Hello everyone, it's time for a new chapter. I'm excited, since I feel like the story is really going to get on a roll after this. Or during this. I don't know, I've been excited with this story from the beginning. Once again, the amazing Kay Hau beta'd this.
Chapter 9- Coronation of a King
Prince Myrrha sat with his hands bound together, something they almost always seemed to be nowadays. It was so much that his wrists would have never have had time to heal if Taj hadn't bandaged them a few days ago. Even still, the prince was almost certain that it would leave scars. The monsters didn't care at all though. Scars on his wrists wouldn't distract from his 'beauty,' they said, and even still could be covered easily enough.
He was glaring daggers at one of those monsters now. Of course, Fatin wasn't even looking at him, instead reading over a few papers in her hand that were no doubt connected to his upcoming coronation. It'd been nearly two weeks already; the ceremony was tomorrow.
He'd managed to notice several things about his captors in these last two weeks. Fatin always tied him up, for instance. Even if she wasn't planning on taking him out of the room, it was the first thing she did whenever she came in, not letting the prince have even an ounce of freedom.
In contrast, Ilham never bothered with a rope, just slinging the slender child over his shoulder whenever he needed to take him somewhere. Apparently the constant kicking and punching from Myrrha didn't bother him at all.
Meanwhile, Taj and Raza were somewhere in between, both leaving him unbound if they weren't planning on moving him. Taj however would always tie him up if they were going to a separate part of the palace, while Raza only would if where they were going was far away.
Myrrha had seethed at the mocking way the shark +anima would allow him to walk around 'freely' as if there was absolutely no way he could escape them. It made him feel even worse that he had a right to be so confident. The silver prince had tried to run off the first time. He still shuddered on the inside at the speed and ease at which Raza had managed to catch him, immediately punishing the boy afterwards.
He had no doubt that those were probably going to scar too.
Fatin stood up without any warning, quickly pulling the boy out of his thoughts as he took to focusing his attention solely on her again.
"You've memorized the lines for the speech tomorrow?" she asked, finally turning to look at the silver haired boy.
Myrrha nodded, rolling his eyes as he did so. It still made him feel sick that he needed to do this, but he didn't have any other choice. They hadn't even let him see the rest of the speech besides the two lines he was supposed to say, so he had no clue what in the world 'he' supposedly wrote.
"It's not like I had anything else to do with my time," he grumbled, not that Fatin cared at all whether or not he was bored of all things. Instead the woman just nodded absently, glancing down at the papers once again.
Myrrha still had no idea how they'd managed to convince the country that it'd be a good idea to put one of the royals they'd just overthrown back onto the throne, but apparently they had. They wouldn't bother with all these preparations for an elaborate coronation ceremony otherwise. Not when they so obviously still despised his heritage.
Nodding at Myrrha's response, she reached out and grabbed the rope around his wrists. Before he could react, she started to drag him along behind her without a word. Myrrha snarled at the hooded woman, one of her wings carelessly smacking him across the face when she turned towards the door.
"Where are we going now?" he demanded, sounding a combination of angry and just fed up with all of this.
As he knew she would, Fatin completely ignored him. While the other three would mock and tease and taunt him, if she didn't want to tell him something, he might as well be talking to a wall. Myrrha was sure she was perfectly aware of how much it pissed him off, too.
Seemingly at random Fatin stopped outside of a room, taking one end of the rope and tying it tightly around the doorknob. Myrrha instantly started to pull, seeing if maybe the rope would come loose, or at the very least if the door would open. Neither seemed to be the case though, and he was pretty sure that the door was probably locked.
"Ilham will be out in a few moments to deal with you. Stay here," she ordered, causing the silver boy to roll his eyes once again. As if he could even try to go anywhere like this.
Without another glance at the boy Fatin started down the hallway, until eventually disappearing from Myrrha's sight. Just leaving him there. So confident that he couldn't work his way out of a rope of all things. That he wasn't a threat in the slightest. Yanking once again, the silver prince practically growled when it didn't budge an inch.
