Syrena Chapter 12
Thank you everyone for your continued support and reviews! I am so glad that you have been following and supporting this story since the beginning. Your words of advice and encouragement are always a blessing and I am always grateful.
Warning: Violence, slight gore.
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Syrena Chapter Twelve – Iron Ore
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When Yuuri reluctantly walked back into the ballroom he was immediately met by his annoyed older brother.
"Where were you?" Shouri demanded, grabbing Yuuri's arm and leading him towards the center of the ballroom where his parents were standing and talking with Lord Norwich.
The effects of Wolfram's spell were quickly dissolving into the back of Yuuri's mind, but the feel of his full lips brushing against his cheek was still very real and Yuuri was very close to just turning around to rejoin Wolfram in the garden and to hell with this whole debacle.
"Lords and Ladies, it is with great joy that my wife the Queen and I welcome Lord Norwich and his lovely daughter Lady Amelia to our kingdom. It has been a great three weeks of becoming closer with this family not just as business partners but as friends as well!"
Yuuri could hear his father's strong voice carry over the curious heads of the many guests as they all turned their attention to the royal couple. Lord Norwich and Amelia were standing beside the king. Amelia had an odd look about her. Her face was unusually pale and she looked as if she were dreading whatever was to come next.
Shouri guided Yuuri to stand next to their parents. Shouma shot the two princes a disapproving look for their tardiness, but he continued on.
"We are delighted that you are here to bear witness to the official announcement of the engagement of his Highness Second Prince Yuuri Shibuya and Lady Amelia Norwich and we wish to extend an invitation to each one of you for the wedding to be held in four months' time."
The room erupted in a huge applause and calls of congratulations for the young couple. Yuuri started when Amelia's hand grabbed his own and they were made to stand before their parents in full view of the guests.
It only took a second for Yuuri to find Wolfram in the crowd. He was back at his original place behind the buffet table, watching stoically as the nobility wished Yuuri and Amelia well in their marriage. Yuuri wasn't sure what would happen to Wolfram after this, but he silently swore to himself that he would find a way to ensure the merman was looked after. His budding friendship with Amelia gave him hope that there could be a place for Wolfram in Norwich.
Lord Norwich stepped out and gave a deep bow the king and queen.
"Your Majesties, I cannot express how deeply grateful and honored we are that you have accepted us into your grand dynasty. We are such a humble nobility that we would have never dared to wish for such an honor," Lord Norwich said graciously.
Standing straight, Lord Norwich faced the crowd. "But we do have a small gift to show our gratitude and agreement with this upcoming marriage. We have heard that the kingdom of Shin Makoku has had a long and difficult history with a species known as the merpeople."
A murmur rippled through the crowd. Yuuri cringed. Many of the guests present had been aboard that fateful night when the merpeople attacked the royal ship. That moment seemed so far away and yet it was easily remembered among those who witnessed the dangers of the merfolk firsthand.
Sensing a bit of confusion in his younger brother, Shouri leaned over to whisper in Yuuri's ear. "Lord Norwich has arranged for a demonstration of the iron ore to show how effective it is against merfolk."
Yuuri's blood ran cold. Wolfram was still standing behind the crowd watching them. "W-what does it actually do?"
This time, Amelia spoke up. "It's really dreadful," she whispered with a slight grimace. "I never saw it myself, but my older sister did. She said it was like pouring salt on a slug only much worse. It basically dissolves them."
Yuuri had to suppress a gag. Just the thought made him sick. He had seen what salt did to little garden slugs and if that was the closest comparison to the effects of iron ore on merfolk then he would rather not bear witness.
"I don't want to see it," he said.
"Well, you'll have to suck it up," Shouri replied with not an ounce of sympathy. "It would be rude for you to bow out as this is the sole reason for your marriage."
Lord Norwich's voice cut into their conversation. "I would like to give a demonstration of the powerful effects of finely ground iron ore harvested from the mines of the Norwich Mountains."
A door to the side of the ballroom opened, four servants wheeled in a square structure covered by a large tarp.
"As you are all likely aware, the price of alcohol and absinthe has sky-rocketed the past few years because they have become the most effective way of deterring mermaid attacks," Lord Norwich said as the structure was positioned in the center of the room. A few of the guests – merchants – nodded in agreement. The merfolk were hurting the business.
Lord Norwich made a grand gesture toward the covered structure. "But I can assure you that with this new form of pest control, the prices will drop and we will be able to enjoy our wine and whiskey with none of the guilt!" This earned him a round of chuckles.
They had to get Wolfram out of there. That was the only thought running through Yuuri's mind as his heartbeat sped up with every word that Lord Norwich spoke to the crowd. AN idea of what was in that giant square thing made the need for haste and discretion even more serious.
"Murata!" Yuuri whispered to his friend, who had appeared out of nowhere at his side. "Wolfram- "
"Needs to go," Murata finished, already scanning the room for a quick escape route.
