This Drowning Kingdom

Chapter 5

The first thing she did was grab clothes.

Grabbing them off some hanging line, she'd hastily thrown a few gold coins to repay the poor woman she was stealing from. Ursula hadn't bothered to give her clothes when she'd turned Ariel human, but Ariel knew enough about humans to know that clothes, especially for a sole young woman in a foreign kingdom, were essential.

Then there was the matter of walking. Her legs shook beneath her, and each step took a monumental effort—even more so now that she was dragged down by her clothing, a simple, raggedy blue dress that was worth much less than the gold she'd left behind. Picking at the hem of her skirt, Ariel frowned. Humans were so peculiar, if all of their clothing was this cumbersome. Still, she'd have to get used to the feeling of putting one foot in front of the other if she wanted to pass as a regular human. Her best bet would be to walk around the city until it became second-nature, but...

She dragged her eyes up to the sky, a blood-red in the light of the rising sun. She hadn't slept in well over twenty-four hours, not since before she'd put down the rebels yesterday morning.

Gods, had that only been yesterday?

Exhaustion pulled at her very bones and weighed down on her shoulders. Her eyes were heavy, and it took everything in her power not to collapse where she stood.

But even as the thought of sleep entered her mind, the village began to wake up.

Shutters were thrown open, men and women leaving their houses, ready to work. Fishermen crowded by the docks, dragging their bait buckets behind them. Bakers opened their shops, the smell of freshly-made bread wafting out into the streets. Ariel nearly stopped dead in her tracks as she passed one such bakery. Her stomach grumbled loudly—for as long as she hadn't slept, it had been longer still since she'd last eaten. Her mouth watered at the smell; she'd never had bread before, never had anything that wasn't approved by her aunt, and there was nobody around to monitor what she ate, when she ate.

Before she knew what she was doing, she was walking again, this time with more of a purpose. The baker's shop was small, but the early morning light shined in through the open windows and lit up the gleaming counters, casting everything in a warm glow. Ariel stared at the display cases, looking hungrily at the dozens of pastries and breads.

The baker, a tall, kind-looking man with a tidy brown beard, smiled at her from where he stood behind the counter. "Good morning, miss," he said warmly.

Ariel's gaze shot to him, her eyes widening a little. Never—not once, in nearly seventeen years of life—had someone treated her... normally. Like she wasn't a princess or a Huntress or a monster.

So Ariel smiled back and said, her voice a bit hoarse, "Good morning."

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Ariel left the bakery with an armful of boxes, each one holding no less than three pastries. By the time she walked out onto the street, the sun had fully risen and the village was teeming with life. Still a bit unsteady on her feet, Ariel did her best to avoid the careless townspeople as they passed by her.

Even the palace is never this busy when there are visitors, Ariel thought, dodging yet another absent-minded woman scolding two children with a baby strapped to her back. Ariel hastily stepped around her, hiding her grimace. Then again, we have the entirety of the sea to swim. These poor people are bound to the earth by gravity.

The same force that was still pressing down on her, she realized grimly. Her stomach grumbled again, and she knew that she would have to find somewhere to sit and eat. Luckily enough, she spotted some tables outside a clothing shop. Carefully setting the boxes down on one of them, Ariel sank onto the bench, sighing as she rested her aching feet.