Page 104 of Mermaid on Heels

Help me!A desperate cry rose from her heart to the heavens.Creator, help me. Keep my sisters and Luke safe from whatever Faelina is up to.

Suddenly, the carriage stopped. Liriya’s heart skipped a beat before it went galloping. The thundering of her heart rang in her ears and she strained her senses to listen to what was happening outside.

Someone grunted and disembarked from the carriage, somewhere in the front,ifthis was a carriage at all. The nearing footsteps filled her stomach with dread. Liriya looked around and saw nothing she could use as a weapon to defend herself.

She pressed back against the hardwood as something clicked against metal and, with a squeaking noise, the door opened. Liriya was met with blinding daylight and shielded her eyes, just before a shadow loomed over her.

It was a man, one of the Garbian guards she had seen a time or two with Aeira—scratch that,Faelina. He stood silhouetted against the sunlight.

Liriya immediately noticed his unfocused sapphire eyes and realized that he was under Faelina’s enchantment. Somehow, to know that he wasn’t in his own mind relaxed her a little. What Faelina didn’t know was that Liriya knew how to handle her puppets, thanks to the trick from Papa.

Liriya allowed the guard to free her feet from the chains and lead her out of the carriage—while it didn’t look like the kind of carriages that she had seen people use, she assumed this was another kind—without struggling. To her surprise, she found Aeira’s—Faelina’s—maidservant and a few Garbian guards waiting outside.

They all were under the enchantment. Perfect.

Liriya glanced around her, scanning the place they were at, when a familiar roar reached her ears. Her heart gave a leap.

Home.

There was a sea somewhere near them. Her heart began to beat a rhythm of excitement. Now, if only she could locate exactly where the sea was and break free from the grip of the man holding her arm, she could dive in and be free. She could even go back to Lectoria—after figuring out where she was.

The land surrounding them looked dry and sandy. Not a single plant to be seen, nor a single person other than themselves. Liriya frowned, whom would she ask for the location? These people would not be of any help other than biding their master’s will, so there was no point in asking.

Perhaps she could find someone else and—

Liriya’s eyes widened suddenly. She could not speak! She groaned inwardly in frustration and blinked furiously on her angry tears.

One of the guards stepped forward and grabbed Liriya’s other arm. Together, the two men began dragging her away. Liriya moved without putting up a fight. The further they got, the nearer was the roar of the sea.

Forgetting the frustration over her lost voice, Liriya almost tasted freedom.

They edged towards a cliff and stopped at its end, and Liriya realized what was happening.

The men let go and shoved her forward.

Liriya fell through the air headfirst and was enveloped in the embrace of the sea in mere seconds. Her legs came together and transformed back into her magnificent tail. She sputtered a laugh and flicked her tail before leaping upwards, breaking through the water’s surface with a joyful flip.

Landing back in the water, Liriya rose to the surface and looked up at the cliff to see if Faelina’s men were still there. But no, they were gone. She smiled to herself and glanced around her when something grabbed at her tail and yanked her down into the water.

Liriya yelped in shock when she saw two mermen on either side of her; they seized her arms. Liriya recognized them as two of her own guards—Pearltunian mermen. This time however, to see her captors were another two of Faelina’s puppets, didn’t relieve her. Instead, pain and anger tore through Liriya’s heart.

She was going to make Faelina pay for her crimes. She didn’t know how, but shewouldfind a way to put an end to her half-sister’s mad games.

As the mermen began to lead Liriya to the depths, she called herself stupid to think for one moment that she had freedom. Liriya scoffed at herself mentally. Did she really think that Faelina would order her men to throw Liriya into the sea, knowing she could transform and find her way back to land?

Oh, Faelina would always have a surprise waiting for the people she hated. That siren was anything but stupid and nothing but evil and clever, while Liriya was only the opposite.

Liriya wondered if they were in the Garbian Ocean, where Pearltuna was assumedly located. Were these mermen taking her to Pearltuna to lock her up in the dungeons? The excitement of being back in the sea, her home, didn’t feel homely anymore. It didn’t take Liriya a long time to realize where her true home was.

It was with Luke.

He was her home, the one who made her at-home in a world so strange to her.

Her heart clenched at the thought of him. Tomorrow was the day of the announcement—ifit was only yesterday that Faelina abducted her. In a week would be the wedding. If she couldn’t find her way back in time, Faelina would be married to the man Liriya loved and Luke wouldn’t realize it was only the replica of his true love.

Her thoughts were interrupted as she noticed they were swimming towards a cave guarded by two other Pearltunian mermen. One of them, Liriya immediately recognized, was her friend Abacus. Relief flooded through her to see him still alive and well after the head-to-head knock her papa had given him.

Liriya stared at him eagerly as they neared the entrance, willing him to look at her and somehow recognize her. However, Abacus didn’t look at her, even as he glanced at the mermen holding her and gave them a nod of approval to enter.

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