Crystal had not seen her sister in three days. Her first inclination was to think that she and the Crown Prince had indeed left Attilan, which caused her worry to spike, but it seemed unlike Medusa to leave without saying goodbye. She then learned that Medusa had not left Attilan at all on the third day by way of her parents.
"Medusa seems to have accepted the fact she is now pledged to Maximus," Ambur had told Quelin. "I'm relieved, though it's a shame things couldn't be worked out with Blackagar."
"Yes," Quelin had replied. "I'd largely prefer postponing a wedding for several months until he comes of age instead of giving her over to that destroyer. I'm glad she's realized it's all for her wellbeing."
Upon overhearing this conversation, Crystal had become confused and alarmed. She knew her sister was stubborn beyond all reason, and she wouldn't let go of helping the Crown Prince without something standing in her way. So, doing the best thing she could think of, she went searching for her sister.
She searched everywhere: her bedroom, the gardens, the dining hall, the infirmary, but all were devoid of the unmistakable redhead. Finally, her search brought her outside the door of Maximus himself. Thoroughly frustrated after a day of searching in vain, she barged in without knocking, only to find her sister and the prince mid-kiss.
"Oh," was the first thing that came out of her mouth.
Maximus broke away, regarding Crystal with surprise. "Lady Crystalia! My apologies…we were not expecting you, much less so…abruptly."
Crystal felt her face growing red. The alarm she had felt previously spiked to a new level, and she only just remembered her manners, dipping a curtsy.
"I'm sorry, prince, I just wanted to speak with my sister, and I couldn't find her."
Maximus looked at Medusa. "Certainly you may speak with her. You are excused, Medusalith."
Medusa looked at Crystal for the first time. She showed no signs of embarrassment, or any emotion at all for that matter. Even her hair lacked emotion, waving in an endless wind behind her. Crystal beckoned her to come and she did without a word, following her sister down the hall until they were out of earshot of Maximus.
"What are you doing?" Crystal cried, turning on her sister. "Why were you kissing him? What about freeing the Crown Prince?"
"Maximus is the Crown Prince," Medusa said firmly, regarding her sister with cold eyes. "I have come to realize that Blackagar is dangerous, and I will embrace the betrothal set between me and Maximus."
"What?" Crystal gaped at her. "Have you gone mad? Why are you doing this?"
"I have discovered my true feelings are for Maximus and him alone," said Medusa. "There is no changing them."
Crystal could only stare. Medusa regarded her as one might regard an annoying gnat before turning on her heel and walking back towards Maximus' chambers.
/
No, no, Crystal! I'm sorry! Medusa could only do as he willed her, so she turned her back on her sister and went back to his chambers. Her mind may have been taken, but her subconscious was not, and she was aware of everything that went on.
"You dealt with irritation well, my dear," said Maximus as she returned.
No. Medusa wanted to sneer. You dealt with her.
She recoiled inwardly as he approached her, gently pressing his lips to hers. She wanted to push him away, claw at him, anything to rid her lips of his, but she could only bear it in silence as he wished.
Maximus pulled away, regarding her with some sort of triumphant affection. He ran a hand across the flowing tresses of her hair with what could be mistaken as tenderness. The little piece of technology had been removed once he overtook her mind, allowing her hair and limbs to function again, but only when he wanted to.
Only days before he had abused this power. His servant—his name was Halis, she thought—had overheard her struggle and came rushing to her aid, poor, noble man that he was.
"Halis, you have been a good servant to me," Maximus had said, urging Medusa to her feet and removing the device from his neck. "But I'm afraid you know too much now. Medusa, take care of him."
She could only watch in horror as her hair snaked out, wrapping around his neck. He had struggled, but Maximus willed her to tighten her grip, feeling his pulse flutter against her hair until it ceased altogether as he fell limp. She had stared at the dead man, horrified at what she had just done but unable to express it. Only moments later guards had come in, gathering the body and taking it without question.
"There, there, my love," Maximus had said, taking her into his embrace. "It was for the best."
