There was no sun on that day. A normally clear and warm summer had turned grey and dark. The church bells were quiet, the streets held no happy merchants, and the navy had lowered the flag that rose proudly over the city. Even the harbor was still like a corpse.

It seemed like death had spread from the royal palace throughout the city.

Queen Starlit Eyes had one of her few moments of lucidness when the clock struck ten. She coughed and begged a servant for water, which was swiftly provided to her. The smooth blue skin of the Queen was draped in white sheets, her sickness having turned both yellow. The bed she was laying on seemed to have been afflicted with the disease as well, puke and yellow bile dried onto it. Her tail would trash around whenever a new coughing fit arrived and it would smack into the head of one of the servants. The queen tore into the bedsheets with her claws and moaned in pain as she was turned over by the two servants. One servant tried to prop up the queen’s head with a clean pillow, but the queen's gelatinous mane colored it green. The curved horn on the queen’s head too proved to be a problem, since when she trashed around it almost impaled itself in the servant's eye.

Another mare stood next to the bed, a piece of cloth wrapped around her muzzle. She was dressed in white and blue robes with a clasp around her neck depicting a seashell. Her eyes were a vivid pink in contrast to the dull grey of her skin. She too had her queen’s features, along with the two servants, both of which were male. The mare was dressed in the traditional gown of a healer, blue to signify a calm sea, and white to signify purity and holiness. She was a servant of the church, one who did her job with diligence, even when it tore her apart to do it.

These ponies were not the regular kind. Where their cousins held hooves, they held paws, and where their cousins had furry bodies they had thick rubber-like skin. They all had a long tail that ended in a wide paddle that was covered in gelatinous fur and the same fur could be seen on their head. They also had freckles over their bodies, with some of them being connected by black lines like they were constellations. They were Coseans, ponies that appeared more akin to an aquatic mammal than one meant for living on the land. Despite their oceanic nature, they were still living in a city much like their cousins to the east and their siblings to the north.

The mare clad in blue and white would pull out a vial with a dark green liquid inside it from her robes. She would remove the cork from it before ordering the servants to hold the queen still and open her mouth. The odor of the drink spread throughout the room, provoking the queen to gag. As the two stallions tried to hold Starlit’s head still the royal fought against them, choking and spitting. The queen’s tail smacked the mare in the side before one of the servants jumped onto it to hold it down. The healer simply ignored the pain and poured the vile-smelling concoction down the queen’s throat. The sickly queen cried and desperately tried to spit out the drink, but the healer lit her horn and forced Starlit’s mouth shut. With a sigh, the healer closed the queen’s nose as well. Starlit gagged and thrashed wildly, scratching the servant holding her head and kicking off the servant on her tail. Both stallions staggered back, but the healer would not back down. The mare would exert a magical field all over the queen’s body, a deep crimson covering blue skin.

“Swallow dammit!” the healer would hold Starlit’s head as she choked on the potion in her mouth.

“Swallow! Please!” the cries were more desperate now, the healer’s composure breaking.

The queen just whined in pain.

“Demos do not take her yet, I beg you...” the healer murmured.

Finally, the queen swallowed.

The healer sighed in relief and murmured another prayer as she released the queen from her magical grasp. Starlit Eyes just coughed and took deep breaths, tears staining her cheeks. The sick queen curled up and sobbed, the pitiful cries echoing across the room. The two male servants just looked away at the sight, their tails between their legs and ears pressed against their heads.

“I don’t want to die...” Starlit Eyes’ voice carried through the room like a divine whisper, filled with sorrow and fear.

The healer approached the queen’s side and the sick royal would cling to her. Starlit would sob into the shrouded mare’s shoulder and shudder like a winter breeze was shaking her body. The healer wrapped a leg around the sick Cosean mare, humming on a calm tune.

The queen would dig her claws into the healer’s chest, still crying. “It hurts to swallow... It hurts to drink... It hurts to eat… It hurts to move… It hurts to cry… Please just make it stop… Please...”

