News spread like wild fire throughout Sodalite. Royal messengers stood in between intersections, streets, and stalls stamping thick parchment with the king's blue seal and signature no one dared to fudge but love sick teens gushed, tracing the beautiful cursive signature with the royal seal and stamp. Rumors had it that the king was a sight to behold, especially the lords that acted as escort knights while trailing behind him. The kingdom was in an uproar; girls gushed, attacking and clustering round any royal messenger in sight. They couldn't believe their ears but they knew it was true, seeing the phylactery that was tied round the royal messengers necks; an order all royal messengers must abide by; groups were quick to form, taking the lead to interrogate royal messengers who read the royal sealed parchment for all to hear. Hands akimbo, they tried to act menacing to royal messengers while some girls blushed at the sight of young lean handsome men who held parchment between their fingers and wore phylactery as necklaces round their necks. Different colors of hairs and eyes stared at the messengers sent by the king himself- a king they were yet to see because the ball wasn't a masquerade one where they had to wear masks. Although they did not know his intentions, some had already pledged loyalty to him because of the general change he had made which was: inviting COMMONERS to a royal ball with KINGS present.
Kings, Lords and regions had received the letter the king wrote with his own fingers, cursive handwriting with short and direct words. Different color of hands picked, different colors of eyes read, sending their reply through their servants and preparing their journey to the central city, SODALITE.
Dark clouds hung around the tall buildings of Nobles Sweet, jubilations had stopped all together with twirling half naked women in heels, quietness rested upon the building, slithering through walls and influencing each and every corner of the buildings even though the chaos was brewing in one room only. The meeting had been shifted to a bigger room that had hundreds of chairs which were all occupied, George sitting at the head table, observant. Beautiful women dressed in blue satin fabric that hugged their chest and stopped right below the curve of their bosom stood behind chairs with blue satin skirts slit to their inner thighs. The waist beads they wore crinkled and jingled softly with their heels strapped and tied to their calf. Heads bowed, fingers working their way into tunics and lips working their way down necks or chests in replacement of fingers. The armlet and headpiece glittered under the chandelier that hung too low from the arch carved marble glass ceiling, displaying stained paintings of men and angels in battle, throat to throat with long cold steel swords. Pity was what shun from a particular emerald eyes as her fingers moved skillfully through red locks, oiling, massaging and combing out with her white, milky fingers that couldn't still be hidden under tan cream. In contrast to the dark clouds and brewing doom, smoke filled the massive room, emanating from ceramic pipes and twirling out of noses and mouths. Whispers flowed through, mouths mumbled, fingers tapped on the long oak table, boots shuffled on clean white marble floors and fingers ran through hairs in anticipation.
Autumn's gaze fixated on the half naked women in expensive clothes only worn in the establishment to please Nobles, it was like a costume, and the slaves hidden behind pillars farther away from the oak table, bruises and gashes peeking out from exposed skins that wasn't covered.
Statue of a dragon in the middle of the room sprouted water as fire from its mouth and dropped into its enclosed wall, the clean marble floors stretched out to the stairs that led to a sun filled garden connected to a hall.
"I want to know who leaked out the information of me being here". George spoke up but this time his voice was cold and void of emotions, nothing playful about his tone. Cold shivers ran down spines and wrapped around necks.
"Speak up!". His voice boomed, a fierce slap to the weak hearted. Shakily, a bland bulky man unhooked himself from where he had been previously standing, the flesh on his wrist lapping and bouncing as he wiped cold sweat from his forehead with his hand; his feet shook slightly as if the ground beneath him rotated.
"I was the informant". Clearing his throat, he folded both hands- one on top another. Not bold enough to meet the cold gaze, he kept his eyes trained on the oak table.
Silence. That was what took seat and afterwards fingers coming in contact with the table in a consecutive way. The brown double doors were thrown open, catching every attention and force stopping every activity with the guards that stood in the doorway. Black steel armor enclosed their muscled skin and the red crystalline tear drop of blood embedded in the middle of the breast plate as emblem, the symbol that the central city carried. It was strange, no emblem like that have ever been recorded in history. They took deep bows, the one standing in front instigating the move to the three standing behind. They were without helmet, stoic faced and hardened eyes stared, waiting for orders.
A tilt of the head was what was directed in their way before the blood curling order.
"Cut his fingers and feed it to him". Shock. A bow was followed again before they dragged the shocked, speechless man out of the room by the neck and hands tucked behind his back, breaking the trance with shut doors like nothing had happened. This time, there was no smoke in the air, no ladies between men legs; it was back to how a meeting room was supposed to be with the seductresses receding back into the wall, directly in front of the slaves. it was pin drop quietness not silence.
Song ran his fingers over Emerson's waist and caressed it lightly, the soft snores turned into a hum before it continued. He smiled when she tried moving closer only to be obstructed by her big baby bump pressed against him and she groaned, turning around to her side and giving him her back pressed flat against him. Her hair fell in soft waves over her face, blanketing it. His long fingers reached over to gently pull the thick locks behind her ear as he tried not to fall from the medium sized couch in his study room. The fierce banging of the door destroyed the moment as he listened in and sniffed the air, looking up to check if the barrier he had put over the house was still intact. After kissing Emerson's forehead and belly, he stepped out of the room, checking her sleeping position before closing the door to his study room behind him and walking down the dark hallway to the main door, quickening his footstep to stop the ferocious bang on the door that was almost off its hinges. Pulling the door open with a frown on his face, a powerful punch met him square in the face, sending him skidding backward and over the floor. He changed his footing to avoid tripping and looked up with his bloody face and disheveled hair that had loosened from the tie on his nape due to the punch.
"Hello Song". He knew that voice too well altogether with those proud hunched shoulders.