Beneath The Water (Complete)

Twenty-Two

Kane and I stayed up most of the night going over the plan in great depth. I didn't think anything would go wrong tomorrow, but I didn't want to risk it either way. Kane was good, didn't argue too much. I didn't know if it was because of everything which happened with Thalian or he was finally agreeing that we were doing the right thing.

The sun was nearly at its highest point and the crowd was gathering in the city centre. Kane was nowhere to be seen; so far so good. I wore a full cloak which was hot in the sunshine, but I couldn't take it off until everyone was set up.

It was when the crowd collectively tensed was when I knew I had to make my move soon. At the front of the line was the Duke marching out with his head high, behind him was a line of Elves all in chains and Ran at the very end. He looked like hell, but he was alive. Duke certainly listened when I said to use Ran as bait, and he even upped the ante to include at least a dozen of Elven slaves. Things just got more difficult, but not impossible.

Things would be easier with Thalian here. I tried to keep him far from my thoughts as I tried to remain focused, but it was becoming increasingly difficult. "Welcome, one and all. I am proud to say that today we are reminding those who are lesser than us their place in the world." His words quickly filled my brain and I concentrated on the task at hand once again. "I encourage you, my people, to celebrate this day as we put yet another water demon to death."

Almost the entire crowd started to cheer, all except a single voice which started to boo. My voice rang through the crowd and the Duke frowned as eyes started to turn to me. The Duke was a true politician, while he was obviously annoyed by my protest, he kept it out of the tone of his voice. "Come, step forward. Show your face and explain why you will not celebrate this joyous occasion."

Showtime.

In one smooth motion, I had my cloak open and on the ground. My outfit was enough to cause the crowd to gasp. I embraced my inner Earth woman with a two-piece lace wine coloured dress. It was almost entirely see through the top was mostly just a bandeau so my shoulders, stomach, back, and sides were showing. That included my gill scars, something which the crowd was slow to clue in to. "Miss Leena?" The Duke asked a bit shocked, he was too far away to notice my scars at all.

I walked along the stones closer to him, people parting for me. "That would be Queen Leena Asix'Corrah-ha to you," these people might not know much about my people, but they knew enough to realize that my last name wasn't Human. The look on the Duke's face was priceless and I couldn't help but laugh as I stopped, the few guards which were positioned around, seemed unsure what to do. "What, are you not going to arrest me?" I glanced to one of the Elves and shrugged. "People have been threatening to arrest me for almost 2 years and no one has gotten cuffs on me yet."

The Elf had to bite down on her lip to keep from laughing or smiling. The Duke motioned his guards to come closer to me, "Why are you doing this?" He asked softly.

Spinning around, I motioned to the crowd around me. "Speak louder for the people in the back," I practically shouted, one of the guards jumping as I did. "No, no, no, Sugar, you come, you need to show these people that you will arrest and kill everyone who is different." The guard froze when I called him out, it was good he was wearing a helmet or else I was sure his face would have read pure confusion.

This show was for the humans, those who may not realize what their monopoly on our world was doing to everyone else. "Arrest her," the Duke said with a sigh.

Holding my wrists out in front of me, I stayed still as I looked around. "You are told we are demons, monsters, that you are better than everyone else, but have any of you ever questioned it?" There was silence from the crowd. "Maybe you are intimidated by us, but shall we do a Q&A session of species?"

"Enough!" The Duke shouted.

"Is it true you're immortal?" Someone from the back of the crowd called out just as I felt the cold metal of handcuffs being wrapped around my wrist.

Laughing softly, I shook my head. "Technically, no. We live a long time, but we die. We have families, homes, and we used to have cities of our own. That was before humans came and collected us from our homes, hunted us in our own homes and put chains on us." My eyes glanced to Ran, his hand falling forward as he struggled to breathe. He had more scales than skin showing now and more was flaking off. He needed water. "We wanted peace," I added in.

My message isn't what these people came to see today. "Kill them!" A man shouted, most of the crowd cried out in agreement.

I sighed at that and shook my head, "I encourage all those who wish for peace to leave. The safety of those who remain is not promised. I do not want violence, but this mindless killing, this parade of slaves is over." I glanced at the Elves who seemed confused but mostly kept their head down. They had been forced in line and knew the dangers if they stepped out of it. 

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The song attached is the one I used for inspiration for this chapter and a bit of the next one. Enjoy!