Small Twists of Fate

Chapter Thirty Seven

Eric stared in shock as Ariel rushed through the door, his wife having come back from her trip to the Isle. Clearly, whatever she had talked about with Lord Hades had worked as the weather had cleared up instantly from the wintry spring it had been when she'd left.

"Is...is everything okay?" Eric asked but Ariel didn't answer. Not at first. All she did was gently scoop their daughter up into her arms and held her as close as possible. Had it been anyone else, Eric would have worried Elle was in danger of being smothered.

"Ariel?"

"Hmm?"

"Is everything okay?" Eric asked once more after a few minutes had gone by and Ariel had yet to say a thing. "What happened on the Isle? Did Lord Hades tell you what might be bothering Lady Persephone?"

Ariel sighed and looked at Eric. "He did."

"And?"

"I...Eric, it was Mali," Ariel said, her voice soft. "Maleficent...she'd kidnapped her."

Eric stared in shock. "What?!"

"I was just as shocked as you," Ariel nodded, still holding Elle close to her. "Thankfully we were able to get her back."

"We? Ariel, did you...did you go on the rescue mission?"

"Oh! No, I stayed with Uncle Hades," Ariel told him. "Cassandra, Hercules, and Lance were able to get Mali and rescue her from Maleficent's clutches."

Eric sighed in relief. "Okay, good. I mean, not that I don't think you could have done it but..."

"But you feel better knowing I was safe rather than in danger?" Ariel ventured a guess.

"You know me so well."

"Well, we are married," Ariel teased, walking over and gently kissing her husband's cheek. Eric smiled and returned the favor before he walked over to a nearby chair and sat down.

"So how was it?"

"Eric?"

"The Isle, I mean," Eric elaborated. "I mean, I assume you saw it and I just...I thought maybe it'd make sense if we talked about it. You know, see if anything needs updating or if they need any supplies. I know the Isle's a prison but they're still our subjects."

Ariel sighed and gently put Elle back in her crib before turning to face her husband.

"That bad huh?" Eric asked.

"I didn't even say anything," Ariel told him.

Eric shook his head. "Ariel, we've been married how long? I may not be able to read minds through the Olympian mind link but I can read your face."

Ariel sighed. "Oh Eric...I just don't understand how it could have gotten so bad. From what Uncle Hades told me after we got Mali back, the food issues have been going rampant. It hasn't been great but ever since we had Elle, the quality's drastically declined. There have even been small stampedes at the food barge now."

"What?" Eric gasped.

Ariel nodded and went into her husband's arms. "Thankfully they're not enough to increase the workload for Uncle Hades, death wise, but they're still alarming."

"Grimsby never said anything about there being issues with the food to the Isle," Eric said and shook his head. "I can't believe I missed this."

"Eric, we missed it," Ariel said as she rested her head on his shoulder. "We're ruling the kingdom after all."

"Ariel, we took time off so we could look after our daughter and I will never apologize for that but this should have been something brought to our attention," Eric said. "I need to talk to Grimsby."