Shortly after, Ursula appeared. ‘Did you bring a prince like I asked?’
‘Yes,’ Edward replied. ‘He is waiting in the bay. He’s happy to meet this mermaid you mentioned.’
‘Idiot,’ she spat. ‘You weren’t supposed to tell him. I needed him to fall into the lake near her so she would save him from drowning. I cannot have her know this was planned.’
Stilt growled. ‘You’re the idiot. You should have said.’
She frowned. ‘It was implied.’
Edward sighed. ‘I will take the prince, wipe his memory of our conversations, and throw him into the lake.’
Edward stepped forward. ‘Make sure he doesn’t drown. He’s one of the few people I actually like,’ he admitted.
‘Aww, you have a caring side. Who knew!’ Stilt said sarcastically. ‘Let’s get Eric, wipe his memories of us, and throw him to the fishes. Then we can go!’
Stilt took Edward’s hand before he could protest and they reappeared by Eric’s side. Stilt, with a wave of his hand, took Eric’s memories and pushed him into the lake. Ursula swam over and nodded at Stilt then dragged Eric down into the murky depths. She took him back to the surface for air before dragging him underneath again near to where Ariel was. She left him in the water and swam off, smiling.
***
‘Oh my,’ Ariel said when she saw the man who was trying to swim back to the surface. Eric managed to get to the top, but a wave pushed him back under. Ariel swam over to him with a frantic Cullum by her side. She placed her arms around his waist and swam to the surface. She made sure to keep his head above water as he spluttered until they reached the rock that she would watch the people from. Eric coughed as he laid on the rock before looking up. His eyes, she noticed, were a rich green. He had laugh lines, and his hair, though wet, was the most adorable shade of brown. His outfit told her that he must be royal.
‘Can you hear me?’ asked Ariel. He fell back unconscious after seeing her red hair. She took him to the bay and laid next to him, half in the water, so her tail wasn’t on show.
Cullum bobbed a few feet away. ‘I-is he alive?’ She placed her ear against his foot. ‘I can’t hear a heartbeat,’ Ariel said, panicked.
A seagull flew down from the sky and landed next to her. ‘Hey, Ariel,’ it said. Most couldn’t hear animals, but being one herself, she could.
‘This man,’ Ariel rushed out in a panic. ‘He fell in the lake. I think he may be dead?’
The seagull stroked its beak. ‘Did you check his pulse on his foot, like I always told you to?’ he asked.
‘Yes, no pulse.’ Suddenly, the prince woke up, coughing again, and turned on his side. The seagull, Jack, flew over to another rock and remained out of sight.
‘What happened?’ Eric asked. He looked up at the girl with wet red hair and smiled. She was beautiful. Her eyes were the colour of the lake and twice as enchanting. Her pink lips shimmered in the sun. Her sun kissed skin paired well with her bright red hair. Although an odd combination, she pulled it off incredibly well.
‘I couldn’t hear your pulse. I thought you were dead,’ she admitted. Her voice, he thought, was the most beautiful voice he had ever heard.
‘I was dead?’ asked Eric, shocked.
‘Yes, I took your foot and listened for your heart beat and heard no—’
Eric laughed. ‘My foot? Why would you ever think to listen through my foot?’ he asked, looking at his bare foot. ‘You listen through someone’s chest.’
She blushed and looked over at Jack, annoyed. He shrugged and flew off. ‘Sorry,’ she mumbled. ‘A friend told me that was how to listen for one. Oh, sorry. You lost one of your crockhoppers in the lake.’
‘My what?’ the prince asked, still laughing.
‘You know; you wear them on your hands to keep them warm.’
‘You mean gloves?’ Eric asked.
‘No, well, you were wearing them on your feet,’ she pointed out. ‘They’re supposed to be worn on your hands.’
‘My boot, you mean.’ He raised an eyebrow. ‘You’re not from around here, are you?’
‘Not on this land, no,’ she admitted.
He smiled. ‘Did you save me?’
‘Yes,’ she said and flushed pink.
‘I don’t even know why I was around here,’ he admitted and felt his head. ‘I must have banged by head at some point.’
‘Oh,’ Ariel said, keeping her tail still hidden.
‘I won’t forget meeting you, um—’
‘Ariel,’ she said and took a deep breath. He was the most handsome man she had ever seen.
