Wishing Upon Dandelions

Chapter 20

~Chapter 20~

I looked both ways of the hallway before swimming out and towards the open balcony. Peering down, I saw no one there and frowned. This is too easy. But, not wanting this opportunity to escape, I jumped down from the balcony and landed on the bottom with a small thud.

Now what? I don't even know where the hideaway is.

"And where do you think you're going, pretty lady?" A voice behind me called out. Fudge, I'm caught!

"Just getting fresh air," I replied and turned around to face a guard. He was tall. Well, of course he was tall, everyone's taller than I am.

I stared at his face. Something's not right...why is it red?

"Well, why don't you come back inside the palace with me?" He asked, smiling way too broadly. Red flags were raised as I caught a whiff of his breath.

"I can manage, thanks!" I responded, overly sweet. Then I went out of his way quickly, swimming upwards to aim for that balcony again. He grabbed my retreating tail and slammed my body down on the ground. What the hell? Then he jumped on top of me and pinned me there.

Guessing that he was...aroused, since his tail disappeared into legs and the surrounding water became an oxygenated area, my eyes widened in horror. I screamed for help and begged him to get off me while he did his thing.

Just kidding, this is not some stupid cliche book where the damsel in distress is basically helpless. I rolled my eyes at him, but he seemed not to see and swooped his head in, aiming for-

I stuck my tail up and kicked in between his legs. He tucked into himself, letting go of my arms and I took the moment to punch his. His tail reappeared and recovering quite quickly, his fist rushed towards my face.

His attack became a slow motion movie, but my actions seem to be normal. Whatever, I can use whatever advantage I have. I quickly moved away from his attack and knocked him out by bringing my hand down on the side of his head.

Seeing him fall on the ground, unconscious brought a victorious smile on my lips. Take that. But since I obviously had no plans on how to go back to the hideaway, I swam back to the balcony. To my disappointment, Father was standing near the railing calmly.

"Good job, Lei." My eyebrows raised.

"So you were there all along, and watched me almost get raped? Yeah, good job being the crappiest Dad ever," I replied as calmly as possible.

"You clearly had everything worked out. If the scene at the throne room said anything," he said. "And it was a test from me. It has been a month, and I had doubted you would be escaping. Nonetheless, I left this balcony open to see what you would do, when given the opportunity to escape."

I restrained myself from lunging at him. I replayed his words in my mind. Has it really been a month? It felt like a day... Did the mermaid palace have a different time setting? But it would make sense; anything was possible within this realm. I needed a new plan. Dammit, escaping is easy, but going from there? No plan developed yet.

"Alright. Well you have a good day Father! I'm gonna go to my room and sleep now! Bye!" I sang horribly and swam to my room before he could say anything. Plan, plan, plan. How the hell am I supposed to find a way to go back to the hideaway?

I flopped on my bed and closed my eyes, trying to picture out the pathway I went through from being in the hideaway to the palace. All I remembered was darkness. I rolled over on my bed in annoyance and snapped my eyes open, only to jump back and lifting from the mattress to get in a fighting stance.