One Year ✔️

3

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Light glinted off the water, making it so that for a few seconds Neris could not see the human. She steeled herself, knowing this would be the person who had caught her, taken her from her family, for who knows how long. This was a monster, but not the kind you can beat with quick swimming or a punch on the nose. This was the kind who needed to be outwitted. Which she had already failed to do once.

Luckily for Neris in all her explorations underwater she had come across quite a few other traps that humans had set. She was normally pretty good at escape but she often left parts of herself behind, and had many scars to show for it. She scanned her surroundings, trying to find something she could use to her advantage but she found only the driftwood in her hand.

So be it.

She was readying herself to attack him with the driftwood when he called out to her. "It's no use, I have you trapped. There is no escape, if not even I could escape from here, then you, a wild little merl cannot. "

Neris used the driftwood to shade her eyes from the sun, so she could get a good look at the human. Neris wondered if she should hit his dark haired head, with his annoyingly perfect smile or his decidedly not muscly stomach first. This man before her was like a guppy fish. He had to learn to respect the merfolk, and the food chain of the undersea world. Neris would teach him.

Deciding that hitting him on the head would be the most effective method she pulled herself up, making sure he could see all her scars and especially her nose ring. She was quite proud of the small piece of shell through her nose and the way it made her look.

It had been the first time she had directly disobeyed her father, shoving the shell through her nose herself. It had been brilliant and ever since she had enjoyed shocking people with the shiny ring protruding from her nose. It looked terrifying and not exactly pretty, but if she had been going for pretty she would have covered her scars too.

"I see you preparing to attack, you should consider something first, little merl. Should you attack me, you will never be freed."

She was about to attack him anyway, when he called out to her, "I, Prince Alexander of the ninth coast kingdom, bind you to me. Forever more, or until death do us part."

Neris could only glare at this annoying, hateful, human, how dare he use a mer spell on her! To take something from her culture, something sacred like magic, hurt more than the chains. She would not let him see that though.

"Silly human!" She grew the word at him with much venom, acting as though it was the worst she could think to call him, though in reality she could think of a few others. "The spell shall only last for one year, at most, because of your misfortune in being a human, and once it is broken, I shall flee."

She did not add that she would be fleeing with half of his inheritance or some sort of compensation if she could help it.

"Very well, little mermaid, I shall accept your challenge."

Challenge? She had not challenged the human.

"It wasn't a challenge you filthy-"

"I, Alexander vow to make you love me before the spell shall break."

Neris was speechless, this was not what she expected, she had hoped for a tantrum, not a vow of love. Love so far from her mind right now.

Nether the less she would still escape, some way or the other. She frowned at him, could she still hit him? No point in not at least trying to attack him, with a war cry that would scare the bravest of merfolk, she launched herself forward, straining against her chains to get out of the water towards this aggravating human.

He stood still, obviously not expecting the attack, with a cry of his own he covered his head. Neris drew her arms back and let the stick go with all the strength in her body. A faint burst of light and a shield came up around Alexander, protecting him from the onslaught.

Neris cried out in pain as her arms rebounded from the shield with a loud crack. She screamed as she was launched back into the cool water, not in pain but in frustration. Could she really not harm this human? Why not, was he under some kind of merfolk protection? She felt sure she would have heard of him if he was.

He was laughing as he stood and Neris wondered if he had indeed, as the humans say, lost his marbles.

"This is simply too good. You, cannot harm me. The binding spell forbids it!" He said with such glee and Neris wasn't sure whether he was happy at her obvious anger, or covering up the fact he was relieved she couldn't harm him.

She wondered if the latter was really the sanest option.

After all, she didn't plan on escaping without revenge.

。

Neris was outraged when she discovered that the prince - Alexander - was planning on keeping her in a tank. She flat out refused to play the role of pet, to be carted around whenever he pleased, taken to parties on a leash. No need for chains when she couldn't escape from a tank. It would be cruel, she thought, to emphasise how much of a prisoner she was under his 'spell'.

Originally the binding spell had been part of the merfolk marriage ceremony, a ritual of sorts to bind two merfolk together. However once it had become clear how restrictive the spell really was, it had been banned from her family's kingdom. It was a small wonder the human had managed to get ahold of it at all.

She contemplated how she might perhaps escape, not just from her imminent confinement inside the tank, but also from the prince in general. Unfortunately every strategy she thought of had at least one flaw in it.

Swim away? Chains and the binding spell.
Get free of the chains? Tank or binding spell would handle her fine.
Escape the tank? Land and the binding spell would make sure she wouldn't go far.

Every possible plan was turned down.

She had to hand it to the human prince, he had covered every route she might try. It was annoyingly clever.

It was as she sat in the water, thinking of different ways she might kill her captor painfully that he happened to come and see her. She had been confused when he had left earlier, claiming he was going to pick up her tank.

She had glared at him silently.

As he approached she wondered if drowning him would be too cliche. He had that infuriating smirk on, and his eyes seemed to scream that he was in control now.

By Poseidon, she hated Prince Alexander.