Medusa had wanted to cry and scream—she still did even three days later. She wanted to call for her parents, her sister, her cousins, Blackagar, anybody who could help her, but she was trapped in the body that no longer belonged to her. He could make her kiss him, profess false love, even kill a man, and she had no say.
She belonged to Maximus, and she hated it.
/
Crystal hurried, her stomach churning. The person she had just spoken to was definitely not her sister. All the fire from the previous days was gone, replaced by cold emptiness. She had never seen Medusa that way, and she knew something was terribly wrong. Medusa needed help, but she couldn't do it alone. So she hurried, knowing her cousins would surely help her.
She was on the way to find them when, to her irritation, she ran into her mother.
"There you are, Crystal!" said Ambur, descending upon her youngest. "I've been looking everywhere for you! We need to get you ready for tomorrow."
"Tomorrow?" she echoed, trying to keep the impatience from her voice. "What's tomorrow?"
"The Crown Prince and your sister will present their intent to marry before the Council," Ambur said, giving her a hard look. "Weren't you listening this morning?"
Now that she thought about it, she hadn't listened. Her mind had been far off, dwelling on Medusa even as it was now.
Ambur didn't wait for a response. "Come. The tailors have prepared a wonderful dress for you and we must make sure it is perfect."
"but mother!" Crystal cried, panic surging through her in a sickening wave. If she didn't help Medusa soon, she would be sealed to Maximus. "I want to go see my cousins."
Ambur pursed her lips. "That can wait. This is more important."
Crystal tried to protest again, but her mother would have none of it. She could only resign herself as she was dragged off to the world of fabric and measurements, unable to help her sister.
Crystal lay in her bed, her body tingling where the needles in the tailors' unwitting hands had pricked her skin as they tried to pin her dress, a slight sting lingering in her nerves that was rapidly forming into an irritating itchiness.
The room was dark and quiet save for Lockjaw's guttural snores, but her eyes were wide open. She listened to the sound of her parents' muffled voices beyond the right wall, waiting. She had to talk to her cousins regardless of how late it was, but her parents had to be asleep before she could try and sneak away.
She scratched at the needle-pricked skin as she waited, the sensation only adding to her feelings of irritation and fear for her sister. The image of her kissing Maximus was forever seared into her mind, and no matter how hard she tried she could not rid herself of it. It unsettled her deeply that Medusa would kiss anybody, much less a man she had only just become betrothed to. She could envision her sister and the true Crown Prince—from what little she had seen of him on the day of the Christening—standing happily side by side, yet even then Medusa would not engage in such an unseemly act. It was improper and scandalous, for Maximus and Medusa were not yet married, and her sister knew that more than anyone, so why would she do such a thing?
Finally, the voice of her parents ceased. She waited a little longer, the minutes dragging by, until she was sure they would be asleep. Then she slipped out of bed as quietly as she could and headed for the door.
Lockjaw heard her movement, raising his head and letting out a soft whine as his friend made to leave.
"Shh!" Crystal went and scratched behind his ears affectionately. "I'll be back soon, boy. Stay here."
Lockjaw eyed her with a forlorn look of questioning, as if to say why can't I come? But he seemed to accept her orders and laid his head on is paws, watching her go.
Crystal darted into the hallway, inching the door shut behind her. It was so quiet that the soft displacement of carpet beneath her feet seemed loud as she headed towards the male section of the royal chambers.
She hadn't the slightest idea of which rooms belonged to her cousins, but as she progressed further into the male section, it was made obvious to her. She stopped in front of one door from which emanated snoring so loud it vibrated through her body, and she knew only one person who could be that obnoxious even while he slept.
She crept into the room, the snoring growing exponentially louder as the barrier of the door was removed. Gorgon was out like a log, his hooves propped up on the end of the bedframe, his head thrown back on the pillow and his mouth wide open, the source of the snoring.
Crystal approached the bedside. "Gorgon."
He continued snoring, dead to the world.
She was in no mood to attempt to wake him gently. There was no time. "Gorgon!" She shouted, a little louder than she had meant.
The snoring cut off with what sounded like a painful snort as Gorgon sat up in bed, his hooves clacking against the bedframe. "Eh? Whozzer?" He squinted at her through bleary eyes.. "Crystal?"