"Go where?" The mysterious Daikenja appeared behind Murata, placing a thin hand on his son's shoulder to prevent him from leaving.
"Father!" Murata started, the Daikenja was probably the only person who could surprise the ever vigilant Murata. "Um, well…"
At this point, the servants had removed the brown tarp to reveal a large fish tank that held a mermaid. She was thrilling and beautiful in her appearance, sharp green eyes scanned the crowd in fear and many instinctively backed away from her gaze. Long blonde hair billowed out from around her head adding to the unearthliness of her wild beauty. Yuuri couldn't help but be reminded of his own merman.
"You cannot leave," the Daikenja said sternly. "We must stay for the demonstration."
"Lord Daikenja," Yuuri turned to face the tall man. "We were just concerned because….because…"
"Master Wolfram is incredibly squeamish!" Murata supplied. "He would faint at the demonstration."
"I'm sure Master Wolfram can excuse himself on his own," Daikenja assured his son. "But we must stay here."
Yuuri didn't hear the rest of the exchange, his attention was fixated on Wolfram who was staring at the mermaid in the tank in horror.
The wheels in his head turned as Yuuri took in the appearance of the mermaid and then Wolfram. The matching blonde hair and green eyes, they even had similar facial features! Wolfram's face went pale and the mermaid pressed herself against the glass as if to break free and go to him. He frantically looked between to the two of them and a terrified comprehension dawned on him .
They were from the same colony. They knew each other.
"We caught this incredibly dangerous female swimming close to the shore where innocent families were playing on the beach," Lord Norwich tapped the glass, making the mermaid flinch. The crowd gasped and began to whisper among themselves about those terrible monsters.
"She had been terrorizing the beaches for weeks now. Who knows why? However, she has found herself to be the test rat for our experiment that will show you how effective iron ore is against the merfolk threat," Lord Norwich gestured for a servant holding a small lidded jar to step forward.
"Conrad!" Yuuri called out as quietly as he could. This earned him an annoyed glance from his parents but he didn't care at that point.
Conrad leaned over discreetly. "Yes, your Highness?"
"You have to get Wolfram out of here now!" Yuuri ordered his bodyguard.
"Right now?"
"Yes!" Yuuri spat out, trying his best not to draw attention.
"Is everything alright, Second Prince?" Shouma asked with a very disapproving frown.
"We're fine," Yuuri said without even looking at his father. "Conrad, please!"
"What should I tell him?" Conrad would follow his prince's orders, even if they were awfully confusing.
"Anything! Just get him out before the demonstration starts!"
With an apprehensive bow, Conrad disappeared into the crowd and Yuuri watched him gradually make his way toward the far corner where Wolfram stood, silently urging the man to move faster and stop pausing to excuse himself whenever he bumped into people. Who gave a damn about their feelings!
Yuuri fought the urge to tear through the crowd and drag Wolfram out himself. Only small sense of relief came to him when Conrad finally reached Wolfram and leaned over to whisper something in the merman's ear. Wolfram barely noticed Conrad and the soldier looked over to Yuuri powerlessly. Though one of the few people that Wolfram relaxed around, Conrad had never tried to make Wolfram do anything as only Yuuri, and to some extent Murata, could get the young man to cooperate without a fuss. Conrad hesitantly reached out to take the merman's upper arm and immediately Wolfram yanked himself away, not taking his attention off the mermaid.
Conrad looked helpless, but as carefully as he could, he took Wolfram's arm again to lead him away. This time, Wolfram flat out shoved Conrad away and the soldier was quickly joined by two others who had to physically drag the struggling man from the ballroom through a small servant's entrance.
Luckily, the guests were so intrigued by this demonstration that only those nearest to Wolfram noticed the struggle and looked on in disapproval at such a display. Yuuri sent a silent apology to the merman and hoped that his actions would be understood in the future.
Yuuri released a breath he didn't know he was holding until the merman finally disappeared into the hall.
"Yuuri, attention!" Shouma ordered his son.
Yuuri didn't want to pay attention. He glanced at Amelia, who didn't bother to hide the disgusted look on her face. Sensing his presence, she offered him an apologetic look as her father made a show of removing the lid of the jar and using a small pewter ladle to scoop out a chicken-egg sized lump of fine, dark grey powder.
"This iron ore," Lord Norwich explained to the enraptured crowd. "Is mined from the Norwich valleys where my daughter and I hail. It is in abundance and is cheap to produce. It is also twice as powerful as alcohol when it comes to exterminating merpeople as you will see."
A footstool was provided and set beside the tank. The mermaid swam to where the man placed the stool to watch as Norwich stepped atop the stool. She pulled back her lips to reveal vicious teeth and a low hiss could be heard.
"How savage!" Yuuri heard one woman gasp behind her fan.
