Beautiful to Me Read online

  Contents

  End of Ever After Novels

  Ever After

  Tales of Merdom

  Swimming in Circles

  Up the Creek Without a Tail

  The First Attempt

  Hedges

  Lullabies

  The Frogling

  Spots and Wits

  Seeking Extraordinary

  Run Aground

  Mooring

  The Last Attempt

  After Ever After

  HUMAN AGAIN

  Acknowledgments

  Thank You For Reading

  About the Author

  Also by E. L. Tenenbaum

  BEAUTIFUL TO ME

  Copyright © 2019 by E. L. Tenenbaum

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  ISBN: 978-1-68046-751-2

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  Fire & Ice Young Adult Books

  An Imprint of Melange Books, LLC

  White Bear Lake, MN 55110

  www.fireandiceya.com

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  Names, characters, and incidents depicted in this book are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental and beyond the intent of the author or the publisher. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a book review or scholarly journal.

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  Published in the United States of America.

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  Cover Design by Caroline Andrus

  End of Ever After Novels

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  End of Ever After

  Lies of Golden Straw

  Beautiful to Me

  Human Again (January 2020)

  Heart of a Hunter (Spring 2020)

  LH”U

  Ever After

  Once upon a time, I would not have found wonder in an idyllic snowcapped mountain range or beauty in the colors of the sky watching the sun set from land.

  For I once lived in the enchanted kingdom of the sea where the sand glistens a deep cobalt blue and the surface most often ripples from flying fish and leaping dolphins. Though all waters are his domain and all creatures who dwell therein his subjects, there is a center of the underwater world where the Sea King built the castle he calls home.

  Tales passed down through generations on land have tried to describe it, a silly notion at best as no human eye has ever seen it. None have seen the height of the coral walls, the tall amber windows, the glittering clamshells that open with the undulation of the waves above to spare a tantalizing glimpse of a luminescent pearl before snapping shut again. None have seen the vibrant colors of the ocean floor, the blue tinging golden-yellow tails a greenish hue, where the boldest and brightest of soft coral sway among a dazzling array of passing schools of fish. None have set sight on the rainbow of merfolk who sing and dance, celebrate and thrive, deep within the sea.

  None, that is, but me. And though I have not seen my true home for so very long a while, I picture it clearly still. The heart, it would seem, does not always forget.

  It’s been almost three hundred years, and though the ruling member of my human family may visit me once or twice a year, though I’ve traveled around the world and then some, it is a long time to be alone. One family of servants tends me, the secret of my life and identity passed from mother to daughter until the day I no longer need their care. As far as most others know, I’m already resting for eternity beside my husband instead of living in a small cottage nestled in the rocky cliffs washed by towering waves early each morning. Through the backdoor is a staircase that steps straight into the sea, much like the one that adorned the terrace of a palace I once called home.

  My days are almost at an end; I know because of how the sea now calls to me. In every sunrise, the splash of the waves hints at the day I will leave the shore with them, when I will become part of them. In the moonlight, the shimmering of the water beckons me home, my true home, that wonderful, magical kingdom in the sea.

  Before I answer its call, however, I am compelled to leave an account of my time on land, to honestly tell of how I went from an overlooked mermaid in the castle of the Sea King to the queen of a prosperous maritime kingdom. Claims need to be addressed, rumors need be put to rest, and a truth needs to be told.

  In close to three centuries, I have heard many versions of the story about a young mermaid, a girl who wanted so much to be human, to have an immortal soul, she traded her tongue for a pair of human legs and the chance to live a human life. Over the years, the endings have varied. Some say she threw herself into the ocean and became part of the sea, others insist she still lives as a Daughter of the Air—a faery—and recently a new thought believes she gained her happily ever after in marriage to her beloved prince.

  None of those versions is accurate. Time and telling have twisted the truth, warping it to create something pretty but almost unrecognizable to the people who lived through it, especially because very few would have admitted to believing in mermaids then, certainly not as the two young foundlings living in the palace.

  I know because I was one of them.

  So before I leave this earth, I will set everything down as best I can, well as I can remember it. Not just for me, for her, too.

  The other mermaid. The one who died. The princess. Sienna.

  But to tell her story, and consequently mine as well, some things need be known to understand what occurred.

  To start, Sienna was the youngest of the Sea King’s six daughters. She had long flaming red hair, bright blue eyes, and an enviable figure. Everyone she met thought her the most beautiful creature they’d ever seen. Everyone was right.

  Next, the sea witch was never killed, but lives still, happily I presume, in her lair tucked into the shadows of the ocean. She isn’t called witch to her face, but by her given name, Tatiana. She has an important role in the enchanted kingdom, maintaining a significant balance of power as the night to King Trident’s day, the dark to King Trident’s light. She is not a cruel woman, but her blunt honesty and shrewd mind make her cold.

