From the part of his shoulder that had been pierced with the sharp scepter, a golden liquid started to stain the water around Nixxon.
"Father!" Nixxon called angrily, staring at his wound and then glaring at his father.
"I gave you this blood, and I have the right to take it from you," King Nereus said in a deep, angry voice.
"Arrgh! Ugh!" Nixxon growled in pain as his father violently drew his scepter out from his shoulder.
His scales suddenly burst with intense bright colors, traveling across the whole room, causing Valtira and King Palegius to place their arms over their eyes to shield them from the disarrayed colors.
Valtira slowly looked at Nixxon as the light dimmed out, and she was surprised to see Nixxon's wound completely gone. She instantly turned her head to her father, a shocked look marking her beautiful face.
"The power of the golden blood," King Pelagius said, astonished.
They knew what it meant to them if they succeeded in getting offspring with golden blood. They could rule the whole underwater kingdoms with that blood!
As royalty, Nixxon's blood was golden, but not all royal mermen had the golden blood; only those from the descendants of pure and powerful mermen bloodline had it.
The golden blood signifies great strength and power and unmatched healing with many other attributes.
The lineage of golden blood has also been known for using their blood to keep their slaves obedient to them; by mixing the blood to a certain type of mystic portion and giving it to their slaves, it bounds the slaves and leaves them at the mercy of their master.
"You shall be locked up till the time of your marriage rituals tomorrow evening!" King Nereus boomed angrily.
"Thallaneus!" He called loudly.
Instantly, a huge merman with a thick silver chain around his neck emerged; the engraved face of King Nereus could be boldly seen on the front body of the slave guard.
"Lock him up in his room; do not let him out till tomorrow evening."
"As you wish, my King," Thallaneus replied, lowering his upper body in a bow.
"I will not marry her, Father!" Nixxon remained unyielding.
"I'm sorry, Prince Nixxon, I have to follow the King's orders," Thallaneus said and moved closer to Nixxon.
"Do not lay your hands on me, Thallaneus," Nixxon warned.
"Then I shall follow behind, my Prince," Thallaneus said respectfully.
Nixxon angrily glided away from his father, glaring at King Pelagius before speedily swimming up to his room, following the same stairs he had passed earlier.
"I'm sorry, my Prince," Thallaneus said as he slowly closed Nixxon's strong rock door.
Nixxon heard the sound of his door being locked and angrily used his strong tail fin to push down the beautiful shell vase that was holding a bunch of seaweeds to the floor, shattering the once beautifully colored decoration.
He looked around his room in anger, searching for something to break. he needed to transfer that overwhelming anger within him, but he couldn't destroy anything else; he was already feeling guilty for the shell vase that was now scattered across the floor.
This was his sanctuary, but his father wanted to turn it into a prison for him. He won't succumb to his father's tyranny.
He released a deep sigh and slowly swam towards his curved sofa that was made from corals and shells.
He lowered himself across it and stared at the ceiling. The delicate seaweed strands that hung like chandeliers caught his attention as he became lost in his thoughts.
He absent-mindedly moved his eyes from the ceiling to his glass-arced windows; his room was set high in the Castle, allowing him an overview of the kingdom.
"A kingdom filled with misled people," He whispered as he raised himself and moved closer to the sealed glass window, placing his forehead on it, his hands beside his head.
He stared out at the vast and beautiful landscape; he could see warm lights shining through the windows of the dome-shaped houses and creatures swimming about freely, going about their everyday life activities, with no one dictating how they should live it.
He envied them, but there was another creature he envied most: the human creatures.
His mother had told him numerous enchanting stories about the humans, she even promised to take him out of the ocean when he grew older to see how the humans laughed with joy and played around freely beside their water; he'd also learned very few of humans words, something his mother never told him how she learned.
He'd never been allowed upshore before, and his only hope of witnessing the happy creatures was dead; his mother was dead.
He sighed and went back to his sofa, he was about to close his eyes when he heard his door being unlocked.
His frills rose, alerted and ready for another confrontation with his father, but when his door opened, it wasn't his Father who entered; it was his brother, Maren.
He scoffed and turned away from him, returning to look out of his window.