"I need to talk to you," said she, the full sense of urgency returning to her. "All of you."
/
She sat on the edge of Gorgon's bed, her legs dangling idly off the edge as she listened to the irritated whispering right on the other side of the door. If they thought they were doing a good job at keeping their conversation a secret, they couldn't be more wrong.
"What do you mean she had something to talk about?" came Karnak's exasperated tones.
"I don't know!" Gorgon replied, sounding equally exasperated.
"How do you know she just didn't have a nightmare?" Triton offered, slightly calmer than the others.
"Why would she ask for all of us?"
"I don't know," Gorgon snarled.
Crystal slid off the bed, the last bit of her patience running out. She marched to the door and flung it open, fixing the trio with what she hoped was a harsh glare.
"I don't care what you think I want. I know what I want, which is all of you to help me." Her tone became slightly desperate. "Medusa's in trouble. I don't know what to do."
The cousins glanced at each other before filing into the room, shutting the door behind them.
"When was the last time you saw her?" she asked.
Gorgon scratched his head. "A few days ago now, I guess."
"None of you have seen her since then?"
"No. She was angry with us so we were avoiding her."
"She was going to free Blackagar."
"We know that," Karnak interjected.
Crystal frowned at him. "She said she was going to talk to Maximus about getting him to stay the Pacifiers, and if that didn't work, she would leave Attilan with Blackagar.
Gorgon's eyebrows shot up. "Leave Attilan?"
"I know it sounds crazy but that's what she said," Crystal continued. "I hadn't seen her in the past few days so I thought she left, but then earlier today I heard my parents talking about her having a change of heart."
"A change of heart?" Karnak echoed.
"She apparently has accepted a betrothal with Maximus. I went looking for her, and I found her…with him."
"Well, maybe she's trying to convince him to free Blackagar that way," Triton offered.
Crystal shook her head. "No, you don't understand. She was kissing him."
"Kissing him?" Gorgon exclaimed. "Are you sure?"
"I am," said she. "When I asked her about Blackagar she said that he's dangerous and she loves Maximus."
The three cousins traded worried looks. If it was one thing they knew, it was that Medusa was obstinate in her feelings towards Blackagar's innocence.
"Something is very wrong," Karnak muttered.
"That's what I've been trying to tell you!" Crystal burst out. "Medusa wasn't herself. She was cold and emotionless, and I don't know what happened what to do. Tomorrow she and Maximus are going to announce their betrothal to the Council."
"We need to get to Blackagar," said Karnak. "I'm not sure what's going on yet but it sounds like Maximus has something to do with all of this."
"But why?" Gorgon asked. "Maximus has never cared for Blackagar, but would he really hate him so much as to steal his queen and send him to death?"
"That's why we need to get to Blackagar before the Pacifiers do," Karnak said.
"When are the Pacifiers coming for him?" Triton asked Crystal.
"I don't know," Crystal said.
"Soon, undoubtedly," said Karnak. "If Maximus has taken control of things, Blackagar will likely be heavily guarded."
"Get him tomorrow during the ceremony," said Crystal. "Everyone will be distracted."
"What about Medusa?" Gorgon asked.
"I have to be at the ceremony. I'll keep an eye on her."
"What happens when we get Blackagar?"
"We'll figure it out then," said Karnak. "He can likely tell us what happened."
"Sounds like a plan," said Gorgon.
"What about treason?" Triton wondered aloud. "We'll be thrown in the dungeon for doing something like this."
Karnak shook his head grimly. "I wouldn't worry about that, brother. It seems that Maximus is the treasonous one."
/
Medusa sat still as the maidservants fluttered about, preparing her for her appearance before the Council. They were different maidservants, ones who had never attended her before, likely to keep the ones who knew her from being suspicious about her shift in personality. She wondered what had become of Marista; she could only hope she had not met as cruel a fate as she.
Makeup was applied to her face in thick layers as it had been every day, hiding away the bruises from where Maximus had thrown her head against the floor.
"We can't have anyone worrying over you," Maximus had told her.