  Plus, Sienna struck a bargain with the sea witch to become human in hopes of winning a prince’s heart, just as he’d accidentally won hers so completely the moment she spotted him on his ship. It didn’t end well for her. The prince fell in love with and married another woman, the one who saved him from drowning that infamously fateful night.

  In short, my name is Ariel, and I was that other woman.

  Tales of Merdom

  Sienna’s father was the powerful King Trident, and life under his reign in the enchanted underwater kingdom of Merdom was good, good enough that the thought of leaving never occurred to anyone. There was simply no need. All merfolk needed to be happy was right at our finger—and tail—tips. There was plenty of food, beautiful music—no land music I’ve heard could possibly compare—and merfolk ruled the oceans and seas since the Shark Wars ended thousands of years ago. We could talk to any sea creature, from plankton to stingrays, dolphins to crabs, and they would do our bidding.

  So the thought of going to a place where not all was perfect, where the animals and elements didn’t obey their masters, where the land often rebelled against its inhabitants, was so far-fetched as to be ludicrous. We didn’t even make up stories about such a ridiculous thing, as merfolk couldn’t relate to it.

  King Trident’s daughter defied all that.

  There was always something different about Sienna, something that separated her from the rest of us, so it really shouldn’t have shocked anyone when she did w
hat no merfolk ever would. Considering what happened to her in the end, no one would ever dare do so again either. After all, merfolk are happy to live out their long years in their home in the sea. Why ruin it for a shortened, uncertain life on land and a pair of awkward human legs?

  Living underwater allows for one of the most peaceful existences, everything is much quieter, and creatures don’t rush about as they do above it. Down there, safe within cities and settlements protected with merfolk magic, everyone has time, and everyone is friendly. The rest is simply familiar, unchanging, ordered, and yes, magical. Living in the sea, especially so deep, has other advantages as well. For the most part, the weather never changes, the water is usually calm, and when the surface is tranquil and clear, the heavenly constellations are visible from just beneath it. Beautiful, peaceful, faultless, an unrelatable existence for people on land.

  Such details are important to note because Sienna was willing to give it all up on a gamble that cost her more than it was worth. To her, at least.

  A mermaid’s life isn’t entirely perfect, but it’s as close as anyone’s will ever be. True, because merfolk live so long, those of us living in the capital, and other populous cities, were only permitted to have one child at a time. A couple could ask for an exception to have another child once the first was fully grown, but it was rare. True, there’s an entire world on land they have no part in outside of a few curious glances, but it’s also true that most of us never cared for anything more. Humans lived in a world outside of and removed from our own, and we preferred to leave it as such. We didn’t feel a need to leave our perfect paradise for an imperfect world, only Sienna.

  King Trident had six daughters and no queen because each daughter was from a different wife, none of whom he was willing to share his crown with. A pretty shrewd move on his part, though he still had no son despite ignoring the birth limit law. Perhaps, as conciliation, his six daughters, all beautiful, all with long voluminous hair, were appointed the six magistrates of the King’s High Court, which, when viewed through the right lens of humor, could be the source of hours of entertainment. No one dared say it aloud, and perhaps most didn’t even realize the distinction, but the sisters were celebrated as the most beautiful, not smartest, creatures in the sea.

  For example, a case I witnessed with two litigants claiming ownership over a small mound of glittering clamshells.

  “It is clear,” one sister announced after all evidence was examined, “litigant A is the owner of the disputed shells.”

  “As clearly as you can see the owner of that pearl bracelet you’re wearing?” the sister across from her retorted.

  “As clearly as she sees how that hairstyle ages you,” the sister beside her interjected.

  Unintelligible bickering followed, cut through by the king’s bored voice. “Daughters, please, attend to the matter at hand.”

  The sisters decided the case and, to my surprise, I think they ruled justly. However, such trivialities often found their way into the High Court.

  In fairness to them, once they were old enough to attend the secret yearly conclave of magicals—to which each magical species sent representatives, be they of sea or land or sky—along with King Trident and his carefully selected delegates, my father among them, they were said to requite themselves rather beautifully. I don’t know that they accomplished much in the terms of new treaties and agreements and decisions affecting the behaviors of magicals, but Father often lauded how they successfully charmed all they met. Which was a great help to King Trident over the years if faeries, for example, complained that too many humans had been misplaced by a particularly large wave or certain islands stayed flooded too long after storms abated. Simple matters were also discussed, such as regions suffering too many shark attacks or a shortage of lobsters or too many lost ships, and the like.