The healer’s stance wavered. “I’m sorry, your highness… But there is nothing left I can do. I can treat the symptoms but I can’t cure you... I am so sorry...”

For a second the queen’s eyes widened. There was such petrifying fear in them, the kind a child would make when faced with a terrifying monster. All the healer could do was hold her as the queen faced the reality of the situation.

She was going to die.

“I want to see my son...”

“I am sorry, your highness, but I can not allow him to see you. If the disease is contagious he could catch it as well. It is enough that I and your two retainers care for you,” the healer would release the queen and place her head on a pillow.

“He doesn’t know what awaits him… I need to tell him so much, and there is so little time...” Starlit Eyes would look towards a desk, a quill, and ink standing on it.

The healer noticed the queen’s gaze and walked over to the desk, bringing out a sheet of parchment. The mare would dip the quill in the ink before nodding to the queen. “I am ready.”

The queen would nod weakly before starting to speak. "Vigilant, you are such a brave boy. I remember how you valiantly would defend me against the monsters that hid in your closet as a child. I remember how you defended a little filly from being assaulted by her peers in school. I can still remember you telling me that you would defeat every horror that stood in my way. I am so sorry that you can not fight off this horror. I will not live to see your smile again. The disease is in my lungs, and I can feel myself slowly slipping. But there are many things you will need to know. There are so many things and so little time. You need to be careful in the court, I will no longer be there to protect you. There are dark forces moving inside our halls and fear they may have had something to do with my illness. You will need to learn quickly how to overcome the challenges presented to you. Rely on the council when you feel like there is nothing you can do. They are there to serve you and the nation, they are your greatest asset, so please trust in them, as I have trusted in them. You will not only face adversity from within but also from the outside. Silfy and Silvelt will look upon my death as an opportunity, do not let them use the situation to their advantage. Show them why our nation still rules the sea. Finally, there is a request I need to make of you my son. I need you to head west when the seventh tower is lit. There you must find the heart of the sea. I know I am being vague, but I can not let anyone know what I know. I hope that this will help you, my son, confusing as it is. Know that I love you from the bottom of my heart, I always will."

The queen started to cough the same second she was done speaking. She was wheezing and gulping for air. One of the servants exited the room and returned with a trolley. A teakettle and teacup were on it. He would pour some of the tea into the cup and hand it to the queen. She sighed as the honey in the drink soothed her aching throat.

"The high priestess sent you this day's tea as well, your highness. She heard that your throat hurt," one of the servants said.

Starlit nodded her head slowly. "She is too kind."

As the two male servants tended to the queen, the healer finished writing the letter. “Should I have this letter be delivered to the prince right now?”

“No,” she coughed and sipped on the tea before continuing, “I do not trust the guards outside. Give him the letter after my passing, once you’re sure that you are not ill yourself. Purify it with magic to scrub away any disease.”

The healer nodded. “As you wish, your highness. And what of this heart of the sea?”

Starlit Eyes looked outside the window, storm clouds flowing in from the sea. “He will know what it is when he sees it.”

The queen then gazed upon the two male servants.

“We will not tell a soul,” one of them said.

“We hold a duty to the crown and the church,” said the other.

“Good,” Starlit murmured and looked over her city.

“A storm is coming, I just hope my son can face it...”

The queen would soon have yet another attack, and this pattern continued throughout the night. When morning came the healer and servants exited the queen's chambers with their heads hung low, dark circles underneath their defeated gaze. The queen had passed in the early morning, just before the sun had resurfaced on the horizon. It had been a drawn-out death, Starlit having fought the disease until the end. The news would spread quickly through the city, and soon only one thing was on the people's mind.

The queen is dead. Long live the king.

Author's Note

Thank you for reading the first chapter of King of Cosea. This story, much like Chronicles of Nathaniel, has been buzzing around my head for a while. I hope you guys will enjoy this story as much as you enjoyed Chronicles of Nathaniel, which is still being rewritten don't worry. Anyway, have a good day, and thank you once again for reading the first chapter.