Angrily, he plopped to the floor and let his fish anima transform his body. It was always a bit awkward out of water, but he hadn't figured out how to get his fangs otherwise – though it must be possible, since he still hadn't even seen Raza in full shark +anima form.
Leaning against the door, he raised the rope to his razor sharp teeth and started sawing at the rope. It was worth a shot, and even though he knew he'd get caught, it was worth it to just know he was still fighting the monsters.
"What do you mean you couldn't find him?"
The gruff voice yelling on the other side of the door distracted the silver boy. He instantly identified it as Ilham's, apparently yelling at some poor sap who hadn't been able to do his job correctly. Giving up in his attempts to gnaw his way out of the rope, he pushed his ear to the door, instead deciding to listen in on the two.
He doubted it would be anything useful, but Ilham might not know that he was there yet. They had been very careful to keep Myrrha away from any actual military or political information thus far, so this would be interesting, at the very least.
"I've gone through all the reports. As far as I can tell, his death was never confirmed, sir," Myrrha blinked slightly in surprise, recognizing the younger voice. That fool Kazana who had captured him during the attack.
Instinctively he allowed his anima to fade away and pressed himself even closer to the door, trying to figure just what they were talking about. Whose death hadn't been confirmed? For such concern over confirming a death, surely they must be speaking of someone from the palace, maybe even… someone of the royal family?
"Do you have any idea how dangerous it would be if he's still alive?" Ilham asked, the anger in his voice very clear. Myrrha was a bit surprised when Kazana answered, not sounding fearful of the intimidating man at all.
"There's no way he could have lived. We had all of the exits secured, as well as all of the main secret tunnels, and even if he did somehow get out, someone would have recognized that red hair. The old Crown Prince would have been killed within the hour," the teen argued reasonably.
On the other side of the door Myrrha gasped softly under his breath, huge eyes widening in surprise. For a good few seconds, his world completely froze.
Red hair. Crown Prince.
They were talking about Keane.
The silver boy started shivering, remembering the way they had dressed him up in his half-brother's old clothes, how very certain he had been that he, that everyone had been killed. That… that might not have been the case though…
The incredible odds that Kazana had placed against Keane's survival were quickly pushed to the back of his head. There was a chance, and that was all he needed at the moment. Just the idea that maybe, somehow, he wasn't completely alone.
That he still had a brother. Family.
"That had better be the case, he's the last one we need to still be out there!" Ilham's gruff voice knocked Myrrha out of his shock. The silver-haired prince pressed his ear against the door once again, straining to hear anything more.
The sound of a chair scraping against the floor alerted the silver boy to the fact that someone had stood up. "I don't want this getting out to anyone, got it? As far as it's concerned, that boy was killed along with the rest of them. We do not need to give anyone who supported the royals someone to rally behind!" Ilham ordered.
"Yes, Ilham," Kazana replied obediently.
Listening Myrrha could just hear the sound of Kazana's strange, clicking walk from his talons start to fade away, then the sound of a door opening and closing, probably to the opposite hall from the one Myrrha sat in. The boy listened in to what sounding like muffled grumbling and cursing, with the soft footsteps of Ilham pacing back and forth. Suddenly the man swore aloud and it sounded like he was coming directly towards the door Myrrha was still roped to.
Quickly, the silver boy made sure to back away from the door. Less than two seconds afterwards the door swung open roughly, just barely missing him.
Looking down, Ilham smirked at the peeved expression on the prince's face from nearly being hit. The huge man didn't bother to untie the rope, instead cutting it off of the doorknob with one of his claws, not even noticing the frayed section the boy had tried to gnaw through. Myrrha's wrists were still bound together, so he wasn't able to punch at the man like he normally did when the huge tiger +anima lifted him effortlessly over his shoulder.
"So, is our little prince excited for his big day tomorrow?" Ilham mocked, causing Myrrha to see if there was some way he could twist around and bite the man. Much to his annoyance, he couldn't.
"Burn in hell," he spat instead, ignoring the way Ilham simply chuckled at his anger.
Myrrha wondered slightly if he should bring up the overheard conversation. To get a chance to actually mock the monster instead of the other way around for once. That he'd managed to miss Keane of all people.
