Unnatural// 5SOS & 1D

Breathe// part nine

l.h High Seas

"Just make your way back into the kingdom. Nobody shall see you. Slip the poison into the Sea Kings drink. He always has one at this time. Make sure he drinks it or I'll skin you alive." I shivered hearing her words echo in the back of my mind. What had I done? Why had I agreed to this.

I self-consciously tugged at the purple glowing pendant around my neck. According to Katrina, it would shield me from attacks and render me invisible. I wasn't exactly sure I could trust her and I didn't know how this particular magic worked but if she really did want me to kill the King, I was deducing she didn't want me to die or get kidnapped before I could get anywhere near him. The only problem was, I couldn't kill the King.

Sure I wasn't killing him directly. It's not like I was going to stab him in the neck with a knife but I was still committing an act of murder, a rather calculated one too. I could get sent to jail for that on land, and I'm assuming underwater as well. I should never have accepted her offer. But what was I supposed to do? I was dying.

Swimming leisurely through the tunnel, I came out on the other end cautiously. If her magic didn't actually work, I knew I wasn't exactly going to be welcomed back into the kingdom with open arms. Two guards were guarding the exit and I bit my bottom lip anxiously. I guess there was only one real way to test if the pendant was working or not. Taking a deep breath, I swam out of the tunnel.

When the guards didn't impale me immediately, I breathed out, relieved. The bubbles I created in doing that though, drew the guards attention. They were staring right at me, confused. One of them shrugged and the other furrowed his eyebrows. I guess I would have to be quiet. I may be invisible but, they could still hear me just fine.

I slowly swam away from them and moved higher towards the top of the cave. I should probably go up for air soon, since this whole 'mermaids can only breathe underwater for so long' thing and it was easier to hide my trail up here. There was nothing to bump into, no people to really hide from and I just felt safer swimming over everything.

Making my way to the castle, I swam through the very window Noella had guided me out of when she was helping me escape. I paused in the hallway and tried to pinpoint which way her room might be. I was assuming that the King had probably locked her away again, this time for the rest of her life. I needed to talk to Noella, warn her about Katrina and what she was trying to make me do.

I swam around a bit aimlessly at first until I spotted Avery. He seemed to be heading in a specific direction. On a whim, I followed him. He turned down several different corridors before coming to a halt outside a door guarded by a merman I didn't recognize. "Is the Princess secure?" Avery asked.

"Yes, locked tightly in her room." The merman nodded. Avery sighed.

"I hope that one day she can forgive me."

"You did what was expected of you." Avery huffed but said nothing more. I had to quickly swim out of the way as he went back down the hallway. Taking a good look around the hall, I found a sizable window I could possibly squeeze through and swam towards it. My hips were the hardest thing to get through. It felt like, because of my tail, my hips were a little wider. Was that some kind of a side effect? Or did merpeople just need wider hips?

When I had finally gotten out, I swam around the length of the wall, trying to find the Princesses room. Unfortunately, all the windows for this part of the castle had Iridium bars on them and wee smaller in size. I could only assume it was because she was the Princess. Peering in through the windows though, I was able to spot her, lounging on her back forlornly. I pursed my lips and continued swimming around until. I came to a balcony. The doors were closed and locked from the outside, I tugged at the chain, startling Noella.