Two worlds

Chapter 7

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THIRD PERSON POV
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Elizabeth now sat before her mother, the guards had left them but Elizabeth still felt as though she was restrained, because she couldn't move with her mother's stern face set on her.
It was quiet for a long time as her mother seemed to opt for a kind of silence treatment, perhaps trying to make Elizabeth regret her actions.
But she didn't regret a thing, and she made sure that her mother could see that upon her face, so finally the silence treatment came to an end with a deep sigh from her mother.

"I gave you options Elizabeth" her mother started and Elizabeth sensed that she was about to get a scolding like no other.
"It was so easy, all you had to do was do as I said and everything could've stayed as it was!"

Elizabeth squirmed a bit on the floor, unsure  and unease as she wondered what her mother's words meant.
If that kind of life couldn't continue, then what was in store for her?
What had her mother planned as her punishment. She didn't dare ask and instead sat and listened to her mother's scolding for what seemed like hours. It probably was.

Her mother seemed so eratic, and finally she slipped up.
"You simply don't understand humans true nature!" Her mother told Elizabeth with raised voice, and now Elizabeth finally found the strengt to look her mother in the eyes. Looking at her with a sense of wonder and betrayal.

"You know they're real.." Elizabeth whispered, more to herself than her mother as she tried to make sense of her mother's lies.
"You knew..."

"Yes of course I did!" Her voice hissed at her as if she was stupid for finding out this late, but then she sighed and rubbed her temples. "When I was your age the merpeople and humans worked together" her mother said as her voice turned sad.
Elizabeth listened closely, still shocked by her mother's knowledge of the situation, and now shocked to know of the past.
"We would help them gather fish, and they would help us in whatever small things you could. We thought it was great. But then our people began to disappear"

Elizabeth had always known that her mother was the queen of the oceans, practically a goddess. She had lived much longer than any other mermaid, so she probably spoke of a time long passed.

"The humans took them" her mother continued. "For their beautiful scales which they'd make jewelry of , for showing off, anything you can imagine. To humans we are more of a trophy than living beings Elizabeth!"

Elizabeth's fears of her mother's wrath evaporated, taken over by a beer to defend her human friend.
She raised herself up from the ground and clenched her fists by her side. "Meliodas isn't like that!"
She had never spoken that way to her mother before, but as she did she felt nothing than a bones deep sense of relief.
"Meliodas has been nothing but kind and understanding towards me and our culture! He listens to me when I'm down and then tries to make me feel better, makes me feel like I'm enough!" Elizabeth spoke, and poured her heart into every word, it left her mother squinting her eyes at her daughter.
"I understand why you feel like you do mother, but you have to accept the fact that the humans have moved on from that stage, at least enough has! I..we..we can trust them!"

"I can't believe this..." her mother said quietly, and Elizabeth hoped that her words had gotten through to her, but as her mother's face hardened she realized she had perhaps only made things worse.
"...you're in love with the human?!" Her mother accused and Elizabeth found herself nearby falling to the ground as if she had been hit in the stomach.

"What?...n-no.." Elizabeth tried to deny it, but for some reason she found herself questioning it.
Was she really in love with Meliodas? Was that why she felt like it was her duty to defend him against her mother's harsh words?