<< Immortal realm—Heavenly palace >>
Mariya's words hung in the air, some gods, and goddesses nodded in support of her, while others remained calm as they waited for King Daniil's explanation.
"For thousands of years, mortals have forgotten about the existence of immortals which has been peaceful for all of us" she pushed further. "Bringing her here is already a big mistake, and keeping her alive will be a bigger mistake…"
"What are you saying, Mariya? Are you trying to say His Majesty is a fool and does not know what he is doing?" Igor, the land god, challenged her.
Right at that moment, Mariya knew she's spoken out of tone. Her eyes looked towards King Daniil for the first time since she began her speech, and she couldn't help but gulp nervously after seeing King Daniil's expression.
"I did not call his Majesty a fool" she quickly began defending herself. "I only said we shouldn't let the human live or else it's…"
"Or else what?" Igor interrupted her. "Just shut up and sit down, and let his Majesty tell us the reason he brought a human to the heavenly palace"
Mariya looked around as though she's searching for support from the others, but they all avoided eyes contact with her as they agreed with Igor.
"Cowards" she murmured under her breath, then sat down with a dissatisfied expression.
Igor cleared his throat before turning towards King Daniil, and bowed respectfully. "Your Majesty, having a mortal in the immortal realm is not a sight we see every day, so we wonder if there is by any chance a reason for this" he said, placing his words as carefully as can be.
A momentary silence swallowed the courtroom, everyone was looking expectantly at King Daniil, and waiting for him to speak.
"That human" King Daniil finally spoke. "Is related to the phoenix queen"
Surprised gasps echoed in the courtroom, murmurs erupted as everyone began talking in twos and threes, wondering among themselves how a human would be related to the phoenix queen who's a heavenly being.
"We are confused, your Majesty. How can a mere human be related to the phoenix queen?" Dmitri asked.
"I am as confused as all of you" King Daniil answered. "I found the phoenix queen's immortal light and bone in her, and that is why I brought her over to find out why she has them"
Another series of murmurs arouse as King Daniil's revelation seems to deepen their confusion. Mariya on the other hand, seems to know what's going on. Her expression shows that she knows why the human girl has the phoenix queen's immortal light and bone, and she doesn't seem to be happy about it—but she quickly wiped off all expression of her face and kept a neutral expression.
King Daniil cleared his throat to get their attention, which they gave to him immediately.
"The oldest member of the phoenix clan is receiving a promotional trial in the mortal realm, I'll have her check the human girl and tell us why she has the phoenix queen's immortal light and bone in her"
Everyone nodded in support, saying that is the best idea. Just then, Boris (god of the netherworld) stood up, which silent everyone as they paid attention to him.
"We've concluded the human girl's issue, let's talk about Anatoly now" he paused and faced King Daniil. "Your Majesty, I heard Anatoly escaped while you were having a battle with him. May we know how that happened?"
All eyes moved from Boris to King Daniil, eagerly waiting for his explanation. King Daniil's eyes fluttered close for a moment, he seemed angry at himself for letting Anatoly escape his grasp.
"He escaped while I was distracted by the human girl…"
Mariya's scoff immediately King Daniil, and everyone turned their attention to her. Many shocked at her boldness of interrupting the King. "This is the reason she should be killed, she's already bringing disaster to the immortal realm"
Hearing her words didn't sit well with King Daniil, he couldn't control himself as an uncontrollable feeling overwhelmed him.
He banged on his desk and waved his left hand, and immediately this action was made, Mariya was lifted off her seat and thrown across the courtroom in a lightning speed. Cracks were heard, and a pained gasp escaped her mouth as her back landed on a thick pillar in the far end of the courtroom. She fell face flat, and began coughing out blood.
At the snap of a finger, King Daniil was standing in front of her. He wrapped his hand tightly around her neck, her legs dangled as she was lifted off the ground.
"You dare interrupt me?" King Daniil growled, his voice doubled and thunderous, as though someone else was also talking through him.
Mariya's eyes rolled back, her black eyeballs almost disappeared totally, and her face paled as King Daniil's hand tightened around her neck, and blood flow was suddenly cut short.
She managed to shake her head while desperately dangling her legs, as though showing remorse for her words and actions.
Everyone present panicked and immediately went on their knees, although, they knew Mariya was wrong for interrupting the King, but they still couldn't sit back and watch King Daniil kill her—after all, she is a high-ranking goddess.
"Please have mercy, your Majesty" they chorused, their faces down, none of them could look at the King since it might anger him further. "Have mercy, your Majesty, have mercy"
It's King Daniil's will to end Mariya's life, but not wanting to fail his subjects, he let go of Mariya's neck, and she fell in a thud.
"That's all for today" King Daniil said, with that, he vanished from the courtroom.
