Chapter 321: Offer
Atlear couldn’t take her eyes away from the silver moon, through it she felt a mountainous aura.
Around the moon was pure darkness that seemed to drown all the light, the longer she looked the more she felt like she was looking at an eye.
Suddenly it disappeared and everything returned to normal, Atlear came back her senses.
Her back was drenched in sweat which was uncommon for her people. " Was that a domain?" She asked.
The man in front of her shrugged. Atlear felt nervous, ’ If that was a domain, then its owner must be incredibly powerful.’
She knew it wasn’t a semi-divine realm but it wasn’t far off either, normally domains at level 8 have images imprinted on them.
However those images are illusory in nature but that moon and darkness felt as real as she was, this was a trait of semi-divine realms.
" Come." The man led them towards a large city with a gigantic castle standing at its centre.
All three of them felt nervous, they could still feel that aura, in fact it got stronger the closer to the castle they got.
They were led inside and then told to wait, a maid came to attend them, she brought snacks and drinks.
" Even the maid here is stronger than we are." Commented Suren, the oldest of the three.
Merdia nodded along. Atlear didn’t say anything but her heart was beating heavily with both fear and hope.
She realised if these people wanted to harm them, there was nothing they could do but if they decided to help them, then her people might survive and have a future.
The maid returned calling them in, she led them towards two gigantic doors made of silver.
Standing on either side of them were two people, a man and a woman who barely gave her and her entourage a gaze.
The woman was more understandable but she admired the self control of the man, not many men can resist her charms.
The doors opened on their own leading to a massive throne room. The room was incredibly beautiful.
Inside were four people standing below the stairs leading to two massive thrones where a couple sat.
’ No wonder they don’t even give me a single glance.’ she couldn’t help but admire the woman on the throne.
Her beauty transcended everything she understood, for the first time in her life she felt inferior to another woman, it was an uncomfortable feeling.
Atlear waited for the standard introduction and the constant praises of the king and queen.
However none of that happened so they ended up standing there in awkward silence. ’ Strange, I read that’s how audiences with royals usually go.’
" Introduce yourselves." Said a maid in commanding tone. This caught all three of them by surprise.
’ Is this how a maid is supposed to address guests?’ Atlear wondered but she didn’t dare say that out loud.
She floated forward carried by a platform of water then bowed her upper body. " I am Atlear, princess of Atlantis, pleasure to make your acquaintance."
Atlear introduced herself then waited in silence, no response came making her nervous.
" You’re a mermaid?" She heard a voice more beautiful than her own coming from above.
She raised her head and the queen was looking at her with glowing green eyes that seemed to draw her soul in.
" Yes your highness." She answered nervously.
" I see, I’ve heard quite a lot about your race, I heard your hearts can turn a mortal into a God and your tears can grant immortality to shy who consume them."
Atlear swallowed nervously, ’ I knew it, I knew it.’ she thought to himself, ’ It’s always the same thing.’
" Your highness those are..."
" No matter." A deep voice cut her off before she could explain. She met two cold silver eyes glaring down at her.
" Tell us, what is it that you want?" The voice asked.
Atlear didn’t know how to answer, her people were in danger of extinction and the seer told them their salvation was here.
However how does one bring that up in such a situation, how could she tell them she wanted them to fight for her people.
Besides, even if they agreed what could she offer then in return. Atlear couldn’t answer any of those questions.
The rumours were partially true, eating the heart of a mermaid could grant one a rapid increase in strength.
They might even break through multiple levels, as for the tears, that wasn’t entirely false either.
However it wasn’t totally true either, the tears had to be from a royal mermaid born during an eclipse.
And the tears needed to be mixed with the water from the fountain of youth otherwise they would be useless.
The thing was though, she was born during an eclipse and she was royalty making her the perfect candidate.
However shedding a tear for her was not as simple as others, she could only do that once in her life.
Because the tear in question wasn’t an actual test but a liquified form of her soul, shedding a tear was a death sentence to her.
Her hands shook but she tried to hide it, she made up her mind and her eyes turned resolute.
" My people are under siege from powerful Gadra, we were told by our seer that you would be out only hope.
Please, I beg you, save my people." Atlear lowered her head, this was no longer a respectful bow but one of submission.
Her two servants panicked, " Your highness no." That tried to stop her but she pushed them back.
" And...what in it for us?"
The question she’d been dreading finally came. When they left Atlantis, she had prepared to offer riches.
The ocean was a very resource rich place and Atlantic owned many treasures but seeing this castle.
She realised, there was no amount of wealth she could offer that would sway the heart of the man sitting on that throne.
" I..I will offer you my tear." She responded, her two servants froze.