The Mermaid's Reckoning | ONC 2024

Chapter 2

The first sound out of Pretie's lips was a whispered stream of curse words. She had to tighten her grip on her escape rope as her hands shook with an involuntary tremble. The girl could barely keep up with the rush of thoughts flooding her head. Who is that person?  What are they up to? Did they see me? Gods, they definitely saw me. The realization made her stomach clench with dread.

A soft thump drew Pretie's attention back toward the mysterious figure. Her momentary distraction had been enough to allow them to finish their climb down from the window without her noticing. As soon as they landed on the roof below, they took off running. 

Shit. Biting her lip, Pretie sucked in a breath and finished the rappel down the castle's outer wall as quickly as she dared. As she reached the end of the rope, she only allowed herself a moment's hesitation before dropping the remaining few feet. A shudder rippled through her legs as she landed and she stumbled, nearly falling to her knees before she caught herself on the wall. 

As her heart rate settled and she lifted her gaze, her eyes landed on the figure standing only a few feet away. They seemed to be trying to decide on a way to get down to the roof of the bottom floor below.

"Hey," Pretie hissed as she approached, speaking just loudly enough for the figure to hear—or so she hoped. "Who the hells are you?"

As the figure turned, she was finally able to look them in the eye. Pretie wasn't sure what she was expecting to see, but it wasn't the young man standing before her. He couldn't have been more than a few years older than her, dark hair cropped close to his scalp. The stubble darkening his face was just thick enough to notice in the low light.

He quirked an eyebrow, grey eyes narrowed as he took her in. "What does it matter to you?"

Pretie scoffed, the question taking her by surprise. "What does it matter? It— Because—" She threw an exasperated hand in the air. "What are you even doing?"

"Sneaking out to grab a drink." The boy deadpanned. Pretie couldn't decide whether he was joking with her. When she attempted to prompt him into clarifying with a raise of her eyebrows, he just stared at her in silence before turning away. She managed to hold back the growing desire to punch him as she wandered over to the edge of the roof, following his gaze as she peered down.

I don't know why it didn't occur to me that I'd need to climb down another wall of the same size, Pretie thought to herself, internally facepalming at her ignorance. It should have been obvious that the drop from the second floor's roof to the first would be the same height she'd rappelled down from her rooms—except, this time, she had no makeshift rope to utilize. She gritted her teeth, biting back another line of cursing.

Meanwhile, the hesitance of the boy beside her seemed to have melted away, a hint of a smirk resting on his lips. Pretie stood speechless as he lifted the bottom of his shirt and began to undo his belt. She took a step back, her eyes going wide. 

"Woah, woah, woah," she muttered. "We, like, just met and, between you and me, I'm not all that interested in—"

The boy shot her a glare as he slipped the belt off and wandered not toward Pretie, but to the ledge. She continued to stare at him, stuck somewhere between confusion and curiosity, as he located a vertical stretch of metal piping lining the exterior wall. He slid his belt around it, latching it into a loop, and gripped it in both hands. Barely sparing Pretie a second glance, he hopped off the ledge. She gasped on instinct before stumbling closer to watch. Rather than falling, the boy slid somewhat gracefully down the pipe, the belt providing the handhold he needed for his smooth descent. He landed on the roof below and immediately unclasped the belt, returning it to his waist.