"It's true," Parish said defending himself as well. He couldn't just let the father-son pair execute him based on something he himself had not agreed on to begin with. This whole dam thing was Zed's idea. How he knew it wouldn't work, that Parish did not know.
"I'm not executing him because he failed. I'm executing him because he's one of them. Those that killed your kind Mike, our kind. Now if you would excuse us to do our job," The elder thundered.
"How could you? You know better than anyone else that Parish is the son of the late Lord and yet you say he's not one of us, " Mike took the courage to question.
"Everyone here knows who Parish is. Please don't let the mistakes of his father befall him." Everyone knew well that the elder wanted to kill Parish because of the throne. He wanted his son to rule after him and not Parish as the law indicated.
"Enough Mike! Who are you to even question my authority? Look kid, it's either you step away or you die together, the both of you. This is your last chance." The elder offered. He was clearly pissed off by what Mike was saying. If not for his son's love towards Mike, he would have killed him already.
"No I'm not. If he gets executed, I get as well. Why would you take advantage of him when he's weak?"
"Mike please. I can't afford losing you as well," Zed said slithering closer to the scenery. Mike looked at him and smirked evilly.
"You can't afford losing me, and I can't afford losing him as well," he said pointing at Parish. Zed bit his lower lip in frustration. Seeing Mike hating him or worse, dying, was the last thing be expected.
"It's decided then. Kill both of them," the elder said motioning the guards to attack.
"Wait father…" Everyone halted and turned to face Zed. No one had expected him to do such a stupid thing.
"What is it?" His father asked, clearly irritated and impatient now. "You wanna join them as well?"
"Please spare Mike. He's innocent," he began pleading with his father.
"No! What kind of leader will I be if I kill one of them and spare the other? They have to be executed, the both of them!"
Zed cowered back in fear at the menacing look in his Father's eyes when he said that. Hell, why was this happening now? He could have seen this coming. Or maybe he was just blind and impatient.
"What are you still waiting for? Get them and put an end to their stinking lives!" The elder yelled at the guards.
"We are going to die Parish," Mike said in almost a whisper. He had thought the elder would consider his friendship with Zed and spare them. Seems he was dead wrong!
"We are not dying you fool!" Parish scolded. "Why did you do this in the first place? You should have let me die alone you fool. Now you'll die!" Parish pinched the skin between his brows.
"Hey. I couldn't just stand and watch you die. I'm not that type of friend, like Zed. And you're talking about it as if I'll die alone,tsk tsk," Mike laughed, a laughter that faded when he saw the guards came closing in. Was this the end now? Was this how he was going to die?
The guards were now drawing in but Parish looked calm, a big contrast to a shaky and sweating Mike. He just shot a hard glare at Zed who was now looking not so calm. This had to do with the fact that Mike was here, facing a death situation as well. Parish chuckled darkly at that.
Mike and Zed had been in 'love' since they matured into adult snakes, after shedding their first skin. This was what marked one's graduation from a minor to a youth in the clan, and then the second phase marked one's graduation to a senior. Surprisingly, the two developed feelings for each other even though they belonged to the same gender. Everyone had accepted this fact and moved on because it was very normal thing here, though they still received criticism soemtimes from some who hadn't accepted the relationship between the same gender.
Time seemed to have come to a halt as more and more guards circled the pair. Mike closed his eyes tightly anticipating for pain or metal cutting through flesh. Parish just smirked at his thought before he braced himself for what was about to happen.
Parish was not a fool to just stand and wait for his death. And for some odd reason, he felt energetic all of a sudden, more power coursing through his veins. Yes! This was it! The feeling if being a god. It was all true. Now was the high time to put his new profound powers into use. With such power now and could he still cower to them?
His gaze shifted to a now praying Mike who was curled on the stony floor as if reciting a final mantra. Wait! Was that Mike's voice he just heard inside his head? Was he asking for revenge upon those who would inflict pain on me. Hell he was! And it was Parish's duty to save the poor soul. His legs were stable now and he could stand, like a human.
Zed's heart was racing wildly, each passing second seeming like eternity to him. He was the cause of all this drama and he would never forgive himself if anything bad happened to Mike. He had to do something before it was too late. But what exactly? His father would skin him alive would he try doing something stupid, or worse, strip him of his position as the heir. Wasn't this what he wanted? If Parish would die now, there would be no one else standing in his way to the throne.
But Mike was not part of the plan, this was definitely not what he had expected. And he just couldn't stand and watch as his fiancé gets killed. If there was a time he was supposed to act, then it was now!