Hunted

Chapter 6 - Luseal

Luseal Ling was a quiet girl. She chose to spend most of her time down at the stables talking mindlessly to the dolphins and seahorses. Her father had never let Luseal ride the creatures as they were for "proper rides" only. Other than talking to sea creatures Luseal would often sit on the kelp stack and watch dreamily out the window at the looming castle that towered above the stables; she had always dreamed to inhabit the castle but some part of her drew towards the stables. Luseal had short dark brown hair that the seahorses would often mistake for food and her khaki green eyes would glow in the darkness of the stable's dim lights. Not only did Luseal dream about riding the dolphins, she could talk to them. An old war dolphin called Q was her favourite. She would banter on and on with him about royalty and boys and how the fact that Luseal's dad was a grump.

The stables were a mess today as Luseal woke up on the cobbled floor, she had had a pretty good sleep hence the dolphins whinnying all night. Seagrass was strewn across the tack and the seahorse's dinner was scattered across the walls of the feed room. She woke up and greeted the day as rays of the sun cascaded down into the water's depths. She peered out the glass window lined with seashells and gazed at the grand castle. Two mermaids were arguing outside the castle doors, Luseal longed for company, so she squeezed out the stable door and into the waters of the royal palace. One mermaid was clutching her back and swam slowly towards the side of the castle, the other supporting her as she swam. Luseal stopped and thought for a second glancing at the mermaids, she couldn't remember the last time she had actually talked to a fellow mermaid apart from her dad occasionally yelling at her, she backed away. Her fingertips brushed the wooden slats of the stable door. Her dad had always called her weak and unpredictable, today was the day that she would change that, she had never thought of herself as brave or a badass but she quietly swam over to the two mermaids leaning against the cobbled wall. They immediately glanced over at her and then back to the injury on the shorter one's back.

"Are you okay?" Luseal's voice cracked as she kneeled on her tail ignoring the fact that it was uncomfortable.

One of the mermaids whimpered, as the other one asked,"Do you have any cloth?"

"Yes I have some by the stable door," Luseal said as she swam into the dim lights of the stables.

A box of rough cloth in a wooden box was outside Q's stable, Luseal grabbed a handful and darted back out the door. The mermaid swiftly yanked the cloths out of her hands and started applying pressure on the other mermaid's wound.

"Thank you," the older mermaid said softly, not taking her eyes off the wound.

"My name's Elizabeth, this is Diana."

"Will she be..." Luseal started not knowing how to make conversation."

Written by Lucia