He was dead...
The old tyrant was dead..
The guards of Doom were still and erect, standing at attention, but they still looked like black beetles..
The king was dead..long live the king..
He lay, King Zarkon did, upon a bier, even in death he was of dark regalness as he was in life. He had been respect..he had been power..
And now he was dead...
No one mourned except for a withered crone and the son he had left behind.
Mourn, you say?
A father, even a tyranical one can be missed..
They stood at the head of the bier, the son and the witch and they solemnly looked up where the old dead spider was, almost expecting him to come to life and berate them for just standing around like they were.
Red and black drapings dominated the setting, except for the purple, denoting royalty that he rested upon. Red - the color of blood and black the color of death, the color of fear and deepest despair.
An invisible wind whipped about them as if the old man were still about, his spirit unwilling to leave that which he knew in his long and dark life.
Odd that such a powerful man would die so commonly and so quietly..
~Not even by my own hand as it should have been~ Lotor thought as he looked upon the bier where Zarkon lay.
~I have what is yours now, old man. It is mine and it shall be more glorious than you could have ever dreamed possible..~
A slight crafty smirk crossed his features then.
~And Allura shall sit by my side and love me for all my days, father. I can love despite you - TO spite you, old man!~
Hagar thought that Lotor looked very much like his father at that moment and shivered in remembrance. She remembered Zarkon's pursuit of her so long ago.
~Be my Queen, love..can't you see I cannot achieve what I wish for the both of us without you?~
His hand had caressed her smooth cheek. Oh he had been a balm after Alfor's defection of their love! She had believed his fair words and his gentle touch.
All a lie - a lie.. and she had wrapped those lies around her as she did her cloak and cowl.
And now he was dead..
But her heart still ached for him after all these decades, centuries, eons..
Hagar willed herself to be stoic. She knew she could after all this time. She looked at Lotor and wondered if she even wanted to serve this foolish one who had all the evil of his father but was filled with the passions and recklessness of youth and of obsession. She was not sure. After all, she could take the Empire if she wished or simply destroy it. She was of divided thoughts and heart about Lotor. About his only redeeming quality was his love for that Arun princess. She could see his dreams and that his love although obsessive was genuine.
In that he was different from his father, but whether it would save him or destroy him, she did not know or care.
"Hagar.." Lotor said firmly. "Do it."
She knew what he commanded and so she raised her arms and a ball of energy appeared in her wrinkled hands. She threw it at the bier and flames immediately shot up and engulfed it.
They watched as King Zarkon, late ruler of Doom, terror of many planets, and scourge of an Arun princesse's dreams literarily went up in smoke. They stood there until his old flesh was as black as his heart had been.
~Farewell..~ Hagar said silently. ~May you rot in Hell, Father..~ Lotor's face twisted in hate for a moment and then suddenly looked startled. ~I wish - it had been different..~ he thought almost childishly.
But it was not and would never be.
The king was dead..
Long live the king..