Stuck at sea

Chapter Seven "What the heart wants"

After the guards came up with this theory, I was no longer allowed to leave the castle until the situation was resolved. Mother had sent a fleet of guards to speak with the dragon kingdom on the other side of the island, but until they returned, I was stuck inside. Mother also stationed Adonis as my personal guard, which I enjoy. He's fun to be around.

Mavis grabbed my hand, pulling me swiftly from my bed. She gripped my hips, steadying me against the ground. My face heated up, my eyes staring at the floor. "Come on, I have something to show you" Mavis held my hand, guiding me through the castle. We reached a stop, but we were standing directly in front of a solid wall. It was a dead-end, why was she leading me here? Mavis slid her hand onto the wall, rubbing it up and down the wall as if she was searching for something.

"I used to sneak out of the castle a lot when my dad was on duty here, so i found lots of secret passages," She said, "found it!" She pressed on the wall, a block of it going inwards. The wall then rumbled and shifted, splitting apart and opening to a small passage. "Whoa," I said, astonished.

Mavis smiled, then led me into the passage. It was small and cramped, as we walked I was pressed up against Mavis. We walked for about half a mile, before the passage ended at a small opening, on the other side, a large clearing of trees.

Without even stopping for a breath, Mavis pranced through the clearing, then through the thick forest. "Where are we going, Mavis?" I asked. She didn't even respond, she just smiled and walked along. After some time it seemed like we'd been walking past the same trees and shrubbery, I began to suspect we were lost. "Mavis..we have been walking for hours! Are we lost?" I asked her.

Mavis shook her head no, then smiled, extending her arm out and moving aside a large branch, revealing a beach on the other side. "Remember this place?" She asked. Like a storm, the memories came flooding back, rushing through my mind. The shipwreck, the drowning, the blackness of the water. I shuttered, Mavis gripped my hand tighter, leading me into the beach. My feet touched the soft sand, I dug my toes in, burying them.

I sat in the sand, by the seashore, my toes only inches from the water. Mavis, on the other hand, jumped right in, her skin fading to a cool gray, legs sewing together into a long tail with white stripes. Before she fully submerged herself into the water, she pulled off her shirt, setting it in the sand. I hadn't noticed that before she'd gotten in she'd also placed her shorts on the shore as well. I watched, still not used to the whole mermaid thing.

Mavis pulled her body halfway on the shore, her tail fully submerged under the water. She rested her head against my lap, looking up at me. "Mavis, you are basically naked right now," I grunted. She let out a soft chuckle "Well my lower body is just a tail, and my upper half doesn't matter. My kind doesn't cover their chest, it's natural." She said. I looked away nervously. Regardless, I wanted to be respectful and look away.

Mavis pulled herself up, sitting in the sand in front of me, her tail curled behind her, just her fins in the water. "Nina, I've been wanting to do this for a while..." she said "but that idiot Adonis keeps interrupting" Mavis groaned. Without another word, she slid her hands to either side of my face, pulling me closer to her. My heart fluttered. It felt as if a thousand butterflies had made their way into my stomach, and were just fluttering around.

My arms wrapped around her neck, my hands tangled in her hair. Her lips were just inches away from mine. I hesitated but pressed my lips against hers. The moment felt just like the one back in the castle, but this time, no interruptions. The world around us was still, It felt like everything was just perfect. I never wanted this to end. I loved feeling her hands on my face, and her lips on mine.

After all those years of never being able to open up to anybody, I'd finally found somebody I can let see my all. I feel so safe and loved in her arms, and I never wanted to leave. We broke the kiss, both stopping for air. I rested my head against her chest, cuddling up close to her. She wrapped her arms around me, holding me close.

We spent hours on that beach, before finally having to tread back to the castle. We went in the same way we'd left, sneaking back into my room unnoticed. I curled up under the covers, Mavis holding me close beside her. We soon fell fast asleep holding each other. Both of us laid, completely at peace.

At this point, I never wanted the morning to come. I wanted to stay like this forever. But the more I think about it...can i? At some point, I'll have to return to Mexico...How could I stay here with Mavis? I've grown too attached. In the end, one of us will be hurt...I'll have to leave eventually.

The morning came, the sun shining through the windows and onto my face. I awoke, my body sore from the position I'd slept in. I'd realized Mavis wasn't beside me, but i thought nothing of it. She probably just went to get breakfast. I stretched, reaching my arms in the air, then getting out of bed and attempting to tame my hair with the wooden brush mother had given me. After I'd finally finished my hair, I got dressed and walked out of the room.

The halls were eerily quiet, the hair on my arms standing up. I was getting the impression something was wrong...the halls were never this quiet. But then, almost out of nowhere, something clenched onto my shoulders, sending a shocking pain through my spine. I gasped, looking up to see a large red-scaled dragon, the same dragon I'd seen before in the garden. This time, it had its full grip on my shoulders, its talons sinking in my skin. Within a matter of seconds, it had lifted me off the castle floor and soared through the air, and out of the castle. I tried to scream, but the sound of the wind whipping around and beating against the large dragon's wings drowned out my voice.

It was no use, nobody could hear or see me. There i was, being carried through the air, blood dripping down my shoulders, and nobody could save me. The loss of blood soon became too much, and the world around me began to fade. My body went limp, and i was passed out. Seeing nothing but the blackness in my eyes.

When I'd finally woken up, i was stripped of my clothes, wearing nothing but a long green skirt, and white blood-soaked bandages wrapped tightly around my chest and shoulders. I was laying in a bed large enough to fit an entire dragon. My chest ached, preventing me from moving up from the bed. When i went to move my arms, i got stuck, my arms being pulled back.

There was a small metal cuff, attached to a metal chain that had been welded into the bedpost. "Ok, seriously why do i keep getting kidnapped", I murmured to myself. The metal chains clanked against the stone wall as i attempted to carve the chains in half against the pointed bed frame. Unfortunately this time, no matter how hard i tried, i was unable to escape. There was no way out. How could i end up like this? How could i die now, I'm only eighteen, i still have so much life left to live. Across the dark stone room, an enormous metal door creaked open, scraping against the floor. My ears rang and i flinched at the sound.

A rugged man, dressed in a hand-sewn suit, with flames embroidered into the seams, walked in the room. His long blonde hair tied back into a bun, his deep red eyes, scruffy stubble, and his most noticeable feature, his horns. The horns twisted and curved, looking like that of long-horn cattle, the color of them too. I shuttered at the sheer sight of this man.

The ominous aura he brought in with him, shook me to my core. The man stepped closer to me, resting his knee on the bed, then crawling over to me, gripping my face tightly in his hand. He looked me over like i was his prey, and he was preparing for a feast. "Well my dear, i have been waiting a long time for you to arrive", The man said in a deep husky voice.

He then released me from his grasp and stepped off the bed. "Parden me, my name is King Cyrus, the dragon king", He said. I scoffed, turning away from him. "That's a pretty lame title if you ask me", I said. He growled, and his face twitched, enraged.

"You better show some respect to your husband!", He roared."Husband!? HAH! I'd never marry you!", I laughed. An ominous smile grew on his face, pure evil showing behind those eyes. It was true, he had been waiting for me, and he had a plan, a big one.