Here is what I knew. I knew Prince Eric would likely not hurt me. I knew that I was not the cause for this potential war. And I knew I'd have to give him some answers once he saw me.

  I could not make this about Arne and I. I wanted to greet my prince as if my problems were all my own to discuss. Problems that involved me, Eric, and our kingdom's fate.

  As I honed my focus on this mission, I grew distant from my surroundings, no longer amused by the pale green walls.

  The guards brought me to our chamber as I had instructed, then onto our balcony. The one holding me set me down beside the table. I had to choose a place like this. Some place Prince Eric never usually brought his anger. An intimate space in which I knew him as simply Eric, the man enamored by the sea.

  “Leave me,” I sang. “And fetch the prince.”

  They quickly left. While they searched for the man my heart had already ceased to know as 'husband', I set my eyes on the view of his stone courtyard, sighing.

  A warm, salty breeze set in. Closing my eyes, I listened to the sound of tits nesting in one of his trees. The short respite was welcome. I had only just left a marriage ceremony with the man of whom I hoped to spend the rest of my life, and here I was about to confront the first man I'd given my heart to. The first I'd ever laid eyes on.

  It had been so long since Eric and I properly spoke to each other. I had no surety of him hearing me out rather than throwing me away forever. Still, better he throw me away than my Arne. Whatever was to happen, I'd do my best to get through to him. If not for my fate, the fate of Atlantica, above and below.

  Behind me was the sound of a sword unsheathed. I craned my neck to find fury exemplified through the cerulean blue eyes of my dear... dangerous prince. The sword which he kept only for ceremonial reasons, held steadily in both hands. It's edge, mere inches from my neck. I couldn't be sure, but something about his stance felt somewhat... feeble.

  Simply and sternly, he uttered, “Come to torment me?”

  “Eric?” I leaned forward in my seat.

  “Stay where you are!”

  His blusterous tone made my shoulders tense. “I couldn't move if I wanted to, Eric. I—”

  “Silence! I don’t no what trick this is, but I order you to leave now. You may take me to hell when I'm dead. But for now, you will depart from me, spirit!”

  “Eric, it's me. Ariel.”

  He winced at the sound of my name as if it hurt. “I told you to leave.” He jerked his blade threateningly.

  With no way to leave his presence, I raised my wrist to block the sword from touching my neck, then lightly touched the tip with it. “Cut me then. And see that I am flesh, blood, and bone.”

  Pressing my wrist and against it, I allowed myself to bleed. Bright crimson trickled down my forearm, dripping onto my skirt.

  Eric watched, his eyes nearly crossing as he focused on my wrist. “No, surely not. How can it be?”

  “You know how,” I whispered exhaustedly. Even a moment in his presence was making my head pound in conflict between all the rage I had ought to unleash for what he had done to me and the obligation to reach a settlement with him. Care and concern was no longer part of it, I realized as I viewed the unstable man. I was just... tired.

  Eric dropped his sword, finally. “Oh, Ariel. My Ariel.”

  No, not yours. Never yours.

  He drew nearer to my side, reached for my face and turned it more to view me better. “Instead of cut you, I should kiss you.”

  Don't. Please, don't.

  Unable to stop him, he did so. I suffered his royal affection, unsure why I had once yearned for it. Each brush of his lips afflicted my heart with a growing sense of hostility, and I wanted it to end. New memories flooded my mind. The realization that all the time I had spent in this castle, under his rules and constant questionings, I was not free. I had always felt just a tad stifled in his presence. He is not more mad now than he was then. I was only careful not to provoke it.

  I longed for my true love so tremendously to wash away Eric's caress with his own. I wanted Arne, but I had to be Eric's wife in this moment. When it was more than I could take, I gently lifted his face off mine, staring directly into his eyes with only a ghost of a smile.

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  “You love me?”

  Overcome by grief and ecstasy all at once, he nodded. “Yes. Dearly.”

  “Truly? All of me?”

  He seemed unsure of what I meant but nodded again.

  I turned his face down to let him truly see all of me. “Even the non-human parts?”

  Eric immediately straightened, throwing my hand down from his cheek.

  “I suppose this is your answer.”

  He stepped around to the front of my chair, staring silently at my tail. A dead look in his eyes. “So I was right.” He looked at me again. “And you decieved me.”

  “I wanted to be sure I could trust you.”

  “And what about my trust!”

  “Oh, shut up!” I ripped out faster than I could stop myself.

  He seemed shocked. We both were. Never had I spoken to him in low respect.

  “I am the one who should cry deception, Eric. I believed you loved me.” Despite the blood that seeped from my wrist, all the rest of it coursed fiercely through me as I began to speak my mind. “But love doesn't throw women off boats, or forget a spouse's face.” I laughed. “You don’t even know...” I tried too late to quiet down.

  “What? What don't I know.”

  My gaze intensified condemningly. “You have no idea that you're standing here today... because of me.”

  He cocked a brow. “What nonsense are you letting out?”

