I finally looked up at the prince, my gaze clear, my voice strong when I carefully said, “It’s quite a task, but I’m up to it if you are.”
The prince smiled and caressed my tearless cheek. “Challenge accepted,” he readily replied.
After Ever After
I never expected my life to be anything more than mediocre, yet it turned into a faery tale. My heart never stopped beating in tune with the rhythm of the sea, but I also believed myself to be truly blessed in my life on land. Still, it was never easy to return to the water after I had seen Sienna taken by it, though I never would hesitate to dance in even the heaviest of rainstorms. Living in a maritime kingdom, I couldn’t escape the sea, but I spent as little time on it alone as I could after that, convinced Sienna’s voice was calling to me from the foaming crest of each rollicking wave.
I felt safest with Arlando, for only then did Sienna’s voice seem to cease, though I believe it more for his sake than mine. The few times I did venture out by myself were rather difficult, as I could never fully shut out the echo of her voice or the glare of her haunted eyes, accusing me of taking the life she had so much wanted to live. Sometimes I was able to focus enough on rowing, swimming, sailing to ignore her; others, I couldn’t get away from the water fast enough, and once I did, I’d wander the gardens and try to lose myself in song, but my voice then would be overtaken by hers so that all manner of grotesque creatures formed in the hedges. Most of the time, I came to my senses soon enough to undo or cover up what she had wrought. There were a very few times, especially when I was much older, when I could not, so whispers of madness began to follow me, and the decision to leave the palace and live out my life here, alone, in a small, seaside home, became inevitable.
Otherwise, in all our years together, Arlando and I tried as best we could to live a good life, and I think we succeeded enough in teaching our children to strive toward one, as well.
We had seven children together, and each of them was given as much love and attention as any a father and mother could bestow upon an only child. They were a light and beacon in our lives, and I am forever grateful to have been made a human so I could have the blessing of each and every one of them. Tridan, for my king; Sebastian, for Queen Edlyn’s father; Sienna, for the one who led me to this life; Titan, for Tatiana; Maiya and Tethys, for my parents; and our youngest, Delphina, for my first and dearest friends.
Though having so many children certainly didn’t do much for my already unflattering figure. In the later years, there were times I would sullenly stand in front of the mirror poking and prodding a body that would never conform to the image of it in my mind quite as wonderfully as my hedges did. Not even close.
“What am I to do with this?” was one of my more familiar complaints.
In response, my husband would wrap his arms around me from behind, cutting across my view, one arm an iron band to ward away my vanity, the other a band of gratitude.
His dark eyes would seek out my amethyst touched blue ones in the mirror and hold them so I couldn’t look away.
“This body?” he would muse, pretending to assess me for the first time. “This body that gave life to my children, that raises them and loves them and nurtures them every day?” He’d pause and make a show of mentally calculating my worth. “Well, Ariel,” he’d conclude in the ever-endearing way he spoke, “I’ll have you know this is my most favorite body in all the world.”
His reply never failed to charm me, even if it was so routinely worded, though that was part of what always drew me to him. He didn’t lie to reassure me of something I knew could never be true. Instead, he took his cue from the wonders of the sea and acted just like any ordinary clam. With a few words, he took what I considered as useless and unremarkable as passing debris and made something precious of it.
The early months of my time as a princess held just the beginning of the myriad experiences made possible by the human world that was now wide open to me. I saw some, but not all, of the panoramic paintings in Arlando’s book for myself, as we sailed for six months following the wedding to visit other realms. While the vast ocean would always be the most beautiful world I’d ever known, I found much beauty in the human world as well, not just in the landscapes, but in the people that walked upon in. With time, I learned how to find magic in the seemingly plain, how to find the extraordinary within the mundane. I also met kings and queens of other kingdoms, many of whom were living within their own faery tales as well.
The greatest example would be of the then Prince Alex and Princess Ella, whose wedding we attended seven years after ours. Our kingdoms weren’t officially allies, but Arlando and I went because we were on friendly terms and wanted to keep it that way. To our delight, King Heinrich and Queen Cordelia joined us for the trip, though they only brought their oldest son and heir along because we’d been warned about limited space, but our four children crammed into our rooms with us. Not only would I have a large family, but I would make sure my children saw, and learned to love, as much of their world as possible.
The palace Alex and Ella lived in was built on a large island that sat just outside Laurendale’s capital. It was large enough to be a tiny village, but any place surrounded on all sides by water was instantly charming to me. The night of the wedding, I was roaming the palace grounds, when I discovered a little garden with a lush pear tree, whose branches were so large they dipped into the little fishpond just below it. There was something about the tree that called to me, so I lay my hand on the trunk and hummed a little tune when I felt a familiar buzz in its veins. I could feel the tree responding to me, could feel the warmth of magic rushing like water through its very roots. Even in the dark, I could see how the leaves took on a deeper, greener hue in response to my song.