The maidservants asked her questions, silly ones about marriage and princes, and the traitorous mouth that was no longer her own answered. She had fought against his hold since he had first overtaken her, and now her will was exhausted. She now knew there was no escaping his grasp unless something happened to him.
He had lied to them all; the Terrigen Mists had made him a true Inhuman, giving him the gift of mind control, and now he would use that power to usurp and kill his own brother. She was unfortunate enough to be caught in the middle, and it seemed she would be stuck living out her days under his control. She desperately held on to the hope that Blackagar was still alive and he would come to her aid, but with each passing day the hope grew dimmer.
The maidservants finished their work just as Maximus entered her dressing room, his eyes bright with an ambitious light. She rose automatically, facing him.
"You look wonderful, my love," said he, his eyes roaming over her with a hungry glint.
Medusa wanted to curl into herself, to hide her body away from the lustful gaze, but she stayed in place. "Thank you, my lord."
Maximus waved the maidservants out of the room, leaving the two of them alone. Medusa's consciousness fluttered with fear. They were alone now.
He came forward, cupping her face tenderly in his hands. A tendril of hair came forth at his will, snaking around his arm in the beckoning embrace he wanted her to give. He leaned forward and kissed her, gently, with some sort of twisted reverence. He was gentle with her now, but she wondered just how long the gentleness would last.
He pulled away, smiling at her. "Today, our betrothal will be sealed. Isn't that wonderful?"
"It is," she replied as she roiled with hate and despair.
"I will so much better for you than Blackagar ever could have been," said he. "You only have to realize it, my love."
I realize you are a liar, she seethed. Bending people to your will.
"Blackagar thought because he was eldest he would be king," Maximus went on, still gazing into her eyes. "But when I passed through the Terrigen Mists I saw things with a knew clarity. I am meant to be the king of Attilan. After all, I wouldn't kill you with a single, deadly word."
At that point, Medusa recognized the strange glint in his eyes she had seen since the day she arrived at the Royal Palace: it was madness.
What have the Mists done to you? she wondered with newfound pity.
Maximus pulled away, extending an arm which she accepted. "Come, my love. The Council awaits."
/
Karnak, Gorgon, and Triton all met in the royal chambers. Fortunately for them, they were not required to attend the meeting. In fact, it seemed that they were not wanted altogether.
"Are you ready?" Gorgon asked, cracking his knuckles.
"As ready to commit treason as I'll ever be," Karnak said with a weary sigh.
"Treason for a good cause," said Triton.
The trio walked through the palace casually. There were hardly any servants or guards about; they were all distracted with the meeting.
The going got harder when they made it into the industrial area of the palace.
Karnak put out a hand, stopping his cousins in their tracks just as they were about to round the corner to the stairway leading down to the doors.
"What is it?" Triton hissed.
"Guards," Karnak murmured. "Four of them."
Gorgon squared his shoulders. "I'll take care of this."
"No," Karnak said. "You'll just attract attention to us. I'll handle it."
Gorgon scowled but accepted his words. He hung back as Karnak stepped around the corner.
The guards turned to the Inhuman stepped into view.
"What do you want?" asked one, tightening his grip on his gun.
"I've merely come to see my cousin one last time," said Karnak, drawing nearer to the group. "He's been sentenced to die."
"No one is allowed to see the prisoner," said the guard.
Karnak drew nearer, his brow furrowing. "On whose orders?"
"Crown Prince Maximus'."
"But he is family," Karnak argued, stopping just short of the guards.
"We cannot make exceptions."
"As you say." Karnak turned as if to leave, before turning in a complete circle and whacking the guard on the pressure point twixt the collarbone cleft. The guard crumpled with a soft moan.
The three remaining guards raised their guns, but Karnak was already on them. Ripping the gun from one, he kicked the unfortunate on the nerve behind the knee, sending him falling to the floor before the butt of the gun knocked him unconscious. The other two swiftly followed, they too being taken down by acute pressure point weaknesses.
Karnak aimed a blow at the gun just right, splitting it in half and rendering it useless. He did the same with the other three weapons.
"Is it safe?" Gorgon asked, poking his head around the corner.
Karnak beckoned them. "Come quickly!"