The freaking Crown Prince, who should have been one of the first people targeted along with the king! Who was such a spaz that he once let out that his biggest fear was ghosts. Who Myrrha, someone three years younger, could beat in a fight. They'd somehow let this kid get away? It was almost laughable!
Despite this, he found himself staying silent as Ilham carried him along. It would probably be so easy, not to mention satisfying, to enrage the general with his possible failure. But what if…
What if Keane really was alive?
Keane. The idiot, the fool, who had been so terrifically jealous, such an incredible bully before Myrrha had transformed. Had taunted him for looking like a girl, for having a terrible accent and strange, husky voice, for being so small and delicate next to the other princes. The little ringleader of a group that Myrrha had dreaded catching sight of, knowing it would end in a scuffle with himself at the bottom of the pile.
The idiot, the fool, the spaz that had ran into Myrrha's supposedly locked room crying his eyes out after he was told the younger prince had tried to kill himself. The one who wouldn't stop apologizing for becoming Crown Prince instead of Myrrha. Who would sneak in to visit him. Every fifth day of the week, after sundown. And would stay with him for hours, even as they bickered back and forth over the stupidest stuff.
Like +anima. Like slavery. Like royalty and harems and what life was like outside the palace.
Who would never stop asking him what had really happened. As if he actually somewhat suspected foul play.
Who, honestly, would probably have surrendered to the revolution rather than fight them, had the decision been in his hands.
Myrrha found himself terrified at what Raza or Fatin would do to Keane, to his brother, if they found out their little puppet knew that he might be alive. How they'd hold it over his head, tormenting him far worse than anything Ilham's claws could do. That they still had more that they could, and would, take from him.
He could easily picture them killing Keane right in front of him. Making him watch.
No! He wasn't about to let them tear away the hope that maybe they hadn't managed to wipe out his entire family. Somehow, he knew that if he let slip what he'd overheard, they would launch a full scale manhunt for the once crown prince.
Keane. Keane might be alive. Alive!
By the time Ilham finally dropped him to the floor back in his room, the prince had decided that he wasn't going to let anyone find out what he'd overheard. It took all his willpower to keep his expression from showing anything but the usual defiance.
The silver prince was quickly knocked out of his thoughts when Ilham started speaking, still using that confident, condescending tone of voice that Myrrha had gotten used to.
"Your part in the coronation ceremony will be simple. I'll go out first and speak to the crowd, when I introduce you you'll come out and say your lines. You'll just need to stand there silently until I finish the rest of the speech, and then you'll be crowned," Ilham explained.
Reluctantly the silver boy nodded, his heart plummeting from its high at the reminder of the fake coronation, though his face remained cold. What he actually had to do was easy enough, but it still made him feel sick.
"You mess this up, you try anything, and we will kill you on the spot. Understand?" Ilham growled threateningly.
Glaring daggers back at the man, both out of anger and to hide the fear his words caused, the prince nodded. He had no doubt that they really would.
"I said I'd let you crown me king. You don't have to worry about that," he snapped back, causing the large man to smirk.
Even if he doubted anything these beast said was true, he'd said that he would be crowned king, and so he was going to. After all, he couldn't go against them if he wanted to live. He was only a doll, no matter what idol they were trying to make him into.
"Good kid," Ilham said mockingly, as he turned on his heel and left, shutting the door and quickly locking it behind himself. They'd learned from experience that any delay was a possible chance of having to chase after a silver haired brat.
Sitting alone once again, the silver boy sighed. Walking over to a far corner, he laid down on the floor, using his arm as a pillow and pulling a blanket up around his frame. There wasn't a bed in here, just the table and dresser. Taj had left the blanket for him a few days ago, which helped a little bit. He had only been able to tell it was night because they had passed by a few windows on the way back here, but he would've been tired anyway.
Closing his eyes, he wished that somehow he could keep the morning from coming. A puppet king. How could he let himself become a tool to those beasts?
Pulling the blanket closer, he told himself that wasn't the case. He just needed to live long enough to figure out a way out of here. He desperately clung to that thought to try to escape the screaming inside his mind at the thought of being a puppet. Escape, yes. He'd escape and try to find Keane.