  I know about all this, perhaps more than most others, because my parents were powerful nobles of the king’s court, though without any real property titles, I’m not entirely certain how anyone attainted status under King Trident. Maybe His Majesty just liked them more than others. Either way, it meant we spent much of our time at the castle, and I was left to trail after the princesses, particularly Sienna, who was but two months older than I, which thereby rendered me a suitable playmate for her. She, however, ignored me completely.

  One day, when we were about six, Sienna paused long enough in her swimming away from me to ask if I would like to play a game. I, flattered to bits that she wanted to play with me, immediately said yes.

  “The game we will play is called hide and seek,” she announced. “Have you heard of it before?”

  I shook my head solemnly. With whom was I supposed to play games? Sienna was ostensibly my one friend at the castle. If she shut me out, I could only swim about in circles until the day was done. I would listen in on the High Court sometimes, but that wasn’t until I was older.

  “It’s rather simple,” Sienna explained, not needing to add the implied even for you. “One hides and the other must find her. No matter what, you can’t leave your spot until you’re found. Do you understand?”

  I nodded eagerly.

  “I’ll hide first. Close your eyes and count to twenty out loud,” Sienna instructed. “Then you may search for me.”

  I did as instructed and listened blindly to her tail slice the water as she swam away to hide. When I finished my careful counting, I lowered my hands and eagerly began to seek her out. We hadn’t set boundaries for where we could hide, but I suspected she hadn’t gone too far in the little time she had to find a suitable spot.

  It didn’t take long to find her, wedged into a space between an open clam shell seat and amber castle window. She seemed pleased that I had found her so quickly, and I’ll admit to being rather proud of having caught onto the game so well. I foolishly hoped Sienna would see how smart this proved I was and want to really be my friend because of it.

  At that age, she would prove to be far smarter than I.

  It was my turn to hide, and momentary panic set in as I wondered where I could go in twenty seconds that would be both clever and not overly hard to find. I finally settled on a small alcove along the wall, more of a little dent I’d only noticed about three months before despite having lived six years in the castle. It was set right after a turn, missed by so many because of the shadows thrown over it from the light that couldn’t quite reach its angle.

  I tucked myself in and listened to Sienna finish counting. I heard her tail swish as she began her search of me. I waited with bated breath expecting her red-ringlet-framed face to appear around the bend at any minute. I waited and waited, but she did not come.

  After what seemed a very long time, I began to fear my hiding place was a little too good. Still, I wouldn’t budge, not even to peek around the corner and check how close she was. The princess had told me not to move and I would not break the rules, especially right after she had finally seen fit to include me in her fun.

  So I waited and waited some more.

  My tail was tired, and my arms hurt from slumping forward to allow my body to cram into so small a space.

  Still I waited.

  I only knew how much time had passed when I heard the conch shell sounding the notes for dinner.

  Still, I waited.

  I didn’t leave my spot until I heard my mother, the great duchess herself, calling for me. After some hesitation, after some consideration, I finally swam out from my hiding place.

  Mother smiled when she saw me. “You must’ve had quite a day to be so late for dinner!”

  I was never late for any meal, and not just because I was a good, rule-abiding mermaid.

  Confused, I followed after her into the dining hall where Princess Sienna innocently sat with the rest of her sisters at the royal table. I couldn’t take my eyes off her, chatting and laughing and joking, making it clear it wasn’t my hiding place that had been hard to find but her decency.

  When Sienna finally acknowledged someone�
�s eyes were upon her, she looked up to catch me staring, exchanging my questioning glare for a blank one, my burning question of why? with silence.

  Still, even after I was first treated to glimpses of the indisputable truth of her character, I continued to swim after Sienna and her sisters, because I was supposed to be her playmate and I always did what I was told. I also wanted a friend badly enough to keep chasing after her, never once understanding that her avoidance was a glaring sign that she would never accept me as an equal. No matter how long or how far I chased her, even across the ocean and onto dry land itself, she never noticed me in her wake.

  Thinking on those early years, of the way I was always left behind and never considered good enough, I no longer wonder at how I always had such a hard time accepting myself. And it would be a good while until I met someone who would show me how.

  There was also a limit as to how much I could follow after the princesses. At best, they didn’t want me around. At worst, they squeezed past and into places I couldn’t, because from all the merfolk who ever were, I had the one trait no one else had.

  I was fat. Well, relatively fat. For a mermaid, that is.

  No one would look twice on land where inhabitants come in all shapes, colors, and sizes, but under the sea, where all merfolk are finely sculpted and very beautiful, it was noticed. For years, I endured whispered snickers, not always behind my back, calling me the spawn of whales and manatees. If my face hadn’t so much resembled my parents’, if I wasn’t so much a mermaid, then I may have believed it myself. I heard it often enough to consider it truth, even if it is impossible. There’s no cross-breeding in the ocean.