Gorgon and Triton stole down the hallway, stepping gingerly over the fallen bodies. The three of them hurried down the staircase, entering Blackagar's chambers.
/
Crystal's dress itched with an infuriating intensity, the yellow and black ruffles grating irritably against her skin. Her hands twitched, wanting to scratch desperately, but her parents were just behind her.
The Council members had already been greeted, and they sat in their seats. The only ones missing were Maximus and Medusa. Agon and Rynda stood stately and proud on the right of the dais, and Crystal couldn't help but notice that the king lacked his usual cheer.
Perhaps Maximus has done the same to him, Crystal wondered to herself.
All itching sensations were completely forgotten as Maximus and Medusa finally entered from off to the right. Crystal focused hard on her sister as they ascended the dais; there seemed to be no change in her stoic state. If her parents had noticed at all they did not seem concerned about it; they likely likened it to the emotionless expression a future queen was supposed to wear.
Maximus and Medusa took their place in between the two families, their hands linked together.
"Apologies for our latency," Maximus said smoothly. "We may now begin."
Crystal swallowed, shifting her feet nervously. She hoped her cousins were moving swiftly; after the meeting there was no turning away from a wedding.
/
Ever since he could remember, his life was isolation.
Don't speak, Blackagar. You must never speak. It is dangerous.
Even when he was no older than a year and a half, he knew that when he spoke bad things happened when he made a noise. Everything was silence and isolation, a muzzle ever over his mouth save for when he ate, and only Agon and the nursemaids entered his chambers. He had all the toys and books any child could have wanted, but it was a lonely existence nonetheless.
But when he was two and a half, a change came. One day his mother visited him, a smile on her face.
"Blackagar," said she, pressing a hand to her middle, "you will have a brother here soon."
He was so ecstatic at the news he couldn't stop himself from making a small noise behind his muzzle, causing the room to vibrate, but Rynda ignored it. She looked as happy as he felt.
A few months later, he met his brother, Maximus Boltagon. He was so small, he saw, cradled in his mother's arms. He wanted nothing more than to see his brother up close, but he was confined behind the glass. He couldn't come out, but he loved his brother anyway, and suddenly his existence was less lonely than it had been before.
Rynda and Agon still visited him often, but they brought Maximus often as well. They would hold him close to the glass so he could see, and he saw his brother's bright blue eyes full of awe and loved him all the more.
He watched his brother grow up behind glass, and he knew there would come a time when Maximus would question why things were the way they were.
Maximus pressed a small hand to the glass. "Bwack."
Blackagar touched his side of the glass in response.
Maximus then turned back to their mother. "Go in!" He stabbed a stubby finger in his brother's direction, making his intentions quite clear.
Rynda sighed, glancing at Blackagar sympathetically. "No, Maximus. You can't go in there with your brother. You must stay out here."
Maximus stuck out his lower lip as far as it would go in a pronounced pout. "Why?"
Rynda sighed again, kneeling down to his level. "Your brother's voice is dangerous, and that's why he does not speak like you and me. It is better for you to stay out here where it is safe."
Maximus looked back at Blackagar, his eyes full of tears. "But dat's not fair!"
Blackagar couldn't have agreed more. Life wasn't fair.
"It's not fair you have to stay in there all the time, Black," Maximus, age seven, sighed.
Ten-year-old Blackagar dipped his head in agreement. I agree, brother.
"I wish we could do things like real brothers do. Play catch, go swimming in the sea, go to lessons together…" He cracked a smile. "Argue with each other, even."
Blackagar smiled behind his muzzle at that. He too would give anything to have an argument with his brother, have a fistfight, anything beyond the confines of glass, training, and eternal silence.
"Even so," said Maximus, "I'm glad to have you as my brother, Black, and if I could change the way things were, I would do it."
Blackagar's heart was warmed by his words. He pressed a hand to the glass, and Maximus did likewise, a silent gesture of the love between the two of them.
"Mother and Father say I'm ready to go through the Terrigen Mists," said Maximus at age twelve. "They say I'll go through them in two weeks."
