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Chapter 6
The commander lifted himself onto the platform beside me, and I shifted backward, ready to dive into the sea if need be.
At first, he tried the doting fiancé act. “My sweet princess, you left without saying goodbye.”
Although he tried to project heartbreak in his voice, I didn’t believe a word. He touched his chest where his heart should be but wasn’t—because he didn’t have one.
“Your father’s heart grieves, along with mine, at the fact that you ruined the celebration he spent weeks planning.”
My father had known about this for weeks? Exactly how long had Faraall been planning this? My stomach boiled at how conniving this merman apparently could be.
Faraall held out his hand. “Come with me at once, my sweet. All the guests are waiting for you back at our engagement party.” With his other hand, he toyed with his flickering green necklace.
“I will never marry you.” My words came out harsher than I’d expected. Something about Faraall just stirred up a fierce riptide in me.
Faraall’s eyes and face darkened. “Yes, you will.” He lashed out with incredible speed and seized my upper arm.
I kicked with my fin, but he grabbed the end of it.
The commander glanced at each of his men. “Do not fight me, my sweet. You will not win.”
I wrestled with all my might, but he was much bigger and stronger, and he pinned me by the neck.Pain blazed down my throat as he squeezed it, demonstrating his power.
“Mersoldiers,” I spat out. “Arrest him at once for threatening your princess.”
They laughed in my face. One spat on the rock.
“We don’t take orders from you, Princess,” said one, sealing my fate.
Traitors!
Faraall’s grip tightened, and I clawed at him.
“I know you went to the Sea Witch. Making deals behind my back. How could you betray me?”
He was one to talk!
“What did you expect?” I snarled at him. “You put a spell on my father to force me to marry you.”
Angry heat surged in me, and I grabbed the shell around his neck. I screamed as it burned me, and blisters formed on my hands.
Faraall and his creeps snickered at me.
My lungs burned for air, my throat for release. The magical shell had rendered my hands useless. If I didn’t do something and fast, the commander was going to kill me. The only way I was getting free was with a distraction. So, I called upon the sea to rise up and strike him down. Every part of my body buzzed with magic. I felt the waves crash in my blood, the tide rolling in and out, the destruction of stormy seas, the deeper and powerful currents warming and cooling the ocean, all of it flowing through me. Raw power at my disposal.
Shadows danced above me as a wave curled overhead. It crashed down on Faraall with such force that his grip on me released. It carried him away, allowing me to dive into the ocean and make a run for it.
My plan? Go ashore in search of a powerful witch. One who could erase the spell on my father.
The last words I heard as I got a head start were, “Get back here, you bitch, or I’ll kill you.”
I’d never moved so fast in my life. My heart was practically exploding out of my chest from how furiously I pushed my body. Staying close to the surface, I skirted around a school of hawkfish, choking back the pain in my burned hands.
Five hundred feet separated my rock from the shore. Thanks to the wave I rode, I might just be able to make it to land and hide. First, I had to check how far away my pursuers were. This required emitting a few aquablasts. This was a technique merfolk and dolphins used to detect objects in the murky depths of the ocean. A pressure built in my mind as I spun around. Sacs in my nose spat out three clicks, each one reverberating through me. The returning echo tingled in my jaw some moments later. It formed a picture in my mind of my seven pursuers, some fifty leagues behind me, all spread out in a fan.
Shellfish. Merman like Faraall and his soldiers were much faster than I was. Speed increased with size in merfolk.
The sea called to me, offering her rescue, and I accepted, using my powers to push me even faster through the water. I’d made it a few hundred feet when a suction slowed me down and dragged me backward. A glance behind me revealed a whirlpool had captured hold of me. Faraall’s handiwork, no doubt. With all my might. I twisted to get free, but the eddy held me firmly in its grip.