‘Ariel,’ he repeated, dreamily. ‘Well, Ariel, may I invite you to come to my castle? I will throw a feast in your honour as a thank you for saving me.’
‘Oh,’ Ariel said and looked at Cullum sadly. ‘I’m afraid I cannot. I must go. I, uh …’ She looked over at one of the boats on the bay. ‘I must swim back to my boat; it’s not far. Goodbye.’
‘What, but …’ She disappeared under the water. He panicked, waiting to see her resurface. Finally, she did. He shouted after her until she was out of sight. He wrung out his jacket and thought about how odd all of that was. Still, he couldn’t get her out of his mind.
CHANGES
‘Ariel …’ Coral started. She swam gracefully over to where her sister was sulking. ‘Father shouted at you again, huh?’ Ariel turned and wrapped her arms around her sister. Unlike the rest of her sisters, Coral cared about her. The rest were only interested in powers, killing, and eating. Coral did those things too, of course, but she understood why Ariel wouldn’t partake in those activities.
‘I was out exploring,’ Ariel cried.
Coral put her sister at arm’s length, keeping her hands on her shoulder, and looked into her eyes. ‘You were looking at the humans again, weren’t you?’
Ariel saw that Coral wasn’t mad but worried. Coral looked nothing but sympathetic. She was just a year older than Ariel was, who was the youngest. Ariel nodded, her bottom lip trembling. ‘I want to be like them. They are not cruel, like us! They do not kill …’
Coral groaned. ‘They kill, Ariel. They kill fish; they kill our friends. They’ve killed mermaids, and they kill each other. They are worse than us. We would never kill our own unless necessary.’
‘No,’ Ariel shouted, pushing Coral away. ‘Father tells these stories to scare us. I watch them; they don’t do those things. They love, they laugh, they have fun.’
Coral was almost a mirror image of Ariel, except for the eyes. Coral’s were darker than Ariel’s bright blue ones. ‘Ariel, please, try to join in with us,’ she begged. ‘It has been so boring without you. You keep disappearing. Remember when we had fun? You and I, causing mischief. You used to want to be like me when we were younger. What happened?’ asked a tearful Coral.
Ariel straightened up. ‘I grew up and realised that I have my own destiny to fulfil. I love you Coral. You’re different from the rest of them. But you belong here, and I do not. I thought about trying to be the princess you all want. I tried, but it is not who I am. I must try to become human, if only for a day. I want to just see what it is like.’
Coral’s expression darkened. ‘Cullum admitted that you met a man who almost drowned. Cullum is worried about you, Ariel. He wouldn’t go to anyone else, only me. He knew I was the only one who wouldn’t punish you. I want to help you, to talk some sense into you before you make the biggest mistake of your li—’
Ariel twirled upwards until she was above Coral. ‘No! Just because your life is boring, just because you must marry someone you don’t love, doesn’t mean I have to.’
‘That’s not fair,’ Coral replied, shocked.
‘How isn’t it?’ Ariel asked. ‘You’re trying to stop me from being who I am! Don’t you understand? I hate being a mermaid. I always have. And you, you don’t even have the guts to tell Father you don’t want to marry Shell. He is a horrible merman, and you don’t love him. He doesn’t treat you right!’
Cora
l pressed her lips together, holding back tears. ‘Please don’t …’
‘No,’ Ariel replied. ‘I’m leaving, please, feel free to go and tell Father and everyone else that I am going to become human. They will lock me away forever in the underwater dungeons.’ Ariel swam off toward the sea witch’s cave.
Coral just bobbed in the same spot for a while, staring at the rocky wall covered in shells and little sea creatures. She looked back up to the shipwreck, which was around fifteen metres from the dip she was in. Hardly anyone knew about this place; that’s why she knew she’d find Ariel there. Their old hiding spot from when they were children.
***
Ariel peeked around the entrance to the cave. Darkness coated the cave, which just made the hissing that echoed throughout the cave even creepier. Ariel's heart pounded so fast she wondered if she was going to have a heart attack. She pushed forward and swam through the cave until she reached the back. It was bigger than she had imagined it would be. There were two tunnels going off in opposite directions. She could hear cackling coming from the right one. ‘There you are,’ she said aloud and swam through the grotty tunnel. She popped out the other side into a ginormous stone room with no windows. Ursula was staring into a mirror. ‘I was wondering when you would pop by. How are you, my love?’ she asked, turning and spinning in the centre of the room. A cauldron appeared and so did her eel.
