Chapter four
Aurora POV (Under the Sea)
Do you know what merfolk of our kingdom fear most? Our dungeon, the deepest part of the sea. No one comes out of there alive. But I was sent there when I was fifteen for almost cutting one of the elder octopus's tails.
And the second time? Right after I survived, I sneaked into the king's chamber and cut his hair while he napped after realizing our king wasn't a sage king for sentencing such a little mermaid to the deepest part of the sea. I was sent there again but that didn't change anything. I was still as rebellious as ever.
Everyone calls me forbidden. They said I never belong under the sea. And maybe they're right.
Maybe I belong somewhere else entirely.
I had always thought it was just a long fantasy, but even at twenty-four, I was still dreaming about the human world.
A smile appeared on my lips as I stared at the old human map I had found on one of the wretched ships. I had fallen in love with the human world when I was so young, but I knew it wasn't something I should dream of. I am just a lowly mermaid under the sea, a very rebellious one.
"Aurora, are you in?"
The moment I heard my Aunt Lyra's voice outside my cave, I immediately hid the human map under the seaweed and lay on my rock like I was resting. Aunt Lyra mustn't find out; she had forbidden me from ever dreaming about the human world.
I had been staying with Aunt Lyra ever since my mother died when I was young. No matter how rebellious I was, she never cared but the only thing she forbade me from talking about was the human world.
"I'm in here," I mumbled, watching her swim in holding a small basket in her hands, probably food.
"Merissa is here to see you," she added. I immediately sat upright, my face lighting up in excitement at the mention of my best friend Merissa.
We had been friends since childhood, surviving every mess together. Although I was always the troublemaker, she was the calm one, loved and admired by everyone.
Opposites, yet inseparable
I looked left and right, but the whole room was empty. That's when it occurred to me…
"Did you just trick me, Aunty Lyra?" I frowned.
"Of course. But the good news is I heard Rhydion is back on my way home," she revealed.
My face immediately widened in shock. "Rhydion is back?"
Rhydion is my lover.
He promised to reach out as soon as he returned from the neighboring sea council meeting. I didn't think much about it. Excited, I swam as fast as I could to his cave, ignoring whatever Aunt Lyra was saying after me.
Part of the reason I was still able to endure under the sea was Rhydion, my lover.
Love worked in mysterious ways, they say. I had always hated the king, yet I fell over heels for Rhydion before I found out who he truly was—the king's nephew, the one closest to becoming the crown prince.
Rhydion and I had been together for so long. He was the best thing that had ever happened to me but to him… maybe I wasn't.
I froze at the scene in front of me the moment I swarmed into Rhydion's cave.
Right in his arms was another mermaid, not just anyone.. but Merissa, my best friend.
"Rhydion, what's going on?" I whispered, shock strangling my voice.
I was waiting for him to apologize, to explain it was a silly mistake, but his next words shattered me completely.
"Let's end things, Aurora." He said flatly. "It's over anyway."
I was shock beyond words, no guilt, no remorse in his voice.
But yet I was surprised. We had never had any fight or misunderstanding before he left.
"What… what are you talking about?" I asked.
"What I'm saying is, I love Merissa. I can't end up with you. You are rebellious, unlike Merissa, who is calm. She doesn't trouble the whole sea."
"What?" I was in disbelief.
"You said you liked me that way, Rhydion! You said I was perfect for you!" I didn't know when I yelled out.
"That was before… not anymore. I will be crown soon. I can't let them take the throne away from me because of you. I can't watch the Elders be against me because of you—they all hate you!" Rhydion yelled in my face.
"So that's why you cheated on me with Merissa, my best friend?" I scoffed in disbelief.
"She is perfect, Aurora. Unlike you. And I didn't cheat on you—we are in love. The person I love now is her," Rhydion declared.
I could feel my eyes sting with tears.
The only time I cried my entire life was when my mother passed during the huge war. But these tears—I wouldn't let them fall.
And Rhydion? He would suffer for this.
I moved closer, a smirk on my face. I grabbed him and bit him hard until his red, stark blood gushed out.
His blood soon mixed with water.
And the sharks? They will soon be here to devour him whole. It was their meal time!
