The Mermaid and the Heiress (A Retelling of The Little Mermaid)

Epilogue

The mermaids were assisted by unseen wires, Brook told me, to prevent accidents. We were seated before a rotating circular stage—part water, part land.

"We're meant to interpret the story," Brook had said on the ride to the theater. "There's no dialogue, but there is music. You love music."

The lively instrumentals weren't what seized my heart, however—it was their vocalizing. Although I knew my sisters would call the effort a pale imitation, I was still reminded fondly of my first home. The longing they portrayed made the performance unforgettable to me, just as Brook had predicted.

It was brilliant—the choreography, the many moving pieces, the unusual and often monstrous sea creatures. To my disbelief, the show did not go on forever, ending on a hopeful note. Applause, applause, mine perhaps the loudest.

As we left, I thanked my fiancée. No dialogue needed.

***

Just as I had many times before, I tugged Brook down with me, slowly blowing out a breath that surrounded her in a protective bubble. Inside it, her body could breathe and would be impervious to the crushing force of the deep—

The water was sucked away, swept out of the observation area. Observation area? I looked around. Wasn't this the oceanarium we once visited?

Brook held her hand to the glass, sadness in her expression. "I can have them all released."

"They're safer here, and they know it." Hadn't I already explained?

But suddenly I was frantic, slapping at the glass, stuck on the wrong side—a faceless man on the other. "You're safer here!"

A large hand took both of mine, dissolving the nightmare.

"Father."

He smiled. "I'm proud...proud..." Except his eyes were full of everything he could not change.

His hand reached up as if to cup my face, but he faded into the darkness that was his home, where I would never reach him—

I opened my eyes and glanced at the clock: hours to go until dawn. At least Roppo was in Nate's room, or my stress would've caused him to wake the whole house.

If I'd been caught before my surfacing day, might I have been stuck in such a place? Or was that simply the most optimistic outcome?

Brook pulled me closer in her sleep, as though sensing I needed it, and taking comfort in her nearness, the touch of her skin...I dreamed no more.

When the sunrise stirred me, my head felt heavier than usual. Brook stared down at me in awe.

My hands went to my hair and found...

Eyes heating, Brook said, "Now you know what you're wearing tonight: just that crown."

She explained her lack of shock as I studied it in the mirror, my cheeks flushed. Gleaming gems, every brilliant hue of the ocean.

"Sometimes I thought I saw it. At certain angles, under a certain light, or in the water. When you were really happy or angry. But I told myself it was just my imagination, because of what I knew about you..." Brook stared at me. "This is who you are. I don't think I've really been faced with that until now."

"You might as well face it," I said, staring back (the crown wasn't half as compelling as she was), "since I'm going to be your wife."

"I can't believe I'm joining your family."