Blackagar could tell just by his brother's posture and the movement of his hands that he was nervous, even though his tone was smooth as it always was.
"I would ask you if it hurts, but that's a useless question." Maximus snorted. "I guess we'll find out."
Don't worry, Blackagar conveyed to his brother. You will be fine.
"But what if it turns me into something completely different like what happened with Cousin Triton?" Maximus wondered worriedly. "Mother and Father say that every power is a gift, no matter what it is or what you look like, but I don't want to look like a monster!"
No matter what happens to you, you will always be my brother, Maximus.
The two weeks that followed that conversation were exceedingly stressful, not only for Maximus but for Blackagar as well. No matter what reassurances he conveyed to his brother, Maximus couldn't stop fretting over his Terrigenesis, and the stress began to rub off on Blackagar as well.
The day finally came, and Maximus came to his brother's chambers early in the morning before the sun had even begun to rise to visit him one last time. Blackagar could tell by his disheveled state and the dark rings under his eyes that he hadn't slept a wink all night.
"Today's the day…" he whispered, his voice small and worried.
All Blackagar could do was nod, looking over his brother with sympathy and worry. He had never been in such a state before, and it hurt him to see his brother suffering so, especially when he was powerless to do anything from comforting words to a hug.
Maximus looked at him, and blue met blue. "Promise me that whatever happens to me…whatever I become, we'll still be brothers. Please."
Without hesitation, Blackagar pressed a hand to his chest then extended it outwards towards him. I promise.
Maximus pressed a hand to the glass. "Thank you."
Blackagar pressed his hand over his brother's. No words were needed.
The wait seemed to last an eternity for Blackagar, and when the rumble of the doors was finally heard, he sprung up like a spring coiled for release. To his joy and relief, he saw his brother was just as he was before; there had been no physical transformation in his Terrigenesis. His power would be internal, then, perhaps flight or healing; the possibilities were endless.
But as soon as he saw Maximus' face, he knew something was terribly wrong.
What happened?
When Maximus looked at him, his eyes were glassy and shocked. "The Mists, they…they didn't have any effect on me. I have no powers."
It took Blackagar a long moment to process what he had just been told. What?
"The Mists didn't change me. I'm the same as I was before I walked in."
Are you sure?
"I tried everything, Black." He shook his head despondently. "There's nothing…no power. I am a disgrace to the Royal Family and the House of Agon."
Blackagar stepped forward, placing a hand to the glass, but Maximus was already turning away. He could only watch in silence as his brother left the room, unable to call out to him or offer any words of comfort.
And that was when he hated his silence the most, for after that day, the rift began to open between them.
Maximus' visits to his chambers decreased at an alarming rate. When he did show up, he hardly spoke, being almost as silent as he was. His posture was hunched, his eyes dull, and Blackagar could tell he barely slept.
"I am a failure of the Royal Blood," he whispered once. "A blemish."
Blackagar shook his head vigorously. No, Maximus. You aren't.
Maximus had shot a scowl his way. "I suppose you know what it feels like to be a failure, a disappointment. You have powers many of us only dream of."
His words stung. Though it wasn't the same as having no powers at all, Blackagar felt he could relate to him nonetheless. He was a failure in that he was so powerful, he was condemned to isolation. But he didn't hold his brother's words against him. He knew he was suffering, and he could see the anger and hurt in his eyes.
After that, Maximus did not come back to visit for days, and the days eventually stretched into weeks.
"He barely leaves his room," Rynda fretted when Blackagar finally inquired of his whereabouts. "We have told him over and over again that he is no less an Inhuman or our son because of his Terrigenesis, but he doesn't seem to listen." Her shoulders sagged. "I can tell he doesn't sleep much. I think he's having nightmares."
Blackagar worried as well, but there was nothing he could do.
A month passed (or so Blackagar guessed) and the day finally came when the doors opened and Maximus walked in.
Blackagar instantly saw the change in his brother. He stood straighter, he was well groomed, and despair no longer seemed to linger around him, but it was his eyes that had changed the most. Maximus had always been smart and cunning from the very beginning, ever since his mind was developed enough to understand making mischief, and Blackagar could always recognize the glint in his eyes when he was up to something. Now they possessed something else, a certain steeliness and shrewdness, as if he were always calculating the next move of those around him.