It wasn't savage! Wolfram had made that same sound with that same stance many times before. It was a warning to anyone who posed a threat. It happened when Wolfram was scared or being overwhelmed by crowds or strangers. It was in self-defense and if Lord Norwich just backed away the mermaid would calm down.
But Lord Norwich didn't. Instead he came even closer and the mermaid became more agitated and began to hiss even louder.
"As you can see," Lord Norwich said. "These creatures are incredibly aggressive."
Lord Norwich held the ladle full of iron ore above the water. The mermaid went still.
"I suggest for the ladies that if they are squeamish or easily frightened, they should look away."
Nearly all of the women in attendance hid their faces immediately behind ornate fans or their husband's shoulders. A few continued to peek from behind their protection in morbid curiosity.
Amelia, who had no fan, cast her gaze downward. "This is horrid…."
Yuuri suddenly felt queasy. He had seen the violence that occurred between humans and merpeople many times. He thought he would have a steel nerve after years of exterminating merfolk. But now, now he didn't think he could handle it.
With a great amount of ceremony, Lord Norwich slowly over-turned the ladle and the iron powder delicately fell into the water.
The entire room held its breath.
The powder spread throughout the water like a silver cloud, eerily pretty in the way it caught the light of the chandeliers. The mermaid sank deeper until she was pressed into the bottom of the tank, instinctively wary of the strange substance until the cloud engulfed her entirely.
It was only a second or two, but to Yuuri it felt much longer before a soul-piercing scream from the mermaid cut through the silence. Everyone backed away from the terrible sound as the water began to churn violently as the creature tried in vain to escape her painful death.
The water began to a revolting greyish red color as the mermaid's skin began to melt from her very body.
'It's like putting salt on a slug but worse!'
Amelia's words echoed through Yuuri's mind as he witnessed the true barbarity of this new weapon.
Bloody water spilled over the tank, creating a large puddle on the surrounding floor. Lord Norwich and the servants watched coldly as the mermaid, in pure desperation, tried to launch herself from the tank to get away from the iron ore.
One servant stepped forward and with a large pole smacked the mermaid back until she was forced back into the deadly water.
The crowd watched in fascinated horror, some were looking entertained at the spectacle, many were in awe of a method that would kill the merpeople quickly and cruelly. Yuuri hated them all.
Yuuri wanted to vomit. This wasn't a weapon. This wasn't a new and innovative way to stop the continuous conflict between merfolk and humans. This was pure unapologetic murder and cruelty of the worst kind. Yuuri was astonished that his own court would even agree to something like this! That his father had taken away Yuuri's freedom to secure such a brutal method for monetary gain further antagonized the king to his youngest son.
The mermaid's struggles were beginning to weaken. The sloshing of the water slowed as she succumbed to the poison. Her screams became pitiful moans as she sank to the bottom of the tank.
Suddenly, her screams were replaced by another from far to the side of the ballroom. Men and women were harshly pushed aside as Wolfram burst through the crowd and skidded to a halt in front of the tank.
"What in earth…" Yuuri heard his father mumble.
Wolfram made a strange noise, somewhat like a call. The mermaid weakly pulled herself up to look at Wolfram and she reached an arm out to him. Many gasped as the strings of skin and flesh that dripped of the bone and landed with a sickeningly wet slap onto the marble floors.
Wolfram let out in inhuman noise, one of anguish and shock as he ran toward the tank, shoving aside a surprised Lord Norwich to try and help the other mermaid out of the tank. Two servants tried to get him down, but Wolfram kicked and swung at them with his sharp nails as he tried to desperately save the mermaid.
"What the hell is he doing?" Shouma shouted. "Get him down!"
"Wait!" Yuuri cried, but the soldiers had already materialized and moved with weapons drawn to capture Wolfram.
Wolfram didn't even notice them, he had managed to get the top half of the mermaid out of the water and was struggling to get his footing on the step stool and pull her out. He winced in pain as the poisoned water touched his own flesh and began to eat away at it like acid. He was making a series of strange noises and clicks to the other mermaid, who was too consumed by her agony to respond. She weakly tried to hold onto Wolfram as he did his best to pull her out of the tank.
They were yanked apart when a soldier grabbed Wolfram's shirt and yanked the merman down, throwing him to the floor into the puddle of poisoned water. Wolfram yelped, distracted by the iron water and stumbled out of the puddle. The other soldier beat the mermaid back into the water as the other tried to pin Wolfram down.
Wolfram snarled and turned his attention to the soldier. Teeth and claws fully visible, Wolfram dug his claws into the man's shoulders and shoved him back. The man squawked in surprise and they brawled on the floor. Wolfram managed to bite the man's shoulder. Blood ran down the once pristine uniform and the soldier began to panic and call for help.
By now there were at least eight soldiers on the merman. Everyone in the ballroom watched in stunned silence as the men vainly tried to subdue the merman. Wolfram was a combination of swinging claws and snarling teeth, occasionally shouting out one guttural sound that only Yuuri could understand.