Stepping past the tree, my eyes caught sight of a glass case in which was displayed a most beautiful glass slipper. Immediately, I recognized the Castarrean glass it was made from, smirking to myself as I remembered Arlando telling me how he and Rainn had perfected the process with research from books Cordelia surely thought “useless” and “boring.” Seeing it, I finally understood the stories about the Princess Ella and her prince, about how she’d always kept her face covered out of shame for her lowly station. At a grand ball, she stole her prince’s heart just before she stole into the night, leaving the unique glass slipper behind. The prince traversed the kingdom looking for the mystery girl, finally finding her in her true state, as a servant in the home of her cruel stepmother. Now, kings and queens, diplomats and noblemen from all over the realms had come to celebrate their wedding. For that day in particular, it seemed that every faery tale had converged to witness the most perfect ending to their enchanting story, to witness the most perfect faery tale of all.
A warm smile crept across my face as I studied the glass slipper twinkling in the moonlight. I had seen the princess earlier that day as she’d walked down the aisle, her entire being focused only on her charming prince. I looked at that glass case, at that symbol and celebration framed for generations to come, and an idea stared to form in the back of my mind, though it would take many years to finally give it shape.
I barely knew her, but my heart was full of happiness for Princess Ella, and when the news of her prince’s death came just five short years later, a paltry year after their coronation, my heart wept for her, as well.
Then however, standing before that slipper, I only thought of how unlike me she was being a very small, but very pretty girl. At the same time, though, we were very much alike, for she too knew what it was to have never believed in herself, to have lived so much of her life until then in someone else’s shadow.
Eight years into our marriage, King Earwyn went to his eternal rest, and Queen Edlyn followed soon after. It was with heavy and somber hearts that Arlando and I accepted the crowns of our kingdoms. Knowing how hard the double loss was for him, I suggested we head north to visit an old friend of his, who would surely have some words of comfort for a young orphan. I was a
lready pretty far along carrying Maiya, but the human world had never lost its charm for me so there was no way I was going to stay behind. Besides, thinking back to that afternoon in the sailboat, remembering the wonder on the princes’ faces when we forfeited first place to delight in my friends, remembering how Rainn how singled me out for a farewell, I felt it would be nice for me to see him again as well.
King Rainn’s palace was magnificent enough to deserve a panoramic book of its own. It sat just atop a hillside, looking very much as if it had been raised from the very earth it stood upon. A thin waterfall slid down on either side of the main gates, and their source was soon found in the enchanting streams meandering about the palace.
I hid a smile as I thought back to the day I told King Rainn about the kind of home I had been raised in. He’d heard one line about water flowing through it and created a most magnificent palace. I was awed by the extent of his imagination, which made it obvious how he could be such good friends with Arlando.
I had been very close to delivering our Sebastian when King Rainn married, so we had to miss his wedding and send a delegation in our place. The delegates had returned with fanciful tales of the new queen and her supposed ability to spin straw into gold. I’ll admit to being rather curious about Queen Emalyn, especially as I had finally filled in the missing bits of Rainn’s conversation with Arlando about holding onto extraordinary things. Arlando readily believed every word of the tales we’d heard about her, but I was a bit more skeptical.
The queen was awaiting us beside her husband atop the steps of the palace entrance when we arrived. Once our carriage rolled to a stop, Arlando jumped out and handed out each of our rowdy children before the footmen even had a chance to descend. It had been a long ride, and my condition left me a little worse for the wear, so he tried to get the children out as quickly as he could before finally handing me out as well.
We were scarcely out of the carriage before King Rainn was upon us, his hearty welcoming of us and the children a reassurance of the rightness in choosing to go there. To be honest, I had thought to visit Heinrich and Cordelia, but we had spent time with them after both funerals and it seemed like Arlando needed to get away from everything familiar and familial for a bit.
After greeting us, King Rainn wasted no time in chasing the children around the yard, his boundless enthusiasm and their delighted giggles a sure sign that I would at least get some rest during this trip as well. Partway up my slow climb to the top of the stairs, the baby started to wriggle inside me, bumping against my back so I almost gasped in pain. I grabbed Queen Emalyn’s wrist without thinking.
“Forgive me,” I apologized as soon as I noticed, “it seems the baby didn’t enjoy the journey as much as we did.”
I can’t quite describe the look that crossed Queen Emalyn’s face then. She tried to smile, but it seemed forced, and definitely didn’t reach her guarded brown eyes. I couldn’t say for certain, but she seemed nervous about something, slightly unsettled, though if it was just the noise from the children who needed to let out some of their energy or something else entirely was difficult to decipher. In all the years I knew her, she was never an easy person to read.
Arlando was beside me seconds later, seeking out the arm that wasn’t grasping hers. “Some rest?” he suggested, both to me and the queen.
“I-I-I’ll sh-show you t-to y-your rooms,” she offered.
“Thank you,” Arlando earnestly replied for the both of us.
Balancing between them, I took my chance to study the queen beside me, curious about the girl King Rainn had been so captivated with after waiting so long—an eternity by royal standards at least—to marry.
