Chapter 60: My Mother Sends Her Regards

Nerida was horrified. Who was it? She would kill them!

The guards both turned to Zale in disbelief. "And you really couldn't have led with that?"

"I'm afraid it slipped my mind," he said lightly. "It was quite jarring being arrested for no reason. If you'll excuse me, I have a traitor to execute." 

Zale broke free of his bonds with his bare hands as if it was nothing and Nerida felt her heart race in fear. She couldn't have come this far only to fail now! He wouldn't really kill her, would he?

No, he would. She could see it in his eyes. He had been waiting for this for a very long time. Likely since the moment he knew his mother had been framed. He had been planning this for over a century and it was finally paying off. 

"Prince Zale, if you knew she was going to poison the merking, you do realize that you and your eyewitness would also have committed treason," one of the guards pointed out a bit nervously. 

"I never said I knew she was going to poison the merking. I said I knew she was going to poison someone. How was I supposed to prevent a murder when I didn't know who the intended victim was meant to be?" he asked with a dramatic sigh. "You can verify it with my eyewitness if you don't believe me."

The guards exchanged a glance. "We'll need to do that before any executions take place. In the meantime I'm afraid we'll have to take you, the merqueen, and the crown prince into custody." 

"Fine by me. The truth will come out soon." 

"Who is your witness?" one of them asked. 

"I'm afraid I can't tell you that where this one could overhear. It might put them in danger," Zale said firmly. "Take her away first and I can whisper it to you."

"That works. Take her away!" 

Nerida's whole world came crashing down around her. "No. No, you can't! You can't do this to me! I'm the merqueen! And Merrick…Merrick has done nothing wrong so leave him out of this!" 

She may have been using her son but he was still her blood. He needed to get out of this unscathed even if she didn't. 

Zale whispered where his informant could be found to one of the guards and he sighed. "Can you get back in your bonds? You really shouldn't have broken them."

"There's no need. I intend to be perfectly cooperative. They aren't much of an insurance anyway since I can break them again whenever I want. I prefer to be comfortable, thank you very much. They aren't much of a fashion statement either," he replied airily with a wave of his hand. 

He had gone back and forth between idiot and clever this whole time and it was giving Nerida a furious sort of whiplash. She was highly tempted to try and kill him right now with her bare hands but he was clearly much more skilled than he looked considering what he had done to his restraints. 

The guard sighed again. "Fine. Do what you want."

A commotion could be heard up ahead where Merrick tried to take down three royal guards on his own and was actually managing fairly well. Hope swelled in Nerida's chest. He might get out of this after all. 

Her hopes were dashed almost immediately when Zale swam ahead, stole a spear from one of the guards fighting him, and had Merrick on the ground with the point at his throat in less than a minute. "Think you can tie him up while I still have him here?" he asked cheerfully.

The stunned guards rushed forward and did as he said before escorting all three of them to the dungeons and put them in separate cells. Cells with walls so thick they couldn't even think of trying to talk to each other properly. But Nerida could have sworn she heard a maniacal laugh coming from Zale's cell. 

This had been exactly what he wanted, hadn't it? If there truly was an eyewitness, they were doomed and he would become the new merking. 

Nerida wasn't sure how long she sat there desperately trying to think her way out of this before a guard came back to her before bringing her to the scene of the crime where the full court had been assembled to judge them. 

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Gar, one of the late merking's most loyal mermen, led the proceedings somberly. "We all gather here this morning due to the sudden, tragic death of our beloved merking. We will first hear from the eyewitnesses to the crime that are not suspects in the murder."

The royal guards who had been outside the throne room and heard the whole thing and the doctor were up first. This already wasn't looking good for Nerida.

She did her best to continue looking composed but was beginning to crack from the pressure. Merrick was doing much worse. Zale was the only one who looked truly composed. He must have some trick at the ready to be so calm. 

"Next we will hear from Lady Aila. Her testimony will be backed up by Sir Nerio of the coral palace and her father Lord Yuval."

"I overheard Queen Nerida speaking to Crown Prince Merrick a few weeks ago," Aila began. "She said she was planning on blaming something on Prince Zale but I wasn't sure what until he said something about no one believing 'that idiot' would be cunning enough to poison someone.

"She said Prince Zale was stupid enough that it would be believable for him to give someone a present with poison in it by accident and that they would be able to get rid of him that way because he had been an annoyance long enough. 

"I had no idea who the someone they were referring to could be but because it had to do with Prince Zale I took my concerns to him immediately. He was concerned for my safety and sent one of his guards, Sir Nerio, to protect me in case the merqueen discovered I had overheard her plot."

Nerida's jaw dropped. She remembered that conversation with Merrick but she had definitely mentioned the merking as the potential victim specifically. Why was Aila lying? Had Zale put her up to this? 

It was true that the merman with her worked in the coral palace though. Nerida had seen him around a few times. The rest of what she said had to be the truth. Zale had known this was coming specifically and had been duly prepared. 

"Sir Nerio, can you back up Lady Aila's testimony?" Gar asked. 

Nerio nodded. "Yes. I was there when she made her report to Prince Zale initially. What she says is correct. I have been protecting her in case someone was aware of what she overheard ever since."

"Thank you. Lord Yuval?"

Lord Yuval sighed. "Sir Nerio came home with us as a gift the day we went to the main palace weeks ago. I was in a meeting with the merking and several other nobles and Aila was left in the garden. She overheard what the merqueen and crown prince were talking about and went searching for Prince Zale for help. That is all I know."

"The evidence is conclusive based on all of the eyewitnesses. Are there any objections to the execution of traitors to the kingdom former merqueen Nerida and former crown prince Merrick from the court?" Gar asked tiredly.

No one dared make any objections since the evidence—even if some of it was false—was conclusive. Nerida had lost and she had never handled losing well. 

She shrieked as Zale broke free from his bonds yet again and picked up a knife. "You can't do this to me! You can't!"

"I think you'll find that I can. Die for your crimes against the royal family, you worthless sea slug," he growled. "You've caused more than enough trouble."

He leaned in closer as he pressed the knife against her neck. "My mother sends her regards."

Nahla. This was all because of Nahla! If she hadn't gotten the stupid mermaid killed, off none of this would have happened. She could have found some other way to secure her throne. One that wouldn't have ended in her death and the death of her only child.

She had thought there wouldn't be any repercussions because Talori had been too young to understand what happened and Zale had been an idiot. She had thought she had the entire ocean in her hands but her throne had been made of sand, always meant to wash away with the waves. 

It was her fault for being too prideful. If she had only accepted what she had and not coveted more, she wouldn't be here right now. But it was too late for regrets.

Nerida couldn't do anything but scream as the knife slashed her neck. Her last conscious thought was that she shouldn't have underestimated how far someone would go for revenge.. Then she choked on her own blood and knew no more.

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