"Mother!"
Cursing, Yuuri shot forward, grabbing the ceremonial dagger at his side and launched himself into the mayhem to get between Wolfram and the soldiers.
"Get off him!" Yuuri shouted. "Don't touch him!"
Yuuri was caught between the soldiers and Wolfram. Several times the prince was punched in the face, scratched by Wolfram's claws and at one point, he was even bitten in the confusion. Yuuri clothes were ripped and stained with the bloodied water on the floor and that of Wolfram, who had taken a few brutal hits himself.
Yuuri heard his parents' indignant shouts and Murata and Shouri's shouts of concern as he tried to calm Wolfram and shove the men away.
Finally recognizing that they were attacking their own prince, the soldiers collected themselves and backed away with their swords drawn .Yuuri stood between Wolfram and the soldiers. Wolfram was collapsed behind him, breathing heavily, clothes torn and stained with blood – his and the soldiers.
"Don't you dare touch him!" Yuuri snarled.
"What the hell is going on?" Shouma voice boomed over the ballroom. The king stormed forward to stand in front of his son. "Yuuri, have you gone completely insane?!"
"I won't let you hurt him!" Yuuri said, voice quivering. But he was determined to stand his ground.
"What savage creature is this thing?" Lord Norwich demanded, jabbing a finger at Wolfram who was half-lying behind Yuuri.
"I order you to tell us what is going on, Prince Yuuri!" Shouma snarled.
Yuuri hesitated. Their secret was out.
"Yuuri…" Wolfram's pathetic whimper caught Yuuri attention. The prince dared to glance behind him where Wolfram lay. Worry filled him when he saw the damage the soldiers had inflicted on top of the poisoned water that had gotten on Wolfram during the fight and his botched rescue attempt of the mermaid.
Yuuri could see the effects of the iron ore. Wolfram's arms were the worst. Open wounds like third degree burns covered Wolfram's arms and the bottom right side of his face. The wounds even looked like they were continuing to spread, staining his clothes with blood and leaving a terrible metallic smell in the air.
Yuuri turned to the tank and immediately wished he hadn't. The mermaid had sunken to the bottom and was a barely visible shadow in the greyish-pink water. Chunks of flesh floated to the surface and Yuuri swore he could make out the exposed bones of the mermaid's tail where the iron ore had completely dissolved into her body.
Lord Norwich noticed Wolfram's wounds as well. "The…the foundling….is one of the merfolk?"
Damn. Yuuri looked down at where his clothes had touched the water spilled on the floor. He was completely unaffected by the iron ore. Only merpeople were harmed by it.
"You brought a merman into the palace?" Shouma's voice was dangerously low as he stepped closer to his son.
Yuuri held the dagger up at his father, earning a few gasps from the captivated guests. Raising a weapon to the king was high treason, but Yuuri no longer cared.
"Where did you find him?" Shouma demanded. "The truth this time!"
"He-he was sick!" Yuuri said and silently cursed himself for sounding so timid. "I found him on the beach and brought him here. I wanted to help!"
"You brought a wild and dangerous animal into our palace!" Shouma shouted. "You've endangered the lives of everyone here for some stupid whim!"
"He's not dangerous!" Yuuri protested. "You've seen him! He's never attacked anyone! He's been civil ever since he got here!"
"This explains so much!" Shouma said angrily. "Not knowing how to use a fork, breaking clocks, not being able to speak Common! Was he the one that bit you that day? It wasn't a hunting dog!?"
Yuuri was silent.
That was all the king needed. "It was that thing!"
The crowd began to shout and murmur amongst themselves.
"Merfolk can grow legs now?"
"They can learn our ways?"
"They've infiltrated the palace!"
"They are more dangerous than we thought!"
"The prince is under the mermaid's spell!"
"I'm not under a spell!" Yuuri heard that last comment. "I did this of my own volition! If anyone should be punished it is me! Wolfram is innocent!"
"He is not innocent!" Shouma retorted. "He has shown himself to be a violent creature just now! He attacked the soldiers and he attacked you!"
Shouma pointed to the scratches that decorated Yuuri's face and arms.
"It was an accident!" Yuuri pleaded. "He was trying to save the other mermaid and himself! He didn't hurt me on purpose!"
Shouma was unmoved. "You have humiliated me and your kingdom far too many times, Yuuri! Stand down before you are punished even more severely than you will be now!"
Shouma motioned for the remaining soldiers to capture Wolfram. Yuuri brandished his dagger and moved between them and the merman.
"Please, Father!" Yuuri was desperate. "Do whatever you want to me! I deserve it! I was the one the one who brought him here! I deceived you! Please, I'm the one who should be punished! Spare Wolfram! I'm begging you!"
"Why?" Shouma asked in total frustration. "Why would you risk so much for such a creature?"
