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And he thought that Ursula had her vengeance after all, because he was about to turn someone he loved deeply into the thing he most hated.
A human.
Circe was sitting near Tulip’s bed, watching her as she slept. She checked to be sure Tulip wasn’t wearing anything unusual that could have cast the sleeping spell, and came to the conclusion that one of the many witches under that roof must have cast the spell, and Circe was unable to break it. She wished she knew what had happened while she was held captive by Ursula. But much of it remained a mystery while Nanny and the sisters were still unconscious. Circe was sitting there holding Tulip’s hand, feeling helpless and alone, when she saw a magnificent rainbow soar through the sky over a beautiful ship. The scene sent a surge of joy through her heart, but she didn’t know why.
“It’s a wedding ship, dear, that’s why.”
Circe looked up and saw Nanny and Pflanze standing in the doorway.
“Nanny! What’s happened?”
Nanny sighed in relief that Circe was safe and their sacrifice hadn’t been in vain.
“What sacrifice? Not Tulip?”
Nanny smiled weakly. “No, dear. Tulip will be fine. I can wake her whenever I wish.”
And then Circe knew. There was something terribly wrong with her sisters. “Yes, my dear. To reverse magic so embedded with hate took great strength. I’m astonished your sisters survived the ordeal.”
Circe now understood why Ursula had felt her own magic was being leveled against her.
“I don’t understand. What magic needed reversing? Why would my sisters…” And then she understood. They had done it to release her from Ursula’s garden.
“Come, my darling, we should see the wedding ship off, and then we shall have some tea and Nanny will tell you everything.”
Nanny could hear Circe’s thoughts, her confusion, and the myriad questions weighing upon her.
“After you’ve heard my story, you will be glad you saw the happy couple off to live their life together. Trust me, my dear. Nanny knows your heart almost as well as you do.”
Two witches, divergent in age and in schools of magic, though with very similar hearts and sensibilities, stood on the windy cliffs as they watched Ariel and Eric’s wedding ship sail off into the future. Ariel was happier than she had ever been. She was venturing into an entirely new world with the man she loved. She would finally dance, and run, and know what it was to live and love as she had always imagined.
“My sisters stopped Ursula from killing this girl?”
Nanny decided the simplest answer was best.
“Yes, my dear, they did. Your sisters saved us all.”
Circe thought Nanny was right: perhaps in the retelling of the tale she would find pleasure in the little mermaid’s story, and she would be happy that Ariel’s wish to become human and marry her prince came true. But for now she could only think of her sisters and of Pflanze sitting beside them, watching silently with fearful eyes, waiting and wishing for her mistresses to wake from their deathlike sleep.
Then a shiver came over Nanny and Circe, a tingling sensation at the backs of their necks that told them someone was coming.
A witch.
A powerful witch. But neither could make out her intentions.
THE END
