The Land of Grimney - The Illustrated Adventures of Cora Pearl, aged 12

If only all traitors were as naive as your niece sire... She did not even think to write in code.

*Derias smiles at his master*

My loyalty is to those with strength and brains. You are head and shoulders above the rest. I will seek out names and purge them. It will be a delight.

*He bows*

You are a very different man to your brother. I remember that when he was brought the news his son had been killed, he did not grieve merely dragged his wife to the corner to show he could make more. I do not think you would ever treat the Princess in such a way, to humiliate her in front of your soldiers and servants... and that is why I serve you. You are strong, ambitious, ruthless but you can also be kind.

My loyalty and love is for you and your lovely Princess alone. To destroy your enemies is to destroy my own. I shall get my agents working here and at home... but you must make your niece's punishment brutal and public, it will cause ripples in those who would work against you and such ripples make them easier to catch.

*He heads to the door and looks back*

And to have a child will only strengthen your bond with Carados. The Princess is not barren like your first wife, she will present you with fine heirs every year if you wish it. It is time to start a new dynasty, do not let shadows of treachery scare you from having a child. You are a ruler now, and there will always be traitors however many I weed out. Make your new family your strength not your weakness. You love your wife with a passion I have not seen before, imagine how much you will love the children she bears you. That love will make you a fierce protector.

You can always rely on me... Your niece loves you but is poisoned by jealousy. You cannot protect people from themselves.

* He lays his hand on his master's shoulder*

Do not dwell on your past, it is the future that matters. Victory for you and the founding of a new great dynasty.

*Derias bows as he leaves the room*

I will send your wife to you, then see your niece is taken to the dungeons. Unless you want her killed where she stands..

Then sire... as your advisor and with the protection of the future in mind...

*Derias swallows hard*

I advise that you send Princess Philomena to her father's castle until you can be certain that you have broken your niece. It is vital she is safe from your niece and while you show your niece such... compassion... your wife's life is in danger. If anything happens to their Princess by Kanaran hands... Kanara will be drowned in the waves of the Dudrassa. See what they did to your fleet for the actions of the old Prince, remember the revenge they enacted for a mermaid not of royal blood...

*Derias bows and gives a faint smile*

Your wife cannot exist here safely if you spare your niece, and her father will offer the best sanctuary. I am sure Princess Philomena will go willingly. She has often spoken of wishing to visit her father. Indeed, I believe she writes to him daily and begs him to allow her to visit.

*Derias watches the colour drain from Darl's face*

It is a simple choice my Lord. Your niece's head, or your wife's absence. For now you cannot have both.

*Derson's looks surprised*

My Lord... were you never told the truth? Before I served you, I served the old King and I know what happened. His son... well we all knew the failings of that Prince. He took a mermaid, kept her prisoner and tormented the creature as he had done before with peasant girls. The mermaid died, either at his hands or by her own and the merfolk called for justice.

*Derias sighs*

The King too, refused to spill a drop of Kanaran blood. He was angry that anyone challenged his son's behaviour. He ordered the capture and rape of more mermaids to show how little the creatures mattered. I am afraid by then the King was in the grip of madness that had seized his father and grandfather before him... That was the special mission your brother boasted to you about, the one he said was to establish Kanara's dominance over the seas.

*He looks grave*

The mermaids sent a final warning. If no justice was met by the King, they would no longer allow the Kanaran fleet to sail. He thought it was an idle threat... he said that mermaids were so brainless that they would forget by sunset.

*Avalay shakes his head*

I and several others tried to warn him. When he launched the attack on Grimney we knew the Storm Maidens would not let him pass... but he would not listen to reason. Our land was cursed by the lust of the Prince and madness of the old King. When you rose up and purged the lands of the Grimnian hordes, I knew a new time had come to our land. That the old ways had been swept away in the storm and a new dawn was rising. Since the King has fallen, the mermaids allowed our fleets to sail... does that tell you nothing?

*Derias smiles at Darl*

As for your wife... do you not already make her suffer for your resentment? Her cries and bruises hardly go unremarked on by the servants. You blame her for the crimes of another as does your niece. I do not know what she has suffered at your hands but were you punishing her for the loss of your fleet or were you punishing Philomena because you feel guilty for loving her more than you did your obedient Kanaran wife? Guilty because although the sinking of the Kanaran navy was a great loss, it has made you rise up to be first in the land?

* Derias bows to Darl*

You think I speak boldly but I swore to always tell you the truth. Your wife made you great by almost killing you, she will make you greater still by loving you...