The Alpha King's Nemesis-Chapter 80: Stand Off ()

"I believe this has nothing to do with you, but...if we do not find out just what happened in Kristen’s quarters last night... Kristen will die." Prince Treyton said in a devastated tone.

Zariah was quiet for a moment as she willed herself to calm.

"Poisoned, you said?" Zariah asked, turning to the strange merman who she had already figured was most likely the Sea Oracle.

"Yes, there is a strange substance in his blood stream, shutting down his organs as it moves,"

" For now, I have been able to slow down it’s movement but if the antidote is not administered before the day runs out, he will not live." The Sea Oracle revealed.

"And this poison is unfamiliar to you?" Zariah asked in surprise, if she had heard anything of the Sea Oracle of the Sea Kingdom, it was the fact that he was one of the most skilled of all the domains.

"It is not a poison native to the Sea Kingdom, I believe it is from above surface." The Sea Oracle said.

"I see why I am the most suitable suspect, and since I am in no mood to explain myself, I will have Kristen tell me himself that I harmed him." Zariah decided,

"Lady Zariah... Kristen unconscious, we cannot get him awake no matter how hard we tried." Prince Treyton said,

Zariah scoffed, wondering if everyone had forgotten the presence of the spirit guide of Crimson Moon.

"You have tried... Nile hasn’t." Zariah said as she turned to Nile who nodded his approval.

"It’s settled then, take us to see the merman." Zariah demanded, ignoring the glowering look from Princess Shariah.

King Himan nodded his approval, rising up and with a flick of his tail, he shot off ahead of them, leading the way to Kristen’s quarters.

Zariah made to follow after but King Askel prevented her with a light grip on her hand.

"Mhíjani...are you sure about this? You don’t have to do or prove anything." King Askel said in a worried tone.

"What? You also think I go around poisoning mermen at ungodly hours?" Zariah asked with a raised brow.

"Of course not! I spent the entire night listening to your breathing and letting my imagination run wild, I know exactly where you were last night." King Askel said immediately.

"That’s... reassuring..." Zariah replied, shaking her head in amusement as she followed walked up to meet Prince Treyton who awaited then.

It took a lot of twists and turns and at some point, Zariah was not sure if it would be okay to laugh in such a situation.

There was absolutely no way she could have made her way to Kristen’s quarters even if she was possessed by a demon spirit, not when the Sea Palace had such a complicated layout.

They soon arrived at the entrance and Prince Treyton pushed open the door to allow Zariah in, King Himan and the Sea Oracle had already arrived there.

Zariah stepped into Kristen’s quarters, her gaze settling first on the unconscious merman laid on the bed.

"His pulse is extremely weak, I cannot administer treatment without first identifying the nature of the poison." The Sea Oracle stated.

"I understand, how long before the poison reaches his heart?" Zariah asked as she walked up to the bed and leaned down.

"20 hours..." The Sea Oracle began to reply but was cut off mid speech.

"Don’t touch him!" Princess Shariah snapped, her hand jerking out to catch Zariah’s wrist in a tight grip.

"Get your hands off her." King Askel growled out dangerously as he made to move to Zariah’s side but with a flick of King Himan’s tail, he stood before King Askel, blocking his path.

Zariah understood the Sea King knew King Askel’s temperament clearly and the fact that he would not hesitate to snap Princess Shariah’s neck even in the Sea King’s presence.

"Shariah... stand down." King Himan said to his daughter.

"No father, how can we even trust her?! She obviously intended to do him harm, she shouldn’t be anywhere near Kristen!" Princess Shariah exclaimed in a raging tone.

Clearly, the mer princess had already come to the conclusion that Zariah was the culprit who had poisoned

"You are playing a game of which you will not favour the result, King Himan. Restrain your princess or I shall do it for you!" King Askel spat,

"This is the Sea Kingdom, King Askel. I will not tolerate threats even from you." King Himan warned.