Green liquid oozed and bubbled in the cauldron. Ursula used magic to keep it in there. Ursula danced and twirled as she added ingredients to the cauldron.
‘So I guess you are here because you want legs?’
‘Yes,’ Ariel admitted. ‘Will you help me?’
‘Of course,’ Ursula said sweetly. ‘You seem to think I am some evil witch, but I am not. I am an outsider, like you. I want to help you.’
‘I don’t know if I can believe that,’ Ariel said, crossing her arms. ‘How do I know that this won’t kill me?’
‘Simple. If I kill you, I will be killed by your father and everyone in the lake will come for me. I am not an idiot. If you’re done insulting my intelligence, then please, take this. You’ll just have to trust me.’
‘What do you want in return?’ Ariel asked, taking the potion.
‘Simple. For you to stay away from the lake, no matter what. For you to go and see your prince and get your happily ever after.’
‘What about my family? I won’t see them again?’ she said, tearfully.
Ursula shrugged. ‘Small price to pay. They will be fine. Probably glad to be rid of you,’ Ursula said. ‘I mean that in a compassionate way. Also, you have three days on land. If you wish to stay human, you must kiss your prince or return to being a mermaid.’
Ariel nodded, eyeing Ursula suspiciously, but took the potion anyway.
‘Ariel,’ Coral said who swam into the cave, but she was too late. ‘What have you done?’ she shouted at Ursula, who shrugged and smiled. Ariel's beautiful tail separated and turned into legs. Ariel gasped for air. Coral grabbed her sister and swam her to the surface. She took her to the bay and dropped her there. ‘What have you done?!’
Ariel coughed until she got her breath back. ‘I have legs!’ She gasped and started wriggling her toes. ‘I have legs!’
‘Ariel,’ Coral warned. ‘Mother and Father will be furious. I may be able to strike a deal with Ursula to reverse the potion.’
‘No,’ Ariel shouted. ‘Please, Coral.’ She took her sister’s hands. ‘You’re the only one I trust. Please, take care of Cullum and don’t tell Father or Mother until I decide what to do. I have three days, apparently. If I kiss him, I stay human, and if not, then I return to being a mermaid.’
‘Please make the right choice,’ Coral begged. ‘But if you decide to stay human, Ariel, I love you regardless and just want you to be happy,’ Coral said and swam backward. ‘If you need me, come to the water’s edge and say my name. I will come for you.’
Ariel stood up, fell over, and then stood up again. Once she got her balance, she danced around ecstatically. Jack, the seagull, flew down and landed on a nearby rock.
‘You have legs,’ he said excitedly.
‘Yes, aren’t they wonderful?’ she asked. She couldn’t stop looking at them.
‘We must get you some coverers,’ he said, meaning clothes.
‘Oh yes,’ she said and covered herself up with a rag that had been left on one of the canoes. She tied it at the back. ‘How do I look?’
He looked her up and down and nodded approvingly. ‘Beautiful. So where is the prince?’
‘The palace,’ she said excitedly.
BELLE
Stilt and Edward walked down the winding road. ‘Fresh air,’ Stilt said, breathing in. ‘The air is so clean out here!’
‘It is,’ Edward agreed. Any comment on Dolorom was a comment to him in his eyes. ‘We need to leave tonight really,’ Edward said, itching to go to Northmanni. Seeing Belle again, holding her, telling her how she changed his views on everything was the most important thing.
Stilt nodded. ‘Yes.’ They both heard it, a carriage coming up the winding road. On both sides of the road were woods that went on for miles. They were in the middle of nowhere.
‘We will magic ourselves to Northmanni,’ Edward stated. ‘It has been nice to just walked and relax, though.’ Stilt had suggested the walk, suggesting that it would clear their heads for the inevitable battle, and he was right. Edward felt better already. They both moved to the side of the road to let the carriage go past. ‘Then,’ Edward continued, ‘Belle.’
