The Alpha King's Nemesis-Chapter 105: An Apology ()
Zariah heard footsteps approaching, she didn’t need to look up to know who had come and why so she remained in a meditative posture till the presence was standing right before her cell.
"Lady Zariah." The Sea King spoke after a moment of silence.
"King Himan." Zariah returned the acknowledgement as her eyes fluttered open to meet the burdened expression of the Sea King.
Prince Treyton hovered at his father’s side, his gaze equally complicated. 𝗳𝗿𝐞𝕖𝘄𝗲𝕓𝗻𝚘𝚟𝕖𝐥.𝚌𝕠𝕞
The Sea King seemed hesitant for a moment, probably still in disbelief of what he had just realized.
"You were right...Imain...he is after the throne." The Sea King murmured in a low tone before he sucked in a deep breath and ran a hand through his hair, his tail flicking ever so often, a tell tale sign of his agitation.
Zariah was not surprised by the Sea King’s words so her expression remained blank and unfazed.
"I had thought you would come to me only after he had his sword pointed at your throat, what gave him away?" Zariah murmured as she tilted her head to the side slightly.
"We kept things under wraps, but we let the information leak to Lord Imain as you suggested. News have now spread round the Sea Kingdom of the missing trident." Prince Treyton explained,
"Over the past few days, rumours have spread discrediting my father and questioning the credibility of his rulership after he failed to protect the Tide Trident."
"These rumours have turned the Sea Kingdom upside down, there is tension amongst all the Sea Lords of the seven seas."
"We have secretly traced the source of these rumours and they originate from Lord Imain’s faction."
"Lord Imain has summoned all the Sea Lords, he insists my father has lost the Tide Trident and hence his rights to rulership and intends to garner allies for an overthrow." Prince Treyton concluded in a grim tone.
"He sure moves fast..." Zariah murmured to herself.
Zariah would have liked to commend that this Lord Imain was highly resourceful and clearly determined, to have moved so fast and turned public sentiments against the Sea King in just a few days.
However Zariah doubted the Sea King would appreciate her words.
By bloodline, influence or strength, Lord Imain was not at all inferior to the Sea King as he was also a descendant of the royal lineage.
Zariah had always found the royal lineage of the Sea Kingdom to be rather messy with so many branches connected everywhere,
She had told her father as such, when he had taught her of the royal lineage of the Sea Kingdom,
Zariah recalled her father had found her opinion rather amusing and had explained it to her.
For a specie with a life span extending over centuries, it was natural they even birthed descendants centuries apart,
King Himan was over two centuries older than his uncle Lord Imain and had already succeeded the throne from his father before Lord Imain was birthed,
Now King Himan’s father passed on not ever knowing he would have a brother born to his father after his death...it was truly a messy situation that made the legitimate line of succession blurry.
And was amongst the most explanatory blood ties, many of them were even more complex and so there were more royal relatives than Zariah had the time or care to number.
If Zariah was being honest, Lord Imain was indeed fit for rulership, and in matters like these, the Crimson Moon would never interfere.
Matters of succession and rulership had never been the Crimson Moon’s point of interest, so long as whoever emerged King was capable of protecting and ruling his domain, it was no matter.
This was also why in the previous lifetime, the Crimson Moon had not interfered when Lord Imain attempted to overthrow King Himan.
However this time, it was different. Lord Imain was clearly very much involved in shady dealings and the Crimson Moon had not known of this in the past lifetime.
Zariah had only concluded on Lord Imain’s involvement when she had heard of the existence of the Sea Dome and that this Lord Imain was head guardian of the dome.
There was absolutely no way whatever was happening in the Northern Seas was not linked to him in some way.
Furthermore, in the previous lifetime, Lord Imain’s attempt to overthrow King Himan had ended in Lord Imain’s defeat after a bloody battle in the Sea Kingdom.
And up until the very end, no one could figure out how he had acquired an army of dark mers and although it was a worrisome situation, the Crimson Moon had not been in any position to handle the matters of others.
Not when the Crimson Moon itself was falling apart with the impending ritual to transfer the Crimson Flame from Zariah to the then Alpha Darren Moonstone.
Now that Zariah thought of it, she realized that whenever the supernatural realm needed the aid of the Crimson Moon, Caedmon had been right there to stir up some sort of trouble that would keep the Crimson Moon distracted.
Zariah still could not believe she had been so blinded by her feelings that she had no realized this then... with each piece of the puzzle that became clear, Zariah loathed herself even more.
"How... how did you know of Imain’s intentions? How did you guess it?" The Sea King asked.
Zariah remained quiet, wondering how she could explain to the Sea King that in another time, in another life, this had already happened before.
Only this time, Zariah had moved up the timing, by snatching the Tide Trident, Zariah had left the bait for Lord Imain and as expected, he had bitten it.
With the Tide Trident in the Sea King’s hands, Lord Imain would never be foolhardy enough to attempt an overthrow,
This was why even in the past lifetime, Lord Imain’s overthrow had only occured after the Tide Trident had unexplainably gone missing.
Zariah had thrown the very same bait that had awakened Lord Imain’s hidden intentions in the past lifetime and he had not disappointed.
"The question should be, now that his intentions are made known, what do you intend to do about it?" Zariah asked instead, her cold gaze ensuring the Sea King did not insist on his question.
"He is my blood, yet he has committed such treachery, dabbling with the darkness concealed in the Sea Dome and tainting the Northern Seas... he has put my people at risk for his own greed." The Sea King hissed in rage,
"I will not stand for it... I must stop him." The Sea King concluded.
"I believe this is where you tell me why you have come to me..." Zariah said although she could already guess.
"Lady Zariah, my father hopes to sort this out with the least possible casualties, the Sea Kingdom is already in a tense situation and things are only just looking up with the Floral Domain withdrawing their army..." Prince Treyton began,
"And so you need my help." Zariah stated blankly, watching as Prince Treyton winced slightly at her tone but nodded.
"Wasn’t I the one who poisoned Kristen? Not such a smart move coming to me now, who knows what my intentions are?" Zariah asked.
"Lady Zariah, I now see that you had no hand in the events surrounding Kristen’s attack, but that does not make your actions excusable."
"This is about the lives of thousands of merfolk, I believe we can put our grudges aside for..." The Sea King began and Zariah’s Crimson orbs glowed as she lifted a sharp glare to him.
"Your accusations put my life, the life of the spirit guide of Crimson Moon, the life of Kristen and the honor of Crimson Moon and the Ethereal Domain at risk!"
"So do not try to brush over this with a ’for the greater good’ speech, I have done my fair share by alerting you to the danger lurking in your domain!"
"However if you expect to receive the aid of Crimson Moon or the Ethereal Domain after the game you played, then you will need to change that tone and begin with an apology... Your Grace!" Zariah snarled in a dangerously low tone.
Zariah had been stuck in this dingy, dark dungeon for days, she was not about to play nice with the merfolk.
Although Zariah knew this was a small sacrifice to make on her path, she would never tolerate the disregard shown to Crimson Moon by the Sea King or the merfolk.
It would never be the Sea Kingdom’s turn to show contempt to the Crimson Moon... Zariah would never spare anyone who dared.
"An apology does not even begin to cover it!" King Askel’s voice interrupted as he emerged from the corner with Luther in tow.
Zariah was surprised by King Askel’s presence, lifting her gaze to him as he stormed up to King Himan, his lips pulled back in a snarl.
"My Queen is merciful but I am not! The Ethereal Domain will never let this go that easily, the Sea Kingdom will be compensating heavily and you may begin with that apology." King Askel declared, his domineering aura pouring off of him in overwhelming waves.
