Whom could such a little thing need protecting from? Michael wondered.
“That is why I have invited Prince Michelangelo Solefige to not only witness but partake in our ancient rites of passage while handing the triton to the newest Sea Crown.” She turned and nodded at him, a cool smile on her flawless face.
Michael beamed back. A few at the table turned and glared at him, but Michael didn’t care. Not when the most beautiful creature in the world was looking at him.
“I know what some of you are thinking, and I will remind you that Prince Michelangelo was not king during the major part of the war. His grandfather was. In fact, Prince Michelangelo was the one my father contacted to negotiate a truce while our people were returning to Gemmaqua.”
With that, Princess Renata turned and beckoned to someone behind her. Out of the shadows swam the other princess that Michael had seen earlier. She wore white as well. This time, however, she kept her face lowered as Princess Renata gently pulled her to her side.
“For those of you who have not met my niece, this is Princess Arianna Fiore del Mare Atlantician, daughter of my brother, Amadeo. She is like a daughter to me as well, however. I raised her due to her sensitivities after a difficult birth, and if anyone treats her with a sentiment that is less than respectful or kind, you will have me to answer to. Yes, we were competitors for the crown, but all competitors are relatives, and in truth, they are family before they are opponents.” She stared down each member at the table, with the exception of the girl’s parents, Michael’s former neighbors by the stage earlier that day. Then she looked down at the girl and gave her a kind smile. “I expect great things from Arianna, and I couldn’t be prouder.”
Princess Arianna did not smile back. Instead, she kept her eyes on the ground, only moving when Princess Renata told her she could go to her seat. The girl silently swam to the empty seat on Michael’s right, much to his delight.
Princess Renata continued to speak, but Michael couldn’t listen for he was suddenly too intrigued by his new table partner.
Michael was not an expert on general mermaid features, or at least, he couldn’t remember being one. But compared to the pale, dark-haired beauties surrounding them, this young mermaid seemed noticeably tanner, as though she’d actually seen the sun once or twice in her life. Her hair, drawn into a graceful knot at the top of her head, shone like gold. Her eyes though . . . if only she would raise her eyes to his! He didn’t know what he would find in them, but something inside whispered that they would be wonderful.
A holy man—or holy merman, rather—said a prayer, and it wasn’t long before the chatter around them had grown merry and loud once again, punctuated with quick little songs and melodies that seemed to emanate from the merpeople constantly. The little mermaid beside him remained quiet, however, only speaking when someone asked her a direct question.
And though Michael was fairly sure he was in love with Princess Renata, there was something about this mermaid that beckoned to him. The way she tucked a stray curl behind her ears constantly poked at his mind like a splinter that wouldn’t be plucked.
She’s going to look at me, Michael decided as a servant placed the first course in front of him. She’s going to look at me and talk to me, and I’m going to figure out why she seems so familiar.
Michael was going to charm her.
It shouldn’t be too incredibly difficult. He tried to recall what usually impressed women. As he did, however, a goblet of yellow and brown kelp bulbs was placed in front of him. He picked one up and stared at it. Did they expect him to actually eat the bulbs? They were plump and hard. Still, it would do him no good to have the pretty girl beside him thinking he was a coward because he wouldn’t try new foods. With a shrug, he popped the bulb in his mouth and bit down.
As soon as his teeth hit the bulb, it burst, and his tongue was hit by the oddest combination of salt and wine. Slowly, he began to chew the bulb, and was preparing to swallow when he heard a voice like the tinkling of small bells ordering him to stop.
He looked at the blonde mermaid in surprise. She was looking straight at him, as he’d hoped, but her expression was one of alarm rather than delight.
“You don’t swallow the bulb!”
Michael froze, the bulb’s remains still in his mouth. When he looked down for a napkin, however, there was none to be found.
The mermaid rolled her eyes and handed him a bowl of sand that had been placed behind the goblet of bulbs. When he stared at it blankly, she huffed and held out her hand.
