The Voice, The Witch, and the Dark Lord

Chapter Eighteen: Ariel's "First" Human Dinner ("One Step Closer")

Carlotta gave the three their dinner platters, and Ariel opened here and saw the carcass of a dead crab. Her expression turned from joy to horror. Sebastian wasn't kidding...
Eric looked at her in concern. "You're not going to eat it?"
Ariel shook her head quickly and tried her best to say "this is a dead creature that may have been one of my friends" in sign language.
"Mind if I take it?" asked Grimsby. Ariel gave him the entire platter, and Eric looked at Ariel in confusion. "I'm so hungry, I could eat a horse!" exclaimed Grimsby.
"You're not hungry?" asked Eric.
Ariel shook her head and held her stomach. She thought she'd be sick if she ate a crab. She turned to her silver chalice that was in front of her, filled with a purple liquid. She drank it, but the taste displeased her, so she spat it out. She spat it onto the floor, remembering the pumpkin juice incident with Ron.
"Don't like wine either, huh?" asked Eric. He leaned in towards Ariel. "I don't blame you," whispered Eric. "I hate wine, too. But Grimsby prefers that I drink it, and it's better than nothing. But, hey, I don't think he'll mind if I go get you some water later."
Grimsby pulled Eric aside for a minute, and spoke to him. They conversed for a while, and Ariel watched Eric intently, though couldn't hear what they were saying.
Then, the two came back to the table and sat down. Eric turned to Ariel. "So, Grimsby wants me to take you somewhere. What do you say? Would you like to take a tour of my kingdom tomorrow?" asked Eric.
Ariel beamed and eagerly nodded her head.
"It's settled, then," said Grimsby. "I shall tell the royal horse trainer to saddle up the best horse and hook it up to the kingdom's finest carriage."
"Gee, uh, thanks," said Eric. "But we won't be needing all that fancy stuff..."
"Oh, alright," said Grimsby, waving his hand at Eric in anticipation. "Roofless carriage it is."
But Eric had stopped listening. He was staring at Ariel, admiring her beauty. Grimsby didn't notice this, but Carlotta noticed it right off the bat.
"Come along, Grimsby," said Carlotta, dragging him to the door by his arm. "Let's leave the young ones alone for a bit." As she left, she looked at Ariel, and Ariel looked at Carlotta, who gave Ariel a thumbs-up.
Eric decided to converse with Ariel. He scoffed. "You should see the princesses that Grimsby drags to dinner," said Eric. "Always so prim and proper... But you..." Eric looked at Ariel's smiling face for a moment, then decided to continue the conversation. "If you...don't mind my asking...what was it?" asked Eric, pointing to his throat, obviously implying that he was asking about her voice. Ariel's smile faded and she lifted her hand to her throat as well. "An accident when you were young?" Ariel looked down; she wanted to tell him that it was all for him. That she didn't lose her voice, she traded it away for legs. Eric noticed Ariel's depressed expression, and tried to cover it up. "No, I'm sorry, I... Who needs words, anyway? A smile can say just as much sometimes."
At this, Ariel beamed and got up, and began to prance around the Dining Hall.
"You're nimble on your feet, aren't you?" said Eric, admiring her dancing skills. "Well, dancing beats small talk any day. It's the way your legs smile. Or laugh. It lets you say so many things. Watch."
Eric took a step back, giving him enough room to demonstrate his dancing to Ariel.
He began to sing. "Dancing is a language that is felt instead of heard." He demonstrated a couple dance steps to Ariel. "You can whisper, sing, or shout without so much as a word. Try it, go on. Like so..." Eric demonstrated his moves again, and gestured for Ariel to try it, too. Ariel did her best to imitate his steps, but tripped and almost fell. She turned and walked away sadly. Eric pursued her and grabbed her arms, lifting them gently. "Just let your emotions tell your body what to do." Ariel took Eric's advice, and allowed her emotions to fill her body with a dance. Eric smiled. "See how much a single gesture can reveal, and every little step, every single step, is one step closer to saying what you feel." The two began to dance as though dancing to a waltz. Ariel allowed Eric to lead her in their dance, but also added a few of her own steps that she learned from the Yule Ball and from Harry. Something within Ariel stirred. She looked into Eric's eyes, and his eyes sparkled. Eric felt the same stirring sensation that Ariel had felt. Eric looked into Ariel's eyes, and noticed that hers sparkled as well. They slowed their dance until they were completely still, and just stood there, gazing into each other's eyes. Both of them were too in wonder to smile, but Ariel began to lean forward, as though to kiss Eric. Suddenly, a voice wafted through the air. It was Ariel's voice, but she wasn't singing herself.
Eric broke eye contact with Ariel, and the sparkle in his eyes disappeared. He looked around. "Do you...hear something?" asked Eric, looking out the window. "Excuse me, I'm sorry. It's this voice... I just can't get it out of my head..." He looked back at Ariel. "Anyway, I should let you get some sleep. Good night." He bowed respectfully, given that he was a prince, after all. Ariel imitated his bowing gesture, still not knowing how to curtsy, since Hermione and Ginny never showed her how to. Eric laughed softly and left the room.
Ariel watched him go sadly, but she only had a few seconds to herself before Carlotta came in.
"So, how did it go?" asked Carlotta, smiling.
Ariel looked at her and smiled.
Carlotta stopped smiling. "Oh, shoot! I forgot you couldn't speak." She gave herself an angry slap on the hand. "Anyway, I'll show you to your room."
Carlotta led Ariel up the stairs and down the hall, to a room that had a view of the beach beneath it. It had a bed with curtains that could be drawn around her, but Ariel chose to leave them open.
Carlotta left Ariel, so she could finish the day's work. Ariel combed her hair with a fork, which she thought was easier than using a hairbrush. Sebastian walked in before Carlotta fully closed the door.
"Oh, I have never had a more humiliating day in my life!" moaned Sebastian, walking to Ariel.
Ariel picked him up and placed him on the vanity where she had brushed her hair. She patted him on the head to show how much she appreciated him.
"Alright," said Sebastian. "But we got to get dat boy to kiss you. When you go on dat carriage ride tomorrow, you've got to look your best."
Ariel sat down on her new bed. It was even comfier than Ginny's bed at Hogwarts. She fell back against that mattress. She bounced up and down on the mattress. It felt like water, but comfier. She had never been in a water bed before in all her life. She put her head against the pillows and closed her eyes.
Sebastian continued, unaware that Ariel was not listening. "You got to bat your eyes, like dis..." Sebastian batted his eyes. "You got to pucker your lips, like dis..." He puckered his lips as well. He then looked over to Ariel and realized that she had fallen asleep.
Sebastian walked over to the candle and blew it out. "You are hopeless, child," said Sebastian, as he made a space for himself on a pillow. "Completely hopeless."