The words came out as a broken whisper that Yuuri didn't even think to stop. "I….love him…"
Shouma actually stepped back and sneered in disgust. "Then you are truly under a spell because no sane man would say such an idiotic thing ! And for a merman no less! Seize the prince!"
Soldiers flanked Yuuri and they quickly disarmed him. Yuuri was shoved to the ground but he didn't give up.
"Please! Whatever you want! Take my titles, my money, my power! Disown me if you must, but I am begging you, Father. Please let Wolfram -"
Yuuri was cut off by his father's hard fist colliding with his jaw. Yuuri went staggering to the ground, only the soldiers kept him from hitting the floor. He heard Wolfram yelp and his mother gasp.
"Shouma!" Miko cried. Never had Shouma raised a hand against their sons.
Yuuri spit out blood into the ground, momentarily stunned. He barely registered Wolfram being pinned down and bound by the soldiers. He didn't hear the cries of help from the merman. Even if he did, Yuuri couldn't do anything to aid him.
Shouma stepped forward and grabbed a clump of Yuuri's hair to yank his face up to meet his infuriated gaze.
"You have done nothing but disobey and embarrass me since the beginning!" Shouma spat at him. "You have failed in your duties as a prince of the Shibuya Dynasty! You have brought dishonor to your clan and your family. You stupid, useless boy!"
Summoning a courage he didn't know he had, Yuuri steadily met his father's stormy gaze that looked so much like his.
"So it shall always be then," he said in resignation. "But my conscience will be clear."
Shouma huffed, and threw his son's head back down.
"Kill it!" Shouma ordered the soldiers holding Wolfram. The merman began to scream as a soldier came forward with a long sword coated in a paste made from iron ore.
Yuuri writhed in the soldier's grip. "No! Leave him alone!" He shrieked.
Thinking quickly, Murata rushed forward to stand before the king. "Your Majesty, if I may speak?"
Shouma looked indignant. "Honestly! Daikenja! Come get your child!"
"Murata Ken!" Daikenja spat, moving to yank his son away.
"You don't want to kill him!" Murata said, ignoring his father.
"And why not?" Shouma asked skeptically.
"Well….Wolfram turned into a human!" Murata pointed out, mind racing. "If-if that is true, then won't there be others like him?"
A murmur of agreement rippled through the crowd.
Encouraged, Murata continued. "If he managed to infiltrate the palace this far then it is logical that there must be other merfolk helping him who also know to take human form!"
"And?" Shouma still wasn't convinced.
"Then he surely knows where they are!" Murata argued. "If we kill him then we lose valuable information! The fact that he has taken human form and learned our ways shows that the merfolk are intelligent! They are a bigger threat than before! If Wolfram is kept alive, we can find out if there are others who are hiding among the humans!"
"He has a point, your Majesty." Daikenja agreed after a moment's thought. "If the merpeople have regained their ability to disguise themselves as humans, as the legends have told, then the threat has increased. The creature might prove useful if we are to find others like him."
Shouma hissed a long string of curses as he realized the practicality of that statement. The guests were watching in rapt attention at the drama unfolding and Shouma cringed at what a spectacle his once proper and well-behaved family had become.
Shouma turned to where his youngest son knelt on the ground. Yuuri met his gaze bravely. It likely went without saying that King Shouma would never understand his second-born son and that he was tired of trying.
"Take the creature and put it in one of the cells," he said finally. "We will deal with him in the morning!"
The soldiers picked up a weakened Wolfram and carried the merman out of the ballroom. Shouma regarded his second son.
"And as for you," he growled. "You are to be taken to your rooms and you will stay there until I clean up the mess you made!"
The soldiers holding Yuuri picked up the prince and led him out of the room. Once Yuuri was gone, the ballroom was left in an awkward silence as the guests tried to comprehend what had just happened in the span of a few minutes.
Amelia looked on sadly. "How terrible…."
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Pain. So much pain.
Wolfram lay in a pitiful heap on the cold stone floor of the cell where the soldiers had dumped him over an hour ago. They paid no mind to his wounds, agitating them further and ignoring the yelps that came whenever they grabbed him in a place that was touched by the poison.
That powder…what in Ryuijin's name was it? What sorcery had the humans come up with now?
His poor mother. When he saw her in the tank he didn't want to believe it. Never had his mother strayed close enough to the shore to be captured. She never went far from their colony, preferring to stay with her friends and hunt in the depths.
Wolfram hadn't realized just how deeply he had missed the ocean and his clan until he laid eyes on his mother for the first time in what felt like an eternity. But his moment of happiness was replaced by fear when he wondered why she was there in a glass box in display in front of those obnoxious humans. At first, she didn't recognize him, she looked at him as if he were any other human but recognition dawned on her quickly and for a brief moment, there was relief and joy on her face before that cursed man killed her.
Their reunion had been cut short when Yuuri's bodyguard – Conrad – appeared out of nowhere and told Wolfram that Yuuri had ordered him to return to his rooms with no explanation as to why. When Wolfram resisted, he was forced out. He only caught Yuuri's glance briefly and noted the meek expression on the human's face.