  “I am talking about that stormy night when you fell off The Royal.”

  He remained still, though I knew his recollection was perfect.

  I leaned forward, tense in my chair. “I held your fate in my hands, Eric. Could have let you die. Could have saved us all the pain,” I added with a wave of my hand. “But out of concern, I didn't let you. That's right. This mermaid saved your life.”

  There followed a moment of silence. I wasn't sure what he was thinking to say, but the longer he waited the more I began to regret opening my mouth.

  Peace, I thought. I am supposed to make peace. “Eric, I am not trying to cause trouble.”

  “Oh, you're well on your way.”

  My cheeks sank. “Please here me out.”

  “I have, Ariel. Until now, the image of you pulling me out of the water had remained a hazy dream in the back of my mind, one I never could shake. Now I know why.” He leaned back against the balustrade, arms crossed, gaze interrogative. “And now I want to know the real reason you're here.” For a split second his eyes drifted to the sword he left on the floor beside me.

  I took in and let out a breath. “Alright. I am here for my people.”

  “Your people?”

  “Yes.”

  “And who exactly are your people?”

  I pursed my lips. What a perfect question. “My people. People with purpose that drives them everyday. People with families, responsibilities, talents, and trades. People who share our beautiful sea. My people are Atlanticans, above and below.”

  “And what then, Ariel? You want me to call off the war?”

  I looked down, knowing I was losing his interest in me. “I never presumed I could persuade you.”

  “Of course you can,” he scoffed. “Like how you persuaded my men.”

  My eyes widened.

  “There’s only one explanation for why you wouldn’t be in chains right now.”

  “Eric, I swear on my life, I would never do it to you.”

  “I can’t say what you would or wouldn't do. You're a liar, Ariel.”

  The way he said it, struck through me. “I have never told a lie that would hurt someone I care for.”

  “Do you love me?”

  “Eric...”

  He beat his fist on the rail, “By God, Ariel, I am going to get a direct answer out of you!” In one step, he crouched down to me while grabbing me at the shoulders. His face in mine. “Look me in the eye, and tell me you love me.”

  I couldn't avoid it. I met his gaze, my mind racing. “I love the man I believed you were, the man I hope you are!”

  “Hope is foolish!” He said with his hands now clamping the sides of my head. “I am what I am, Ariel. You know this. Either you love me or you don't!”

  “Eric, you're kingdom won't survive this war.”

  “To hell with my kingdom!”

  His hands slid down to my neck.

  My eyes teared over as I shook my head. “Eric, please. Don't do this.”

  They tightened around my neck, more and more, my chair lifting onto it's hind-legs and landing backward against the table behind me. I flipped my tail, trying to push him off me with my hands pulling at his.

  As I writhed, a bright light lit his face and I began to see stars, my breaths getting shorter and shorter.

  Then... a sudden release. I noticed the back of someone in uniform amidst us, grabbing Eric at his blouse, but I was too busy gasping for air with wide eyes up to the sky. Dizzy yet regaining consciousness, I looked over at them, astonished. It seemed Arne had found his way into the castle.

  “You know what it's like to lose someone, eh?” Arne had Prince Eric in his clutches, his body halfway over the rail of the balcony. He landed a debilitating punch to his gut. Eric hunched over in agony. Arne lifted him up again. “You ever felt it twice?” Another punch to Eric's skull this time.

  Eric fell across the table, then turned over, still full of fight. Strong and quick as he was, his own advancement turned Arne's cheek more than once.

  Arne turned swiftly enough before ducking down to elbow Eric in the side. Then on he threw his fists, keeping Eric down for a time before Eric maneuvered out of his grip. It began to look like neither had the upper-hand.

  I couldn't believe what I was watching. The plan of peace was failing before my eyes. “Stop! Stop!” I yelled.

  Then... a turn for the worst as Eric's eyes found the sword which had slid under the table. I could see him reach for it. Arne must have seen it too, seeming to try and keep Eric from scooting towards it.

  In a panic, I used my tail with the intent of sweeping it away, but I somehow swept it closer to him. Eric immediately grasped hold of it, flipped over the other chair and onto Arne— making him grunt, and hopped onto his feet. A heavy pant released from his chest as his sword drew on my husband.

  “Concede and she lives.”

  Arne's wide chest rose and fell as his breathing calmed. He looked up at me, seeming to weigh his options. “I concede.”

  “Now. Tell her not to sing or else you die.”

  “I won't!” I insisted. He didn't need to tell me. I offered Arne a pathetic pained expression before covering my face to cry.

  “Where are my guards?!” Eric shouted.

  The men showed up soon, ready to take us away. They took Arne by the arms just like before. Sir Grimsby was with them. And when he saw my face, he smiled a surly grin.

  The men cuffed my arms behind me. Taking me up by each shoulder, they dragged me inside. Arne and I were taken through the castle in a long, shameful journey down to the prison.

  On our way, a young guard called out, “Just a moment there!”