Queen Emalyn was very lovely, but in a familiar sort of way. With her long golden locks and earthy brown eyes, she was the kind of girl a soldier would be proud to have waiting for him back home. I affirmed then that the stories about her abilities couldn’t entirely be true, though the actual truth of them was beyond me. It wasn’t just the lack of purple in the queen’s eyes that made me believe this, but something else about her that gave me pause. Having grown up with magic in an enchanted kingdom, having it still in my veins, I did have some sense for magicals, and Queen Emalyn didn’t feel like one of us. There was something too…careful, too…measured and even mundane about her.
That wasn’t to say she wasn’t without her charms, most of which I was to slowly pick up on over our stay there, because she was rather shy around us and not at all forthcoming. Granted, she was a gracious hostess, but also seemed to her keep distance, though if it was just around us or the way she always was wasn’t an easy thing to tell.
I did learn she was quite a storyteller, something she revealed when she stayed back with me one afternoon to help look after Sienna and Titan while the two kings were off hunting with Tridan and Sebastian. My stomach was already too swollen to play with the children on the floor, no matter how much I wanted to. I relaxed instead on a chair and kicked off my shoes, relishing the feel of my unbound toes after a long morning.
Queen Emalyn sat at the edge of where the children played, and when they started fighting, she took them in her lap and quieted them with a story. That was the first time since we came that I saw her guard down and completely uninhibited, revealing a true layer of herself as she spun her story to the wide-eyed pleasure of the little ones.
I was grateful to her for taking control, as I was of little use then. However, it only took a few minutes of listening for me to start thinking of the only other good storyteller I knew: Bestaymor. And I’d never fully trusted her. I tried to shake away the feeling and reminded myself that Queen Emalyn was human and very different from King Trident’s proud mother.
The most curious thing that occurred was actually on our last day there. Arlando and I were supposed to be overseeing the packing while the servants were entertaining the children on a lake somewhere toward the back of the palace grounds.
It wasn’t very long that we were at work, when Arlando stilled my hands by taking them in his.
“We haven’t had much time alone in a while,” he began.
“Thank Heaven we’ve been busy chasing after children,” I replied.
“Thank Heaven,” he echoed, raising my hands and kissing each one in turn. “Still,” he continued, “we haven’t had much time.”
I sighed and rubbed my enlarged stomach. Even being ungainly all my life hadn’t prepared me for the extra weight of carrying a child. The difference, of course, was in how I loved every extra pound in my present condition, how I savored the raw beauty of the life budding inside me.
“What are you thinking?” I asked him.
“I’m thinking of a song. Just one song?” the prince suggested with a grin. “Our servants are very competent. They can finish without us.”
I smiled back at him. “Guarantee this will be taken care of in the next few hours and I’ll give you more than one song.”
The prince’s smile widened. “Challenge accepted.”
So it was that we found our way to a music room, where Arlando took up his place behind the piano. I stood just beside it as he played, one song, two songs, three, I’m not entirely sure how many. His fingers kept finding tunes to play and my voice kept singing them.
Since the night of Cordelia’s wedding, especially within the bustle of raising an ever growing family, we tried to grab moments like these together. No matter how many there were over the years, each never failed to return me to that first night when the prince persuaded me to unleash my voice over a large crowd of people. Now, I always kept my eyes on him when I sang, though I was looking past him as well. Past the walls of whatever room we were in, past palace lawns and forested paths, past mountains and villages and all the lives on land, until I once more saw my home beneath the sea and the people and life that were once mine. As Arlando merrily skipped from one melody to the next, my thoughts drifted away like a raft unmoored, lulled by the waves covering the magic and treasures only known to those chosen to li
ve beneath the surface.
All too soon, Arlando slowly wound the music down and I only realized why when I noticed Queen Emalyn watching in awe from the doorway. Having been firmly set back on land, I motioned for her to come in.
“I-I-I apologize,” she stammered, her cheeks flushing because of the moment she’d unintentionally intruded upon.
“We were just finishing,” I reassured her. I turned to my husband, “Thank you, Arlando.”
He took my hand and dropped a kiss on it as he bowed over it. When he rose, he snuck a quick one onto my cheek as well. I giggled and watched him leave, glad for the time he’d snatched up for us.
“I didn’t mean to interrupt,” Queen Emalyn was saying over my thoughts.
“You weren’t interrupting,” I insisted.
Again, I took her hand without asking and used it help lower myself onto the piano bench, as the baby had begun stirring inside of me.
“The babies always like it when I sing,” I explained, and there was little wonder why.
They may have been born as humans on land, but each one of them carried the blood of merfolk and the music of the sea within them.
“I liked it, too,” she gushed. “Your voice is…it’s magical.”
I laughed at her description, especially because she didn’t realize how close she was to the truth. My voice was magical, though the same could be said for all merfolk. There was no way even a masterful storyteller like Queen Emalyn would know, or have ever heard, of someone like me, though.
“It is a gift,” I said modestly.
Just then, the baby kicked and my hand flew to my belly. Without realizing it, I grabbed Emalyn’s hand and placed her palm over the spot. Over two hundred years later, I don’t know what possessed me to do that.
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