Serena is a mermaid. A very rare mermaid, because she has a ruby red tail. Unfortunately, a sea king wants her, and will do anything to get her. Which is why she is trapped in his castle, sure, she has a beautiful room and dresses, servants, and all...
I'm trapped. Hard to believe? Well, let me tell you, it isn't a fun story. My name is Serena, I'm a mermaid, and up until two months ago, I was as free as a mermaid could be. What happened? It's all because of my tail. Yes, my stupid tail. It is very unique, in fact, the rarest. As far as I know, I am the only mermaid to have this specific tail. It is ruby red. Bright, shimmery red, even down to my fins. That is what made me a target. Every merman wants me, every mermaid wants to be me. It is so inconvenient. So, apparently I was swimming too close to a kingdom, the king saw me, and immediately wanted to marry me. I got picked out by the guards, and they dragged me to the castle.
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I was not happy, and infuriated that this random sea king wanted me as a bride. So, I said no immediately. That wasn't what the king wanted to hear, and he had the guards lock me in a bedroom. Yeah, nuts, right? So, here I am, under house arrest. Or rather, castle arrest.
I swim over to the window, trying for the thousandth time to open it. The lock isn't budging. "Ugh!" I tug at my brown hair, and flop onto the bed. I hate being cooped up like some pet. I'm not a god damn pet, and I refuse to be one. I'm going to escape sooner or later, even if it's the last thing I do. There's a knock on my door, and I groan. "Go away," I snap. I know the servants won't listen to me, and sure enough, I hear the lock being turned. Two young girls come in and bow their heads at me. The door locks behind them.
"My lady, we're here to..." I cut the first girl off. "Get me ready for dinner, I got it by now." Yeah, every night, the same thing. The King invites me to dinner, proposes, and I say no. Why can't he get it through his thick skull that I will never marry him?
I stay silent, though, as the girls brush my hair out and choose a dress for me. It's black this time, with netting that drapes around my tail, and has long sleeves with the same material. It's low cut in the front, and I grimace. I hate having to do this. The girls add pearls to my neck, and pile my hair onto the top of my head, pinning pearls into it, before adding a pearl tiara.
They swim over to the door and knock on it. "She's ready." I roll my eyes, but go over to float beside them. The door unlocks, and two guards take their place on either side of me to take me to the dining hall. I learned early on to never trust them. What the King says, goes. Once, I tried to ask one of them to help me escape, and they went straight to him. I got locked in the dungeon for that. So, I've been keeping my escape plans to myself. Not that I've had much luck. This place is a fortress, and there are guards around every corner, all the time. Plus, the guards in front of my door don't help, either.
We get to the dining hall, and I see the King sitting at the head of the table, a big gold crown on his head. I swim over and sit at the other end of the table, which is overflowing with food. No wonder the guy's fat. Oh, yeah, he's old, with wrinkly skin and long white hair, and fat, obviously because of the food. Everything a mermaid wants, and did I mention he's royalty? He shoves that in my face any chance he gets, like he thinks it'll get me to love him. As if.
I get some food and start eating, slowly. I hate the food, but this stuff is a little better than what they give me for breakfast and lunch, at least. I feel the King staring at me, well, at my chest. I want to cross my arms over my chest, but I force myself to ignore him and keep eating. After we finish eating, the King gets up. Here we go again, I think, annoyed.
He swims over to me and I get up, not wanting him to touch me. "Serena, will you marry me?" He asks for the millionth time. "No," I say automatically. Seriously, it's always no. I back away from him a little. The King smiles. "You'll say yes eventually." Not in this lifetime, I think. The King snaps his fingers and the guards come over to take me back to my room. The maids help me out of the dress, brushing my hair before leaving the room. I angrily sweep the jewelry off the vanity, but it just floats in the air. Well, duh. I'm in water.
Wait a second. In water...That's it! I'll go to the human world. That stupid king would never find me. Now, how to get out of this room? I swim over to the window, and see something I didn't before. There's seaweed wound around the handles like rope, tied in the middle. I swim back to the vanity and find a sharp seashell, and then go back to the window.
I push the sharp edge underneath the seaweed, wiggling it around until I hear a snap! I look toward the door, scared the guards heard it. There's no sound of them unlocking the door, so I go back to getting the window open. The knot comes untied, and I quickly unwind the seaweed. I steel myself, and turn the handles. The window opens with a small creak. I whip my head around toward the door, nothing. I swim out, closing the window behind me.
Yes! I'm free! I swim in a circle, grinning. Then, I see guards below me. Shoot! I quickly hide behind a column, and look down. They didn't see me. I wait until they've left, double checking that there are no guards close by, before swimming away as fast as I can. I have to get as far away from that castle as possible before they sound the alarm.
I see a pod of whales swim by, it's their migration time, and I get as close to the center of them as they'll let me. They're big enough that I won't be seen. Horns cut through the water, scaring the whales. Dang it. I keep swimming, and see a cave a few miles away. I look back at the castle, and don't see any guards coming toward me, so I head for the cave. I stay there for a few hours, knowing I have to get to land. There's no more noise of the guards hunting for me, so I decide to leave the cave and swim to the top of the water. My head pops out of the water, and I see a beach about thirty miles away. Perfect.
I dive back under the water and swim to shore, dragging myself out onto the sand. I get far enough out so that my tail doesn't get wet again, and wait for it to dry. I feel it split in two, and wince slightly as my tail turns into legs. Something is wrong with my right foot, but I don't want to worry about it right now. I fall asleep.
