by Ariel's father this sort of thing might happen during the eel's visit. "We'll provide you with an escort back to the ballroom…"
This was it. The moment where the chief could realize there was something wrong with Prince Ellian having moved the princess so far from the ballroom, but evidently Ellian being foreign, was enough to excuse any behavior out of custom.
Hands on their blades, the half-dozen guards moved to salute beneath their helmets when it became clear that the chief had made a decision.
"Right," the chief addressed the royals, first. "Since you have an important announcement to make, best to make it before the evening finale goes. Some of the early arrivals are already starting to make their farewells."
To Joe's horror, two of the guards moved to flank Ariel and the eel, who let Ariel drape herself over one of his arms. The eel shot Joe another nasty grin.
"And you, boy. Invited or not," the chief said in a way that told him he very much believed he had not, "you're going to have to see King Ezra later. This sort of event is a guests-only. You'll have to stay in the guard's quarters until after the ball," he said in a way that implied 'lock-box,' or 'prison quarters.'
"Like I said, I'm here by invitation," Joe started to hiss, when one of the chief's smaller guards jumped forward with a disgusting amount of enthusiasm.
"I'll take him there personally, chief!" said the young guard.
Joe glowered at the impudent little soldier. It didn't take long, however, for him to decide that one guard would provide him more opportunity to escape and perhaps speak with Ariel again than a full contingent.
Letting the young guard lead him down the hall, and trying not to let the guards know just how desperately he wanted to get back to Ariel, he kept himself carefully in check. Afterall, what would he do with half the ballroom watching? Or once the rest of the guard saw him, or Triton, himself? Even if he could manage to deal with the chief's small contingent, any more than that was risking the worst. Even so, he hated the smarmy way the eel prince moved between the guards, and the way he let his hands wander too low on Ariel's arms and back, even with the guards watching. Even more, he hated that his own work was partly responsible.
Consumed with thoughts of what he could do, and how he could get Ariel alone long enough to try to explain what the eel had done to her—he had done—he paid little attention the the guard beside him except to search the corridor for any doors that might lead to cupboards or smaller quarters—somewhere where he could leave an unconscious merman long enough to avoid discovery for an evening.
The guard, however, didn't seem to be guiding him toward where he remembered the guard's quarters being, or even the prisons. Joe choked back a scoff. It was possible that the young guard was so new to his contingent that he didn't know the way around the inner palace yet—that would certainly explain his enthusiasm, and his eagerness to please the chief.
"I don't like him either, but I didn't think you'd go this far," said the guard conversationally. "Come on, Joe, we've both lost. At least I can do it gracefully. We always knew it would go something like this. Why are you acting so surprised? At least she seems happy with the guy—even if he is an eel."
Through his anger, it took Joe longer than he'd have liked to admit to recognize Adin's voice.
"Adin!" Joe exclaimed. He couldn't see Adin's face beneath the guard's helmet, but the crooked stripe on Adin's back fins was unmistakable. If he'd been paying more attention, he'd have noticed far sooner.
"Look, Joe, I won't be able to get you out of trouble like this again. Call it…call it payback for the squid last week," Adin said quietly. "But really, Ariel needs support! Not….not whatever tonight was!"
With that, Adin rounded them to face a scullery door at the end of the corridor, so well-seamed into the craggy walls that Joe wouldn't have noticed it had Adin not pointed it out.
Joe gaped between Adin and the door.
"When Ariel makes her choice, I'll happily respect it, but Adin, she sure as barnacles didn't choose that eel! He's potioned her!"
Unfortunately, Adin didn't have nearly the reaction he'd hoped for.
"Really, Joe?" Adin popped the visor of his helmet, and past his reddened eyes, he fixed Joe with an angry glare, and Joe could see that the young merman had been crying. "You think I wouldn't like to believe that, too? But hey, I can take it like a man. He's a prince! He's what she'd been waiting for. It isn't right to interfere."
Joe shoved an exasperated fist through his hair, and rounded on Adin. "I'm telling you he'd potioned her because I watched him do it," he exclaimed. "Ariel is in real trouble, and you're her guard! Where were you, by the way, when she was getting dragged, alone, out of the ballroom!?"
"You know, Joe," Adin huffed, snapping his visor shut. "You really should go. If I'm caught out here letting you go, I'll lose my job. Here's the back door, and the sunset shift-changes should still be happening, so you can get out through the kelp-beds. Poseidon's toes, Joe! Just…just don't make me regret this. We probably won't see each other so much anymore now Ariel won't even be in the kingdom. Think of this as a goodbye favor. I really…I really will miss you and Krill."
This wasn't the goodbye that Joe wanted to give Adin, but for the third time that day, he just didn't have enough time. Regretfully, he swam through the door, and let Adin close it behind him, hoping against hope that this wasn't how their childhood friendship would end. Joe didn't leave through the kelp beds, however. In the dark waters around the palace, he hid under the bioluminescent lights that winked along the palace walls, trying to shut out the booming voices that echoed through the currents from the air-dome:
"Announcing the formal betrothal of Princess Ariel of Atlantis, and Prince Ellian of the Red Sea! Wedding to be held in three days hence! Long live the Kingdom of Atlantis! Long Live High King Triton! Long Live the Future Kings and Queens!"