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The surface of the pond rippled once. Then twice, and then it began to bubble. Arthur and the others lined themselves on the edge of the pond to watch in awe assomething rose from the water and levitated above the surface.
It was indeed a pearl, perfectly spherical, beautiful and radiant. It embodied the shades of water in Nexis and floated over gently to Mierna. It was almost as large as her palm. They all watched as she carefully reached out for it, still muttering what Arthur assumed were her vows as a ruler as her eyes glowed.
“It’s beautiful,” he whispered and turned to look at Mierna, only to see her gasp as she was snatched back and thrown away from the pearl. His heart dropped.
It all happened so fast. The guards, both Human and Nymph, turned on them as they grabbed the pearl and ran.
“No!”Mierna cried out, and Arthur immediately broke into a sprint after the thieves. His mind was in a daze, unable to believe what he was witnessing as he suppressed the shame of his negligence.
Drawing his sword, he aimed it right at the one slipping the pearl into his satchel. With a grunt and strong arm, he let it fly, catching the thief in the shoulder.
His bag went sprawling against the floor, but another man grabbed it and continued running. He ran past the injured thief and after the other three, trying to catch up to them as they bounded up the stairs.
With a sharp breath, he harnessed the magic he’d learned and produced spears of ice in his hand, throwing them at the thieves. One of them got graved in the arm while the others deflected it with their shields.
“Stop!”he roared as they made it past the doorway to the ground floor of the castle.“Stop immediately or you will be executed without trial!”
The other Nymph and Human guards must’ve heard him because all of them began chasing down the thieves. To his amazement, they were extremely quick and coordinated, passing the satchel between each other as they dodged the guards. His eyes could hardly keep up with the flurry of bodies, and before he knew it, he’d lost sight of them.
“Patrol the perimeter!” he yelled. “Send troops to Eldoria’s borders! Make sure no one gets past either nation’s borders!”
They all obeyed without missing a beat and stormed out of the castle, yelling and calling for all the other guards and knights to inform them about the situation.
“The Mother Pearl of the Council stone has been stolen!”they yelled over each other.“Guard the borders of Nexis! No one leaves!”
Arthur fell to a knee in despair, trying to hold himself up as he heaved for breath while feeling a strain in his shoulder from having thrown his heavy sword.
How could I have let this happen?He thought in agony, imagining the look of betrayal in Mierna’s eyes when he would eventually face her. All Arthur wanted to do was run, straight up to Travus’s castle and take him on for himself and bring the pearl back home.
The castle had completely emptied out except for the coronation procession finally reaching the ground floor. Princess Mierna ran to Arthur and threw an arm around him, cradling his face with the other hand as she examined his with an expression so distraught that Arthur wanted to run his own sword into his heart.
“Are you alright?” she demanded. “Did they hurt you?”
“Your Mother Pearl, Mierna…” he said weakly, feeling frustrated. “I’m so sorry. I don’t understand how–”
“I DO!”roared one of the Council members as he marched over with the injured thief in hand, shoving him to the ground before Arthur, before kicking him in the ribs. To Arthur’s dismay, it was a Human.
The two Humans stared at each other, and Arthur was filled with rage. So much rage that he pushed Mierna aside and raised his arm, a blade of ice forming over his hand to bring it down onto the thief’s neck.
“No!”Mierna screamed and grabbed his arm, the blade only a finger’s breadth away from the thief’s jugular before it was shoved to the side. “Arthur, no, please!” she begged. “Don’t.”
“YouHumans,” another advisor spat. “This is what we get for our late queen finally bestowing your kind some respect?!”
“ENOUGH!”Mierna yelled. “Have some decency! You cannotspeak against an entire group for the crimes of a few!”
Mutters ran through the group as they stepped a few paces away, but only the Council surrounded them.
“I’m sorry, Mierna, but you’re not the Queen of Nexis until you complete the ceremony with the Council stone,” an advisor said sternly. “Until then, we will oversee Nexis’s matters. In the meantime, please wait until the Mother Pearl is retrieved.”
Mierna shook her head. “I don’t care. I’m still the rightful heir to the throne and a stone willnotdecide what I can or cannot do!”
“It can,” said one of the Council members. “The six of us pledged ourselves to the stone when the previous Council members passed under your late mother’s guidance. The power of maintaining Nexis’s barrier and its waters hasbeen in our grasp since her passing. You’re powerless at this time, Princess Mierna.”
Arthur found himself surprised by their loyalty to Mierna, and how they weren’t taking the opportunity to completely dethrone her given the circumstances.
“Your honor is at risk, Sir Guisgard,” said the reasonable Council member. “So is your title. It is only because of the late queen that we are showing you mercy in the face of what has just happened.”
“I’ll retrieve the Mother Pearl,” he begged. “I’ll do whatever it takes!”