Mariya coughed out blood a few times, as she tried to catch her breath. Her legs felt weak, and she couldn't walk, her eyes looked around for help, but none of the gods and goddesses tried to help her. They all either exited the courtroom without sparing her a glance, or glared disappointed at her before leaving.
After they all gone, a young girl stepped in, ran towards Mariya and helped her up.
"What happened, sister? Why are you almost in a vegetable state?" the girl asked.
"It seems like his Majesty has found the phoenix queen" Mariya whispered very quietly in the girl's ear. "There might be no chance for us if we don't take action soon"
The girl frowned. "His Majesty found the phoenix queen and no one knows about it yet?"
"It's not confirmed yet, and it's our job to make it remain that way. Let's go home, I'll elaborate on my plan when we get home"
The girl simply nodded as she accompanied Mariya out the courtroom.
★★★
<< Immortal realm—King Daniil's room >>
"Do you know keeping me here is going to cost an innocent life? Do you know how bad things would be if I didn't return home?" Kira asked in a matter of fact tone, trying her hardest to convince Aleksandr into letting her leave.
Aleksandr laughed at her endless and fruitless attempts.
"Oh, so now I'm a joke, right?" there's a hint of annoyance in her tone.
"No, you're not a joke, Miss. I honestly can't undo his Majesty's spells"
"You're just being mean, how can you say you can't…"
Kira was cut off by King Daniil entering the room. For some unknown reason, she felt her heart skip a beat and couldn't help but feel a bit happy when she saw him. She had been ranting about how she's going to tell him off, and make him take her back home, but seeing him just made her somewhat speechless—she was lost in his beauty.
She first saw King Daniil in a dark forest, and hence she didn't see his features. And the second time she would have seen him clearly, she pretended to be asleep, but now…
Those long eyelashes, double eyelids, full but small lips, sharp athletic jaw, flawless white skin, broad shoulders and almost 6ft3 (1.91 m)tall, with muscles bulging out even in his pearly white robe. How can anyone be this perfect? How can a man be this beautiful—Kira thought to herself.
"Hello, Miss?" Aleksandr waved his hand across Kira's face, pulling her back to reality.
"Sorry?"
Aleksandr chuckled. "His Majesty just asked you a question" he said, nodding towards King Daniil who's keeping a straight face.
"What did he say?" she directed her question to King Daniil.
"I'm King Daniil Ivan Andrei. I know you must be wondering why I brought you here, you can feel free to ask any questions"
Kira shook her head quickly. "I don't want to ask any questions, I just want to go back home to my sister and have nothing to do with you or…" she looked around with a disgusted expression. "...this place. I just want to go home"
"You can't go" King Daniil stated.
Her brows furrowed as she felt anger piling up from the bottom of her stomach, she put her hands on her waist and faced King Daniil.
"Listen, Mr. whatever you call yourself. You better wake up from your stupid fantasy dream, we're in the twenty-first century and taking someone against their will is considered kidnapping in this century. You either take me home now, or I'll call 911 and file a complaint"
King Daniil simply stared blankly at her as she ranted. He felt offended by her tone of speech, but at the same time, intrigued.
"911? What is that?" he asked.
Kira's mouth fell open, she gave him an unbelievable look. "Don't tell me you're so immersed in your concept that you've forgotten what 911 actually is…"
"We don't have that here" King Daniil cut her short.
A moment of silence enveloped them, until Kira broke it. "Just take me home, I want to see my sister and make sure she's alright, she's too sick to be left alone" she said in a low and broken voice.
Tears brimmed up her eyes, her cheeks shaken while she tried to hold the tears back, and she couldn't help but squat and hold her head in her hands as she felt helpless.
He couldn't explain what's happening, but seeing Kira in this vulnerable state made him sad, which he found strange because he's long forgotten what sadness actually is—in fact, he's been numb to emotions since two thousand years ago.
Aleksandr gasped in surprise as he stared and pointed at his King, he couldn't believe what his eyes were seeing.
"A—are you crying, your Majesty?" he couldn't hold back his question.
That was when King Daniil felt the tears running down his face, he frowned as he was as confused as Aleksandr. He doesn't know what exactly is wrong with him, and why it seemed like he could feel Kira's pain.
Meanwhile, Kira was not paying attention to King Daniil and Aleksandr, she was busy with her thoughts. King Daniil quickly wiped his tears, gave Aleksandr a stern look and he (Aleksandr) bowed apologetically, then King Daniil faced Kira.
"Fine" Kira sprang up at once, she stared at him with so much hope. "I can let you go see your sister, but you must come back with me to the heavenly palace after sorting out things with her" King Daniil said.
"And what if I don't come back with you?" Kira asked daringly.
"Your sister dies!" King Daniil stated in a firm tone.