Chapter 11 Merrick
Chapter eleven
Merrick
“Esmeray and Keerian killed the King and Queen? Her own parents?” Lenna’s brows shot up in surprise.
With a grimace, Merrick plopped heavily onto the wooden chair across from her, kneading his sternum with a fist, wings drooping to settle against the floor.
He’d been hunting Lenna for a month and now she was here and he was just…
tired. Tired down to the very marrow in his bones.
Recanting the night when his life went to shit wasn’t helping the tightness ease in his chest, either.
Wasn’t talking about your problems supposed to help?
Laurent growled, his tone at odds with the impeccable demeanor he normally displayed.
“Keerian would never murder his own King and Queen. He served them faithfully and loyally his entire life. The facts are that Esmeray was the only other being the King and Queen saw the day before their deaths. And she’s more than powerful enough to kill them.
It was most likely her, wanting to secure her Queenship as fast as possible.
She tried to murder her sister in front of the entire court in response to Adara’s summons. ”
“Princess Esmeray tried to kill Princess Adara?” Lenna looked over at Merrick, and to Merrick’s surprise, she pulled her hand out of her lap, reaching over to grip his own.
Merrick squeezed her fingers gently, surprised she looked at him in a way to comfort him–though his facial expressions were enough of a giveaway to his feelings.
“Adara called the Opal Court to the throne room before requesting Esmeray and Keerian meet us. We were all there–numb. In shock. Grieving.” Laurent’s agitation grew palpable.
Behind him, the fire hissed and flared brighter, the edges of the flames burning blue and licking up the mantle with the magic Laurent struggled to contain.
“Calm down with the crazy fire shit,” Merrick snapped through their rings, before he continued aloud, “Keerian swore his innocence–as did Esmeray–but Adara didn’t believe them.
She demanded to know about their last meeting with the late King and Queen, yet Esmeray and Keerian refused to divulge anything.
Esmeray just kept loudly repeating that she did not kill her parents.
Some of the Lords in court believed Adara should sentence Esmeray to death without a trial.
Adara refused, stating she didn’t want to see her twin die when there was not a clear verdict.
Instead, Adara exiled Esmeray to the Obsidian Palace while the investigations were ongoing.
Esmeray accepted the temporary exile...until Adara forbade Keerian from going with her. ”
Laurent looked over at Merrick, hand in hand with Lenna.
“Adara then crowned herself Queen Absolute, stating Irridessen needed a strong ruler that wasn’t on trial for murder.
Someone the court and the council could trust without fear.
She stripped Esmeray of her titles, calling her the Queen of Nothingand Esmeray…
went crazy. She challenged Adara to duel to the death right there for the title of Queen Absolute, the title their mother held over both the Opal and Obsidian Kingdoms. The whole court watched in terror.
We were the strongest warriors of Irridessen, sworn to protect the crown, but no one could take on Esmeray and live.
She’s too powerful. Her fae magic is…strange.
It’s magic we don’t know how to contend with.
But before it came to a battle, Adara used a spell to forcibly wane Esmeray out of the Opal Kingdom, and warded the Opal Palace against Esmeray’s return.
Queen Adara also arrested Keerian, warding him in the Opal Palace until his innocence is confirmed. ”
“Adara’s spells protected her from Esmeray after all,” Lenna mused.
Merrick’s horns glimmered in the firelight as he nodded, tracking the glint of light that shadowed the wall with his movement.
He spoke in a half-daze as he moved his head side to side slowly, the small fracture off his horns reflecting the motion.
“We attempted to gain an audience with Queen Adara to speak on Keerian’s behalf–to swear to his character and loyalty–but Queen Adara dismissed the entire King’s Guard under Keerian without honor.
Without our honors, we were disgraced from court, our word and influence reduced to ash.
” With a sigh, Merrick shrugged, pretending the sting of dishonor wasn’t as brutal as a dagger to the heart.
“No one at court would listen, neither would the Royal Council. They all turned their backs on us instead. Laurent and I fled the Palace and banded together here, trying to figure out how to help Keerian on our own.”
Laurent seemed to be half listening himself as he wrangled his magic under control. Merrick spared a glance in his direction before shuffling his wings and turning back to Lenna.
“Princess Esmeray disappeared without a trace until a month ago, when she resurfaced and captured the previous Oracle. She tortured him, killed him, as a message to her sister to release Keerian. Which activated…you. Adara refused to grant Keerian freedom, and since Esmeray ruthlessly murdered the Oracle in cold blood, Adara gave the order to capture and kill Esmeray by any means necessary to protect Irridessen from Esmeray’s growing madness. ”
“Did you speak to the previous Oracle before Esmeray murdered him?” Lenna questioned, her voice pitching around the last two words.
Merrick shook his head, Laurent cleared his throat. “We tried to seek out the Oracle after we were dismissed from the Palace to see if he could peer into the past and confirm who killed King Scottrell and Queen Elera. I–we–could not find him.”
The fear in Lenna’s eyes grew, and Merrick felt like he needed to comfort her now. To be thrown into their world this morning and finding out her predecessor was murdered… It was a big ask they were coming to her with.
“The facts are we don’t know who killed the King and Queen, and well…
That’s where you come in, Oracle.” Merrick patted her hand and let go, leaning back in the chair again.
Gods, he wanted more of that damn stew. Or a drink.
Or a mindless fuck with some stranger from the bar. Or a good night’s rest.
“What can I do?” Lenna asked a bit breathlessly, her honey eyes as large as saucers.
The fire had calmed, and Laurent was once again cool and collected. “The Obsidian Palace is home to many artifacts with magical power. One of these items is the Prism of the Oracle. The Oracle can use it to peer through time to recover memories from the past.”
Merrick stood, stretching out his wings.
“We need to collect the Prism and have you look into it to see what really happened to the late King and Queen. If it confirms what we think–what Queen Adara and the rest of the court thinks–that Esmeray is the killer of the King, Queen, and Oracle, we need to bring it to Queen Absolute Adara and the Royal Council.”
“Are you still loyal to Queen Adara since she dismissed you?”
“We’re loyal to Keerian–our commander and closest friend.
We know he would never do this, and Esmeray admitted she was responsible for the death of the Oracle.
If she can kill the Oracle, a death sentence in itself, Esmeray could’ve acted alone in the killing of her parents,” Merrick clarified. Laurent agreed with a grunt.
“The Prism would potentially clear Keerian’s name, but if he’s soul tied to Esmeray, it would mean a death sentence for him too, right?
If Queen Adara kills Esmeray?” Lenna’s red curls bobbed as she looked from the fae to the gargoyle.
Merrick could almost see the wheels turning in Lenna’s head as she pondered all the new information they had given her.
“And that is another reason why we need to find the Prism, why we were so urgently looking for you. We need you to clear our friend’s name so we can beg Queen Adara to not deliver a death sentence, and instead, use her spell book to bind Esmeray into the darkest dungeon in the Obsidian Palace and throw away the key.
If Esmeray was locked up, Keerian would live. ” Merrick said.
“An army of two.” Lenna chewed on her lip, deep in thought.
Merrick gave her a small smile. “Hopefully, an army of three–if you’ll help us.”