5 — Lost in Darkness
∾ 𝔼𝕡𝕚𝕤𝕠𝕕𝕖 𝟝: 𝕃𝕠𝕤𝕥 𝕚𝕟 𝔻𝕒𝕣𝕜𝕟𝕖𝕤𝕤 ∾
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"𝐑𝐎𝐒𝐄𝐋𝐈𝐍𝐄! 𝐌𝐘 𝐋𝐎𝐕𝐄!" the broken voice of King Theodore echoed in the broken halls of the Queen's chamber.
The Mighty King of the Sea looked defeated with his pain-filled eyes and face filled with desperation. Esmeray immediately stood away from the Queen and let the King rush to his dead mate.
Her heart broke as she watched the King bend down to his fallen Queen. His cries were filled with agony and Esmeray knew that in some time he would lose every bit of sanity left in him. That's what happens when you lose your mate. It is like your heart is torn into two pieces and they are thrown away, far from each other. They will never be joined, making you feel hollow your entire life.
Some chose death after the loss of their mate because the pain is too unbearable to survive. Some go mad due to the emptiness. And some surrender to the darker side by becoming the slaves of sirens.
"Esmeray!" she heard the voice of her mate. She turned to face him, her heart beating wildly. She just wanted to make sure her love is fine. It hurts to even think about him being hurt.
As soon as her eyes landed on him, she swam fast to him and then grabbed him in a tight hug. Triton's hand immediately enveloped her as he continued to kiss her on her face. The prince was so scared when he heard that his mother's chambers were bombed since he knew that his lovely mate would be there taking her lessons.
He then released her to have a look at her.
His gray eyes examined her body, identifying all her injures. Esmeray's eyes did the same for her mate and she was thankful that besides a scratch on his left arm, he was fine.
But the same couldn't be said for her.
Triton's eyes furrowed as he looked at his mate's injured body and he started healing her with his powers. The water transferred healing powers from the prince to his mate. Esmeray started feeling better immediately but she didn't wish to drain Triton of his energy.
"I am fine, Ty. But your mother..." she tried to say but words didn't form in her mouth. She watched the worried expression form on his face as he let her go in order to swim to his father.
"Mother!" Triton said as he saw his dead mother. Esmeray could feel his chest clench in pain and his heart break for his mother. He had just lost his mother - the woman he adored the most in this world.
The prince stared at her mother's body, wishing to the mighty Gods to bring her back. That this was just a joke and any time now, his mother would wake up to look into his eyes and scold him for frowning so much.
But she didn't.
And she never will.
Unable to look at his mother's lifeless body anymore, he stormed away. Esmeray watched him swim past her with an incredible speed.
"Ty!" she shouted after him but he didn't wait. She wished to follow him but she knew that he needed some time alone to deal with emotions. But something in her heart told her that it wasn't safe for him to be alone since the traitors behind the bombing were still on the lose.
"We shall prepare for the coronation," King Theodore says.
Esmeray hasn't seen a more weakened self of the King. In the time she had known him, he was always strong and confident with eyes that could kill. But those gray eyes now held a dangerous emptiness. Triton looked so much like his father and she knew that he would be a great king like him, if not better.
After all, he had been taught by the best.
But Esmeray was stuck between a broken mate and a hurt son. She had to now step up for she was the glue holding everything together. Like Queen Roseline had once taught her, the Queen is the tie that binds the kingdom together. She is responsible for maintaining the balance. When the Mermen are defeated, it is the time for the Queen to rise and lead.
"We must properly bid farewell to the Queen," she said.
She then turned to Commander Optimus who had entered the room with Triton. He was a dear friend of the King. With his violet tail and eyes, he looked rather intimidating.
"I want the defenses at their strongest. Gather any evidence, we must find these scoundrels. I want all hands on deck. Start sealing this room and check every room of this palace," she ordered him. The commander nodded and bowed to her.
She then turned to the King.
"King Theodore, we must take her to your room. She needs to be prepared for her burial. I understand you need some time more with her but she needs to be cleaned. A great Queen like her deserves a respectful farewell," Esmeray said.
The King didn't say anything as he picked up his mate in his arms and swam with her, hopefully to their room. Esmeray sighed, but her heart didn't quieten. She was still scared of what might come.
But she needs to find the love of her life first.
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𝐄𝐒𝐌𝐄𝐑𝐀𝐘 𝐊𝐍𝐄𝐖 𝐓𝐇𝐀𝐓 nothing would ever be the same. She woke up from her bed, sadness on her face. The entire kingdom was morning their late Queen. Esmeray was trying her best to fill in her duties with the help of the late Queen's mermaid-in-waiting - Elizabeth.
She had even called her own mermaid-in-waiting, Penelope, to help her adjust to the drastic change.
It had been just a week, yet she felt the pressure to be unmeasurable. King Theodore had refused to come out from his room and Triton was not doing any better. Esmeray was aware that he was hurting too much.
He would hold on to her at night when they slept since he was scared that she might leave him like his mother did. His paranoia didn't die and Esmeray was becoming worried.
Both of them have spent too much time in the courtroom resolving the issues that the kingdom faced. They welcomed the Merfolk who wished to express their grief over the late Queen's demise.
The entire kingdom was shaken and Esmeray didn't know if they could recover from it any time now. They need to find the murderers in order to calm them down a bit.
But the searches were proving to be futile. The bastards were very skilled in covering their tracks and she felt that it was an insider job. Somebody knew the castle so well to decide where to attack and when to do so.
She turned to her sleeping mate. His once serene sleeping face now held a troubled expression. She hated seeing him so worried. The mate bond made her feel his every pain.
She wished she could take it all away.
Esmeray knew that she would no longer be able to sleep. So, she carefully detached herself from her mate's strong arms and made her way outside their room. She needed to clear her mind. She needed some time alone.
The soldiers on duty bowed to her as she swam past them. She didn't know where her body was taking her, yet she followed it. Her mind wasn't functioning properly, at all.
But before she could comprehend anything, another blast hit the castle. The wall on her side crumpled in front of her. The soldiers who survived it, quickly took their defensive stance to protect their princess.
But they were no match for what was to come.
Deathly looking sirens with their gorgeous blood-red head and fangs attacked them, tearing apart every single one of them with their claws. The soldiers attacked them with the powers of water but these sirens were quick.
Their eyes were deathly red.
Esmeray snapped away from her fear and joined her soldiers in the fight. Reinforcement was on the way and she could feel Triton's fear from the mate bond. They battled the sirens, killing them with swords and arrows.
Esmeray flooded their bodies with water and thankfully, grabbed a sword swimming in the water to chop their tails off.
She was busy fighting the sirens that she didn't notice the deadliest of them make her way to her.
Esmeray cried in pain as the siren attacked her from behind, bearing her fangs into her neck. The bite of a siren was deadly for a mermaid.
Esmeray could feel her body burn - it was torturous. Her vision blurred as she lost consciousness. She could hear the voice of her mate from their bond, but she couldn't reply back to him.
She was too tired.
The siren turned to face the defeated princess.
Esmeray could see her deathly red eyes shine with pride and her fangs adored with Esmeray's blood. The crown of thorns on her head declared her royalty and the cruelness in her eyes spoke of the war that she had declared.
"Have fun on the other side, princess," the siren Queen said.
A portal opened behind Esmeray. Her eyes met Triton's as she cried for his help one last time before she was thrown into it.
With her mate's name on her lips and pain attacking her body, she surrendered to the darkness.
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