Yuuri knew.
Yuuri had been in on it. He knew what they were going to do to his mother and still he did nothing! Useless, horrible wimp!
The silence of the cell was broken by Wolfram's pathetic cry. Everything hurt so much.
Yuuri had tried to defend him. In the chaos of fighting the soldiers and trying to save his mother, Yuuri tried to protect him. Wolfram felt a strong yearning for the prince. He had never thought Yuuri to be brave enough to go against his father's lackeys. Wolfram was prepared to face them alone and likely die at their hands, but Yuuri actually stood up for him and tried to protect him like he always promised he would. Even though neither of them were strong enough to fight the king and his soldiers, it meant a lot to Wolfram that Yuuri even tried.
Wolfram whined and dared to glance down at his arms. The strange burns were spreading. His arms were almost completely covered from the elbow down in the burns caused by the strange powder.
His time with the humans was now at an end. To ease his pain, his mind drifted back over the past three months he had lived among his eternal enemy. He would never get to play in the garden again, read books, explore the city, and sit with Yuuri watching the summer thunderstorms. There was so much left to learn and do. Now, it was over and he would be killed. He would never see Yuuri again.
Yuuri. The human had become the most important thing in the merman's life. He didn't know when it happened. It could have been before Amelia's arrival or maybe afterward, but Wolfram knew he didn't want to lose the prince to anyone. Yuuri was his. Yuuri was Wolfram's mate.
He gave a dry laugh that echoed off the cell walls. His clan would lose their minds if they found out that Wolfram had chosen a human male for his mate. The idea was absurd to the point of being blasphemous. If they knew, they would cast him out.
Yuuri was a kindred spirit Wolfram had given up on ever finding. No one else indulged in his curiosity and thirst for exploration and knowledge. No one ever treated him like he wasn't some eccentric outlier. No one ever allowed him to satisfy his fascination with the human realm. Only Yuuri. Yuuri had taught Wolfram so much and had given Wolfram a companionship that he never thought he would find among his own clan. Yuuri alone proved that humans were not violent and cruel. It was Yuuri to planted the seed of hope in Wolfram that maybe humans and merpeople could coexist.
But that notion was thoroughly destroyed. Yuuri proved to be the only human not interested in seeing his kind exterminated. Yuuri was truly an outlier in that sense. Maybe that was why they connected so well. Yuuri was different from his people and so was Wolfram. They were able to bond over the shared status of being deemed "weird" by their respective clans.
If only tonight hadn't happened. If only that human female hadn't shown up. If everything had just stayed the way it was then Wolfram could have lived happily on the land with Yuuri.
Wolfram let out a dry sob. Mother…she would still be alive…
Wolfram tried in vain to shift on the floor to ease the pressure on his wounds but hissed when it only made them worse. He wished Yuuri would come to him or even Murata. Just anyone to help him care for his injuries. Or lend him some comfort.
This was it. The poison was spreading quickly. Wolfram didn't think he would live past the morning.
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The past three hours, Yuuri had done nothing but pace around his room in a panic, trying to come up with a way to save Wolfram from his father's wrath. He had heard the calls for the merman's head as he was dragged out of the ballroom. He had seen the soldiers callously carry Wolfram out of the room to the cells beneath the palace.
Those wounds looked terrible. They would need dressing and medicine or they would get infected. Yuuri wondered if it was his imagination or if the open sores were actually beginning to spread as the iron ore dissolved Wolfram's skin from his very bones.
So this was the new method of "controlling" the merfolk population that his father wanted so badly. Yuuri was disgusted that his marriage was used to procure such a weapon designed to inflict damage in the most painful way possible. A silly part of him had hoped the iron ore would be a painless method or a simple deterrent. No, he should have known better. Of course it would literally melt any merfolk it came into contact with. It was biological warfare at its finest.
Disgusting.
Yuuri nearly jumped out of his skin when the door to his bedroom was thrown open by his irate father, followed by his skittish mother.
For a long moment, son and father did nothing but glower at each other. With nothing to lose, Yuuri found in himself a courage he never had when it came to facing his father and he stood, unshaking and unmoving in front of the most intimidating man in the world.
"Do you realize what you have done?" Shouma said finally. "We spent the past hour apologizing to guests and saving as much face as we could thanks to your little stunt! You have brought embarrassment to the family and the court! You have jeopardized your marriage and the business contract with Norwich!"
Yuuri said nothing, he just continued to face his father with a blank expression.
Shouma began to pace in front of his son, barely containing his anger. "What has gotten into you? Where did we go wrong with you? You fail in your military duties, you barely fulfill your duties as head of the Mermaid Control, you hardly pay attention to your studies, and now you're bringing stray mermen into the palace."
