Hold on to your seats girls and boys cause things are about to enter a whole realm of crazy. Brace! Brace! Brace!
Warning: This chapter contains some mature, violent and self-harm scenes. Please read at your discretion.
King's Gambit
As King Marius spread his arms for his loyal subjects and servants to quickly and efficiently strip him, all Kai could hear was the sound of a waterfall. It took him some time to realize that it was the sound of blood rushing in his own ears.
He remembered hearing this sound once before when he'd gotten into a big fight in school and was called to the principal's office to be reprimanded and expelled. He'd always been an agreeable child, but on that day, a schoolmate had chosen to insult him in the worst way: by calling him fatherless and an orphan. As he'd stood there in the principal's office being harshly scolded for beating up his schoolmate, he hadn't heard a single word of what was said to him. The only sound he'd heard was that of a waterfall crashing in his ears, just like now. He hadn't known what the sound was back then, and had thought that he was about to die.
This time around, he probably was, if not by Marius' hand, then by a goddamn heart attack.
Marius' eyes dared Kai to look away as he was stripped of his royal robes down to his black scales' jumpsuit. Even if he wanted to look away, he couldn't tear his eyes from that flawless body; it looked like it had been sculpted from iron and steel. Oh, he was most definitely not human; he was without flaw.
At the speed of light, Kai's mind raced through the two outcomes that his current fight could end in. One outcome was more likely than the other. Rather, the other outcome would be the miracle to end all miracles. Outcome A resulted in Kai winning this fight, while outcome B was him being mercilessly and publicly crushed by Marius.
What about a draw?
He doubted Marius would let things end in something as unsatisfactory as a draw. Kai knew that he wouldn't if he were in the merman king's shoes. The only way for this fight to end in his favor was for him to win.
But how? How could he possibly win this fight? Assuming Marius wasn't a powerful foe with superior fighting prowess and potentially some magic, every drop of blood in Kai's body had been poisoned by the aphrodisiac by now. He didn't have even half the strength he had last time they dueled, and Marius knew it.
He fucking knew it, if the smirk stretching a corner of his lips was any indication.
You fucking bastard.
But Marius wasn't the only one with magic abilities.
The golden merman abruptly occurred to him.
I need your help, Kai pleaded, hoping that the magical merman that occupied his mind heard him. More than that, he was hoping he would come to his aid. Save for the time he saved his life from drowning, the golden merman had refused Kai any aid during the numerous times he'd been assaulted and humiliated on the grounds that his life hadn't been in imminent danger.
Talk about a useless power. Kai still wasn't sure what the golden merman's real power was, and only knew that it was called the ambiguously-titled Spirit of the Sea, whatever that was.
Fucking hell, answer me! You don't get free residency in my mind without giving me something in return!
Once more, he was ignored.
Marius stepped into the ring, muscles rippling.
"Bets!" The butler called.
Not a single merman bet on Kai. He doubted loyalty to their king was their only motivation; even Kai would have bet on Marius winning if he could. In almost every aspect, King Marius was the stronger opponent.
But there was one aspect that he had Marius beat in: determination.
"This is your last chance to accept my proposal." Marius said as he came to stand not five feet away from him.
Heart thundering in his chest, he hissed, "Go to Hell."
"Oh!" Someone in one of the alcoves fainted. Kai was beginning to suspect he wasn't the only one affected by the aphrodisiac after all.
"I can't believe his Majesty is letting that half-breed speak to him like that." Hissed one of the courtiers, glaring daggers at Kai.
The courtier's friend affirmed, saying, "I've never before seen anyone disrespect his Eminence like that and not lose their head a second later."
Kai turned and sneered in their direction. They promptly shut up.
His vision flickered. Sweat dripped down his body. It felt as if there was a sun in his stomach's pit; the hotness he felt was starting to consume his mind.
Dammit.
In a low, deceptively-gentle voice, Marius asked, "Are you sure you can fight me like that?"
Frowning deeply, he questioned, "Like what?"
"Like that." Marius cocked his head in the direction of Kai's engorged cock.
Kai's eyes dropped to the floor as he swallowed the shame that surged forward, shoving it to the furthest corners of his mind. Now was not the time to feel humiliation at something that was not within his control. No one sane would sport an erection while fighting to avoid being raped. Once again, he reminded himself that it was the aphrodisiac's doing, and not by his own choice.
"I've won all my fights so far, haven't I?" he tossed angrily, positively furious that Marius was getting off on teasing him like this.
The merman was without a drop of shame. Kai would never purposely humiliate another person, human or otherwise, war or no war.
But he supposed that that was where the difference between them lay like a dividing rift. While Kai had a heart and some decency, Marius would stop at nothing to get what he wanted.
Well, almost nothing.
It seemed that when Marius had attempted to strangle him in the tunnel before, he hadn't really 'meant' it, which was why the golden merman hadn't surfaced.
He reminded himself that it wasn't because of the kindness of his heart, but because he still needed the power dwelling inside Kai.
Marius arched a questioning eyebrow at him. "Do you really believe you're going to win this fight?"
"I believe you've made it impossible for me to do so with that poison filling the air. What, you're afraid you're going to lose so you rigged the fight in your favor?"
Offended on behalf of his master, the butler interjected, "You insolent wretch-"
Marius held up his hand, effectively silencing him.
How noble of him to come to my rescue, Kai thought sarcastically.
"You test my patience, human. I will ask you one last time: Will you marry me?"
Kai imagined that there were millions of girls waiting to hear those very words. He wasn't.
At least Marius had worded it right this time, but his intentions were still all so very wrong.
Across the distance, their eyes met. Defiantly, he stated, "I refuse."
He thought he saw Marius' jaw tick.
Oh, he'd angered the conqueror; he could feel it in his bones. Good. Let him be angry. Let him feel a fraction of what Kai was feeling, if the stoic bastard was even capable of such a powerfully vibrant emotion.
He had no intention of giving in to Marius, nor did he have any intention to be publicly raped by him. But his intentions meant absolutely jackshit if he couldn't act to enforce them.
As things were right now, it appeared that all his greatest fears and nightmares were about to come to pass.
So, there was only one thing left for Kai to do to guarantee him some sort of fighting chance.
Kai lunged out of the ring.
Chaos ensued.
The courtiers started screaming.
Servants were pushed aside and trays filled with sweetmeats clattered to the floor as courtiers clamored to get out of Kai's way.
Kai didn't make for the door as the guards had expected, immediately moving to block it.
He headed straight for Lord Luka's alcove.
"What the fuck are you-"
Kai socked him right in his foul mouth, immediately knocking him out. He quickly bent down and slipped the holstered dagger he'd spotted hidden in his robes.
Unsheathing it, he turned to face Marius.
"Protect the King!"
Out of nowhere, a dozen guards materialized and came rushed to guard their king, swords and spears drawn.
Marius pushed the two standing directly in front of him aside as if they were made of paper. The look on Marius' face was priceless, enough to make what he was about to do worth it.
"Ah, so you want to be the one who gives and takes. You'd strip and toss me to the wolves, and then you'll be the one to save me, is that it? You get off on having all the control, don't you? Does it make you hard thinking you're so magnanimous, so fucking generous? Well, let me tell you what you really are, Marius."
Breathing unsteadily, Kai brought the edge of the knife to his wrist.
"You're a piece of shit."
He slit his wrist and blood came gushing out, splattering the alcove.
*~~~~~~~~~~*
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#holyfuck #didnotseethatcoming #holyshit #Author-sanWhhhyyyyy #MyBabyKaiNoooo
From 1 to 9000, just how mind-blown are ya right now? :O
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