"The fact that the Sea King believes My King makes threats is rather amusing." Luther spoke up, he had also moved to King Askel’s side, his eyes flashing dangerously as his wolf rose to the surface.

The atmosphere once again grew tense and as furious as Zariah herself was, she knew she had to prevent a fight between the two kings.

Firstly because they were presently within the Sea Kingdom with over thousands of raging battle mers and only one King Askel.

Regardless of how powerful the Ethereal King might be, he was presently not in any position to infuriate the mer folk, especially when the impending war had already built up tension amongst the merfolk.

A specie in such a tense condition were extremely volatile and could resort to some rather unbecoming measures that would ultimately be unfavorable to King Askel.

Secondly, Zariah was certain if a fight broke out, King Askel would not show restraint and if he truly ended up hurting a battle mer, what began as a friendly request for aid would turn into something else entirely.

Thirdly, one impending battle was already too much for the supernatural realm, the wolf shifters could not be dragged into the mix, not when they had come here to stop the war in the first place.

"King Askel..." Zariah called out to the raging King,

King Askel’s gaze snapped to Zariah and Zariah shook her head slowly, her gaze asking him to retreat and restrain his aggression.

King Askel released another low growl, but took a step back, his action of relenting immediately diffusing the tense situation.

Zariah then lifted a glare up to the mer princess whose hand was still gripping Zariah’s wrist in a crushing grip as though she could even snap the bones of a wolf shifter as it pleased her,

"You...do not touch me." Zariah warned in a calm but deadly tone, her gaze flashing with rage as she pulled her hand out of the mer princess grip.

Zariah stood up straight and turned to the Sea King.

"I understand if the merfolk will not trust me to examine Kristen...I do not trust that this entire situation is not orchestrated by the merfolk to discredit us either." Zariah began,

"Exactly what are you implying?! That we would accuse you without proof?!" Princess Shariah seethed.

"I don’t care in the slightest if you have proof, I can very well throw accusations as I please, since that is what goes on around here. My point is, you do not trust me... well it’s only fair, because I do not trust you either."

"However if you did not hear the words of your Sea Oracle, I will explain it to you in easy terms."

" If I do not do something about it, your merman Kristen will die within the next 20 hours and not even a deity can save him!"

"With each second that goes by with us bickering unnecessarily... Kristen loses a second’s worth chance of making it through this alive." Zariah clarified in a chilling cold tone.

"And we are to believe you care?!" Princess Shariah spat out,

Zariah chuckled quietly at Princess Shariah’s words, before her expression turned steely.

"Truthfully? I don’t." Zariah said honestly, earning herself furious hissing from the merfolk present.

"I have no reasons to care... not when the Sea Kingdom has granted such an interesting welcome to those you sought help from."

"However what matters is not my personal feeling towards this but the fact that I, Zariah Torin who stands accuse of attacking this merman will not dignify the Sea Kingdom with an explanation."

"There is not one of you worthy enough to hear an explanation from me and so I will save your merman at whatever cost and have him make things clear himself... that is all you need to believe." Zariah said,

Zariah turned her gaze to King Himan, her eyes fixed on his, she was not at all intimidated by his fierce glare or the rage reflected in his eyes.

Had it not been for the impending war, Zariah would have let the Sea Kingdom understand just what they gravity of the crime of dishonoring the Crimson Alpha meant,

But this was a time where she had sworn not to think for her ownself, but for the good of her people and the supernatural realm,

This was a time where she had sworn her life would be forfeit before she let the supernatural realm spiral down into death, darkness and bloodshed.

This was a time when she had sworn that if ever a sacrifice was needed... then she would bear it alone.

And if only for these reasons, Zariah could never let the war between the Floral Domain and Sea Kingdom happen.

"If you will not have me touch him, I shall not. So will you step back and let Nile do his work? Or you might as well go dig your merman a grave so we may get this done and over with." Zariah stated coldly.