“Give it to me.”
Michael was more than a little surprised that the princess would be willing to touch something as personal as his food, but he couldn’t deny that it made him feel a little triumphant as well. If she was this familiar with him already, how much longer could it take to charm her completely? He spit it out into his palm and handed her the chewed mess with a little bit of embarrassment, and she promptly pressed the bulb’s remains into the sand.
Oh. That’s what that’s for.
“I must admit,” he said, “I’m a little confused as to the point of this food.”
She shook her head. “It’s not food. Each bulb is filled with wine. You put it in your mouth and break the skin, releasing the wine. Then you spit out the skin and put it in the bowl.”
“How do you get wine down at the bottom of the ocean?”
“We don’t. It’s made by humans. We used to supply them with the kelp, and they would puncture the bulbs with tiny holes, just large enough to fill them with wine. These are a delicacy now that the merpeople and humans aren’t trading anymore.” She lifted one of her own bulbs and examined it, but didn’t put it in her mouth.
Her flow of words had encouraged Michael, but he could see that she was quickly slipping back into her quiet cocoon. Just as he was about to ask her another question, a young woman carrying a baby approached her and tapped her on the shoulder. This young woman had dark hair like everyone else around them, but there was something in her nose and chin that resembled Princess Arianna’s. Unlike Princess Arianna, however, she wore a ring on her left hand, and though he didn’t want to stare, Michael was rather sure that she was also with child. Princess Arianna turned, and as soon as she saw the young woman, she gasped. The two embraced and held one another tightly.
Michael watched, slightly annoyed at the interruption. Their voices were low, but he could hear a few words slip out, such as sister, a long time, and never coming back. Finally, Princess Arianna pulled back and cooed over the baby. That was when Michael was reminded of another trait he was rather sure impressed women.
“And who is this?” Michael peeked around the princess to look at the baby.
Princess Arianna sighed. “Lalia, this is Prince Michael. Michael, this is my sister, Princess Lalia, and her son, Johnathon.”
“Michelangelo,” Michael corrected her as he stood and bowed to the woman. That was what the beautiful Princess Renata had called him.
Princess Arianna gave him a funny look before shaking her head and turning back to her sister.
But Michael wasn’t about to be cast off that easily. Stretching his hands out toward the woman, Michael asked, “May I see him?”
Princess Lalia gave her sister a nervous look but Princess Arianna just shrugged and nodded. That was an odd reaction, but Michael would have to think about it later. He took the boy and placed the little fellow snugly on his leg. Even with the tail, holding the baby felt as natural as walking.
“You’re good with children.” Princess Lalia looked surprised as he began patting the baby on the back and gently bouncing him on his knee. “Do you have any?”
Michael looked at Princess Arianna in confusion. “I don’t think so.” In fact, he was quite sure he didn’t. But then, he wondered, how did he know what to do with the baby?
Very soon, Princess Lalia took her child back, and to Michael’s delight, her farewell seemed actually somewhat genuine. As soon as she was gone, Michael decided to take full
advantage of Princess Arianna’s attention. Her blue eyes were just as intriguing as he’d imagined, and he was determined to understand the mystery behind them . . . and how she seemed to know so much about him.
“Come dance with me,” he blurted, standing.
She stopped toying with the fish on her plate and looked up at him in surprise. A few of those nearby looked at him in surprise and amusement as well, although her father—he was fairly sure it was her father—was quickly turning a new shade of red. He did his best to ignore this, however, and held his hand out.
“Do you know how to dance?” she finally asked.
He was about to answer that of course he did, when she pointedly looked out at the large expanse of hall behind him. Dozens of couples were dancing, but not on the ground. Rather, they were spinning, twisting, and twirling in every direction as they moved over, under, and around one another in time to the choir’s singing, and all of it took place ten feet off the ground.
“Perhaps not like that,” he admitted, “but I can learn.”