‘Yes, we get Belle … oh,’ Stilt said on seeing an angry Belle jump out of the carriage. Edward looked her up and down. She was wearing trousers, a fitted top, a dagger was in a scabbard strapped to her leg, and a bow and a quiver of arrows were on her back.
‘You!’ Belle said, pointing at Edward. ‘I was hoping more than anything that I’d bump into you!’
‘Me too. Look, I need to explain things to you properly.’
‘Save it,’ she shouted. ‘The both of you singlehandedly destroyed mine, and by the sounds of it, many other people’s too.’
‘We never intentionally meant to hurt either of you,’ Stilt said. ‘Hear Edward out,’ he insisted.
Edward sighed. ‘Lori is using you. I told you about her before!’
Belle pulled her dagger out of the holder and pointed it at Edward’s neck. ‘You have ten seconds to tell me something substantial, or I will remove your head from your shoulders.’
‘Okay, everyone needs to calm down,’ Stilt said. Belle pushed the dagger forward more until it pressed into Edward’s windpipe. He pushed Belle’s hand back a little.
‘I love you,’ he started. ‘I do. Even if you kill me now, I love you. I was spelled to forget you,’ he said and looked at Stilt angrily then looked back at Belle. ‘For the curse to break, I must have loved you. If I didn’t, the kiss wouldn’t have done anything.’
On that, she lowered her dagger and stepped back. ‘Of course, but …’ She hesitated. Why wouldn’t the hate disappear? ‘But I really hate you. Like, I really do.’
Edward furrowed his brows. ‘Over that? I didn’t peg you as they type who could hate so much!’
‘I’m not!’ she snapped. ‘What’s wrong with me?’ She tried to force herself from stabbing the dagger into him, but the urge was too strong. She pushed it toward him.
Stilt watched as a seemingly conflicted Belle pushed the dagger towards a hurt Edward’s stomach and flicked his hand. Belle lost consciousness, and Edward caught her.
‘What happened?’ Edward asked, astonished. ‘Surely, she can’t hate me that much over something that didn’t even happen?’
Stilt shook his head. ‘I think she’s cursed.’
Edward’s mouth tightened. ‘Lori,’ he growled.
Edward and Stilt magicked themselves and Belle back to Dolorom castle and laid her down on Edward’s bed. Edward ran his finger down her cheek and kissed her lips.
Seconds felt like hours until s
he woke. Belle looked at Edward hazily. He half leaned in, waiting for her to come around and kiss him. The other part of him hesitated, ready to jump back in case she attacked him.
Neither happened.
Belle sat up and looked around with wide eyes. Several realisations fell into her head. It felt as if the past month had been one long daydream. Her hand shot to her mouth as she gasped. Stilt and Edward looked at each other then back at Belle. She looked up at them with tears in her glassy brown eyes. ‘Lori … she’s going to kill you. She’s using my son. I think she even sent my father and Caleb away. She’s hurting people and stealing people’s beauty. She’s Queen of Northmanni and …’
Edward placed his hand on hers. ‘Calm down. We can sort this.’
She pulled her hands back and wept. ‘This is all my fault.’
Stilt shook his head. ‘It’s not. It’s partly mine, but mainly Lori’s …’ Edward snarled at him. Stilt bit his lip. ‘Mainly Lori’s,’ he pointed out.
Edward huffed. ‘He’s right. We can get her back. I promise.’
She reached out and touched his lips. ‘I was so used to seeing you with scars and well … everything else that I only got to admire how you actually look for a moment before …’ She looked up at Stilt and frowned. He fiddled uncomfortably with his sleeve. She looked back at Edward. ‘I never actually got to tell you …’ She stopped. Her heart throbbed in her throat. ‘I love you.’
Warmth spread through him. ‘I love you too,’ he admitted. Never did he think he would say those words and actually mean them. ‘I love you,’ he said again and lifted her off the bed. He spun her around as Stilt looked on, sickened.
Love had shattered the curse.
‘Oh, I, God, I hate magic!’ Belle admitted.
Edward, still holding Belle’s hands, kissed her, and suddenly, all the worries, fears that he had, seemed to melt away with her touch. Everything that he had been through was worth it. She was in his arms, and this time, he would never let her go again.
The Enchanted Kingdoms (Haunting Fairytales Series Book 1) Page 18
