Tell Me A Story

Chapter 24: George

The air around the room suddenly turned chilly and tensed. The impact of the order from Abraham was so much that Aranchis forgot that he'd really planned to terminate George on his own. Andrea was, however reacting differently to the whole business.

"Kill him!" she exclaimed. "Kill him? I mean Abraham, I didn't give birth to him but he is," she paused, "Or was just like our son. We raised him, we cared for him. As parents it's our duty to forgive our children if they committed any mistake. I'd ask for a lifelong imprisonment-

"Mistakes? HOW DARE YOU, ANDREA!" Abraham's voice thundered across the room, making the windows rattle against their frames. "I know what a mistake is, you don't have to teach me!"

He pulled in oxygen heavily into his lungs. But despite the sudden angry outburst, two shimmering drops snaked down his cheeks and Abraham broke down before them.

"I know Andrea," he sobbed, "I... I don't know why he's doing this..."

Andrea took her husband in his arms. They seemed to have found comfort in each other. Aranchis could feel what they were going through. To care for a child found from a forest, to raise him like one of their own, only to be backstabbed...

But Aranchis would let none of this drama make him step back from the duty he'd to finish. Nothing could change his mind. His family was gone. Destroyed. Splintered into the deep bottoms of history.

Let them get a taste of what it feels like to have your family gone...

~~~

If Aranchis could gain hold of the minds of young people like Edward and George, to gain a stronger hold on the old couple's sight was no big task .

The relation he'd shared with Edward proved to be integral even though Edward was gone. Abraham and Andrea were blinded by him. Because Edward had his full faith in the holy man, they trusted him just as much or maybe even more.

In the days that followed the mourning for Edward, Abraham and Andrea again became the King and Queen since there was the absence of other worthy people to shoulder the position. Even though Abraham was the King, he acted only as per Aranchis' wishes; he was a puppet in Aranchis' hands just like Edward was.

Edward was a servant any master would die for. But Aranchis became overconfident of his own brilliance that he'd overlooked Edward. The young man had enough proof to accuse Aranchis. He would not let his pride fool him again.

The empire had not entirely recovered from the sudden departure of Edward. All the recent events had shaken the whole place very much. However, like Abraham and Andrea, the people put their complete faith in Aranchis. Just like Aranchis put his in the founder years and years ago.

He'd concealed the death of Edward from George and Amelia. For his plan to work out, they'd to be under the impression that he was still alive. Moreover, Amelia's pregnancy stage was coming to an end; they were expecting the baby soon.

Aranchis had managed to take good care of her during the last phase but he was sure that the dark and sinister events that they'd to endure had left a deep scar on her heart that time could not heal. He was, in fact, preparing himself to execute the next stage of his elaborate plan: George's murder.

~~~

"Oh... No..." Amelia was crying out in pain. Aranchis and George had taken every measure for a safe delivery. Amelia's hands were clutching the edges of her bed and she was twitching them with all her might.

Her eyes were shimmering with silvery drops. It was as if her whole body was on fire. No words from her bystanders seemed to have any effect upon her. She even thought that she shouldn't have conceived after all. Every cell of her body was screaming with pain... Pain beyond anything she'd ever experienced.