Eric sat in silence, glancing up at the clock again and watching the seconds tick by. Had it really only been three minutes since he last checked the time? The meeting had started almost three hours ago, and despite being the Prince, Eric had barely spoken; leaving the council to discuss political matters and such without his input. In all honesty Eric hadn't really been listening at all; he hated these weekly meetings. The council members all thought they were a head and shoulders above everyone else in the room, spouting views that made Eric wonder how it was that they came to acquire their roles. In fact, there were very few people in the room who Eric could tolerate. Pompous upperclassmen is how Grimsby had once described them.

However, it was expected of a Prince to listen to his council and consider their ideas, and so, with reluctance, Eric returned his attention to the current speaker.

"The cut-backs on fishing is ruining our economy, this Kingdom's income has plummeted over the past six months! The fishermen aren't earning nearly as much as they used to because their catches have halved in size, it can't go on!"

Eric rolled his eyes subtly; this had been an ongoing discussion since Ariel joined him on land.

With the aquatic life around the shores of Eric's Kingdom being residents of Atlantica, Eric had held meetings with King Triton to discuss what ought to be done with regards to fishing and come to some sort of middle ground. King Triton understood that Eric's people depended on sea life for food and knew that it was an important source of income for the Kingdom; and Eric knew that it would not only be disrespectful, but also upsetting to Ariel if his people were to kill any creature she knew. Eventually it was agreed that the fishermen would continue to fish, but were only permitted to do so in designated areas, clearly indicated. The first mile from the coast was a 'safe zone' and any fishermen were required to pass it before dropping their nets.

For months now it had worked without any major controversy, yet the council still refused to drop the subject. Eric knew it was a huge change, but he had no intentions of reverting back to the way things were before he met Ariel. The Prince had new priorities now.

"Eric I've said it before and I'll say it again, this new system isn't working."

All eyes around the table turned to the eighteen year old Prince.

"I'm not sure that's entirely true," he replied. "The fishermen may be earning less and the Kingdom's income may have decreased, but we're managing just fine. There haven't been any complaints for months, everybody's settled."

"Be that as it may Eric, but you must consider the effect this will have in the future."

The Prince sighed. The council was unaware of Ariel's past life as a mermaid, the only people who knew the truth other than he and Ariel were Carlotta and Grimsby. The couple were planning to make that revelation in the future when they married; but it meant that Eric had been forced to back up his reason for restricting fishing with lies. He had claimed that certain species of fish were rapidly declining, and therefore certain areas must be avoided in order to preserve life. This had sparked arguments of course, but Eric had stood his ground firmly, determined to honour the wishes of his love and her father out of respect and decency.

"The effect this will have of future generations will be positive, I have no doubt about that. Preserving marine life will allow us to continue fishing for longer without having to worry about certain species going extinct near our shores" he said firmly. Each and every man at the table merely stared at him.

"Eric… it's not just this issue that we've been concerned about; you've made quite a few controversial decisions over the past few months, and you certainly haven't been dedicating enough time to your duties as ruler. Are you sure you know what you're doing? Might this all be a bit beyond your capabilities?"

From beside Eric, Grimsby rose to his feet, having heard just about enough from the rest of the council. He began talking, but Eric blocked him out. He knew that he didn't have the full support of the council; he'd known that for some time. Ever since the death of his parents he'd been seen by the council as inferior, simply because he was so much younger than them, and every monarch before him. They never seemed to miss an opportunity to reproach him. Grimsby always tried to stand up for him, and Eric appreciated it, but the old man was fighting a losing battle.

"Grim, that's enough" he said calmly, rising to his feet and immediately silencing every man in the room. "There's no point in arguing."

"What, Eric what are you talking about?" asked Grimsby, shocked that Eric would be so willing to sit back and let the men around him talk in such a manner. It was then that he noticed the sadness in Eric's eyes, and reached up to put a comforting hand on the young Prince's shoulder, though Eric left the table before he could reach him and declared the meeting finished.

"Eric I'm not sure you can do that" spoke one member of the council, Villads Jørgensen, standing up.

"I think you'll find that I can" replied Eric, shooting Jørgensen a cold look, though it lacked intensity due to the tears in his eyes; tears that seemed to go unnoticed by all those except Grimsby. In only a matter of seconds Eric had left the room as Grimsby scurried after him, leaving behind the council to mutter disapprovingly.