Eventually he managed to fall asleep, trying to comfort himself with the fact that he might not actually be completely alone. At the very least, that spaz Keane might still be alive, and that was a lot more than he'd been able to say since he'd first been captured.
…
Myrrha woke up to something hard and scaly poking him in the back. Groaning, he instinctively pulled away, wrapping his blanket tighter around himself.
"Go away," he mumbled sleepily, only to hear the lizard +anima chuckle slightly and poke him in the back with his foot once again.
"No can do princey. We need to get you all ready for the big day," Taj said, poking him for a third time. Growling, Myrrha pushed himself up into a sitting position and snarled up at the young revolutionary.
"See, was that so hard?" he asked, to which the silver boy just rolled his eyes. Without any warning something was thrown over his head, which Myrrha instantly threw off in a panic only to see it was an outfit. Glaring up at the young adult in annoyance, Taj simply smirk at him once again.
"And don't go tearing this one up, got it?" he said, and reluctantly the silver prince nodded. He had a feeling that it would not be a good idea to act up today of all days.
Apparently Taj knew that as well, since he actually trusted him enough to leave the room again to let him get changed.
Since the last time they'd tried to get him to wear something, he'd only been given the simplest clothes they could find. Which ended up being quite practical, since it was a given they'd be bloodstained at the end of any given day.
Of course, he highly doubted that would be the case now, with them having to show him off to the country as their pretty little puppet. Reluctantly putting the outfit on, he was proven quite right.
The high collared shirt was a silvery grey, with a strip of light blue silk running down the center. A darker blue thread created intricate patterns on both that and strips the same color that were at the end of the long sleeves. Sapphires ran down the side of each sleeve and up his shoulders. The pants were a darker shade of grey than the shirt, and had strips of blue running down the sides the same shade as the patterned thread in his shirt.
"Finished," he called out, slightly amused by the relieved look that passed over the reptilian man's face at the sight of him. If he didn't trust him to not ruin the outfit – which really, he shouldn't – then he shouldn't have left him alone in the first place. He didn't bother to say that though, and Taj quickly started speaking anyway.
"Real pretty princey. Here," he said, handing the boy some shoes and bracelets. Myrrha glared at him, but took the items anyway. He guessed that's how they were planning to hide the still healing cuts on his wrists, and quickly slipped the thick silver circles around his wrists before putting the shoes on.
"I'm not pretty," he grumbled, snapping at Taj's hand when he patted him on the head. The lizard +anima was able to pull himself out of the way fast enough to avoid getting bitten, however.
Myrrha growled at him as he smirked again, tongue flickering out in amusement.
"Have a little self-confidence. You look great," he said, knowing that it would just annoy the boy even more.
"Just what are you, anyway? The team fashion designer?" Myrrha asked mockingly.
Taj didn't seem very insulted though, grinning once again as he grabbed the boy by the wrist to lead him out of the room. Apparently they weren't going to use the rope today. It'd probably look suspicious if anyone saw the new king being led around like a convict.
Thinking about it, he hadn't actually seen anyone but the four revolutionary leaders since the day he'd first been thrown into that room, the day they'd decided on this stupid puppet king plan. So they already were probably going through extra lengths to keep anyone from getting suspicious that their new 'king' wasn't quite legit. If someone caught sight of him being dragged down the hall, dripping blood, at the end of a rope binding his wrists together… yeah, that'd pretty much trash all Raza's plans.
"Actually Raza's the one who picked out the outfit," he said, pulling Myrrha along.
The silver boy couldn't keep himself from shuddering slightly at the mention of the other man. Of course he picked out his clothes. And that he'd gotten something that even the stubborn prince had to admit probably looked good on him, even going so far as to match his earrings.
Which meant, oh crap, that they'd noticed his earrings. He better be careful not to let slip that they were precious to him, since they were now his only reminder of his mother and father. If they thought the earrings were just jewelry, they probably wouldn't bother taking them.