"You disobeyed Father again?" Maren asked, stepping into the room.
Nixxon continued to ignore his brother, staring outside his window.
"Ignoring me won't make me go away, brother. Just like your problems, they wouldn't go away even if you ignored them." Maren casually swam over to Nixxon, slowly swinging his tail to keep himself floating beside his brother.
"End all these troubles and marry Valtira, Nixxon, for the kingdom and Father," Maren said convincingly.
"I don't care about Father or even the kingdom." Nixxon's voice was low and angry.
"Do not say that again!" Maren barked.
Nixxon chuckled dryly, looking up at his brother's face beside him.
"Since you're so patriotic to your kingdom, then go ahead and marry Valtira. After all, you're the rightful heir to the throne," Nixxon challenged.
"Do not speak to me in that manner!" Maren was getting angrier as he spoke.
"You can't command me!" Nixxon raged.
Maren glared at Nixxon, his gray-silver scales starting to intensify in color, indicating his anger.
"Know this, brother." Maren came closer to Nixxon, leaning his face closer to him.
Nixxon didn't cower; he stared at his brother head-on, showing his anger through his ever-changing color of scales.
"You will marry Valtira, at all cost!" Maren said in a low tone. Then, he angrily swam out and slammed Nixxon's door, the waves from the door shaking the decorative shells on Nixxon's wall.
"Curse you, Maren!" Nixxon cursed, using his tail to push another vase off his window sill.
He couldn't bear it anymore. All his life, he'd lived under the shadow of his brother, and he had accepted that life, enjoyed it even. Then, why did they suddenly want him in the spotlight, becoming King? That was never going to happen.
He had to leave...yes, he had to find a way to escape.
He was still pondering how he would escape when the reflection of the broken vase caught his attention to a marking beneath his rug-like grass material on the floor.
He narrowed his eyes as he lowered himself to examine what the marking was all about. He gently brushed the shreds of the vase away from the floor and pulled the grassy material away.
He was surprised to find a round, marbled lid on his floor.
What was this? A tunnel?
He frowned.
This was his room; he'd slept in this room all his life, and he'd never noticed something like this before.
But, as he stared longer at the marbled lid, an image suddenly popped into his head.
He recalled when his mother had argued with his father, she had pretended to be angry and told his father that she would be sleeping in his room; that same night, he had woken up at midnight just to find her mother swimming down through the hole beneath the lid.
Nixxon suddenly smiled; he remembered that his mother later returned home through the front gates, which meant that this tunnel did lead outside the castle.
Nixxon felt a certain kind of happiness bubbling within him.
He was finally going to be free!
He put his finger through the golden ring that was at the center of the marbled lid and pulled it...it didn't budge.
Nixxon huffed; he had underestimated the weight of the lid. He tried again, this time using more strength.
The lid finally came off, and he noiselessly dropped it beside him on the floor.
For a second, he got scared as he stared into the pitch-black tunnel, but when he remembered what he was trying to run away from, he picked up his courage and dived right into the tunnel.
The water under the tunnel seemed cooler than the one above, but that didn't deter his decision. He forged on, swimming fast but cautiously through the tunnel.
Nixxon swam for a long while, almost doubting his decision, but soon, he saw the rays of dim light dancing from underneath the tunnel ahead.
He paused, listening to know if he'd been spotted.
"Lock him up till the king orders his release." He suddenly heard Thallaneus' voice from below the tunnel.
He slowly swam on, and when he reached the source of the light, he peeked through the tiny barred window and discovered that he was above the castle's dungeon.
He saw the guards pushing some people into the dungeon cells through the tiny, barred, cage-like opening.
He quickly swam ahead. Whatever they were doing wasn't his business anymore; he had to hurry before they found out that he was missing from home.
The end of the tunnel was closed. He had to push and push before he was able to open it.
He hurried out and closed it back. Looking ahead of him, he discovered that he had arrived behind the fence of the castle.
That was good; not many people came here, and the area was deserted and dim, just perfect for his escape.
He swam away, no destination in mind, but he was sure he would be far gone from this kingdom before tomorrow arrived.
He was gone, and never to return.