Shouma was beside himself. "I just don't know what to do with you anymore! Do you have absolutely no concept of consequences and responsibility?! Answer me, boy!"
Yuuri jumped at the last shouted words. For a moment, he struggled to regain enough composure to answer his father. He looked to his mother, who was watching them both in concern. She had born witness to many of Yuuri and Shouma's arguments, but nothing ever this vicious.
"I…." his voice came out as a squeak, silently cursing he cleared his throat and tired again in a normal voice. "I couldn't with good conscience leave him like that on the beach. I thought if I taught him how to be human, it would prove that merpeople aren't savage animals."
"What kind of harebrained idea is that!?" Shouma yelled.
"Years ago, when mom and I were on the beach, do you remember that mermaid that tried to attack me?" Yuuri asked suddenly.
Shouma blinked in confusion. "What does that have to do with anything?"
"I was talking with her baby! A merchild!" Yuuri continued. "I spoke to him and he showed me his tail and I showed him my legs. We could talk to each other, Father! He even asked for me to show him the land and humans! We are almost friends! I knew then that merpeople weren't the monsters we made them out to be. And when I found Wolfram on the beach, I knew I could prove it!"
"You were a toddler, Yuuri!" Shouma protested. "A toddler's imagination is hardly a valid reason to take in a dangerous animal!"
"You've lived with Wolfram for three months!" Yuuri countered. "He's learned how to read, write, and he can even speak Common! Mother, you know this!"
"He is right, Shouma," Miko said quietly.
"How did he grow legs?" Shouma demanded.
"I-I don't know…." Yuuri said quickly.
Shouma loomed over his son. "If you are lying…."
"I don't know!" Yuuri stood his ground. Though he knew it had something to do with his blood, he didn't need to give his father more reason to hate Wolfram.
Shoum snarled in frustration. "I don't understand you…" Shouma's anger began to dissipate slightly was replaced with pure frustration. "I just don't understand you! We provided you with everything! The best education, the best training – everything! But nothing worked! You were content to waste away on the beach, lost in your own imagination and perfectly content to act like the world didn't exist!"
Shouma pointed a finger at Yuuri. "Well, I am sad to inform you, my son, that the world does exist and it's not some silly fairytale from your storybooks! You are and always will be a prince of Shin Makoku and you will always – whether you like it or not - have duties that you must fulfill no matter what! The time for games and childishness is over and has been over for a very long time. You need to accept that and get on with your life!"
Yuuri was well aware of that. He knew of his duties as a prince. Despite what his father thought Yuuri wasn't stupid or lazy or immature….he just wasn't Shouri.
"Are you going to cry now?"
Shouma mocking question brought Yuuri's attention to the fact that his eyes had begun to water up from his own frustration at not being able to explain himself to his father because no matter what Yuuri said, it fell on deaf ears. He blinked back the tears and regained some level of composure to coldly return his father's glare.
"No…" Yuuri whispered brokenly. "I'm not crying…"
"You better not!" Shouma snarled. "If anyone should be crying it's me and your mother for all the strife you put us through tonight!"
Yuuri summoned the last of his nerve. "I don't regret what I did. I don't regret saving Wolfram. If you wanted an apology and for me to grovel at your feet then you are sorely mistaken! I will never be sorry for saving Wolfram!"
"That creature clearly has you under some kind of spell!" Shouma growled. "Was I hallucinating or did you really just say, in front of all those people, that you loved a merman? A male merfolk!?"
Yuuri was unmoved. "Yes I did. And I meant it."
Souma threw up his hands in defeat. "You are clearly insane! He's not even your species! God! It's like I don't even know you!"
"That's probably the most accurate thing you've ever said," Yuuri sneered.
Shouma froze. "What did you say?"
"You don't know me. You never tried to know me. You just did your best to make me into something I wasn't," Yuuri explained. "If I wasn't exactly what you wanted, I was automatically a failure."
Yuuri turned to his mother, who looked like she was trying to become one with the wall. "You both thought that…"
Miko's head shot up. "No! Yuuri, honey! We never thought that! We don't think you're a failure!"
"Yes, you do!" Yuuri shot back. He jabbed a finger at his father. "At least, he does!"
"I only wanted you to become an honorable prince," Shouma said vehemently. "Like your - "
That did it. Shouma didn't even have to finish his sentence and Yuuri knew what he was going to say and the prince finally snapped.
"I'm not Shouri!" he shrieked at a decibel not even he knew he could reach. "I was never Shouri! I'm never going to be Shouri! I don't want to be Shouri! I am Yuuri! Yuuri!"
Yuuri emphasized each word with a bang on a poor nearby table. "That's where you went wrong! That's where you totally failed as parents! When you tried to make another Shouri! No matter how many tutors you hire or merpeople you make me kill in cold blood, I will never be like my brother and guess what? I don't ever want to be! And the more you try to force me to be something I'm not, the worse you make it for everyone! You never listened to me! You never paid attention to me unless it was to serve your own purpose like this bullshit of a marriage! And that's only because you want the iron ore and an excuse to get rid of me for good! You want me to be someone else's problem!"
