A Mermaid's Tale:
Chapter 24:
Diamond started at the servant in disbelief. The king had died? How long was he gone? "The king died? How long ago?" He asked. He wanted to know, he had only be gone what seemed like fifteen minutes and the king had died in that time.
The servant looked at him. "It happened ten minutes ago." The servant informed Diamond. "The queen informed her daughter first, then she told us."
If the king had died then that would mean that Serenity would have to get married soon. He had to put his plan into action and quick. If Darien died before she had a chance to marry him then Serenity would most likely be forced to marry Diamond. The merman smiled at the thought.
He was about to turn the corner when he heard Serenity humming a sad tune to herself. He wanted to try and cheer her up, but he had a plan to put into action.
Diamond waited for Serenity to pass before he went down the hall. When he reached the door to the kitchen at the end of the hall he made sure that no one was looking before entering the kitchens. Once he had entered the kitchens he swam over to a cupboard and opened it up. He then took three cups down; one for himself, one for Serenity, and one for Dairen.
He then got some juice and poured the juice in the three glasses. After pouring the juice in the glasses he opened the counter that held the poison. He then poured the poison into a cup with a sliver ring. The other two cups had golden rings around the edge. The one with the silver ring was meant for Darien.
Right as he finished pouring the poison the door opened and a servant came in. "My lord," The servant began. "Can I help you with that?"
Diamond looked at the servant and blinked. "Yes," He said a moment later. "Hand me a tray."
The servant nodded as she picked up and small sliver tray on a far counter. She swam back over to Diamond and handed him the tray. Diamond took the tray form the servant and set it in front of him. He then placed all three cups on the tray before turning to the servant. "In about ten minutes I want you to take this into the throne room." He told the servant before he swam out of the room.
As soon as Diamond left the kitchen he swam to the throne room. When he opened the door he saw both Serenity and Darien in there. Serenity was crying and Darien was trying to comfort her. He took a deep breath in before going inside.
Serenity and Darien broke apart when they heard the door open. The blonde princess eyes widened when she saw Diamond. "What do you want?" She asked him bitterly.
Diamond cleared his throat. "I heard about your father, I have to say I'm sorry for your loss." He told her, trying to sound sincere.
Serenity looked at Darien before looking back at Diamond. She gave him a half smile. "Thank you for your condolence." She told Diamond softly. She was about to say something else when the door opened and a servant entered carrying the tray with the cups.
"I-I thought you all could use something to drink." The servant said as she swam into the room with her eyes to the floor.
Serenity could tell that the young servant was shaking. She swam over to the girl and touched her shoulder. "It's alright." She told the servant. The servant lifted her shaking head and looked at Serenity. "You don't need to be scared. Thank you for the drinks as well."
The servant looked up at Serenity and nodded. Smiling, Serenity removed the glass with the silver rim off of the tray. Darien and Diamond followed her suit, but they grabbed the two glasses with the golden rim.
Diamond, who hadn't been paying attention to the other two cups, saw that Serenity had grabbed the wrong one. The young mermaid held her glass into the air and said, "To the king."
The other two did the same and gave a murmured response of, "To the king."
Diamond was just about to warn her not to drink from that glass when she held it up to her lips and took a small sip.