Enkansh had been restless since the moment news had broken out and spread like fire within the palace. Grifan had been killed. And when he found out that this had happened while the gold mer was attempting to take advantage of Syryn, the siren knew for sure that it was Syryn himself that had killed the prince.

He knew about the abilities of the two lackeys that followed Grifan around like his pets. They were incapable of causing such damage to the prince. To have made a hole in his chest and pulled out the heart was an act of pure violence that could not be reconciled to the nature of the mers who were claiming to have done it to save the human.

And yet they had confessed.

They had confessed to murdering Grifan. Even if the mers had been against the prince' actions and intentions towards Syryn, they could have stopped him through other less violent means. No, Enkansh didn't believe they were responsible for this. And he was the only one who knew Syryn's secret.

The siren sat on the edge of his bed, tail flicking the water like an irritated snake. He needed to talk to Syryn but the mage had been asleep for too long. That was another problem that had been plaguing his thoughts. Why was the human sleeping like a dead man?

_____

"Father, Syryn is innocent. You can't suspect him of this crime when there's no evidence of his involvement in the kill. He was unconscious on the ground with barely a heartbeat in his chest."

Drevin was present at a gathering called by the King to deliberate upon the heinous incident that had taken place in the palace. Many of his half-siblings were in attendance along with the faces of the King's advisor and a few old mermen that counselled the ruler.

"Drevin, you would defend him," concubine Shaye, Grifan's mother, retorted with anger. "We've all heard about what you've been up to with the human so forgive me if I cannot agree with your defence of his alleged innocence."

"What have you heard?" Drevin asked with a smile that dripped contempt.

The King was a silent judge on his massive throne. Larger by far than the other mermen in the room, he had deep purple scales that were jagged at their edges. A gold crown circled his forehead over unreadable hazel eyes. From the crisscrossing network of scars across his barrel-like chest, one could see that the King of Silisia had earned his right to the throne through strength.

The concubine's stare was a poisoned dagger aimed at the silver-blue mer. "Does the prince not have any shame? You carry out unspeakable acts behind closed doors with the human and put on a face of innocence in front of his Majesty."

Drevin folded his arms and gave a disinterested shrug. "I think I have a little more shame than Grifan who couldn't show any patience to court Syryn. He tried to force himself on the human, concubine. I hope you remember that."

"False!" Concubine Shaye screamed. "My son would never stoop to such an act, and that too with a filthy land dweller! How dare you?! You should be whipped for spewing such lies about your own brother!"

"Shaye," the silent King warned. He allowed his concubines and children to bicker it out in his presence because it was often during such arguments that hidden matters came to light when one was driven sufficiently to anger. But the King also had his limits for concubines that shrieked like mannerless commoners.

"Forgive me, your majesty!" Her demeanour instantly changed. "My son was killed unjustly and I demand that the human be punished." Concubine Shaye hated that her son was being called a rapist by the other mers. It was the fault of that human for seducing her son. Grifan would never force himself on anyone. Her chest heaved with anger as she plotted the fall of the human that created this nightmare for her.

"How long has he been sleeping?" The King asked the gathering.

"It is now the fourth-day cycle, your majesty," someone answered.

"He will be questioned when he awakens." If he awakens, the King thought. "Until then, concubine Shaye, you will not attempt to harm the human. He is a guest at Silisia, an innocent man until proven otherwise."

Concubine Shaye dipped her head and hid the eyes that rebelled her King's order.

"I called all of you here to deliberate upon the punishment to be meted out to the mers who were caught red-handed. Under normal circumstances, the crime for their deaths warrants an execution." He folded his hands in front of his face and looked up at the arched ceiling decorated in blue mosaic. "But not one of us present here is a fool. There is more to the incident than meets the eye."

Every mer in the throne room had their own thoughts about what had happened. Speculations were rife about how Grifan had been killed. That wasn't how mermen killed. But they had confessed to the crime and sealed their fates. Regardless of what was found, they would be punished in some way if not awarded an execution.

"Your majesty, we still haven't heard the human's side of the story. He might have insight that would lead to the discovery of new evidence. Perhaps we should defer on final judgement until we hear the human's testimony." These words were solemnly said by the King's advisor.

"But what if the land dweller never wakes up?" Concubine Shaye asked. She hoped he would gain consciousness just so it would give her an opportunity to make him suffer.

"If he never wakes up then a human healer will have to be brought from the surface," answered the King. As much as he hated dealing with the humans, Syryn was their sage's pearl and the supposed liberator of Silisia. His feelings about humans be damned, the King could only swallow his hatred and move with the times.