Chapter 47 - XLVII. | O, loitering chaos... (1/2)
As well as he managed to conceal it, David wasn't exactly comfortable around these Abolish foreigners. Desmond was comparatively pleasant. That man, at least, seemed to have some level of restraint, but these other ones had moods that could flip in an instant. David hadn't yet been able to learn all of their names. He was a bit reluctant to, in all honesty. He would have liked to avoid interacting with them as much as possible, but he knew that wasn't going to change anything.
They could all be terrifying, he knew, but the young woman named Nola Pauls was uniquely so. Affectionately so. For whatever reason--or perhaps for none at all--she'd taken an interest in David, often rubbing his large belly and remarking that doing so would grant her various wishes. She was joking, he was fairly certain, though he didn't know what about it was supposed to be funny. Foreign humor, he figured.
She was not a small woman, and like most of her comrades, she was red of hair. Her pale face, however, held far more freckles than anyone else's.
”Hey, fat prince!” she said, running up to catch him from behind.
He tried not to wince as he turned to greet her. ”Hello, Nola.”
”Look, look!” She kept one hand behind her back and, with the other, held up a lock of a black hair. ”Guess who this belongs to!”
Her games always started like this, with something seemingly innocuous. ”Allow me a hint?” he asked.
She grinned, showing her uneven teeth. ”It's someone you know.”
”I know a lot of people. Does it belong to one of my brothers?”
”Nope,” she said. ”It's someone who works for you.”
”Is it my tailor?”
”Nope!”
”My driver?”
”Nope, nope! Give up yet?”
”Yes, I give up.”
”It's your nanny!”
”But I don't have a nanny.” David tilted his head. ”I don't have children.”
”Oh.” Nola's face scrunched up. ”Well, then who's this?” She brought her other hand around, and in its grasp was the severed head of a black-haired young woman.
Instinctively, he turned away and closed his eyes, struggling to maintain his composure. He tried to focus on not retching in the middle of the corridor.
”Is she someone else's nanny?” asked Nola. ”I saw her walking around with some fat kids, so I thought she was yours.”
”I'm sorry,” he said. ”I don't know who she is.”
”You sure? I don't think you got a very good look. C'mon, open your eyes.”
”The f.u.c.k're you doing?” came another voice. It belonged to Nola's partner, Andres Geth. Andres was a lanky man and a bit slimy to look at, darkly red hair slicked back and a tan face with a greasy shine to it. His voice, on the other hand, was quite weighty and penetrating. ”Nola, you can't just go around killing random people.”
”Fifty rigols says I can. Or wait, what's the money called here?”
Andres ignored her question. ”Dammit, girl. Conall and Tessa are gonna be pissed at us. They're the ones who're gonna have to make sure people don't get too curious about what happened to this girl.”
Nola shrugged. ”Eh, f.u.c.k 'em. Anyone gets curious, Conall and Tessa can just send them to me.”
”That's not how it works. More bodies make for more questions.”
”So they say. But I think with enough bodies, the questions will start to go back down.”
”Nola.”
”Aw, c'mon. That's so boring. We finished the net weeks ago! I need something to do! And Desmond won't let me near the King!”
Andres frowned. ”I know. I feel the same way. This castle is so stuffy with all of us in it.”
”See? It could definitely do with losing a few people. Thin out the crowd a little, yeah?”
”Hmm. Y'know, maybe you're right.”
”Ah--” Prince David held up a hand. ”Please don't kill anyone else.”
They both looked at him. A beat passed, and they started laughing.
”Aha, good one!” said Nola, patting David's belly. ”I told you he's the best prince, didn't I?!”
”You did! He's hilarious! Pretending like he can give us orders! When he obviously knows better!” Andres waved a finger at him. ”If anyone else'd said that to us, we'd have torn their f.u.c.k.i.n.g head off! But not you! Not the cheeky prince!”
”Ha! Cheeky! He's cheeky! Like, literally cheeky!”
”He is! Look at him!”
David often made a point of trying to ”out laugh” them. It wasn't easy. Andres could reach an absolutely heinous pitch.
David watched them leave. The hallway had mysteriously emptied of all its previous occupants, and only after a minute of walking did he begin to see people again.
There were usually three Abolishers here at any given time, while the rest patrolled the city or attended to duties elsewhere. He sympathized with all the people who were not allowed to leave the castle. At least he could come and go from this madhouse as he pleased. More than once, he considered never returning, and even now, he wasn't sure why he was still here. A smarter man would've fled by now, he felt. He'd always tried to be that smarter man, but this was something different. A sense of obligation, perhaps.
How Gabriel had managed to get involved with these maniacs in the first place, he didn't know. Why Gabriel still seemed to think it was a good idea, he couldn't even fathom. Surely by now, the man knew what a mistake he'd made. It had to be a façade. If not, then Gabriel was even more demented than he thought.
He completed the rest of the journey to Luther's chambers. He knocked on the white door.
”Enter,” said Luther.
David found the man at his desk, overlooking an assortment of doc.u.ments. A massive window with scarlet curtains sat behind him, providing a tremendous view of Lake Belgrant. The waters shimmered under the morning sun's amber grasp.
Luther looked up at him. ”Ah, David. I was meaning to speak with you.”
”Were you now? What about?”
”You first. You went to the trouble of coming to see me, after all.”
”It was no trouble at all. I had no great reason for coming here. I merely wished for a pleasant conversation.”
Luther paused, letting his gaze linger a moment. ”I see. In that case, I wanted to ask your feelings on our current predicament.”
David allowed a smirk. ”My feelings? Of what importance are they now?”
Luther stood and circled around his desk. ”You seem of a different mind than the others.”
”When is that ever not the case?”
”You were the last of us to learn of Gabriel's plot against Helen. I am wondering if your heart is truly in this, or if you are merely along for the ride.”
”Would the latter be so terrible?”
”No. Nor would it be unlike you. But if that is so, then I find it strange how you are so vocal in our meetings.”
”You would be the first to be surprised by my candor.”
”Candor? Perhaps not. That would imply that you were being completely honest with us.”
”You suspect I wasn't?”
”Not at the moment,” said Luther. ”But I do find you an oddity. The brother I know would have shown little interest in our affairs.”
”Perhaps you are confusing me with yourself. Luther, surely, you're the one who rarely speaks.”
”You have always used many words to say very little.”
David lowered his brow and chuckled. ”Dear brother, I find that quite hurtful.”
”I am sure you do.”
David adjusted the cuffs of his suit. He enjoyed trying to at least look the part of a prince, unlike his brother here. ”For someone who complains about the way I speak, you're certainly taking your sweet time getting to the point.”
Luther leaned back on his desk, folding his arms.
David's expression soured. ”Do you require me to move the conversation along myself, then? Fine. Let's not mince words. You think I am a traitor of some sort, no?”
”Oh, I do not know about that.”
”Then what is your point?”