"Where's the ceremony even taking place?" he asked, quickly changing the subject in his mind. Taj didn't even look down at him as he answered, simply tightening his grip slightly as Myrrha tried to pull away once again.
"The main balcony. It's still about an hour until we start, but there's already a huge crowd," he told the prince, who immediately stopped in his tracks, causing Taj to stumble to a stop and glare back at him.
The… The main… That's where…
"I'm not going up there!" he shouted without thinking, the fear in his voice very clear. Taj looked him over in confusion, but Myrrha wasn't about to start to explain it to him. H-he wasn't… n-not where his father had been…
With a frown, the reptilian man started to yank the now much more reluctant boy forward, even as Myrrha dug his heels in desperately and struggled to pull back.
"Yes, you are! Now's no time to be getting stage fright, kid," Taj grunted, almost unable to keep his hold on the boy when he yanked him arm once again.
"It's not stage fright!" Myrrha insisted, still trying to pull away. A look of realization seemed to come over Taj's face at his panicked tone, but the prince didn't notice as he continued trying to get away. "I'm not going up there! You monsters can't make me!" he yelled, close to attempting to bite Taj to get him to let go.
"Look kid -" the young revolutionary started, before someone else cutting him off caused Myrrha to freeze in his attempts to escape.
"Is our precious future king having a problem?" Raza asked, a calculating smirk on his face as he approached the two.
Taj let out a relieved sigh at the sight of the older man, and Myrrha tried to tell himself that he couldn't hurt him today. They needed him to look his best for the people.
"He doesn't want to go up to the balcony," the reptilian man explained, to which Raza nodded, focusing his deep blue eyes on Myrrha afterwards. The silver prince tried to pull himself together enough to glare at him, just barely managing to.
"It can't be changed now. You're not scared, are you?" the black haired man asked, immediately having figured out precisely why he wouldn't want to go up there.
The silver boy instantly started shaking his head though, even though he knew that was exactly what Raza wanted. Using his own stubbornness to get him to do what he wanted, knowing Myrrha would never do anything he saw as weak.
Besides, the silver prince already knew that he had to go along with the ceremony today. There really wasn't anything else he could do. Raza was right that they couldn't change where it was taking place an hour beforehand.
Myrrha reluctantly forced his body to relax, no longer fighting Taj's hold.
"Good, then how about we get moving again, shall we?" the sharp man said, and reluctantly Myrrha allowed Taj to pull him along. It wasn't long before they were in the room behind the main balcony. Curtains were drawn around the opening, so that the silver boy couldn't actually see out.
Myrrha felt his stomach flip, imagining that gruesome sight Fatin had shown him to still be out there, despite telling himself over and over again that it wasn't.
Tearing his eyes away from the curtains, he saw that Ilham was already in the room as well, but so far Fatin was nowhere to be seen. The muscular man glared down at him from across the room, obviously trying to intimidate him against trying to make a move as much as possible before the ceremony started.
On the other side of the curtain, Myrrha could hear the huge crowd of people gathering. Surely they couldn't actually be happy with this. They wouldn't want a royal on the throne again; it didn't make any sense. Wasn't that the whole point of the revolution?
No one said anything as they waited, although about thirty minutes later Taj left the room. The silver boy could hear the crowd getting larger and larger, until eventually Ilham started over towards the curtains in order to start the ceremony off. Raza stayed back in the room with him, standing by the door so that he couldn't even think about trying to leave.
Ilham's voice filtered in through the curtains, the large man speaking loudly in order to be heard over the crowd. Myrrha closed his eyes tightly as he tried and failed to block him out for now, still hearing the man begin to introduce himself and start going on about the war. Explaining how they'd found the +anima prince, about his 'contributions' to the revolution's cause. The reasoning for why he wouldn't be able to make a long speech, instead having to write most of it down for someone else to say.
This couldn't be happening. It just couldn't. He told himself that over and over again, despite how untrue it really was. He'd never even wanted to be king normally, so how had this happened?
The silver boy just barely managed to bring himself to be aware of his surroundings again in order to hear Ilham announce his name, the signal for him to come out and start the act. Taking a deep breath, he quickly managed to erase any signs of fear or pain that had been plaguing him since all of this began. Not noticing the impressed smirk that passed over Raza's face as he started forward and through the curtains.