The rift grew wider.
Over time, Maximus began to form new opinions, ones that clashed severely with Blackagar's, accompanied with jabs at his powers.
"Would the people of Attilan accept you once they realize just how destructive your powers are?" he questioned. "Would they be satisfied with a king who can't even speak his mind?"
His words nestled themselves deep in Blackagar's heart, and after that he found himself wondering if his brother was right. The animosity only continued to grow as a result, and try as he might, Blackagar couldn't understand why Maximus started taking out his ire on him. He understood his anger at his failed Terrigenesis, but the anger being directed towards him made him worried.
He began to dread the times when Maximus would come. Gone were the times of brotherly bonding, replaced by argument and insult. Blackagar wondered why he even bothered to come anymore; perhaps he just enjoyed insulting him and his powers.
"Sometimes I wonder why you just weren't sent to the Pacifiers when you were born."
Those words were the straw that broke the camel's back for Blackagar. Upon hearing them, he had stalked up to the glass separating the two of them and stabbed a finger at the door, the message etched into the expression on his face.
Get out.
Maximus had merely given him one final appraising look before walking out of his chambers, and their brotherhood.
The cousins found Blackagar unmoving on the floor of his bedchambers, a muzzle around his mouth and his hands bound.
"Is he…dead?" Triton voiced the question they were all thinking.
Karnak knelt, pressing two fingers to the prince's neck. "No, just unconscious." He started to inspect his cousin. "They must have given him something to make him sleep…ah!" He reached around to the back of his neck, his hand coming away with a little piece of technology.
Gorgon squinted at the object. "What is that?"
"Not sure," Karnak murmured, inspecting the device himself. "Likely some sort of sedation device. It probably stopped his powers as well."
Before they could question it further, there was a sharp inhale from the floor. Blackagar sat up, struggling, his eyes full of panic as his apparatus lit up.
"It's us!" Karnak exclaimed, trying to keep them from being blasted as the air crackled with energy around them.
It took a moment, but the panic and confusion dimmed along with the energy in the air. Gorgon helped him to his feet and made to help him remove the cuffs, but Blackagar separated his fists and snapped them as if they were made of gossamer.
What happened? he asked them mentally, forgoing signs as he sought to remove the muzzle.
"That's what we were wondering," said Triton. "You've probably been asleep for at least three days, and now Medusa…"
Medusa? The mental exclamation rang loudly through their minds. Where is she? Is she safe?
"We think Maximus has some sort of control over her, and right now there is a meeting to decide the betrothal between them."
Blackagar tore off the muzzle, his face twisting with hurt and betrayal. Maximus has done this?
"It seems that way," said Karnak grimly.
Blackagar threw the muzzle onto the floor. His heel came down and twisted, and the object splintered with a resounding crack.
If this is true, I will have words with him.
/
The guards were not prepared for Blackagar.
The prince entered into the main section of the palace, his cousins in his wake. His apparatus crackled with blue lightning, the air around him vibrating and snapping. He was on his way to the Throne Room, and nothing would stop him.
When the guards saw him coming, they raised their guns. "Halt!" He did not, and they opened fire. Blackagar threw up his hands, the charged air solidifying into a shield that the blasts ricocheted off, some returning to strike their owners. His cousins came behind, Gorgon raising a hoof and stomping, sending seismic waves pulsing through the ground and upending the guards. Those that remained conscious were swiftly knocked out cold by Karnak and Triton, and Blackagar let his arms and the shield fall.
He continued onwards toward Medusa.
/
Crystal fidgeted anxiously. Agon and Rynda had said their pieces, bestowing their blessings upon the betrothal albeit devoid of emotion. Now Maximus was stepping forward again, ready to give his speech on the benefits of their betrothal. If something didn't happen soon…
Maximus cleared his throat. "Council members—" He was interrupted as the doors at the far end of the hall burst open, and a very scared looking guard hurried in. Hope rose in Crystal's chest.
"Crown Prince," said the guard, "your brother is coming."