Grimsby knew how hard that sort of talk hit Eric, and he knew just how hard the boy was trying, having had so much thrown at him over the years. The last year had been especially difficult, for he'd been desperately trying to juggle his duties to the Kingdom with his love for Ariel without neglecting either. The boy had resulted to spending the day with his love, and working only once she retired to bed. As a result the eighteen year old had spent very little time sleeping, exhausting himself sometimes to the point of collapse. He'd succeeded in worrying not only Grimsby, but Carlotta and Ariel too.

Sometimes Grimsby wondered if the council were doing it deliberately, trying to test his limits, and prove that Eric was as incapable as they claimed he was. But Grimsby knew better, and in his eyes, Eric was doing brilliantly.

He caught up to the Prince as he descended the steps to the town hall where these meetings were held and called out to the young Prince, causing him to stop in his tracks an turn around slowly.

Eric managed a small smile towards his advisor, but avoided eye contact.

"Are you alright?" continued Grimsby, hating to think that Eric was upset.

Eric nodded, and glanced to the waiting carriage that would take the two of them back to the Palace, before turning back to the man who had raised him.

"You go back," he said, "I'm going to walk. I just… I… I need to clear my head."

Grimsby nodded understandingly. The walk back wasn't far, and he knew the fresh air and quiet would do Eric good.

"If you're sure?" he said, wary that the other members of council would be making their way out soon. Again Eric nodded, and strode away quickly when he noticed the council beginning to filter out of the town hall. With reluctance, Grimsby stepped up into the carriage, wishing that there was more he could do to help, and left Eric to walk back through the town.

Eric knew that it wouldn't take long to get home, but he intended to delay his return as long as possible. It was rare that he got time to himself nowadays; not that that was what he wanted exactly. But sometimes he was run up against his limit and he would hate for Ariel to see him loose control of his emotions. She was meant to feel safe with him, and as much as Eric was sure that she'd be nothing but comforting, he didn't want her to see him like that, not if he could help it.

The Prince stopped at the seafront and looked out across the ocean. The sun shone close to the horizon, painting the clear surface with streaks of orange. The last of the days light rested upon the bare skin of his arms, warming him on what was otherwise quite a chilly evening. Long shadows reached out to him, created not a sense of fear, as they often did in the storybooks he'd read as a child, but rather the gentle welcome of nature's embrace. And despite everything that was going on at the moment, the sun would rise in the morning, and set a night, painting the sky orange, and bringing with it a sort of comfort that reminded him very much of his mother and Carlotta, and the loving way in which they had raised him.

With a contempt sigh, Eric began his walk along the edge of town, where grey cobblestones made way for yellow sands. The threshold where Eric could escape the dullness of council meetings, and spend his time at a location which made him happy for so many reasons. He remembered playing on the beach with his mother when he was only a child, building sandcastles and jumping the waves, completely oblivious to the fact that his father was hard at work whilst he was enjoying himself. And even more oblivious to the fact that he would one day take his place. That all seemed such a long time ago now.

He remembered chasing Max across those yellow sands when he had received him for his twelfth birthday. A present from Grimsby and Carlotta after they had noticed him becoming quite lonesome. The first time he'd beat the sheepdog in a race he'd felt so proud of himself, when in reality, the only reason he'd won was because Max had stopped half way to follow the scent of a seagull.

And finally, he remembered meeting Ariel, the woman he would soon marry. The one person who could make him feel complete happiness with only a glance. The beach would always remind him of her, for not only was it upon the very beach he now walked beside that the two met, but also where they shared their first kiss. A moment which made Eric smile even thinking about it now.

Turning back into town, Eric noticed that he was headed towards the fish market, an event which he had so far succeeded in keeping Ariel away from, wanting to spare her the sight of the red blood of marine life.

The friendly chatter of the market immediately caught Eric's attention. It was less than an hour until the stalls closed, but there crowds of people remained, bustling around in an attempt to find something for their evening meal. There was laughter in every conversation, and it was at that moment that Eric realised something.

The council was wrong.

There may have been changes towards the Kingdom's economy, but that didn't mean that the people were unhappy, or unable to make a living. On every face Eric saw a smile, there was no anger at the reduced sales of sea life, and there seemed to be very little danger of that changing any time soon. All things taken into account, Eric really wasn't doing that bad; or at least not as badly as the council claimed he was.

