Salty [A Reverse Fairytale] (A Retelling of The Little Mermaid) by Holly Hook

Author:Holly Hook [Hook, Holly]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Holly Hook
Published: 2020-03-15T04:00:00+00:00

Chapter Fourteen

The world dropped away.

I would have cursed out loud, something I did when I was alone plenty of times, but of course my voice still refused to obey. So far as I knew, Vela, or Natalus, had it in a jar or something.

So instead, I shook my head and desperately gestured to the runes on the floor. But the guards weren't having it. Neither would even look. This had to be a mistake. King Malvis would want to know why I had spelled out words. And Sophronia should have stopped these two guards.

Only she couldn't. What the king said, went. Even Vonek couldn't stop him.

Strong hands seized my wrists and sheer panic raced into my chest. I tried to let out a scream, but only silence stretched out. My heart then raced in my ears. I would die down here.

“You will reveal your wrongdoings and your plans against Tallus and King Malvis,” the first guard said as if he were speaking from a script. “Then we will move against Natalus and discover the lost tributes.”

Turning to the side, the two yanked me through the prison door. I searched the long, wide corridor for Sophronia, but she wasn't present, and I doubted she could stop these two guards anyway. What if she was still gone and trying to figure out the rune situation?

I could only hope that the swim to the Echo Chamber was long and we'd have to cross the city, but instead of taking me towards the exit of the dungeons, the two guards swam farther into the prison itself, past mostly empty cells. A few old Mer folk grabbed at the bars, staring after me with empty, sad eyes. I gulped. How long had they been in here?

What kind of tyrant was King Malvis, and what made him that way?

But there would be no sense in wondering about that soon. I yanked at the guards again, but the first only pulled on me harder. The hallway ended ahead in a T-junction, and we took a left to the gasps of the few prisoners now behind us.

The mournful sound told me everything I needed to know.

The next corridor, a narrower one, seemed to last forever. The green lamps seemed to dull as we approached the opening at the end, as if they could sense my coming demise. My whole body trembled. Dizziness threatened to take me. I wished I would pass out and they wouldn't do whatever would kill me. Could they get answers from an unconscious prisoner?

Then the next chamber opened. The dome here was only the size of our dining room back home, but regular lanterns hung off the walls, creating a magical atmosphere. Living coral made up the walls themselves and formed bizarre, swirling patterns on the ceiling. I felt as if I would lift out of my body so I turned my gaze instead to the sides of the room. Metal, rusty railings surrounded a circular balcony for an audience. Several royal guards waited

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