Sinners

The hooded man was followed by a three men who watchfully looked around the village. 

Many of the villagers have retired to their own houses and so only a few were still on the beach. With the arrival of these new people, the air of the village had turned tense.

They were not used to visitors.

"We should talk," the hooded leader of the party approached Izekiel, he had a faint smile that was familiar, "somewhere private,"

Izekiel helped Nesrin stand up and they all decided to walk near the shore, away from the lights and village but they were warned to not go too close to the sea.

People who went near the sea at night were never seen again.

The hooded man removed his hood and ran a hand through his scarlet hair before smiling charmingly at Nesrin.

"How have you been?"

"Lord Jeremiah," Izekiel frowned and cut him off, "You were supposed to come here in the morning,"

"It was an urgent matter-"

"Yet you have time for trivial talks," 

Jeremiah chuckled and asked his men to investigate the village before returning his attention to Izekiel and starting to brief the recent happenings of palace.

"Since you left, there have been chaos. A high priest from the council arrived, and convicted his majesty for...many sins. He demands you go through the sacred trials,"

"That's suicide," Nesrin muttered in horror.

"They have chosen war," Izekiel concluded.

The sacred trials were a series fatal events that the convicted must undergo in order to prove their innocence. No one has ever returned alive from those trials.

"You are standing on quicksand, your majesty," Jeremiah's voice was low, "They have created such a convincing case, it's pointless to even debate,"

"What is it?"

"I think it would be best to explain when we go back," Jeremiah scratched his neck.

As the intensity of situation slowly sank in, they became silent. Nesrin blankly stared at the silent sea, waves glistening under the moonlight.

The stormy clouds she had heard earlier shrouded the night sky.

"So, are we leaving now?" she asked after a while.

"There is something we should do first," Izekiel glanced at her, "Did you wondered why the secret tunnel opened to a small village like this? Even though this used to be a commercial town, this place couldn't be safe for the imperial family if they wanted to hide..."

...unless the reason for arriving in this place was something other than hiding, Nesrin thought.

"It's one of the lesser known legends," Izekiel continued, "Merah's ancestors were descended of the flood dragon, they were merfolk with the ability of living on both worlds. This relation with the flood dragon made merfolk extremely powerful,"

As if affirming their strength, the clouds were cleaved by a piercing thunderbolt.

"However, their strength and prowess diminished after the flood dragon went into sleep," Jeremiah added as his eyes turned thoughtful.

"...then something happened, something I am not sure about," Izekiel's eyes narrowed, "But suddenly the council confined Merah...was it to punish them, or to keep them away from the eyes of the world?"

"I don't understand..." Nesrin creased her brows together.

"Despite their authority and power, the council seldom takes any decisions for the empire. They mostly just act as an adviser..." Jeremiah trailed off as his eyes widened in realization.

"There is no point for the council to punish a village so extremely for such crimes," Izekiel added, "They were hiding something,"

  "What could it be?" Nesrin asked.

"I asked Lady Hanbel if something major happened before the confinement," Izekiel began, "She said that there is a dragon crystal in the temple of Merah. It started to flicker with light, hinting towards awakening of the flood dragon..."

He let the words unsaid. 

Those that share the same bloodline as legendary beast are the only one with ability to tame those legendary beasts.

Perhaps the council confined Merah to claim their awakening powers, or perhaps they wanted to use them to tame the flood dragon.

"I plan to take the dragon crystal back with me," Izekiel declared.

"That would make Merah your enemy," Jeremiah smiled humorlessly, "I like this plan, it's been too long since his majesty made any new enemy!"

"The people of Merah did not regained their prowess from what I have seen," Izekiel stated, "The council would need the dragon crystal as well as someone from Merah to tame the dragon. They can't do anything if I take crystal with me,"

Jeremiah sighed.

"We will leave in the morning," Izekiel declared.

___

That night, Nesrin's mind was burdened by the thoughts of uncertain future. Maybe the best thing to do would be to run far away, she was not in the palace, it won't be hard to leave.

But whenever she thought about that, she remembered Izekiel..

She remembered all the times he had been gentle with her, the times when he made her heart flutter, and the times when he made her forget all her worries and drown in the moments they shared.

Nesrin knew a lot about the plot, perhaps she could avoid all those tragedies, perhaps she can create a happy ending for everyone...

Perhaps she was just thinking too much.

Being able to protect everyone was an ideal thought that rarely existed in reality....

Nesrin was too aware of this, but then again, isn't reality also a fiction made and ruined by our choices and decisions.

Her thoughts were muddled.

When her eyes opened that morning, Izekiel was not in the bed.

They were supposed to share a single bed, but she had not seen him enter the room that night.

Nesrin wondered if he even slept

He probably went to the temple.

Nesrin tied her hair up and went downstairs. 

The house was completely empty.

"Lady Hanbel?" she called knocking on her room, but there was no reply. 

Nesrin was about to look for Malcolm in his study, when she noticed something outside the window.

Whole town seemed to be gathered outside, everyone was silently, cautiously, watching a man mounted upon a horse. His eyes were closed, his hand was raised in prayer.

This man was bald, dressed in silken robes and adorned in jewelry. Behind him, there were knights, with the symbol of golden sun weaved upon their long white capes.

They were from the holy council.

"No one is deprived from the grace of gods. Merah had been repenting for their sins, and now the gods have decided to liberate you from this confinement," he said grandly in a soothing voice and allowed his words to sink in.

However, his calm gaze flickered with disappointment when the crowd showed no reaction.

"I am here to inform the believers of gods, about a sinner that we must punish," he said solemnly, "Our emperor, Izekiel Ezra Waelyn is a devil in disguise..."

The words caused everyone to gasp, murmurs and whispers erupted from the people. 

"He is a creature of darkness that not only fooled us for so many years, but even his own parents," 

Nesrin stiffened.

What was he saying? It has to be a lie! Izekiel's only sin was to be cursed with the element of shadow, he was bound to a darkness that devours him in future and makes him a tyrant... but he was not a devil.

This is what Nesrin had read.

But why would a priest lie?

"The council is always just and fair, it is foolish to judge someone based on how they are born but his majesty had blood of too many innocents! I am here to invite the people of Merah to stand up against this unjust reign and fight for humanity and for gods!"

The crowd was silent.

"We refuse..." a man said, "Pardon us, your grace...but this is too much to ask from the people you abandoned,"

"This is not about what happened in the past," the priest's eyes darkened, "Are you turning your back to a holy cause?"

"In all honesty, his majesty never treated any commoner unfairly!" 

"Insolent fool! How dare you raise your voice at me?!" at the priest's rage, his knight struck the man down.

He gasped and his body shook.

"Father!" a girl cried and ran towards him, but she was stopped by the knights despite all her cries and begging.

"It seems like the years of confinement have done more bad than good," the priest sighed, "You have distanced yourself from gods and your duties as devotees,"

"Your grace," Lady Hanbel curtsied, "Please let the man go, he is suffering from asthma,"

The priest's eyes narrowed when he saw her.

"To not fight the holy war means to turn back on the gods. Perhaps the town have forgotten how faithless are punished..."

A whip was slashed across the man, the sound resonated loudly across the silent village. It was followed by another whiplash, then another, it continued until the small girl's desperate cries shrieked.

It continued even when blood pooled around her father.

It continued even when his body stopped moving.