“Well,” she mused over the side of the deck to her sisters, “if he was willing to forget me so easily, perhaps he doesn’t love me as much as I thought he did.”
One sister blinked. “As you said, he was enchanted.”
“This is true, but enchantments can be broken by true love. Apparently his love is not so true.”
Another sister nodded. “Then do what you must.” She swam closer to the deck, reared up on the cap of a wave and offered her tool. “Take it and return to live with us forever.”
The former mermaid nodded and accepted the knife.
A few minutes later, she realized that, even if her prince’s heart had not been true, it had at least been quite healthy. She sank her teeth into the thickness of the muscle, tasted iron on her tongue, and when it was done, she flung herself overboard --
And vanished beneath the waves with a splash and a flick of her shiny new tail.
(166 words)
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