Heart of Darkness

Angelica held her breath as the fight began. The big man went on a full attack and she would flinch and close her eyes every time he swung his sword at Lord Rayven. But each time she opened her eyes again, Lord Rayven would be unharmed. Slowly, she began to relax. Maybe she didn’t have to worry. Lord Rayven was doing well so far.

Some of the crowd that had been cheering for the big man yelled in frustration. He wasn’t doing as well as they expected, missing each time he swung his sword that looked more like a plaything in his enormous hands.

Lord Rayven didn’t seem to have any difficulty avoiding his attacks. It was as if he could predict the big man’s next move before he even moved. While it looked like Lord Rayven had just got started, the big man was already puffing.

The crowd wanted blood and the ones cheering for Lord Rayven shouted for him to attack.

Listening to their demands, Lord Rayven began to attack, and the flock cheered louder. Angelica could tell that he was prolonging the fight when he could just kill the big man. Instead, he injured him little by little, causing excitement among the viewers who enjoyed seeing blood and pain. Angelica didn’t like it at all. She couldn’t prevent the frown that settled between her eyebrows.

She couldn’t deny that Lord Rayven had impressive fighting skills, but she couldn’t understand two people fighting and injuring each other for other people’s enjoyments. What would they achieve by doing this? And that her brother had fun watching this whole thing concerned her. She hoped to never see him in the fighting pit.

Once Lord Rayven had injured the big man enough to entertain the crowd, he finished him by cutting his throat. Angelica stifled a gasp while everyone chanted Lord Rayven’s name. Her eyes were glued to the blood that seeped from the dead man’s throat. She had never seen that much blood in her life before.

“Isn’t he impressive?” Her brother asked.

Angelica didn’t know what to think. People seemed to like it, but she was just confused. Maybe because she never cared to attend these fights before. If she had, she would have been used to it by now.

“He is indeed,” the king agreed.

“This is why I want to be trained by him,” her brother leaned in and whispered next to her ear, but the king still heard his words.

“So you want Lord Rayven to be your teacher?” The King asked.

“It would be an honor to be his student,” William replied.

The king chuckled. “I am not sure if he would agree to train you. The man has no social skills.”

“And he hates people,” Lord Quintus added.

Hates people? Why?

“I am sure if Your Majesty asked, he wouldn’t deny your request.” Her brother said.

The king laughed, amused.

“You’re a clever boy.” He said.

Abruptly, his expression changed and he turned his head. Angelica followed his gaze gaze, noticing the alarming look in his eyes before he looked away. As soon as she turned she saw something flying toward her. Before she could comprehend what it was or think of what to do, the King caught an arrow with his hand an inch away from her face.

Angelica stiffened in shock as the king placed himself in front of her and his men in front of him to protect him. Guards came running as more arrows flew their way but got stopped by the Lords and guards. Chaos broke out and she could hear people screaming and running in the background.

“Come,” the king said taking her hand.

She wanted to reach for her brother but the king took him with them as well. He led them through the back of the arena while a few guards followed them and guarded their backs. Once they exited the arena the king led them inside his carriage before they rode away in speed.

Angelica’s heart had been pounding in panic the whole time. Once she realized they were riding away, she let out a deep breath and looked at her brother to ensure that he was unharmed.

“I am sorry. You must be frightened. Those people were after me, not you.” The King said, sitting in front of her.

“Why?” she asked breathlessly.

“Not everyone wants me as their King. Some think I killed the previous King.” He explained.

And you didn’t, she wanted to ask, but bit her lip. She didn’t plan to be the cause of her own death when she almost got killed today. If the King hadn’t caught the arrow…

How did he even catch a flying arrow with his bare hands?

Angelica looked at his hands. She wanted to see his palms, but even without seeing them there was no blood on his white clothes or on her hand, or even her brother’s hand. He had escaped with her and William by taking their hands, so if he had been bleeding, one of them would have blood on their hand.

“How did you catch the arrow, just like that?” William caught thin air in his hands to show how the King had done it.

The King smiled, “many years of practice.”

“Could I learn to do it?” He asked.

“Even with many years of practice, I wouldn’t advise you to do it. It can easily go wrong,” he said. “But yes, you could learn to do it.” ρꪖꪕᦔꪖꪕꪫꪣꫀ​ꪶ​

“I want to learn how to do it.” William said.

The king’s smile widened and he stroked William’s hair, who sat next to him. His gesture made Angelica feel warm inside. How she wished William had a male in his life he could talk to like this and who cared for him. The king seemed to like her brother and even though she was still suspicious of him, in that moment, nothing about him seemed sketchy. Could her brother be right? Was the king a good person?

The King turned to her. “You raised him well, Angelica.”

Angelica felt her heart expand. No one had ever acknowledged that she had raised her brother or complimented her for the work she had done. Raising her brother hadn’t been easy. She had felt helpless many times, not knowing what the right thing to do was or how to handle certain situations. She had struggled with her own grief while hiding it from her brother so he would never feel alone and many times, she felt lacking. No matter how much love she gave him, she knew it would never be the same as the love her mother would have given him. The love she would have given them.

Just as she was reminded that her mother was dead every time she saw her friends with their parents, she knew William felt the same. Over the years, she had learned that she could only do her best. She couldn’t be his mother. She wasn’t his mother. Instead, she would focus on being a good sister to him.

“Thank you, Your Majesty.” She said.

The carriage stopped, and the king opened the door before stepping outside and offering her his hand. Angelica took his hand, and he helped her down. When she looked around, she realized that he had taken them to their home.

“Thank you for escorting us, Your Majesty.” She curtsied.

“Stay safe, Lady Davis.”

This was the first time he didn’t call her by her first name.

Releasing her hand, he turned to William. “I’ll see you some other time, Warrior.” He said patting his head.

William bowed, and the King stepped into his carriage. As she watched him leave, she thought of all the good things about him. He was handsome, charming, a gentleman and he liked her brother and treated him well. Even her brother liked him.

William would have a good life if she married the King.

“Can we trust him?” she asked her brother.

She trusted his ability. He was never wrong about people.

“No.” Her brother replied.

Angelica frowned. “You said he was a good person.”

“He is, but we have no reason to trust him. Yet.”

Angelica nodded. He was right. They should still be careful.

“Let’s go inside.” She said.

When they walked in, their father met them in the hall. He had a grim look on his face and still reeked of alcohol.

“Where have you been?” He asked.

“We were invited by the King…”

“Did I not tell you not to leave the house?!” He yelled with such anger that shocked her.

“Yes, but the king…”

“You don’t leave the house without my permission.” He shouted. “And the King… you will never meet him again. Do you understand?”

Angelica was surprised. He was the one that wanted her to meet him. What made him change his mind now?

“Why?” she asked.

“Because I say so!”

He was hiding something, but what?

“Did you do something?” She asked him.

“No, but I will. Until then, stay away from him.”