If you encountered the glitched Chapter 2, I apologize, the file was corrupting no matter what I tried. But! It looks like I finally fixed it! Thanks to blueassassin996! I might not have caught it without your reply! Anyway, enjoy Chapter 4!
The man wouldn't leave her alone. He almost reminded her of someone, but she couldn't place it. He asked her things with his little pad, which gave her a slight annoyance. Once, he asked her if she was comfortable. She snatched the pad and wrote a sharp curse on it, in plain English. He chuckled and wrote a response, which only added to the annoyance.
"I meant in the tub."
"It cramps me, and there isn't anything to do in here. Why do you keep me, anyway?"
"We are waiting to dock now. What do you need to make yourself presentable?"
"A comb? Some salt? The water in here is very stale, you know."
"Salt? Why?"
"We clean with salt. Plus, it would help the comfort of this cage. Why do you keep me?"
"We won't have you for very much longer. The buyer is coming to see you tonight."
"I'm… a slave?" There was a tale of old of the slavery of mer. The ones of old did too much for bipeds, and so they now stay hidden in the surf.
"No, more like a pet, I suppose."
"The great Queen Athena, diminished to a land-walker's pet." This put a look of surprise on his face. He pointed to her name again, then again. Athena only nodded, tilting her head aside.
Then, the man slumped against her tub. He didn't have any readable expression, but after a moment Athena figured out why. He let the pad slip from his fingers, and she asked one last question.
"You didn't know you mer-napped the Queen of the Sea?" This shocked her, since she had told him that her husband was king the day of the storm. Had he forgotten?
He took the pad, read it, and shook his head. Athena was about to take the pad back when the man stood, and left in a rush.
She was left to herself the rest of the day, but the man visited in the dark. It stirred her from sleep, thinking that it was the human who bought her, but her panic calmed at the only one who communicated with her. If she could, she'd drag him into the waves and give him life in the sea. Where he would learn about her people like a student, rather than a jailer.
His pad only said to stay silent, so she ducked into the waves. In a moment, her bath was moving, being rolled somewhere. Then, she was dumped into a bigger pool.
Her eyes shot open at the sense of the wider space, a place to stretch. It was a cage big enough for a shark, and she settled on the ground easily. The walls were somehow clear, but solid. The new tank was covered with some kind of cloth, and she let loose a sigh.
Any improvement was enough.
She pushed off the ground and went to where the sheet was lifting. It was the oil-eyed man again, grinning in the moonlight and holding up a pad with big letters on it.
"I'm getting you out of here, Your Majesty."
There were no better words to read than that day.
The cage was built on rounds, and Athena watched the water slosh from the movement. Apparently, he was able to dump her into the showing tank, which was set up on the dock below her room. Later, she found out that there was a door in the hallway out of her cell, which would've been good to know during the storm.
She didn't know where she was going, not until she felt the sand under her cage, smooth. Was he going to dump her straight into the sea? Was she finally going to look on her childrens' faces, on her own husband's?
She could peek around the sheet now, and there it was. A long strip of sand, then, open water. The town wasn't even situated on a bay.
How foolish. Of all the ports, they chose the one that was so easily escaped.
The water grew closer, and she watched as the tank was slowly tipped over. It wasn't too long, now. She was almost free. The sea was nearly in jumping distance.
Then, the tank stopped.