***
"How dare you do that to him? Do you forget who he is?" Aunt Lyra yelled.
The news must have spread across the sea, seeing how she barged into my cave.
But I didn't care who he was… the king's nephew… the next crown prince.
"What were you thinking, Aurora? You're supposed to marry him and become his queen, elevate our family! He is the crown prince, for goddess' sake!" Aunt Lyra yelled even more.
"I needed to teach him a lesson! He cheated on me, for goodness' sake. I can't just let him go scot-free!" I yelled back.
"And you think the king will let you off the hook after you hurt his successor?" She scoffed.
I knew she was saying the truth but I didn't care.
"I don't mind spending another month in the dungeon—at least he got what he deserved," I rolled my eyes in disgust.
But when I thought the worst that could happen was being sent to the dungeon, the biggest shock of my life arrived.
"I, King Vaelor of the Seven Seas, will get married to the rebellious Aurora in two days and confine her in my chamber forever as my fifth queen," the king decreed.
To tame me, to trap me in his quarters so I would never dream of going out, he declared it.
I was shocked to my core and froze for a minute.
They called me rebellious, but no one spoke of my lover's and friend's betrayal.
"Send me to the dungeon! I will never marry you, Vaelor!" I screamed, not caring about the consequences.
I was immediately taken down by the guards and forced to bow my head before him for talking back.
"The ceremony will be held next tomorrow, and that's final," the king declared.
"Lock her in the palace dungeon. Do not feed her anything, let her starve and learn her lesson." He added.
"She got what she deserved. At least after being defiled by the king, she will lose her integrity and stop bothering the whole sea," I heard the merfolk murmur as I was dragged away.
The sea guards locked me in the dungeon in the king's palace. No matter how much I screamed, no one listened.
Night fell, Morning came, and soon the day of the ceremony.
I heard the loud trumpet that signaled the royal marriage.
It was my dream, but I thought I would end up with Rhydion, not the old king who could be my grandfather.
The old doors finally opened, and the guards came to drag me out.
"Let me go!" I struggled, but they didn't listen.
Eventually, they threw me into a room where palace servants dolled me up in royal clothing, pearls, and corals.
I was adorned in the most beautiful pearls and corals I had ever seen. Being a lowly mermaid, I had never looked this beautiful—but I didn't want it this way.
I heard the servants whispering that they wished to be claimed by the king and that I should be happy. But that wasn't me. Marrying someone old enough to be my grandfather wasn't my dream.
"Aurora! You look so beautiful!" Aunt Lyra giggled happily as she swam in. For a minute, anyone would think she was the one getting married to her beloved.
"I don't want to marry him! I can't! Please, Aunt, stop this marriage!" I cried out.
"You have to, Aurora. This is our chance to get into the royal family—a chance like this will never come again. And Rhydion… I heard he would be marrying Merissa in few days after yours. You can't even get him back," Aunt Lyra said.
I looked at her in disbelief.
"Is that the only thing you can think of in this situation? Please, get me out of here, Aunt Lyra. I can't marry the old King."
"You have to. You have to make the king yours, even if you lose your life. Our family is on the line!"
"Then you should marry the old man if that's the only thing you care about, being an avaricious fool!" I screamed.
That immediately landed a slap directly on my face.
"Why do you think I tolerated your attitude? It's because I knew I would finally have a chance in the sea if you married Rhydion and became a queen, but you ruined everything!"
"You will marry the king, and that's final. You can't avert it anyway," Aunt Lyra said, rolling her eyes and she swam out.
The door was immediately locked back from outside by the guards.
All the tolerance Aunt Lyra had shown me was just to marry Rhydion and raise her status in the sea.
I sighed in defeat. She was right, at the moment I couldn't avert marrying the king.
But I couldn't. Marrying the king would be the end of me.
I prayed for a miracle, hoping the sea goddess would hear me.
Then, almost as if my prayer had been answered, I heard the door creak open… and soft, urgent panting.
I turned, thinking Aunt Lyra was back to her senses but my brows furrowed when I realized, it wasn't Aunt Lyra. It was Merissa my best friend. No… ex-best friend.
Then she said the words that left me completely shock. "Hurry, you have to escape right now Aurora!"