Part 3, Chapter 12

Keeping a stolen kingdom

Ch 12 

The King of the Merfolk sat on his stolen throne. His three commanders stood in front of him, eyes downcast. Grunting he motioned for the first to step forward.

The first commander clapped his hand to his chest in salute before beginning his report. “The High Gods who could have made trouble have all been imprisoned. It was taken care of before…” he paused, part of him kept insisting that there had been a major upheaval in his recent history while the other part of him was determined that things had always been the way they were now. 

The King of the Merfolk waved his hand. “Yes, yes, and the rest?”

“The guards have been keeping everyone in line. The servants haven’t protested much and those that did were handled in a way that makes the others less likely to speak out. Communications out of the Palace have also been cut.”

The King of the Merfolk nodded, a pleased smile on his face. He did like it when problems were handled in a permanent way. The first commander stepped back to his place,

The second commander stepped forward, bowing deeply. “Our soldiers are doing well as peace keepers in the city. The citizens are restless, but not aggressive. I have people spreading the rumor that you were appointed as regent by Jianyu before he went south to deal with the rebellion. Most people seem confused about the last few months,” his tone of voice made it clear that he was in that group as well, but the King ignored his implied question so the commander continued, “No one is questioning us at the moment,”

The King dismissed him.

The third commander glided up. He was not the burly, muscle bound monstrosity that the other two had been. He was slim and sloe-eyed, his gill fins small and pressed against his head  so they looked more like hair ornaments than the proud frills of his comrades. The delicate tracing of his scales was barely visible and gave his skin a shimmering quality. If it hadn’t been for the odd flatness of his nose and the gold color of his eyes he could have passed as a regular immortal. To anyone who knew the signs it was obvious that the man was only half Merfolk. He bowed only slightly to the king before speaking. 

“There are archers on the roofs of the major markets and crossroads. The rumors of your appointment by the Emperor have been spread far beyond just the city and have also include that the Emperor may not want to reclaim his crown, but live in seclusion in the Palace as his grandfather did before him. Messages have been sent to both the Emperor and the God of War informing them that if they should move on the city we will massacre as many people as possible before they can enter. The next wave of our reinforcements will arrive in a month at the soonest, but it is a much larger force than the last. 50,000 men to replenish the missing garrison.” He gave the same slight bow before stepping back into position.

“Well done my sons,” the king said, leaning back on his throne. “Continue your work. I will summon you when I need you.”

All three bowed. The two full Merfolk jostled each other, laughing as they left the great hall. His youngest son watched him for a few moments longer than the King of the Merfolk felt comfortable with before turning to follow his brothers.