Miko tried to tentatively reach out a hand to comfort her son. "Sweetheart, that's not…"
Yuuri jerked away. "I don't want to hear it! I'm tired of being ignored and patronized! I'm sorry I couldn't be Shouri number two! I'm sorry for being a complete waste of the Shibuya bloodline!'
Yuuri scowled at his parent's. His mother looked like she was on the verge of tears while his father just stared at him with an unreadable expression.
Fighting back a sob – he refused to cry in front of his father - Yuuri continued.
"For the first time in my life, I finally had something that was mine. Wolfram made me feel like I could do something right for once. He understood me and I understood him. I finally had a purpose that I chose for myself. For the first time in years, I had something that made me happy. I've been miserable my entire life and Wolfram changed that. I finally had something to call my own. Now you're taking that from me. You just can't leave me alone, can you?"
Yuuri could feel his nails biting into his skin from his clenched fist. "And that's still not enough. You want to kill Wolfram, too! He didn't do anything. He didn't ask to be here and you're going to punish him the worst! You are unbelievable!"
"Yuuri," Miko started gently. "Wolfram attacked the soldiers. He made himself look like a threat – "
"But he isn't!"
"I know, dear," Miko said quickly. "We're not going to execute Wolfram. We are not." Miko shot her husband a look when he made to protest. "Right now, we just need to get control over the situation. Many people were frightened of Wolfram. So we are just trying to dispel the situation before it gets out of hand and more people get hurt."
Finally, Yuuri began to calm down, still eyeing his parents suspiciously.
"We're just keeping Wolfram in the cell until everything quiets down," she continued, talking as if she were trying to calm a rabid animal. "I swear to you, he will be safe. When this is all over, we will let him go back to the ocean or wherever he'll be safest. I promise you this as your mother."
"And you will stay in your rooms," Shouma added gruffly. "Until we can figure out what to do with you and this mess."
"Fine…" Yuuri whispered grudgingly. "You don't care so why should I? I'm tired."
"Yuuri…" Shouma began but Miko cut him off.
"Shouma just leave the boy alone for now!" She said exhaustedly, not wanting to see another fight start up. "He's been through enough. We have other things to look after."
Not waiting for a response, Miko grabbed her husband's arm and led him out of the room. She spared one glance to her youngest son, rife with worry and sadness before closing the door behind them.
Yuuri waited until he could no longer hear their footsteps before he picked up a random vase and threw it against the door with all his might. The vase made a satisfying crash. Water and flowers spilled everywhere, the carnage of Yuuri's anger and resentment that had been building up inside him since he was a child.
"Damn it! Just damn it all to hell!"
* * * * * * * * * * * * S * * * * * * * * * * * *
The king and queen walked down the hall in strained silence. Both lost in their own thoughts. So much had happened in the past few hours and with no time to really process it all. The foundling was a merman and their son was in love with it. They could only imagine the scandal that would occur.
"What is wrong with that boy?"
Miko sighed at her husband, but let him continue.
"I did everything I could think of. I even had tea alone with him like you suggested. But he still refuses to see what's right in front of him!"
Miko tried not to roll her eyes.
"I mean, seriously! What is his problem?"
"He doesn't have a problem, Shouma," Miko said irritably. "He is his own person. That's what he was trying to tell you and you still don't get it."
"I do get it!" Shouma said indignantly. "I was sixteen too! He is just so stubborn, I can't even comprehend it! He is blindly devoted to his childish dreams!"
"He takes after his father," Miko muttered.
"I was never that bad!"
Miko scoffed and stopped in her tracks. "I can remember another young man about his age who was also a dreamer and devoted to his ideals. That young man believed that no one should be evicted from their own home for another's monetary gain no matter what the justification. I remember that man fighting the nobility, debating for hours and hours until he went red in the face for the rights of a people he was taught to hate. It was his devotion that made me agree to the arranged marriage because he was a man I could believe in."
Shouma stared at her in surprise. Miko huffed and turned to head back to her rooms to change out of her formal dress.
She glanced back at her husband, who was still standing in the middle of the hall. "You know, I do sometimes wonder what happened to him."
And with that, Miko disappeared into the darkened hall.
* * * * * * * * * * * * S * * * * * * * * * * * *
Chapter 12!
You tell him, Miko!
This looks like a good place to end it!
Wow, three updates in less than two weeks. I've never been this on top of things before!
I really wanted to get this chapter out today because I am going on vacation to Georgia tomorrow and I won't be back for a week. So I wanted to give you guys something to mull over until I can get back to work on the next installment.
I hope you all really enjoyed this chapter. We will see even more drama in the next one. May you all have a happy Independence Day and for my readers who don't live in the US, Happy Friday!
Love, EB.