“Oh really.” She leaned back, hand thoughtfully tucked beneath her ear, and looked at his legs. “And just why are you so determined to dance?”
“Tell me, how well do mermen see?”
She frowned. “Our eyesight is twice as good as that of humans. We see very—”
“No, I mean mermen specifically.”
Her mouth opened for a moment before shutting again. “They see just as well as I do. Why?”
“No one else has asked you to dance,” he said, holding her gaze, “and I have come to the conclusion that for this reason, mermen must be a rather blind breed.”
For the first time that evening, her stare wasn’t one of annoyance or condescension. For the first time, she really looked at him.
After a moment, however, she recovered herself and looked back down at her food. “You are making a fool of yourself to proclaim such a thing,” she said in a low voice.
“No, I am making a fool of everyone else for not noticing.”
Again, she gave him that look. And just like it had that morning, something in her eyes made him feel as though he were missing something terribly, terribly important. Her jaw trembled then clenched a bit.
This bothered Michael. If they hadn’t been underwater, he would have given anything to wipe away her tears.
“If you’re not up to a dance,” he said as he extended his hand, “perhaps you would like to get some fresh . . . water? I’m not supposing we can get any air down here.”
This time, she nearly smiled. As she started to get up from her seat, however, she cast a long look at Princess Renata at the end of the table. Princess Renata smiled and nodded once. Michael’s heart jumped as he offered the young princess his arm. He was about to solve the mystery of the fair-haired mermaid.
Michael had been so entranced with Princess Renata and then Princess Arianna that he’d never stopped to examine the dining hall itself. From what he could see as they moved arm-in-arm to the edge of the room, the dining hall seemed to wrap around the entire base of the palace. Rather than being wide, the room was ridiculously long and tall. Of course, that made more sense when he saw the dancing merpeople spinning and twisting above the long table. Really, they were in less of a hall and what looked more like a greenhouse. Instead of glass walls and a glass ceiling, however, straight green coral bars were crisscrossed to let in light, though the light was now fast disappearing. Beneath his feet, hundreds of varieties of underwater flora lined the floor, and he briefly mourned stepping on such pretty plants.
The garden outside was no better, for as soon as he stepped out the door, the pathways were only more winding rows of plants, rather than actual stones or sand. Michael paused on the threshold. Princess Arianna turned when he didn’t follow, their linked arms holding her back.
Her look of mild annoyance changed, however, when she followed his gaze to his feet. “You can walk on them. They’re sturdier than they look, and you weigh less down here.”
Gingerly, Michael set one foot down, then the other. If he hadn’t known he was treading upon such beauty, he would have rather enjoyed the walk. It was like walking on pillows. If it could be called walking. Walking underwater was more like constantly fighting to fall in the wrong direction. Meanwhile, Arianna was floating as gracefully as a cloud through the sky.
One by one, servants floated out with lanterns and began to hang them along the winding rows of plants.
“That isn’t—” Michael began, but Princess Arianna was already shaking her head.
“There’s a kind of algae that grows well in our waters. We grow it directly in the lanterns.” Before he could respond, however, she stopped swimming. They had come to stand behind a mound of zigzagging coral that stood just taller than Michael’s head. “Tell me,” she said, her azure eyes suddenly searching his eyes with a burning intensity. “What do you remember?”
Michael blinked back at her. “Of what?”
“Of anything. Where you came from. How old you are. What your name is. Anything . . .” She gripped his arms in her hands.
Michael opened his mouth to answer such inane questions, but found that he didn’t have the words. Frowning, he thought before trying again. Drat. This was going to put a damper on his festivities. And here he’d been having such a fine evening of wooing lovely ladies and drinking wine bulbs. After much thought, he took a deep breath.
“My name is Michelangelo Solefige.”
“What is your middle name?”
Again, he was caught without an answer. “Lucas?” he finally guessed.
She gave him a sad smile and shook her head, dropping her hands to her sides. Her next words were a whisper. “Do you remember me?”
