The Sea Devil's Eye - Mel Odom [73]
Laaqueel glanced at the princes as they conferred among themselves. They knew where Iakhovas was headed as well as she did. There was nothing they could do to prevent it.
"I tore down the Sharksbane Wall," Iakhovas said. "I opened a path to the outer Serosian world, to the seas the surface worlders depend on."
Clicks and whistles of agreement echoed around the amphitheater.
"But I failed to truly set you free," Iakhovas went on. "I left, handling errands of my own, taking the first steps to build We Who Eat a conflagration that would end the empires of our enemies, to leave them broken and shattered in our wake. I will not fail you again. I will be the king that you deserve, the one who will make savage warriors of you all in name and in deed."
The shrill sahuagin applause rippled across the amphitheater, growing steadily.
"No!"
The hoarse shout rang over the amphitheater. Laaqueel felt the movement along her lateral lines. She turned and found Maartaaugh striding toward Iakhovas.
"You will not be king here," Maartaaugh swore. "You are not from our sea. You are not of our heritage. You will not usurp our waters."
Silence immediately filled the waters as the sahuagin audience waited to see what would happen. Only the throbbing crescendo of the whale song continued unabated.
"Would you die then, Maartaaugh?" Iakhovas asked. "Would you challenge me and lose your life as Toomaaek did, unable to even fight for your people or the place they deserve in Seros?"
Maartaaugh slammed the butt of his trident against the inset stones that made up the amphitheater's floor.
"I will not die," the prince said. "Aleaxtis will have one of its own as king."
"I would kill you," Iakhovas stated flatly. "I would rend your flesh from your bones and feed it to those you claim to lead."
That remains to be seen."
Maartaaugh's courage held him despite the carnage he had seen Iakhovas do.
Laaqueel felt the tension in the water, could feel Maar-taaugh's heart beating rapidly through her lateral lines. Surely Sekolah's will would be served now.
"If you wish to dispute my right to the throne," Iakhovas said in a soft, deadly voice, "then I will name the challenge."
Maartaaugh nodded.
Iakhovas swung to the crowd. "In order to prove my worth-to become your king, to take upon myself the right to lead you in your greatest battle-I will slay the Great Whale Bard who even now blocks passage through the Sharksbane Wall."
Excited conversation started up again.
"If I can't do what I say," Iakhovas went on, "then let me die as Sekolah would have me: clawing at the face of an enemy." With noble grace, he spun back around to Maartaaugh. "If you wish, I will give you the honor of trying to slay the Great Whale Bard first."
"No," Maartaaugh replied in a quiet voice.
"Then agree to my terms," Iakhovas said. "If I kill the Great Whale Bard and end the threat of the whale song that attacks this place, you will recognize me as king and serve as my grand champion, to renounce and combat any who would attack or challenge me."
Maartaaugh hesitated only a moment, and Laaqueel knew it was because the warrior tried to find a loophole in Iakhovas's offer.
"I will," the prince answered.
"Good," Iakhovas said.
"When will you attempt this?" Ruubuuiz asked.
"Now," Iakhovas said. "There is a war to be fought, and I will tolerate no waiting."
He turned and leaped away, pausing when he was twenty feet above the amphitheater floor.
Laaqueel swam up beside him, seeing him totally in the sahuagin illusion now. He was a proud warrior, his fins flared out and his chest puffed up, gripping the trident in one fist and his crown seated on his broad head. One eye held a golden gleam.
"I am Iakhovas!" he roared. "I am destined to be your king!"
The sahuagin crowd exploded into movement. They slapped their feet against the stones and whistled and clicked in full support. There were even comments from some that Iakhovas was