꧁༺ 𝓑𝓵𝓪𝓬𝓴 𝓫𝓵𝓾𝓮 𝓪𝓷𝓭 𝓰𝓸𝓵𝓭 ༻꧂

𝕮𝖍𝖆𝖕𝖙𝖊𝖗 24

The knight stood guard, watching your cell. He felt bad for you, but it was his duty to follow his superiors. He was given the job of guarding your cell, and he'd do it well to impress the prince. Maybe it would give him a higher rank. Though probably not, as he's caused enough trouble as it was.

'Steve Burnside' read the name on his pathetic rookie badge. He should've honestly been locked up in a cell, but considering he was a knight, he got it off. For now, at least. If he couldn't prove himself good in three days, he'd be joining you and that pirate at the guillotine.

He'd betrayed his king, illegally robbed a bank with the prince's orders, then framed by the prince, broken down several carts, and other things. He wasn't too fond of prince Liam because of those incidents. But then again, the man was still in power and older than him. Both of those things could get him killed if not careful.

Your choky breathing behind him caught him off guard. Steve couldn't help but glance at your fishy form in the corner of the cell. The sight was traumatising. You looked like you hadn't eaten for days, deprived of water and sustenance. You were a dried out fish trying to live without water on land. It disgusted him.

He wished he could do something, but he knew that was against the rules. The whole thing killed him, but it wasn't allowed.

"Please..." Came a small, dying voice, most likely from you. It caused him to jump, his eyes widening in surprise that you could still talk. "... please... water..." Steve's heartstrings pulled in guilt. Oh, how badly he wanted to say something, to do something.

The knight stayed quiet as he listened to your desperate pleas, a bead of sweat running down his forehead. Even if he could get you water, the water down he was warm and murky, too disgusting to drink. A siren like you wouldn't want disgusting murky water. You probably required more drinkable, clearer water than that shit.

"Look," he whispered, leaning over so you could hear him, "I wish I could help you, but I can't. I could try and get some water, but I'd probably be locked up, too."

"'Ey," a man yelled from another cell, "kid. Listen to me." The man happened to be the old pirate locked up at the other end of the hall. "I know what that prince wants, and it ain't his skin."

"Who's skin?"

"The siren's, ya' dingus. He don' want a dehydrated, unattractive siren on display, an' if ya' really wanna get on that man's good side, keep him healthy, yeh?"

"Oh, yeah, right, of course." The knight scurried of down the dungeon halls and out of the kitchen. He shouldn't have left you alone, he knew that, but he also didn't want to disappoint his king.

Steve ran up the dungeon's staircase, heading up to the kitchens. He tried his hardest to not look suspicious as he burst open the dungeon door, it's echo certainly echoing throughout the long hall. Well, that was awkward.

The maids and servants stared at him blankly. He could feel his cheeks starting to blush from embarrassment, shyness sinking in. He shook the feeling off and tried to walk casually down the long hall, keeping his head straight. Goodness, why was he so stupid?

He avoided contact with anyone, trying to be as secretive and swift as possible. It felt like some sort of mission that he was on, except for the enemy. He felt a load of different emotions in the moment: confusion, confliction, guilt, determination. The all clashed with each other, not making sense in his head. All he knew was that he was heading for the kitchen for a bucket of water.

---

Harlynn sat and watched, helpless, as you sat there on the cell floor, struggling. He couldn't imagine how much pain you were in right now, so dry that if someone touched you, you could crumble away like dust in the wind.

He wished he wasn't so weak, so maybe then he'd be able to break the lock and help you. He wished he could do more in the moment than just sit there in silence and watched as you had to bear the pain that you didn't deserve.

It reminded him that before all of this chaos he'd gotten you into, you'd been a cheerful, lively siren who wanted to spend the rest of your days with him and the other pirates. Now, you sat at the bottom of a dungeon, locked away in a cell soon to die from dehydration if that guard didn't get back soon, most likely desperate to get away from the cruelties of man and back home to your family.

You had to suffer through all this pain for what? Just so a prince's ego could be fixed and so he could then be crowned king and rule over the whole of Rohan? You'd done nothing to deserve it, and it was all the elf's fault for being so selfish in the first place.

And as time ticked by, the old man was starting to get annoyed that the guard hadn't arrived yet. Did he just seriously ditch them? Was that guy for real? He was considering to just forget about how weak he was and rip away the bars of his cell. He was so mad.

Thankfully, the guard arrived just before the ex-pirate lost his mind. He had a bucket of water he carried by the handle in his hands, bringing it to the front of your cell. The guard was unsure of how to give it to you. He knew you were dehydrated, but did sirens drink water? Or did they just need to be covered in water?

Steve couldn't be bothered to ask, so he took the risk, opened your cell, and dumped the water all over your fishy body. At first, nothing happened, which made him worry that he just did the most stupidest thing ever. Then, after a few moments, your breathing began to regulate, and your skin regained it's natural baby soft texture.

Holy crap, how did sirens get so smooth?

Your face went back to it's natural gorgeous complexions, stunning Steve for a moment before he shook off the feeling.

"So, are you better now?" The guard asked, a hint of concern on the edge of his voice. You didn't answer straight away, as you were inhaling the air back into your lungs so you could breathe.

You nodded, a small smile of gratitude creeping onto your face. You were grateful that the guard actually went to help you, even though if it was any other circumstance he wouldn't of. The guard returned the smile and quickly returned back to his post watching over your cell.

At least now I can breathe, you thought as you lifted yourself up onto the little, dusty, uncomfortable bench beside you. The bench wasn't much, and you would've preferred just a simple prison bed, but you couldn't have complained, anyways. You had no right of voice here. To these people, you were just a siren - a monster.

You shifted yourself into a comfortable position laying down, the sun's rays pouring in through the bars of the dungeon's windows as it set in the pink and orange sky. You would try and find some peaceful sleep here in this cellar for the last few nights of your life while you still had them. You let your eyes flutter shut and your mind wander into a slumber.