Any merriment Michael had felt earlier fled him at the sound of utter loneliness in her voice. And beneath the false merriment, he found a great well of anger, though what he was angry at, he couldn’t tell. “I feel as though I should,” he finally said. At this, she suddenly looked so sad that Michael hastened to add, “There is something about you that makes me feel forgetful. It’s like finding a dirty window and suddenly realizing you were in the dark to begin with.” He caught her chin as she lowered her eyes again, and he brought her face back up to his. “Have I hurt you?” he breathed.
Her jaw clenched as she nodded then turned away.
“Then why are you here with me now?” He hurried to catch up to her. “Whatever it was, I’m sorry!” She frowned but continued swimming, so he reached out and grabbed her wrist. “Please,” he said, holding it tightly. “Just tell me.”
A resolute expression came over her face, and she lifted the hand that he still held. “I’m going to try something. Hold very still.” And she began to sing.
It was a quiet song, but with each note, Michael could feel a hole beginning to break through the fog that filled his mind.
Arianna.
Arianna was thrown overboard, and Princess Renata did it. Michael clamped his free hand over his mouth and pulled it helplessly down his chin as he recalled the kiss. He had kissed Princess Renata. After leaving his mother, his brother, and his people, he had kissed her in front of Arianna.
“Arianna, I . . .” he stepped back, shaking his head. “I’m so . . . Wait. You have a voice! A real voice! Not just whispers?” Joy battled with horror as he stepped toward her again. “When did you get your voice?”
“So you noticed.”
Michael wanted to say more, but he choked down all the inane things that wanted to bubble up. What a fool I’ve been. An utterly despicable fool. “How long?” he swallowed, “have I been like this?”
Arianna sighed. “My aunt has had you under her siren song since we were on the boat. Not that it matters.”
“Whoa, now.” He grabbed her hand again as she began to turn away. “Something else is wrong. I can tell. What else is it? I swear, I never would have kissed her in my right mind!” I never wanted to hurt you.
“It doesn’t matter!”
> Michael took a step back. In all his time with Arianna, he had never imagined her shouting. “But it does,” he said softly.
“Very well. You really want to know?”
He nodded.
“You chose her!” She pointed back at the dining hall. “The kiss doesn’t matter. What matters is that you chose her!” Her voice broke, and her shoulders began to shake. And though there were no tears to fall, heartbreak was written all over her face.
“I don’t know what to say.” He shrugged helplessly. “I . . . I am so sorry.” Watching her cry was like slowly dying inside.
For a long time, neither of them spoke. He could only stand there like the horrible fool he was as she quietly wept. Voices and songs floated in on the waters from all around. Thankfully, the garden seemed to have been left alone to them, so there wasn’t anyone else to witness Michael’s mortification, although that did little to assuage the growing fury Michael felt for himself in the pit of his stomach.
“How long will this clarity of thought last?” he finally asked, his voice sounding not at all like it belonged to him.
Arianna sniffed. “Until she sings to you again. All I did was a simple healing song, like a break in the clouds. For you to be completely free of her, either she’ll have to release you, you’ll have to leave the sea forever, or the triton’s wielder will have to let you go.” She closed her eyes and lifted her face toward the ocean’s surface. “Which will also be Renata.”
“So . . . where do we go from here?”
“I don’t know.” She lifted her hands helplessly. “We can’t leave. Renata would find us and put you back under her spell.” She paused. “Unless . . .”
“Unless what?”
“Unless my niece agrees to marry you.”
Michael turned to see Princess Renata floating behind him, triton in hand. It may have simply been the shadows from the algae lanterns, but there seemed to be more lines around her eyes and mouth than he recalled. They weren’t displeasing, but she suddenly seemed to be more than just a few years older than Arianna, which was what he had believed when she showed up at his door as Princess Ines.
Silent Mermaid: A Retelling of The Little Mermaid (The Classical Kingdoms Collection Book 5) Page 27