For his entire life, Eric had been subconsciously degrading himself, letting the comments of others get to him far too easily to the point where his confidence had dropped far below that of any other monarch before him. But looking around now, he came to the realisation that, as much as he doubted himself, things could be a lot worse.

The corners of his mouth turned up into a smile, dimples showing as a result, as he came out the other end of the market, coming to the town centre marked by a simple water fountain.

Sat on the edge of the fountain was a young girl and her grandmother, weaving purple pansies through each other's hair. The girl glanced up and locked eyes with the Prince, immediately shying away with an unmistakeable element of uncertainty. That in itself wasn't uncommon, most people in the Kingdom called Eric by his name, whereas other's addressed him as his status commanded they did, the former being the one which the young Prince preferred. This often meant that some people were unsure as to how they ought to greet him; but he wanted to put an end to that, for he really didn't mind how people greeted him, he was just happy to have someone to talk to. He offered the young girl a friendly smile and a small wave, causing her to smile as well and wave back. Her grandmother smiled as well, and appeared to whisper something to the child. Only a second later, the girl hopped down from the fountain and walked timidly over to Eric, holding out a single pansy as soon as she was close enough. Eric crouched down to her level.

"Thank you very much" he said softly, taking the flower.

The girl bobbed a quick curtsy before scurrying back to her grandmother, leaving Eric to admire the simple yet beautiful gift before heading back towards his home.

He arrived at the doors to the palace feeling refreshed and, more importantly, happy, perhaps even slightly proud of himself for being able to see past the opinions of those who doubted him. After seeing just how contempt his citizens were, Eric was no longer dreading next week's meeting; instead, he would arrive with a positive attitude, ready to listen and to consider any ideas that the council had. There was still a long way to go before he gained their complete trust, but that was to be expected, for now, he decided, he would take each day as it came, and appreciate what he had.

Swinging the doors open, he was greeted by the sight of his fiancée, who immediately came rushing towards him.

"Eric, are you alright? Grimsby told us what happened" said Ariel, her eyes full of worry as she took Eric's hands in her own smaller ones. Eric was certain he could stare into those eyes forever. Deep blue, the colour of the sea, a colour which calmed him no matter what form it came in. Each morning he would wake to those eyes and feel as though he were floating. She had that effect on him. The ability to take the weight off his shoulders in an instant.

He let go of one of her hands, and pulled the pansy from his pocked, sliding the stem into the hair just above her ear and causing her to giggle; something which, in turn, brought a smile to Eric's face.

"I'm fine," he replied, gently caressing Ariel's cheek, "I've never been better."

Ariel seemed surprised at first, though happily so, and leant in to those gentle touches that brought about a warmth like no other, and always seemed to leave her feeling slightly dazed.

The Princess lifted herself up into her tiptoes and pressed her lips against Eric's cheek, pulling back with a wide smile across her face. A smile which, in Eric's opinion, lit the whole world, and added to her radiant beauty. Of course, she would always just blush and look away, insisting that he always said such things. If she didn't listen to words, perhaps she would listen to actions.

Eric cupped Ariel's face in his hands, lowering his head until their lips met, and wrapping his arms around her in a loving and protective embrace. She returned the action with equal passion, savouring the taste of Eric's lips against her own, and the way that he held her with such care.

Whatever he'd done on his way home had obviously worked wonders, and for that Ariel was glad. She hated to think that something was upsetting Eric, and hated even more that members of his own council weren't giving him a fair chance. But he was dealing with it wonderfully, and she was so proud of him for that and made every effort to ensure that he knew that.

"Dinner, you two!"

Carlotta's call caused the two of them to break apart, and they shared a knowing look. Eric held out his hand, which Ariel took without a moment of hesitation, intertwining their fingers like pieces of a puzzle as they strode merrily towards the dining room.

Eric thought back to the meeting that he had been sat in just a little over an hour ago, and how different his mood had been then compared to what it was now. How he could go from being on the verge of tears to feeling so elated in such a short space of time was something which Ariel's presence had helped him master. He owed so much to his little mermaid, and although he had said it a million times before, it would never be enough.

"I love you" he said, giving Ariel's hand a quick squeeze. He didn't have to look round to know that she was smiling, and the words that came from her lips next never failed to bring a smile to his own face.

"I love you too."