by T R Tells
“The bad man is gone, Mommy. We’re safe.”
A chill ran down Thea's spine as she saw the golden line. Thea's heart sped wildly, staring at the Vector Fragment fearing the worst. From her peripheral, she swore she saw the shadow of a wolf in the corner of the room, glaring intently at them with bright red eyes.
***
"There should be no question. She should be hanged or burned, she murdered a Kingsland guard in cold blood," Mar Donias angrily yelled, practically frothing from the mouth. He looked at Thea with dagger-like eyes that would be able to cut into flesh if he could do so.
“My nephew is dead and all because we let a stranger into our walls. Someone who I know is, in fact, The Sicarri. She had not only attacked me that night, but she had murdered a tavern full of men. You tell me if that is someone is deemed ‘innocent’?”
They arrested Thea on sight and threw her into jail. Thankfully, Donnie and Khloette made sure Kadda was taken care of. She still couldn't wrap her mind around what Kadda had done, if Kadda had done it, but that was neither here nor there. Thea stood in the throne room, her hands and ankles shackled, just inches from where the king sat glaring at her. The Perfect Confederacy sat behind her. She could feel their eyes boring into the back of her head and hear them mumbling, deciding on her fate.
Thea wasn’t as fearful as she was scared what would happen to Kadda. She hoped that if it came down to it, that Donnie or Angeal would deliver Kadda to Maggie. She couldn’t trust that her daughter would be safe in the castle walls without her mother by her side.
“You can’t be serious, Father. There’s no way to prove if Thea is a Sicarri. You could have men to testify against her, but who wouldn’t if they were getting bribed or threatened to do so. There are witnesses, who have even said, that Leonard had been acting erratically. The maids even noticed that a bottle of booze missing from the stash that same morning. I'm led to believe that Leo forced himself onto Thea."
Angeal stood in front of Thea and testified on her behalf, appalled by the turn of events that had fallen on them. While Thea was grateful for Angeal, King Godfrey had never taken his eyes off of the girl. This was the perfect opportunity to get rid of her. In the King's eyes, she was nothing more than a common whore.
"And this is what happens, Angeal, when you bring a whore into a place where it doesn't belong," King Godfrey said in a matter of fact manner. His lidded eyes showed no expression as he stared at his son. "We have rules for a reason, and this is why you should follow them."
“Said who? She belongs here because I want her to be. Sometimes rules should be broken because the system is broken. You've murdered and banished countless women because you feared one of them would take your throne from under you. Haven't you realized father that sometimes ‘instilling fear' won't get you anywhere except for more war and bloodshed."
Angeal's voice shook as he stared at his father. He despised his son and forced his other children to live in the image he wanted while oppressing his entire kingdom.
"Angeal," Thea whispered behind him. He turned to meet her solemn eyes and sad smile. "It's okay."
Angeal stared at Thea, at a loss for words, in complete disbelief that she was willing to die even though she was innocent.
“Just make sure that Kadda is safe, please,” she pleaded with him.
"For once," Mar Donias said, standing over to the side. "I agree with the whore. Let us sentence her to death and keep moving on with our lives. It has been three days now. The impending snow that has flanked the lands has covered entire grounds; you can barely see the top of houses anymore. There might not be any crops to sustain us, we'll surely die."
"Why's that, Mar Donias? Because you'll have nothing to trade off to other countries for mass weapons or royal secrets?" Donnie's voice called out. Everyone turned around to see Donnie approaching with his hands in his pockets, smirking casually. "You want everyone to see the error of their ways, to revere and fear the law, but you'll cover up your sins without a second thought. It looks like Prothcybus isn’t the only shady bastard here, but that’s probably why my father likes you so much. Of course, to a certain degree, the King doesn’t like traitors either.”
“Your Highness, we don’t need two Bastards in the throne room,” Mar Donias said and faced Donnell with a tight lip expression on his face. “Why don’t you crawl back into whatever hole you came out of, Bastard?”
“Yes, Donnell, what are you doing in here? You are not appointed to attend this meeting, leave,” King Godfrey addressed his son, hoping to send it off without a fuss. However, Donnie would do no such thing.
“Oh, I will Father, after you know the truth.”
King Godfrey’s brow raised in the air at Donnie’s words. He was curious to know what ‘truth’ his Bastard son could hold.
"That illegal fight ring was run by Mar Donias. I have written documentation signed by the owner of the Caspian." Donnie looked at Mar Donias as if he knew the General would ask for proof. He removed a parchment from his pocket.
He handed the parchment to one of the men from the Perfect Confederacy, who darted their eyes over the written text, before looking back at King Godfrey with a nod, letting him know the documentation wasn't falsified.
“The second thing is that your ‘General’ here has been going behind your back, removing finances from your account and exchanging war secrets with King Peregrine. I have proof too, mind you. You see Mar Donias, you should be very careful because you never know who might be watching you.”
The short-haired, blonde ruler stood on his feet with a narrow-eyed look at the accusation. “This is preposterous, are you really going to believe your bastard son, Godfrey? He’s never respected you or your kingdom. He’s trying to sabotage you.”
"Silence. I will deal with you later,” King Godfrey yelled, with his hand raised to Peregrine. “Is this true, Mar Donias?" If there was one thing, he hated more than anything, it was liars and thieves that went behind his back. "Have you done other nefarious acts?"
Mar Donias darted his eyes around, sweating profusely, but he pushed the nerves away and puffed out his chest.
“What does it matter? Even if I did do those things, who would you rather arrest? A General who has been loyal to you for years? Or, a whore with no name who murders and sucks cock for a living.”
However, before the King could make his final remark and sentence both of them, the sound of loud roaring echoed through the air. The noise was deafening; it sounded almost inhumane as it vibrated through the air, shaking the castle walls like an earthquake, making the ceiling tremble. Everyone covered their ears at the ear-splitting roar that pierced the sky.
Thea's eyes widen as she knew from her vision why there was roaring, the impending doom that she foresaw and that Kalevus had warned her about . . . The Twilight of the Gods had begun.