Despite himself, Myrrha couldn't help but stare in a shocked silence for a moment when he came out of the other side. The sheer amount of people there was enough to stun the child, not even taking into account the deafening cheers.
Why were they so happy? Scanning the crowd, he was able to make out many +anima there, but it still didn't make sense to him. Why didn't anyone care he was royal? Of course, as far as anyone knew he'd completely abandoned his family for the revolution. Like he'd ever do something like that.
The prince stood there in silence for almost a minute before the crowds died down enough for him to even attempt to speak. Well, it was supposed to be hard for him to speak loudly anyway; it'd make sense that he'd wait for them to quiet down enough so that they could hear.
"People of Sailand," he started, pausing slightly before continuing. He ignored the scrutinizing way Ilham watched his every move, just waiting for him to slip up, to show that he wasn't going to go along with their plan. As much as he wanted to, it'd be pointless to throw his life away right now. He just had to hurry up and get this whole thing over with.
"After all of the suffering this war has caused, it brings me great joy to finally see the end of those who imposed such cruelty on this country," he started, delivering the small speech with such a confidence that no one would imagine the sickening feeling that engulfed him with each word.
"As your new king, I promise to do everything in my power to set Sailand on a path of peace, and make sure that the tragic events that led up to this will never have to be repeated again," he declared, watching as the crowd once again started cheering wildly.
This wasn't right. He was standing in the exact same spot where they had hung up his father's remains like a trophy! Did they think he approved of something like that?
He could admit that his father had been wrong about a lot of things, but he would never believe that he deserved what they had done to him, and certainly not the rest of the royal family. Most of those who'd been killed had next to no political power at all. That wasn't a war, that was a slaughter.
Would anyone in the crowd before him ever understand that? The roar of cheering before him said otherwise.
The silver prince didn't even listen as Ilham continued whatever the rest of his supposed speech said. He didn't care that anything, everything they could have said would have just been lie after lie after lie. He didn't pay attention again until the speech was over, and the actual crowning started.
Turning towards Ilham, Myrrha kneeled before him. It was slightly unnecessary, since the tiger +anima was already so much taller than him, but it didn't really matter. Myrrha couldn't keep himself from glaring up at the man as he pulled out a thin silver crown and placed it on his head, the crowd once again close to deafening the boy.
Silver, which was traditionally reserved more for the queens, while the king had gold. He doubted anyone would really take any notice of that. His outfit was silver and blue, his hair was silver. It wasn't any secret that the color looked good on him, no one would ever think that it was anything but a stylistic choice. Even without Ilham smirking down at him, he knew the truth. He wasn't a real king. This was all just make-believe, a nice little play to amuse the public.
Standing up, Myrrha turned towards the crowd, their cheers picking up once again. It wasn't until they died down again did Ilham say a few final words before pulling the curtain back, allowing the new 'king' to retreat into the castle, the tiger +anima following after him.
It was done.
The second the curtain was back in place Myrrha tore the simple elegant crown off his head and flung it across the room. The boy couldn't help but be a bit satisfied that it nearly managed to hit Raza, who was still waiting back there, without him even aiming.
"There! Happy now? I went through with your damn coronation ceremony!" he spat, all of his rage quickly starting to spill over. Raza simply smirked, showing that yes, he was indeed very happy.
Out of the corner of his eye Myrrha caught sight of Ilham reaching out towards him, most likely to fling him over his shoulder once again and cart him back to his room. Before he was able to, the silver boy snapped towards him, actually managing to catch him off guard and sink sharp, fighting +anima teeth into his hand. He wouldn't realize until later that he'd actually managed it, for the first time, without a full transformation.
The large man didn't cry out in pain at all, instead instantly taking the boy and flinging him across the room into the wall, knocking him out cold.
Yay, the start of some rather complex things in this chapter I see. If you don't yet, everything will probably start to become more apparent shortly. And Husky's officially king, now we can really start to get this ball rolling. And of course, as always thanks for reading, and please review.