The Belladonna

Chapter 37 - The Pier

Dedication; I hope this lives up to your expectations. 

The man who stepped through the red drapes was a disappointment. Sky didn't know what she had been expecting; perhaps a huge vicious looking man with dark eyes and hands that could kill with little effort or the tall noble and proud man her father had often spoken of.

What she saw, however, was none of that. The King was old, older than her father would have been had he lived, and looked like all he needed was to be pushed to fall over. His frame was still large, with wide shoulders and a tall straight back held up only by pride and a lot of effort. He was dressed in everything a King should be. His own colours looking dull on him compared to his officers and a simple but expensive looking crown atop his head.

It was his face that was most peculiar. He did not look like a killer. His skin was wrinkled and loose on his bones like the skin of a flaccid apple and his light blue eyes were not keen, but rather slow looking. His hair had long turned white and was thin and wiry beneath his crown. All together Sky wondered for a second why everyone had had so much trouble with this man, why the Cormorants and even Dustin dread him to some degree; the man looked like he was about to disintegrate before them.

But that changed when he opened his mouth. The authority and immense power that filled the room made Sky feel like shrinking into nothing.

"My dear people," King Patrick's booming voice reached the end of the room and bounced back at him, "How glad I am that you could make this event." The people around Sky, including Lady Bolivia smiled and began to clap. The king held up a hand to silence them, "The reason I have invited you to this gathering is that I have kept many things from you all. I wish to share some alarming news,"

Sky felt a hand at her back and jumped only to relax when Edward appeared at her side. James moved to Lady Bolivia and stood next to her looking up at the king with such devotion it made Sky's stomach churn.

"The rebel group grows stronger." The mood in the room turned dark and Sky gripped Edward's hand. "They threaten to bring me down and take hundreds of innocent lives with them. That is why I ask for your support as we eradicate them from our great kingdom. We are the only ones worthy of living on this great land. Brothers and sisters, I say we take back our Kingdom from the rats that have infested our lands and our islands to the west and south."

Sky frowned. As far as she knew the Cormorants only lived on Karniva; the people on the island were just civilians many of whom were loyal to the King. She looked at Edward and saw he too was confused. The King was lying to these people and Sky had a feeling he had been lying to everyone for a long time. She looked at James and wondered if Dustin was wrong.

"They have spread their infectious people to every place they could. And as your devoted King, I have come up with a way to save our kingdom from falling into ruin. Tomorrow we launch three ships, our Jane Duchess at the front." All eyes turned to James with respect and Lady Bolivia even kissed his chin with affection. Sky felt sick at what was going to happen.

"Our dear Commodore Ash Davion, will be leading our fleet to remove all traces of rebels from the southern Isles." Sky blinked in surprise at hearing her father's last name as she had not used it for a long time.

"Seven years of hard work have led to this and I am pleased to announce that the Cleansing begins tomorrow. We will wipe away the filth and start anew. So my dear people, I ask you to raise you glasses to the new age, and age of noble men and women. To The Cleansing!"

All around her people raise their glasses of wine to the King and repeated his toast with excitement and joy. Sky looked at them all feeling like she was stuck in a dream that she could not change. Did these people not realise that he intended on massacring innocent lives to achieve his goal, could they not see that their King had lost his mind?